International Journal of Quality Engineering and Technology (5 papers in press)

Regular Issues

• Strategies for Failure Prevention in a Gas Motor of Launch Vehicle Control Actuation System  
  by Murugesan V., Sreejith P.S, Sajiv V, Anilkumar A.K 
  Abstract: Hydraulic servo actuators are employed for the thrust vector control of the liquid engines. Vane type gas motor, the prime mover of the system, is a critical subsystem with intricate dynamic elements such as rotor, bearings, vanes and speed regulator. Failure prevention of such critical systems, which is of paramount importance to the success of a launch vehicle mission, depends on making the design robust and ensuring that the critical parameters of the system hardware are within the specified range to give optimal performance. This paper addresses the strategies for achieving the design robustness through severe environmental stress testing and realisation of system hardware complying with quality requirements, which are essential for failure prevention. Towards this, critical environments for the gas motor have been identified and testing extended much beyond the system qualification levels, inducing failures. The test observations and data are analysed critically and design modifications made for broadening the operating environments. The quality systems and procedures for the system hardware are strengthened to assure reliable performance of the gas motor.
  Keywords: Gas motor; Thermal Regulator; Actuator; Failure prevention; Environments; Design robustness; Quality system; Functional Critical Dimension (FCD); Critical Functional Parameter (CFP).
  
  
• A Hybrid NSGA-II-DEA Method for the Economic-Statistical Design of the C-Control Charts with Multiple Assignable Causes  
  by Mostafa Zandieh, Amir Hossein Hosseinian, Reza Derakhshani 
  Abstract: In this paper, we reviewed a considerable number of studies on the economic, statistical and economic-statistical design of control charts. The outcome shows that the attribute control charts have not been studied deeply in comparison with the variable control charts. Therefore, in this study, a multi-objective model for the economic-statistical design of the C control charts is first presented. The proposed model considers that multiple assignable causes can occur during the production process. The proposed model is called the C-MOESDWM which to the best of the authors knowledge has not been studied in the literature yet. Then, a hybrid meta-heuristic algorithm is developed to solve the model. The proposed algorithm consists of an improved version of the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) and the data envelopment analysis (DEA) which is called the IM-NSGA-II-DEA. For the proposed algorithm, new crossover and mutation operators based on the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) have been designed. These operators always generate feasible solutions for the C-MOESDWM and give higher opportunities for the best ranked solutions so as to generate offspring for the next generation. After obtaining the non-dominated solutions, the DEA is employed to find the efficient ones. The performance of the IM-NSGA-II is evaluated in comparison with the classical NSGA-II and NRGA. All algorithms are tuned by means of the Taguchi method. The results of numerical experiments imply that the proposed method is superior to other algorithms in terms of objective function values and several well-known multi-objective metrics.
  Keywords: Economic-statistical design; Meta-heuristics; DEA; Multiple assignable causes.
  
  
• Quality Insight: Data Quality is a Requirement for Product Quality  
  by Adedeji Badiru 
  Abstract: In business and industry, the focus is often solely on product quality. This is okay, provided we recognize the multitude of other factors that can imping on product quality. The premise of this article is that product quality is a function of data quality. As such, data quality is a requirement for product quality. This article presently a combination of the qualitative and quantitative framework for enhancing product quality on the basis of assessing the quality of the input data.
  Keywords: Data; Data Quality; Product Quality,.
  
  
• An application of fuzzy optimization methodology for simultaneous optimization of continuous and categorical characteristics
  by Boby John, Pooja Mansharamani 
  Abstract: Many modern processes have to satisfy customer requirements on more than one output characteristics. The process engineers need to execute the process with an optimum setting which would simultaneously meet the requirements on multiple response variables. This can be achieved by using a simultaneous optimization of multiple characteristics methodology. A lot of research has been carried out in the field of simultaneous optimization of characteristics. Most of this research focuses on optimizing multiple continuous characteristics only. This paper is a case study on the simultaneous optimization of continuous and categorical characteristics. The sprint productivity and defect proneness of the agile software development process is simultaneously optimized using fuzzy optimization approach. The optimum obtained by the suggested methodology is superior to the ones obtained by optimizing the responses separately. Even though the case study is on optimizing only two characteristics, the methodology can be generalized to optimize many characteristics simultaneously
  Keywords: Simultaneous optimization of multiple characteristics; fuzzy optimization methodology; sprint productivity; defect proneness; agile software development process
  
  
• SCALE DEVELOPMENT OF CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR QUALITY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES: Evidence from Indian Manufacturing SMEs
  by Rashmi Srinivas, D R Swamy, T S Nanjundeswaraswamy 
  Abstract: In developing countries like India, the level of awareness about Quality Management Practices (QMP) in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) context has increased in recent times. The purpose of the study was to develop and validate a QMP scale that could be used in Indian manufacturing SMEs. The QMP factors were identified through Pareto analysis and QMP scale was developed. The scale was administered to 750 SMEs of which only 514 responded with response rate of 68.5%. The Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) coupled with Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were applied to extract the latent factors and for validation of the same. Further Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was deployed for determining the interrelationships of extracted factors. The reliability test value and KMO sample adequacy for QMP was found to be 0.875 and 0.874 respectively. The CFA resulted in seven QMP factors with value of R = 0.50 to 0.81 and R-squared values in the range of 0.23 - 0.66 representing the percentage variation in the 35 items. This study attempts to develop a reliable and valid scale of QMP for Indian manufacturing SMEs. Additionally, the study contributes to QMP literature, by bestowing empirical data on QMP factors which are more appropriate for manufacturing SMEs in India by validating using SEM. This study is limited to Indian manufacturing SMEs context; however the research outcomes may be applicable even for general manufacturing firms as well. The validated scale was tested by considering the responses gathered from Indian manufacturing SMEs. Further it can be tested in different context and in other developing countries to examine if it is applicable for diverse work culture with larger sample size. The study results would encourage researchers and quality practitioners to pay attention towards further research in this domain more empirical studies. Future studies in this area should be focused on investigating the compatibility of identified practices in improving SMEs performance.rnrn
  Keywords: Quality Management Practices, Small and Medium Enterprises, Scale development, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Structural Equation Modeling