MQFD: A Model for Synergizing TPM and QFD

This thesis presents the methodology of linking Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and Quality Function Deployment (QFD). The Synergic power ofTPM and QFD led to the formation of a new maintenance model named Maintenance Quality Function Deployment (MQFD). This model was found so powerful that, it could overcome the drawbacks of TPM, by taking care of customer voices. Those voices of customers are used to develop the house of quality. The outputs of house of quality, which are in the form of technical languages, are submitted to the top management for making strategic decisions. The technical languages, which are concerned with enhancing maintenance quality, are strategically directed by the top management towards their adoption of eight TPM pillars. The TPM characteristics developed through the development of eight pillars are fed into the production system, where their implementation is focused towards increasing the values of the maintenance quality parameters, namely overall equipment efficiency (GEE), mean time between failures (MTBF), mean time to repair (MTIR), performance quality, availability and mean down time (MDT). The outputs from production system are required to be reflected in the form of business values namely improved maintenance quality, increased profit, upgraded core competence, and enhanced goodwill. A unique feature of the MQFD model is that it is not necessary to change or dismantle the existing process ofdeveloping house ofquality and TPM projects, which may already be under practice in the company concerned. Thus, the MQFD model enables the tactical marriage between QFD and TPM.First, the literature was reviewed. The results of this review indicated that no activities had so far been reported on integrating QFD in TPM and vice versa. During the second phase, a survey was conducted in six companies in which TPM had been implemented. The objective of this survey was to locate any traces of QFD implementation in TPM programme being implemented in these companies. This survey results indicated that no effort on integrating QFD in TPM had been made in these companies. After completing these two phases of activities, the MQFD model was designed. The details of this work are presented in this research work. Followed by this, the explorative studies on implementing this MQFD model in real time environments were conducted. In addition to that, an empirical study was carried out to examine the receptivity of MQFD model among the practitioners and multifarious organizational cultures. Finally, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to find the hierarchy of various factors influencing MQFD in a company. Throughout the research work, the theory and practice of MQFD were juxtaposed by presenting and publishing papers among scholarly communities and conducting case studies in real time scenario.

Integrating TPM and QFD for improving quality in maintenance engineering

To provide maintenance engineering community with a model named “Maintenance quality function deployment” (MQFD) for nourishing the synergy of quality function deployment (QFD) and total productive maintenance (TPM) and enhancing maintenance quality of products and equipment.The principles of QFD and TPM were studied. MQFD model was designed by coupling these two principles. The practical implementation feasibility of MQFD model was checked in an automobile service station.Both QFD and TPM are popular approaches and several benefits of implementing them have been reported worldwide. Yet the world has not nourished the synergic power of integrating them. The MQFD implementation study reported in this paper has revealed its practical validity

Barriers In TPM Implementation In Industries

This paper aims to highlight the difficulties faced by organizations in implementing Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). The authors with their experience in TPM and the refinery industry have attempted to understand the factors that hinder implementation of TPM. The paper first explains in brief the concepts of TPM and why TPM is a must for organizations in this complex dynamic business environment. It then takes up the various issues that hamper implementation of TPM in industries. Solutions to overcome the barriers are discussed briefly but will be taken up in detail in another paper with specific reference to refinery scenario

Intraseasonal oscillation of total precipitable water over North Indian Ocean and its application in the diagnostic study of coastal rainfall

TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) is reported to be a useful sensor to measure the atmospheric and oceanic parameters even in cloudy conditions. Vertically integrated specific humidity, Total Precipitable Water (TPW) retrieved from the water vapour absorption channel (22GHz.) along with 10m wind speed and rain rate derived from TMI is used to investigate the moisture variation over North Indian Ocean. Intraseasonal Oscillations (ISO) of TPW during the summer monsoon seasons 1998, 1999, and 2000 over North Indian Ocean is explored using wavelet analysis. The dominant waves in TPW during the monsoon periods and the differences in ISO over Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal are investigated. The northward propagation of TPW anomaly and its coherence with the coastal rainfall is also studied. For the diagnostic study of heavy rainfall spells over the west coast, the intrusion of TPW over the North Arabian Sea is seen to be a useful tool.

Human Resources Development in Higher Education in Kerala

The study is entitled “HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN KERALA”. The concept “Human Resource Development” is of high value in business and industry and has been used and applied since years. In industry and business the 'human' element is considred as a resource and hence its development and protection is very essential and inevitable. Of all the factors of production, human resource is the only factor having rational faculty and therefore, it must be handled with utmost care. Right recruitment, right training and right induction followed by faultless monitoring and welfare measures are but decisive factors in business and industry. Altogether there is a constant attention up on human factor there. But this is not a practice at all in education. So far there has not been any such measure of care and close watch and performance analysis of human resource on education front. This may be the main reason for lack of accountability in the sphere of education. The present study reveals the importance of introducing HRD practices in higher educational institutions in Kerala. In order to promise human capital formation through education, it is basic requirement. The higher educational institutions must follow the method of industry and commerce because education can be treated as an industry in service sector. There also we can follow the methods of right recruitment, right training and promotion, delegation, performance analysis and accountability checking of human resource. HRD is a powerful idea of transformation of human being into highly productive and contributing factor The HRD of students is the sum total of HRD of teachers. Reminding the primordial usage 'Yatha Raja Thadha Praja’ the quality of faculty resembles in students. The quality of administrative staff in colleges also affects the quality of higher education. Hence, it is high time to introduce the managerial method of HRD with all its paraphernalia in higher educational institutions so as to assure proper human capital formation in higher education in India.

Human Resources Development in Higher Education in Kerala

The study is entitled “HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN KERALA”. The concept “Human Resource Development” is of high value in business and industry and has been used and applied since years. In industry and business the ‘human’ element is considred as a resource and hence its development and protection is very essential and inevitable. Of all the factors of production, human resource is the only factor having rational faculty and therefore, it must be handled with utmost care. Right recruitment, right training and right induction followed by faultless monitoring and welfare measures are but decisive factors in business and industiy. Altogether there is a constant attention up on human factor there. But this is not a practice at all in education. So far there has not been any such measure of care and close watch and performance analysis of human resource on education front. This may be the main reason for lack of accountability in the sphere of education. The present study reveals the importance of introducing HRD practices in higher educational institutions in Kerala. In order to promise human capital formation through education, it is basic requirement. The higher educational institutions must follow the method of industry and commerce because education can be treated as an industry in service sector. There also we can follow the methods of right recruitment, right training and promotion, delegation, performance analysis and accountability checking of human resource. HRD is a powerful idea of transformation of human being into highly productive and contributing factor The HRD of students is the sum total of HRD of teachers. Reminding the primordial usage ‘Yatha Raja Thadha Praja’ the quality of faculty resembles in students. The quality of administrative staff in colleges also affects the quality of higher education. Hence, it is high time to introduce the managerial method of HRD with all its paraphernalia in higher educational institutions so as to assure proper human capital formation in higher education in India.

Sustainability of Participatory Projects: Study of Productive Sector under Peoples’ Planning in Chempu Village Panchayat of Kottayam District

The study has wider policy implications as it identifies the possible variables which influence the sustainability of participatory productive sector projects. The method which is developed to study the sustainability of projects under People’s Planning in Chempu Panchayat could be used for studying the same in other panchayats also. Unlike the case of the standard features of sustainability identified, the independent variables vary according to the nature of the project. Hence, this needs to be modified accordingly while applying the method in a dissimilar domain. Selection of a single panchayat for the present study is relevant on the basis of a common package of inputs for decentralised planning which is forwarded by the State Planning Board respectively for the three-tier panchayat system in Kerala. The dynamic filed realities could be brought out in view of a comprehensive planning approach through an in depth study of specific cases.The assessment of the nature and pattern of productive sector projects in the selected Village Panchayat puts the projects under close scrutiny. The analysis has depended largely on secondary sources of information, especially from panchayat level plan documents, and also on the primary information obtained using direct observation and on-site inspection of project sites. An analysis of the nature and pattem of productive sector projects is important as it gives all necessary information regarding follow-up, monitoring/evaluation and even termination of a particular project. It has also revealed the tendencies of including infrastructure and service sector projects under ‘productive’ category, especially for maintaining the stipulated ratio (40:30:30) of grant-in-aid distribution. The study regarding the allocation and expenditure pattern of plan funds is vital in policy level as it reveals the under-noticed allocation and expenditure pattern of plan funds other than grant-in-aid. One major limitation of the study has been the limited availability of secondary data, especially regarding project-wise expenditure and monitoring/evaluation reports of various project committees.

Studies on the Biology, Ecology and Fishery of the sea cucumber Holathuria (hetriatyla) scabra (Jaeger) from southeast coast of India

The distribution of the holothurian H. KH.) scabra indicated its availability all along coastal areas on Palk Bay from Rameswavam to Mallipattinam and along the Gulf of Hannah coast from Pamban to Ervadi and Tuticmhin,'at 4~2O m depth.The major fishing for holmthurians was done by skin diving at all the centres. The tallu valai was operated at Tuticorin and Vedalai and trawlevs were operated at Rameswaram.The fmod of H. KN.) scabra consists of ovganic matter which contains mud, sand, shell debris, bivalves and algae. Obsehvatinns indicated the species seems to be a n0n—se1ective feeder. The assimilation efficiency from sediment to faeces indicated that the faecal pellets of H. KH.) scabra are semidigested.A multiple relationship was fitted between total length, total weight, gutted weight, gonad weight and maturity stages were found significant.The fishing season for holothurians commences from October to March along Gulf of Manner coast and from March to October along Palk Bay coast.The percentage of catches recorded by skin diving, trawlere and tallu valai were 80.04%, 10.27% and 9.69% respectively. Skin diving contributes to maximum catch.The holothurians landed all along the Gulf of Manner and Palk Bay coasts constitute 25.6% and 74.4% respectively. This showed that Palk Bay coast is more productive.

Studies on the effect of toxic heavy metal mercury on the physiology and biochemistry of an estuarine crab Scylla serrata (Forskal)

This thesis Entitled studies on the effect of toxic heavy metal mercury on the physiology and biochemistry of an estuarine crab scylla serrata (Forskal). Evaluate the toxicity of three sub lethal concentrations of mercury, viz., 0.009 mg/l, 0.02 mg/1, and 0.04 mg/l on the mud crab, Scylla serrata through bioaccumulation, and depuration studies. To characterize the biochemical responses to the sub-lethal stress of mercury in chelate muscles, abdominal muscles, hepatopancreas and gills. To study the activity pattern of acid and alkaline phosphatases in mercury-exposed crabs. To evaluate the induced changes in these tissues through histopathological studies,The Cochin backwaters is one of the most productive and biologically active backwater systems, and is the habitat of varieties of fishes, mollusks, and crustaceans, though this water body also receives tons of effluents from factories located on the banks of the river, Periyar.To study the activity levels of acid and alkaline phosphatases in crabs, at three time periods, exposed to three sub lethal concentration of mercury,

Development of Total Quality Management System in Seafood (Freezing) Industry in Kerala

Quality related problems have become dominant in the seafood processing industry in Kerala. This has resulted in the rejection of seafood sent from India to many destinations. The latest being the total block listing of seafood companies from India from being exported to Europe and partial block listing by the US. The quality systems prevailed in the seafood industry in India were outdated and no longer in use in the developed world. According to EC Directive discussed above all the seafood factories exporting to European countries have to adopt HACCP. Based on this, EIA has now made HACCP system mandatory in all the seafood processing factories in India. This transformation from a traditional product based inspection system to a process control system requires thorough changes in the various stages of production and quality management. This study is conducted by the author with to study the status of the existing infrastructure and quality control system in the seafood industry in Kerala with reference to the recent developments in the quality concepts in international markets and study the drawbacks, if any, of the existing quality management systems in force in the seafood factories in Kerala for introducing the mandatory HACCP concept. To assess the possibilities of introducing Total Quality Management system in the seafood industry in Kerala in order to effectively adopt the HACCP concept. This is also aimed at improving the quality of the products and productivity of the industry by sustaining the world markets in the long run.

Studies on the ecophysiology of periphytic algae in cochin estuary

The estuaries are highly productive ecosystems and characteristically are more productive than the adjacent river or sea. Estuarine producers which include planktonic algae, periphyton, herpobenthos as well as macrophytes are capable of nearly year round photosynthesis. Productivity of an environment is mainly the contribution of various groups of autotrophic flora. Any quantitative estimation excluding any one of these would be an underestimation. Periphyton plays a very important role in the productivity of estuarine and coastal waters. It has been reported that periphytic algae attain high biomass (Moss, 1968; Hansson, 1988a) and may contribute up to 80% of the primary production (Persson gt gtt, 1977); Considerable amount of work has been done on the productivity in Cochin backwaters by different investigators (Qasim, 1973, 1979; Nair gt gtt, 1975; Gopi— nathan gt gtt, 1984). All of them have estimated the primary production based only on phytoplankton of the estuary. Considering the contribution of other autotrophic components of the estuary such as periphyton (haptobenthos), sediment flora (herpebenthos) and macropytes, the productivity estimated by earlier authors were essentially underestimations. The present work is an attempt inter glig to assess the contribution of periphytic flora towards the total organic production in the estuary

Heterotrophic bacteria from the continental slope sediments of arabian sea

The marine environment is indubitably the largest contiguous habitat on Earth. Because of its vast volume and area, the influence of the world ocean on global climate is profound and plays an important role in human welfare and destiny. The marine environment encompasses several habitats, from the sea surface layer down through the bulk water column, which extends >10,000 meters depth, and further down to the habitats on and under the sea floor. Compared to surface habitats, which have relatively high kinetic energy, deep-ocean circulation is very sluggish. By comparison, life in the deep sea is characterized by a relatively constant physical and chemical environment. Deep water occupying the world ocean basin is a potential natural resource based on its properties such as low temperature, high pressure and relatively unexplored properties. So, a judicious assessment of the marine resources and its management are essential to ensure sustainable development of the country’s ocean resources. Marine sediments are complex environments that are affected by both physiological and biological factors, water movements and burrowing animals. They encompass a large extent of aggregates falling from the surface waters. In aquatic ecosystems, the flux of organic matter to the bottom sediments depend on primary productivity at the ocean surface and water depth. Over 50% of the earth’s surface is covered by deep-sea sediments that are primarily formed through the continual deposition of particles from the productive pelagic waters (Vetriani et al., 1999). These aggregates are regarded as ‘hot spots’ of microbial activity in the ocean (Simon et al., 2002). This represents a good nutritional substrate for heterotrophic bacteria and favours bacterial growth

Heavy metal tolerance patterns of total heterotrophic bacteria isolated from the soils of Mahatma Gandhi University campus, Kottayam, Kerala

Industrialization of our society has led to an increased production and discharge of both xenobiotic and natural chemical substances. Many of these chemicals will end up in the soil. Pollution of soils with heavy metals is becoming one of the most severe ecological and human health hazards. Elevated levels of heavy metals decrease soil microbial activity and bacteria need to develop different mechanisms to confer resistances to these heavy metals. Bacteria develop heavy-metal resistance mostly for their survivals, especially a significant portion of the resistant phenomena was found in the environmental strains. Therefore, in the present work, we check the multiple metal tolerance patterns of bacterial strains isolated from the soils of MG University campus, Kottayam. A total of 46 bacterial strains were isolated from different locations of the campus and tested for their resistant to 5 common metals in use (lead, zinc, copper, cadmium and nickel) by agar dilution method. The results of the present work revealed that there was a spatial variation of bacterial metal resistance in the soils of MG University campus, this may be due to the difference in metal contamination in different sampling location. All of the isolates showed resistance to one or more heavy metals selected. Tolerance to lead was relatively high followed by zinc, nickel, copper and cadmium. About 33% of the isolates showed very high tolerance (>4000μg/ml) to lead. Tolerance to cadmium (65%) was rather low (<100 μg/ml). Resistance to zinc was in between 100μg/ml - 1000μg/ml and the majority of them shows resistance in between 200μg/ml - 500μg/ml. Nickel resistance was in between 100μg/ml - 1000μg/ml and a good number of them shows resistance in between 300μg/ml - 400μg/ml. Resistance to copper was in between <100μg/ml - 500μg/ml and most of them showed resistance in between 300μg/ml - 400μg/ml. From the results of this study, it was concluded that heavy metal-resistant bacteria are widely distributed in the soils of MG university campus and the tolerance of heavy metals varied among bacteria and between locations

SPATIOTEMPORAL VARIATION AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF ACTINOMYCETES ISOLATED FROM HIGH ALTITUDE GRASSLAND SOILS OF TROPICAL MONTANE FOREST – KERALA, INDIA

TThe invention of novel antibiotics and other bioactive microbial metabolites continues to be an important aim in new drug discovery programmes. Actinomycetes have the potential to synthesize lots of diverse biologically vigorous secondary metabolites and in the last decades actinomycetes became the most productive source for antibiotics. Therefore in the present study we analyze the antibacterial activity of the actinomycetes isolated from grassland soil samples of Tropical Montane forest. A total of 33 actinomycete strains isolated were characterized and screened for antibacterial activities using well diffusion method against six specific pathogenic organisms. Identification of the isolates revealed that the majority of them were belonging to Streptomycetes followed by Nocardia, Micromonospora, Pseudonocardia, Streptosporangium, Nocardiopsis and Saccharomonospora. Among the 33 isolates, Gr1 strain showed antagonistic activity against all checked pathogens. Nine strains showed antibacaterial activity against Listeria, Vibrio cholera, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella typhi and only 2 strains (Gr1and Gr25) showed antagonism to E. coli. The overall percentage of activity of actinomycetes isolates against each pathogenic bacterium was also calculated. While 63.63% of the actinomycetes were antagoinistic against Listeria, Vibrio cholerae, and Bacillus cereus, 60.6% of them were antagonistic to Staphylococcus aureus. Very few isolates (6.06%) showed antibacterial activity against E. coli. In general most of the actinomycetes isolates were antagonistic to grampositive bacteria such as Listeria, Bacillus and Staphylococcus than Gram-negative bacteria Vibrio cholerae, E. coli and Salmonella

Bioactive Metabolites and Biomarkers from Rhizophoraceae mangroves- A Chemotaxonomic Approach

Mangroves are specialised ecosystems developed along estuarine sea coasts and river mouths in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, mainly in the intertidal zone. Hence, the ecosystem and its biological components is under the influence of both marine and freshwater conditions and has developed a set of physiological adaptations to overcome problems of anoxia, salinity and frequent tidal inundations. This has led to the assemblage of a wide variety of plant and animal species of special adaptations suited to the ecosystem. The path of photosynthesis in mangroves is different from other glycophytes. There are modifications or alterations in other physiological processes such as carbohydrate metabolism or polyphenol synthesis. As they survive under extreme conditions of salinity, temperature, tides and anoxic soil conditions they may have chemical compounds, which protect them from these destructive elements. Mangroves are necessarily tolerant of high salt levels and have mechanisms to take up water despite strong osmotic potentials. Some also take up salts, but excrete them through specialised glands in the leaves. Others transfer salts into senescent leaves or store them in the bark or the wood. Still others simply become increasingly conservative in their water use as water salinity increases. A usual transportation or biosynthetic path as other plants cannot be expected in mangrove plants. In India, the states like West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra, and Gujarat occupy vast area of mangroves. Kerala has only 6 km2 total mangrove area with Rhizophora apiculata, Rhizophora mucronata, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Bruguiera cylindrica, Avicennia officinalis, Sonneratia caseolaris, Sonneratia apetala and Kandelia candal, as the important species present, most of which belong to the family Rhizophoraceae.Rhizophoraceae mangroves are ranked as “major elements of mangroves” as they give the real shape of this unique and interesting ecosystem and these mangrove species most productive and typical characteristic ecosystem of World renowned. It was found that the Rhizophoraceae mangrove extracts exhibit several bioactive properties. Various parts of these mangroves are used in ethnomedicinal practices. Even though extracts from these mangroves possess therapeutic activity against humans, animal and plant pathogens, the specific metabolites responsible for these bioactivities remains to be elucidated. Various parts of these mangroves are used in ethnomedicinal practices. There is a gap of information towards the chemistry of Rhizophoraceae mangroves from Kerala. Thorough phytochemical investigation can achieve the validity of ethnomedicines as well as apply the use of mangrove plants in the development of new drugs. Such studies can pave a firm base for their use in biomarker and chemotaxonomic studies as well as for the better management of the existing mangrove ecosystem. In this study, the various chemical parameters including minerals, biochemical components, bioactive and biomarker molecules were used to classify and assess the possible potentials of the mangrove plants of the true mangrove family Rhizophoraceae from Kochi.