Product innovation in a medium size mature manufacturing company

This thesis is concerned with the management of product innovation inside the medium size, mature, manufacturing company. An academic perspective of innovation is integrated with an account of direct participation acquired over a two year period. The emergent synthesis provides fresh insight into some of the problems associated with producing and sustaining innovation. Product innovation is a very complex activity, and it presents particular difficulties for mature industry. However, the ability to innovate is fundamental to a company's continued survival. Three aspects of product innovation are examined in detail. Firstly, is the requirement to separate innovation activity from the on-going business interests; dependency between the degree of separation and novelty is supported. Secondly, a simple sequential model of the innovation process is tested and shown to be of considerable practical value. Thirdly a relationship is established between the age of the recipient market and the type of innovation to be found in that market All three aspects are found to have important implications for management in their pursuit of innovation. Management deficiencies which inhibited the successful resolution of innovation-linked problems are described and solutions which stress the need for commitment and coherency are proposed. The long existing management structure in the mature company which mitigates against successful and continuing innovation are examined in detail and a strategy is evolved which uses the intrinsic strengths of the mature company to promote innovation of a kind compatible with success in the market. A set of guidelines of practical value is presented for those managers wishing to pursue, and sustain, product innovation in the medium size mature company.

Challenges of product-service systems:a real-life case study

A Product-Service System (PSS) is an integrated product and service offering that delivers value in use. This paper presents a real-life case study of a large company which has moved towards PSS. A research protocol has been created to conduct an extensive series of interviews with key personnel within the case study company. The results of the study and implications for research are explored.

Análise comparativa de diferentes configurações de poços no processo de combustão in-situ

With an increasing number of mature fields, heavy oil recovery has performed one of the great challenges of the oil industry. The Brazilian Northeast, for example, has numerous heavy oil reservoirs are explored with the use of thermal methods. Among the types of methods used for heavy oil, there is the method of in-situ combustion, a technique in which heat is produced within the container, unlike the injection of heated fluid when the heat is generated at the surface and transported to the reservoir. In this type of process, it is common to use vertical wells as injectors and producers. However, methods which use horizontal wells like oil producers are increasingly studied because of greater contact area between the formation and combustion front. Thus, the main objective of this work was to study the different configurations of wells (CIS THAITM and CAGD) in the process of in-situ combustion in oil recovery using a semi-synthetic tank with Brazilian Northeast features. The method "toe-to-heel air injection" (THAITM) is a process of enhanced oil recovery, which is the integration of in-situ combustion with technological advances in drilling horizontal wells. This method uses horizontal wells such as oil producers, keeping vertical injection wells for injecting air. The oil drain process by differential gravitational assisted with combustion (CAGD) is an integrated, in this configuration the horizontal injector well is drilled at the top formation with a horizontal production well in the lower section. The simulations were performed in a commercial program of thermal processes, called "STARS" (Steam, Thermal, and Advanced Processes Reservoir Simulator), the company CMG (Computer Modelling Group). An analysis of the air flow injection was performed and it was found that each method had a maximum injection to the base model, a show that through this air injection limit was reduced cumulative production of oil. Analyses of operating parameters were used: injection flow, configuration and completion of wells. In the sensitivity analysis we found that the air injection flow showed greater influence on THAI method, since the CIS method the completion of the wells was the most influential parameter and CAGD configuration wells showed the greatest influence in the recovered fraction. The economic results have shown that the best case obtained in CAGD method because, despite having higher initial cost showed the best financial return compared to the best cases the CIS and THAI.

Análise comparativa de diferentes configurações de poços no processo de combustão in-situ

With an increasing number of mature fields, heavy oil recovery has performed one of the great challenges of the oil industry. The Brazilian Northeast, for example, has numerous heavy oil reservoirs are explored with the use of thermal methods. Among the types of methods used for heavy oil, there is the method of in-situ combustion, a technique in which heat is produced within the container, unlike the injection of heated fluid when the heat is generated at the surface and transported to the reservoir. In this type of process, it is common to use vertical wells as injectors and producers. However, methods which use horizontal wells like oil producers are increasingly studied because of greater contact area between the formation and combustion front. Thus, the main objective of this work was to study the different configurations of wells (CIS THAITM and CAGD) in the process of in-situ combustion in oil recovery using a semi-synthetic tank with Brazilian Northeast features. The method "toe-to-heel air injection" (THAITM) is a process of enhanced oil recovery, which is the integration of in-situ combustion with technological advances in drilling horizontal wells. This method uses horizontal wells such as oil producers, keeping vertical injection wells for injecting air. The oil drain process by differential gravitational assisted with combustion (CAGD) is an integrated, in this configuration the horizontal injector well is drilled at the top formation with a horizontal production well in the lower section. The simulations were performed in a commercial program of thermal processes, called "STARS" (Steam, Thermal, and Advanced Processes Reservoir Simulator), the company CMG (Computer Modelling Group). An analysis of the air flow injection was performed and it was found that each method had a maximum injection to the base model, a show that through this air injection limit was reduced cumulative production of oil. Analyses of operating parameters were used: injection flow, configuration and completion of wells. In the sensitivity analysis we found that the air injection flow showed greater influence on THAI method, since the CIS method the completion of the wells was the most influential parameter and CAGD configuration wells showed the greatest influence in the recovered fraction. The economic results have shown that the best case obtained in CAGD method because, despite having higher initial cost showed the best financial return compared to the best cases the CIS and THAI.

Het effect van formele en informele feedback op het innovatievermogen van organisaties

Little attention in literature so far has been given to the impact of feedback on organizational development and change. As well as the impact of feedback on the innovation power of organizations. The capacity of innovation of organizations however may be seen as a crucial capacity of organizations to survive in competitive markets. Prior studies towards the impacts of feedback have more often analyzed formal and informal feedback separately, other than analyzing them together in one study. This master thesis develops and explores a model to assess the possible impact of both formal and informal feedback on the capacity of innovation within organizations. The master thesis is the closing assignment of a Master Study Management at the Open Universiteit Nederland. The general question of the single-case study is: What is the impact of formal and informal feedback on the capacity of innovation of companies? The explored model in the study is a combination of the model of Lawson and Samson (2001) about the capacity of innovation and the framework model of Pitkänen and Lukka (2011) about formal and informal feedback. The single-case study is performed at Yellowbrick, a Dutch company which offers consumers an online parking service, suitable for the use on smartphones. The single-case study is performed twofold by semi-structured interviews and a survey. Although conclusions may not be generalized, because of the limitations of the study and the particularly small investigated group, some findings may be suitable for further investigation. In the study was found that feedback has an impact on the capacity of innovation. Formal feedback scored higher than informal feedback when asked about the impact on the capacity of innovation. The study also found multiple ‘new’ kinds of feedback used by organizations, other than the more ‘traditional’ forms of feedback, such as team meetings and bilateral meetings. Further on was analyzed that when employees find themselves more involved in the process of an innovation, they also seem to score the organization higher on the capacity of this innovation.

Metodologias de planeamento e gestão da produção na indústria metalúrgica

O presente trabalho propõe demonstrar como o sistema PHC Manufactor se adequa à empresa em estudo, Ciclo Fapril, apresentando as opções de planeamento que este oferece, as dificuldades com que a empresa se irá deparar e, quando possível, o que fazer para ultrapassar as adversidades colocadas pelo sistema. Numa segunda parte são estudadas algumas heurísticas, nomeadamente FIFO, Tempo de Processamento, EDD, MOR e LOR, para se perceber qual a que melhor se adapta à empresa, de forma a poder cumprir com os prazos acordados. Posteriormente utilizou-se a heurística com melhores resultados e fez-se algumas alterações aos tempos de processamento dos centros de trabalho para melhorar a sua capacidade de resposta aos pedidos. No Final deste estudo percebeuse que o planeamento por EDD era o que melhor se adaptava a empresa. Percebeu-se ainda que os centros de trabalho AS e AT são os que têm menor produtividade e por este motivo se deveria aumentar a sua produtividade, de forma a aumentar a produtividade global.

Impacto da comunicação empresarial na atração dos colaboradores : TalenterTM, um estudo de caso

Dissertação de Mestrado, Ciências Económicas e Empresariais, 12 de Julho de 2016, Universidade dos Açores.

Use of ordinal outcomes in vascular prevention trials: comparison with binary outcomes in published trials

Background and Purpose—Vascular prevention trials mostly count “yes/no” (binary) outcome events, eg, stroke/no stroke. Analysis of ordered categorical vascular events (eg, fatal stroke/nonfatal stroke/no stroke) is clinically relevant and could be more powerful statistically. Although this is not a novel idea in the statistical community, ordinal outcomes have not been applied to stroke prevention trials in the past. Methods—Summary data on stroke, myocardial infarction, combined vascular events, and bleeding were obtained by treatment group from published vascular prevention trials. Data were analyzed using 10 statistical approaches which allow comparison of 2 ordinal or binary treatment groups. The results for each statistical test for each trial were then compared using Friedman 2-way analysis of variance with multiple comparison procedures. Results—Across 85 trials (335 305 subjects) the test results differed substantially so that approaches which used the ordinal nature of stroke events (fatal/nonfatal/no stroke) were more efficient than those which combined the data to form 2 groups (P0.0001). The most efficient tests were bootstrapping the difference in mean rank, Mann–Whitney U test, and ordinal logistic regression; 4- and 5-level data were more efficient still. Similar findings were obtained for myocardial infarction, combined vascular outcomes, and bleeding. The findings were consistent across different types, designs and sizes of trial, and for the different types of intervention. Conclusions—When analyzing vascular events from prevention trials, statistical tests which use ordered categorical data are more efficient and are more likely to yield reliable results than binary tests. This approach gives additional information on treatment effects by severity of event and will allow trials to be smaller. (Stroke. 2008;39:000-000.)

Tecnología Nanopore para la secuenciación de DNA

Nanopore-based sequencer will open the path to the fourth-generation DNA sequencing technology. The main differences between this technique and the previous ones are: DNA molecule that will be sequenced does not need a previous amplification step, is not necessary any type of specific label both molecular adaptors, and it has been abolished enzymatic process in the nucleotide sequence identification event. These differences have as result a more economic method since don’t spend the necessary reagents for the previous techniques, furthermore it lets to sequence samples with a low DNA concentration. This technique is based in the use of a membrane with a biologic nanopore inserted in it whereby the molecule to analyze (analyte) it made to pass, this membrane is placed between two reservoirs containing ions, when an external volatage is applied in both sides this lead to an ion current through the nanopore. When an analyte cross the nanopore the ion current is modified, that modification in the amplitude and duration of ion current determine the physical and chemical properties of that analyte. By means of subsequent statistical analyzes it can be determined to what sequence own this ion current blockade patterns. More used nanopores are the biologic ones, although they are working to develop synthetic nanopores. The main biologic nanopores are: α-Hemolysin from Staphylococcus aureus (α-HL), Mycobacterium smegmatis porin A (MspA) and bacteriophage phi29 pore (phi29). Α-HL and MspA have in their narrowest point a diameter similar to nucleotide size, they are functional at high temperature both wide range of pH (2-12) but MspA is able to read four nucleotide at the same time while α- HL just can read one by one. Finally, phi29 present a bigger diameter what let to get information about DNA spatial conformation and their interaction with proteins (Feng et al., 2015). Nowaday Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) is the only company which has developed Nanopore technology; they have two devices available to sequencing (PromethION and MinION). The MinION is a single-use DNA sequencing device with the size of a USB memory with a total of 3000 nanopores that can sequence until 200kb. The PrometheION is big size sequencer that own 48 different cells, what let to sequence different samples at the same time, with a total of 144.000 nanopores and reading of several megabases (https://www.nanoporetech.com/). The high processivity and low cost become this technique in a great option to massive- sequencing.

Use of aromatic and medicinal plants, drugs and herbal products in Bragança city

Herbal therapy is characterized by the use of aromatic and medicinal plants (AMP) in different pharmaceutical forms for therapeutic purposes. The present study aims to characterize the use of AMP, drugs and herbal products in Bragança city. For this, a cross-sectional study was conducted through application of a questionnaire to 404 subjects of both gender and aged between 18 and 89 years. AMP were therapeutically used by 53.7% mainly due “to be natural” (43.9%) while 33.8% use drugs and/ or herbal products mainly “because it is good for health” (53.5%). The AMP most used were Cidreira (n=149) and Camomila (n=117) and concerning drugs and/ or herbal products Valdispert® (n=48) and Daflon® 500 (n=41) were the most reported. Overall, the reported uses of AMP, drugs and herbal products were correct, according to the reported in literature. The use of AMP is motivated by self-knowledge (55.4%) while drugs and/ or herbal products are used mostly by medical prescription (44.1%). AMP were obtained by own cultivation (44.1%) and drug and/ or herbal products in pharmacies (89.0%). Of all users, about 90% not combined these products with conventional drugs and it was identified just one potential occurrence of drug interactions related with the use of Hipericão. The occurrence of adverse effects was noted after the use of AMP Sene (11.8%), Hipericão (9.1%) and Ginkgo Biloba (8.3%). The use of these products is a common practice among the residents of Bragança city, which use a wide diversity of AMP and plant-based products.

Relación entre el uso efectivo de las TIC y las decisiones gerenciales en PYMES

El artículo se basa en los resultados del estudio exploratorio sobre Tecnologias de la Información de Comunicación (TIC) y las decisiones gerenciales en Pequeñas Y Medianas Empresas (PYMES), debido a los bajos factores de permanencia de estas empresas en el mercado como son: la aplicación ineficiente de modelos de comunicación interna y externa, el poco empleo de las TIC implementadas en las mismas, el uso inadecuado de paquetes informáticos y la subutilización de los servicios adicionales que prestan los operadores de internet; Además se logro determinar que al tener poca preparación administrativa el manejo del comportamiento organizacional es inoperante, todo lo anterior repercute en las decisiones gerenciales. Por lo cual, se desarrollo un análisis sobre aspectos gerenciales débiles, especialmente el flujo de la información y el empleo de las TIC, a través de una investigación cualitativa exploratoria que presenta como resultados una serie de posibles gestiones correctas a implementar y estrategias a diseñar para afrontar los Tratados de Libre Comercio (TLC) vigentes en Colombia. Por último, se presentan las ventajas de una eficiente comunicación por medio de medidas operativas e informáticas, mostrando algunas herramientas de gestión que se deben adoptar para mejorar productividad.

Dalla Sintesi di Leganti Polimerici alla Realizzazione di Adesivi da Parquet

This final report is part of a research project by Kerakoll S.P.A aimed to the realization and optimization of hybrid adhesive for the parquet using hybrid polyurethane silanizated (STPU). Hybrid polymers belong to polyurethane polymers which undergo an hybridization process where the classic isocyanate groups are converted into a alkoxysilylether terminated chain. The aim of this thesis was to realize hybrid polymers with specific proprieties compared to the indexes wanted by the company; another goal of this project was to use this polymers STPU to realize adhesive for the parquet which should be competitive in the adhesive market. All activities were carried out in a chemistry laboratory with specific tools for the synthesis of polymers and characterization of the finals products. The study led to two prototypes; the second was obtained thanks to the use of the experimental design procedure known as DOE (Design Of Experiment), a recently acquired approach by the company, which allows the rationalization of the formulas and the creation of a database that can be extended and implemented indefinitely.

O sincretismo de culturas sob a ótica da arquitetura vernácula do imigrante japonês na cidade de Registro, São Paulo

O presente artigo aborda os métodos construtivos empregados pelos imigrantes japoneses que vieram, em 1918, para a cidade de Registro, na região do Vale do Ribeira do Iguape, no estado de São Paulo. A vinda dessa nova frente de imigração foi incentivada pelo Governo do Estado, com o propósito de promover o processo de colonização, bem como de estimular o desenvolvimento econômico do Vale do Ribeira do Iguape por meio da expansão da cultura do café para a região. As características dessa frente de imigração são muito diferenciadas em relação às demais, tendo em vista que os que dela faziam parte chegaram ao Brasil como proprietários de terras e com apoio financeiro e logístico oferecido por uma empresa particular japonesa, responsável por gerenciar o empreendimento. Esses imigrantes, portanto, contaram com auxílio de uma complexa infra-estrutura, cujo objetivo era viabilizar a sua missão de desenvolvimento da região. Mesmo tendo essa particularidade lhes proporcionado a liberdade de recriar sua cultura em solo brasileiro, a realidade do novo habitat forçou-os a reinterpretar seus hábitos culturais ante as novas circunstâncias físicas, econômicas e sociais encontradas. A fim de entender esse processo de adaptação, foi realizado um estudo dos métodos construtivos empregados em suas edificações, baseado nos conhecimentos desses imigrantes sobre sua arquitetura tradicional. Essa análise permitiu examinar o longo processo de sincretismo entre a cultura oriental e o conhecimento construtivo vernáculo dos habitantes do Vale do Ribeira do Iguape.

A comparison of bichromatic beam splitters for atoms

We analyse and compare various aspects of the performance of atomic beam splitters fur two- and three-level atoms, both of which use bichromatic optical fields. We calculate the extent to which spontaneous emission degrades the sharpness of the splitting, and how it might degrade the visibility of an idealised atom interferometer which includes either beam splitting mechanism. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.

Effect of image analysis software on neurofunctional activation during processing of emotional human faces

Functional brain imaging techniques such as functional MRI (fMRI) that allow the in vivo investigation of the human brain have been exponentially employed to address the neurophysiological substrates of emotional processing. Despite the growing number of fMRI studies in the field, when taken separately these individual imaging studies demonstrate contrasting findings and variable pictures, and are unable to definitively characterize the neural networks underlying each specific emotional condition. Different imaging packages, as well as the statistical approaches for image processing and analysis, probably have a detrimental role by increasing the heterogeneity of findings. In particular, it is unclear to what extent the observed neurofunctional response of the brain cortex during emotional processing depends on the fMRI package used in the analysis. In this pilot study, we performed a double analysis of an fMRI dataset using emotional faces. The Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM) version 2.6 (Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology, London, UK) and the XBAM 3.4 (Brain Imaging Analysis Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, UK) programs, which use parametric and non-parametric analysis, respectively, were used to assess our results. Both packages revealed that processing of emotional faces was associated with an increased activation in the brain`s visual areas (occipital, fusiform and lingual gyri), in the cerebellum, in the parietal cortex, in the cingulate cortex (anterior and posterior cingulate), and in the dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. However, blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) response in the temporal regions, insula and putamen was evident in the XBAM analysis but not in the SPM analysis. Overall, SPM and XBAM analyses revealed comparable whole-group brain responses. Further Studies are needed to explore the between-group compatibility of the different imaging packages in other cognitive and emotional processing domains. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.