Company Challenge Project: L'Oréal Brandstorm 2013

Creación de plan de negocios completo, para la escogencia y el lanzamiento de un producto de la línea L’Oréal Paris que no estuviera presente en el mercado del sudeste asiático (Singapur, Filipinas, Camboya, Laos, Indonesia, Malasia) e India, y adicionalmente crear un nuevo producto que estuviera ligado al escogido en la primera parte.

Plan de negocio para el desarrollo de una nueva línea de producto en la empresa S.I.C.C.

La empresa S.I.C.C. (soluciones integrales para el campo del Caribe) con el fin de seguir desarrollando su concepto empresarial, surge la idea de crear una nueva línea de negocio con énfasis en la producción de quesos para vender a minoristas. Para empezar a desarrollar esta nueva idea, los dueños tienen en cuenta el conocimiento de productores artesanales de queso, a los cuales proveen de leche. Debe tenerse en cuenta que estos productores no tienen sus negocios formalizados, sino por el contrario son productores informales que realizan la producción de queso de manera artesanal en sus casas, en donde la forma de producción no es la más adecuada por cuestiones fitosanitarias, transporte inadecuado, entre otros. Para hacer efectivo el proyecto, la empresa nos plantea al grupo crear un proyecto para acoger a estos pequeños productores de queso y formalizar su actividad productiva dentro de la empresa S.I.C.C. con el fin de crear una nueva línea de producto dentro de la compañía en donde se beneficiaran los productores y la empresa como tal; a partir de lo anterior se requiere realizar una investigación y planeación en cuanto al sector lácteo, particularmente en cuanto a los quesos en la región de Sucre, específicamente en Sincelejo. El proyecto surge con el fin de seguir apoyando la visión de la empresa, en donde se plantea que la empresa llegue a ser líder en el sector forestal y agropecuario, a través del desarrollo y ejecución de proyectos que sean generadores de empleo y que garanticen un crecimiento social y económico de las regiones donde se ejecuten.

Definition of an it project portfolio management methodology for a pharmaceutical company

Con la creciente popularidad de las soluciones de IT como factor clave para aumentar la competitividad y la creación de valor para las empresas, la necesidad de invertir en proyectos de IT se incrementa considerablemente. La limitación de los recursos como un obstáculo para invertir ha obligado a las empresas a buscar metodologías para seleccionar y priorizar proyectos, asegurándose de que las decisiones que se toman son aquellas que van alineadas con las estrategias corporativas para asegurar la creación de valor y la maximización de los beneficios. Esta tesis proporciona los fundamentos para la implementación del Portafolio de dirección de Proyectos de IT (IT PPM) como una metodología eficaz para la gestión de proyectos basados en IT, y una herramienta para proporcionar criterios claros para los directores ejecutivos para la toma de decisiones. El documento proporciona la información acerca de cómo implementar el IT PPM en siete pasos, el análisis de los procesos y las funciones necesarias para su ejecución exitosa. Además, proporciona diferentes métodos y criterios para la selección y priorización de proyectos. Después de la parte teórica donde se describe el IT PPM, la tesis aporta un análisis del estudio de caso de una empresa farmacéutica. La empresa ya cuenta con un departamento de gestión de proyectos, pero se encontró la necesidad de implementar el IT PPM debido a su amplia cobertura de procesos End-to-End en Proyectos de IT, y la manera de asegurar la maximización de los beneficios. Con la investigación teórica y el análisis del estudio de caso, la tesis concluye con una definición práctica de un modelo aproximado IT PPM como una recomendación para su implementación en el Departamento de Gestión de Proyectos.

Una eina innovadora per a la informació i la divulgació geogràfica: l’Atles comarcal de Catalunya en format digital

Due to the edition of the new Atles comarcal de Catalunya by the Institut Cartogràfic de Catalunya in digital format, we look at the structure of their contents and the dynamics of its use. Likewise, it is detailed which methodology was utilized to perform it. Finally, some reflections on the innovations that this new product entails in textual and cartographic areas are proposed, especially related to the current socioeconomic context and new employed technologies

Case based reasoning as an extension of fault dictionary methods for linear electronic analog circuits diagnosis

El test de circuits és una fase del procés de producció que cada vegada pren més importància quan es desenvolupa un nou producte. Les tècniques de test i diagnosi per a circuits digitals han estat desenvolupades i automatitzades amb èxit, mentre que aquest no és encara el cas dels circuits analògics. D'entre tots els mètodes proposats per diagnosticar circuits analògics els més utilitzats són els diccionaris de falles. En aquesta tesi se'n descriuen alguns, tot analitzant-ne els seus avantatges i inconvenients. Durant aquests últims anys, les tècniques d'Intel·ligència Artificial han esdevingut un dels camps de recerca més importants per a la diagnosi de falles. Aquesta tesi desenvolupa dues d'aquestes tècniques per tal de cobrir algunes de les mancances que presenten els diccionaris de falles. La primera proposta es basa en construir un sistema fuzzy com a eina per identificar. Els resultats obtinguts son força bons, ja que s'aconsegueix localitzar la falla en un elevat tant percent dels casos. Per altra banda, el percentatge d'encerts no és prou bo quan a més a més s'intenta esbrinar la desviació. Com que els diccionaris de falles es poden veure com una aproximació simplificada al Raonament Basat en Casos (CBR), la segona proposta fa una extensió dels diccionaris de falles cap a un sistema CBR. El propòsit no és donar una solució general del problema sinó contribuir amb una nova metodologia. Aquesta consisteix en millorar la diagnosis dels diccionaris de falles mitjançant l'addició i l'adaptació dels nous casos per tal d'esdevenir un sistema de Raonament Basat en Casos. Es descriu l'estructura de la base de casos així com les tasques d'extracció, de reutilització, de revisió i de retenció, fent èmfasi al procés d'aprenentatge. En el transcurs del text s'utilitzen diversos circuits per mostrar exemples dels mètodes de test descrits, però en particular el filtre biquadràtic és l'utilitzat per provar les metodologies plantejades, ja que és un dels benchmarks proposats en el context dels circuits analògics. Les falles considerades son paramètriques, permanents, independents i simples, encara que la metodologia pot ser fàcilment extrapolable per a la diagnosi de falles múltiples i catastròfiques. El mètode es centra en el test dels components passius, encara que també es podria extendre per a falles en els actius.

Europe’s biocidal products directive: benefits and costs in urban pest management

The European Commission’s Biocidal Products Directive (Council Directive 98/8 EC), known as the BPD, is the largest regulatory exercise ever to affect the urban pest control industry. Although focussed in the European Union its impact is global because any company selling pest control products in the EU must follow its principles. All active substances, belonging to 23 different biocidal product types, come within the Directive’s scope of regulatory control. This will eventually involve re-registration of all existing products, as well as affecting any new product that comes to the market. Some active substances, such as the rodenticides and insecticides, are already highly regulated in Europe but others, such as embalming fluids, masonry preservatives, disinfectants and repellents/attractants will come under intensive regulatory scrutiny for the first time. One of the purposes of the Directive is to offer enhanced protection for human health and the environment. The potential benefit for suppliers of pest control products is mutual recognition of regulatory product dossiers across 25 Member States of the European Union. This process, requiring harmonisation of all regulatory decision-making processes, should reduce duplicated effort and, potentially, allow manufacturers speedier access to European markets. However, the cost to industry is enormous, both in terms of the regulatory resources required to assemble BPD dossiers and the development budgets required to conduct studies to meet its new standards. The cost to regulatory authorities is also tremendous, in terms of the need to upgrade staff capabilities to meet new challenges and the volume of the work expected by the Commission when they are appointed the Rapporteur Member State (RMS) for an active substance. Users of pest control products will pay a price too. The increased regulatory costs of maintaining products in the European market are likely to be passed on, at least in part, to users. Furthermore, where the costs of meeting new regulatory requirements cannot be recouped from product sales, many well-known products may leave the market. For example, it seems that in future few rodenticides that are not anticoagulants will be available within the EU. An understanding of the BPD is essential to those who intend to place urban pest control products on the European market and may be useful to those considering the harmonisation of regulatory processes elsewhere. This paper reviews the operation of the first stages of the BPD for rodenticides, examines the potential benefits and costs of the legislation to the urban pest control industry and looks forward to the next stages of implementation involving all insecticides used in urban pest management.

Portfolio-Werbung als Technik des Impression Management: Eine Untersuchung zur gegenseitigen Stärkung von Dachmarke und Produktmarken in komplexen Markenarchitekturen

In recent years, the importance of the corporate brand (e.g. P&G, Nestlé, Unilever) has grown significantly and companies increasingly strive to strengthen their corporate brand. One way to strengthen the corporate brand is portfolio advertisement, in which the corporate brand is presented alongside with several product brands of its portfolio (e.g. VW with its product brands Touareg, Touran, Golf and Polo). The aim of portfolio advertising is to generate a positive image spill-over effect from the product brands onto the corporate brand in order to enhance the consumers’ perceived competence of the corporate brand. In four experimental settings Christian Boris Brunner demonstrates the great potential of portfolio advertising and highlights the risks associated with portfolio advertising in practice. In a first experiment, he compares portfolio advertising with single brand advertisements. Moreover, in case of portfolio advertising he manipulates the fit between the product brands, because the consumer has to establish a logical coherence between the individual brands. However, asconsumers have limited capacity for processing information, special attention should be paid to the number of product brands and to the processing depth of the consumer during confrontation with portfolio advertising. These key factors are taken into consideration in a second extensive experiment involving fictitious corporate and product brands. The effects of portfolio advertising on a product brand are also examined. Furthermore, the strength of product brands, i.e. brand knowledge as well as brand image and consumer’s knowledge of the brands, must be taken into consideration. In a third experiment, both the brand strength of real product brands as well as the fit between product brands are manipulated. Portfolio advertising could also have a positive image spill-over effect when companies introduce a new product brand under the umbrella of the corporate brand while communicating all product brands together. Based on considerations, in a fourth experiment, Christian Boris Brunner shows that portfolio advertising could also have a positive image spill-over effect on a new (unknown) product brand. Concluding his work, Christian Boris Brunner provides implications for future research concerning portfolio advertising as well as the management of a corporate brand in complex brand architectures. Concerning practical implications, these four experiments underline a high relevance to marketing and brand managers, who could increase corporate and product brands’ potential by means of portfolio advertising.

Relational pluralism: organizational foresight in practice

This paper examines organizational foresight from a relational perspective. In doing this, we present relational incumbency as a transient conceptual framework to explore how the organizing social relationships and interactions of lower participants may influence organizational foresightfulness. The research employed an exploratory case-based approach with three software organisations and their four new product innovation projects serving as the empirical research sites. Drawing on the case evidence, we provide an account on how normative organizing structures, rights and authority relationships constitutively influence the creative emergence of organizational foresight in practice. We conclude the paper with a discussion of the managerial implications and some directions for future research.

Optimization of a sponge cake formulation with inulin as fat replacer: structure, physicochemical, and sensory properties

The effects of several fat replacement levels (0%, 35%, 50%, 70%, and 100%) by inulin in sponge cake microstructure and physicochemical properties were studied. Oil substitution for inulin decreased significantly (P < 0.05) batter viscosity, giving heterogeneous bubbles size distributions as it was observed by light microscopy. Using confocal laser scanning microscopy the fat was observed to be located at the bubbles’ interface, enabling an optimum crumb cake structure development during baking. Cryo-SEM micrographs of cake crumbs showed a continuous matrix with embedded starch granules and coated with oil; when fat replacement levels increased, starch granules appeared as detached structures. Cakes with fat replacement up to 70% had a high crumb air cell values; they were softer and rated as acceptable by an untrained sensory panel (n = 51). So, the reformulation of a standard sponge cake recipe to obtain a new product with additional health benefits and accepted by consumers is achieved.

Low-grade inflammation, diet composition and health: current research evidence and its translation

The importance of chronic low-grade inflammation in the pathology of numerous age-related chronic conditions is now clear. An unresolved inflammatory response is likely to be involved from the early stages of disease development. The present position paper is the most recent in a series produced by the International Life Sciences Institute's European Branch (ILSI Europe). It is co-authored by the speakers from a 2013 workshop led by the Obesity and Diabetes Task Force entitled ‘Low-grade inflammation, a high-grade challenge: biomarkers and modulation by dietary strategies’. The latest research in the areas of acute and chronic inflammation and cardiometabolic, gut and cognitive health is presented along with the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying inflammation–health/disease associations. The evidence relating diet composition and early-life nutrition to inflammatory status is reviewed. Human epidemiological and intervention data are thus far heavily reliant on the measurement of inflammatory markers in the circulation, and in particular cytokines in the fasting state, which are recognised as an insensitive and highly variable index of tissue inflammation. Potential novel kinetic and integrated approaches to capture inflammatory status in humans are discussed. Such approaches are likely to provide a more discriminating means of quantifying inflammation–health/disease associations, and the ability of diet to positively modulate inflammation and provide the much needed evidence to develop research portfolios that will inform new product development and associated health claims.

Achieving customer satisfaction through integrated products and services: an exploratory study

Complex products such as manufacturing equipment have always needed maintenance and repair services. Increasingly, leading manufacturers are integrating products and services to generate increased revenues and achieve customer satisfaction. Designing integrated products and services requires a different approach to new product development and a clear understanding of how customers perceive the value they obtain from actual usage of products and services—so-called value-in-use. However, there is a lack of research on integrated products and services and how they impact customer satisfaction. An exploratory study was undertaken to understand customers’ views on integrated products and services and the value-in-use derived from such offerings. As value-in-use and its impacts are complicated concepts, a technique from psychology—Repertory Grid Technique—was used to gather data in 33 interviews. The interviews allowed a deep understanding of customer views on integrated products and services to be obtained, and a systematic analysis identified the key attributes of value-in-use. In order to probe further, the data were then analyzed using Honey’s procedure, which identified the impact of the attributes of value-in-use on customer satisfaction. Two key attributes—relational dynamic and access—were found to have the most influence on customer satisfaction. This paper contributes to the innovation field by identifying customer needs for integrated products and services and how these impact customer satisfaction. These are key points and need to be fully considered by managers during new product and service development. Similarly, the paper identifies a number of important areas for further research.

Module property verification : A method to plan and perform quality verifications in modular architectures

Modular product architectures have generated numerous benefits for companies in terms of cost, lead-time and quality. The defined interfaces and the module’s properties decrease the effort to develop new product variants, and provide an opportunity to perform parallel tasks in design, manufacturing and assembly. The background of this thesis is that companies perform verifications (tests, inspections and controls) of products late, when most of the parts have been assembled. This extends the lead-time to delivery and ruins benefits from a modular product architecture; specifically when the verifications are extensive and the frequency of detected defects is high. Due to the number of product variants obtained from the modular product architecture, verifications must handle a wide range of equipment, instructions and goal values to ensure that high quality products can be delivered. As a result, the total benefits from a modular product architecture are difficult to achieve. This thesis describes a method for planning and performing verifications within a modular product architecture. The method supports companies by utilizing the defined modules for verifications already at module level, so called MPV (Module Property Verification). With MPV, defects are detected at an earlier point, compared to verification of a complete product, and the number of verifications is decreased. The MPV method is built up of three phases. In Phase A, candidate modules are evaluated on the basis of costs and lead-time of the verifications and the repair of defects. An MPV-index is obtained which quantifies the module and indicates if the module should be verified at product level or by MPV. In Phase B, the interface interaction between the modules is evaluated, as well as the distribution of properties among the modules. The purpose is to evaluate the extent to which supplementary verifications at product level is needed. Phase C supports a selection of the final verification strategy. The cost and lead-time for the supplementary verifications are considered together with the results from Phase A and B. The MPV method is based on a set of qualitative and quantitative measures and tools which provide an overview and support the achievement of cost and time efficient company specific verifications. A practical application in industry shows how the MPV method can be used, and the subsequent benefits

Metodologia para retroalimentação do ciclo de desenvolvimento de produto com dados de confiabilidade oriundos da utilização do produto em campo

Esta dissertação apresenta uma metodologia de retroalimentação do ciclo de desenvolvimento de produtos, com ênfase na fase de projeto, a partir de dados obtidos em estudos de confiabilidade. A metodologia é proposta com base no escopo da norma QS-9000, norma esta que vem sendo utilizada por fornecedores e sub-fornecedores da indústria automobilística no mundo inteiro. Um estudo de caso permitiu que a metodologia fosse implementada em uma empresa certificada na norma. São aplicadas retroalimentações em ferramentas como Desdobramento da Função Qualidade (QFD), Análise dos Modos e Efeitos de Falha de Produto (DFMEA) e de Processo (PFMEA). Os resultados obtidos demonstraram que a metodologia de retroalimentação proposta é uma ferramenta útil na maturação de um produto, através da utilização dos dados de falhas em campo, bem como no momento do desenvolvimento de um produto novo, que irá suceder o atual, através da utilização da voz do cliente e dos dados de falha em campo de forma ordenada.

A instalação dos bosques de pinus e suas conseqüências nas dunas do Pontal de Tapes - RS

o Pontal de Tapes está inserido dentro da Planície Costeira do Rio Grande do Sul e localiza-se ao noroeste da Laguna dos Patos. Até a década de 70, a área caracterizava-se por uma dinâmica regida pela ação dos ventos, das ondas e da corrente lagunar, compondo um ambiente caracterizado pela existência de banhados, dunas, bancos de areia, entre outras feições. Com a introdução de bosques de pinus, o Pontal passou por uma drástica alteração nos seus padrões eólicos de transporte e acumulação de areia. Este fato levou a área a uma nova dinâmica eólica e, por sua vez, morfológica. Neste estudo passamos a avaliar as conseqüências deste novo cenário. Para tal, monitoramos durante aproximadamente um ano (05.06.02 a 04.06.03) os parâmetros climáticos, bem como algumas dunas da área. A partir daí detectou-se a existência de quatro processos atuantes no ambiente: translado, bloqueio, captura e carreamento, sendo que os três últimos passaram a dominar o modelado do ambiente pós-pinus. A atuação desta nova dinâmica causou profundas alterações ao Pontal, como o desaparecimento de banhados e a descaracterização do sistema dunário.

Contribuição do design thinking para o processo de inovação de produtos

Este trabalho visa identificar práticas de design thinking (DT), isto é, as abordagens características da disciplina do design para criação de inovações, que possam ser incorporadas ao processo de desenvolvimento de novos produtos (DNP). Cinco dessas práticas – abordagem centrada em pessoas, estilo de trabalho colaborativo, pensar fazendo, visualização e combinação de abordagens divergente e convergente – foram analisadas por meio do estudo de caso em profundidade de três empresas polares: um escritório profissional de design, uma empresa de produtos para cuidados pessoais e um fabricante de ferramentas profissionais. A discussão teórica apoiou-se em autores de DNP e de DT que estudaram a evolução desses campos em gerações de maturidade, trazendo também visões bem recentes que apontam para a relevância das mudanças em curso. Entre os achados da pesquisa, observou-se que o modelo de gestão e a estrutura organizacional – orientada por projetos com times multifuncionais ou por processos com estrutura funcional – tem influência na adoção das práticas de DT. Outro achado, esse menos evidente, mostrou que a forma como a empresa se relaciona com clientes e usuários, guarda semelhança com a forma como trata seus profissionais de DNP. Uma descoberta interessante é a função moderadora do alinhamento de propósitos entre empresa e colaborador, para a adoção dessas práticas. Como contribuição ao campo de estudo, apresenta-se um diagrama de cinco gerações de evolução da oferta de novos produtos (ONP), termo utilizado para incorporar não só os produtos com inovações desenvolvidas e de propriedade da empresa focal, mas também aquelas desenvolvidas pelos próprios usuários e as inovações construídas nas redes sociais e oferecidas pela empresa focal.