Integrated Management Systems-Quality, Environment and Safety

Akpolat, Hasan,Xu, Jichao 한국품질경영학회 2002 The Asian Journal on Quality Vol.3 No.1

The implementation of management systems such as the quality, environmental and occupational health and safety management systems to the national and/or international standards ISO 9000, ISO 14000 and AS/NZS 4801 has been well researched and studied in the past. However, since the release of the completely revised quality system standard ISO 9001 in December 2000 (1), there has been only few publications and studies about the integration of these three management systems. This paper discusses not only the methods that can be used for integration of management systems but also gives practical examples of its implementation and benefits to the organisations. It is not the intention of this paper to investigate the similarities and differences of the three standards. However, the above mentioned standards also include some information and references on compatibility, if further study is required.

Six Sigma in Non-Manufacturing Environments

Akpolat, Hasan The Korean Society for Quality Management 2004 The Asian Journal on Quality Vol.5 No.2

Despite the fact that much has been published about Six Sigma in the business and academic press and on the Internet in recent years, there is still confusion among many people, particularly those who work in the transactional and service environments, about the nature of Six Sigma. It is true that Six Sigma like other process improvement programs before was first applied to manufacturing processes; however, many corporations including General Electric and Sony have successfully applied Six Sigma to their transactional and service processes as well. Six Sigma is used by many companies not only to improve the quality of their products and services but also to achieve quantifiable financial results, improve management style and communication, and achieve customer and employee satisfaction. Whether in manufacturing or non-manufacturing environments, the application of Six Sigma differs from organization to organization. Although there are many common elements between these applications, however, special care must be taken when customizing Six Sigma to suit the organizations' needs. In this paper, the author provides some practical and useful guidelines for Six Sigma deployment. This paper is not about the use of numerous statistical tools and techniques that can be found in a typical Six Sigma toolbox. The main emphasis has been placed both on the concept and the implementation of Six Sigma, particularly within the non-manufacturing areas of business.

A Comparative Analysis of the National Innovation Systems of China and Australia

Akpolat, Hasan,Chang, Linzhao The Korean Society for Quality Management 2008 The Asian Journal on Quality Vol.9 No.1

This paper presents the findings of a visiting scholarship research that was carried out at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Australia. Based on the extensive literature review, government databases and international statistics, it introduces an analytical framework for comparison of the national innovation systems (NIS) of China and Australia in regards to their strengths and weaknesses. This is done through individual examination and comparison of functions of typical institutions involved in innovation to reveal the structural characteristics and performances of the two systems. The interactions among these institutions are then analysed to illustrate their dynamics and efficiency. The comparison has shown clearly that China's NIS has several weaknesses and gaps due to its developing and transition stage. There are positive signs that Chinese Government has recognised the nature and scope of the problem and seems to work in the right direction. This paper aims to support this process by providing some recommendations that could help bridge the gaps between the NISs of China and Australia. Due to the fact that both, China's and Australia's NISs, have their unique characteristics but share numerous complementary features, there is a large potential for further cooperation between the two national innovation systems.

A Framework for Systematic Management of Operational Risks

Akpolat, Hasan,Pitinanondha, Thitima The Korean Society for Quality Management 2009 The Asian Journal on Quality Vol.10 No.2

This paper presents a theoretical research framework that was used to analyse operational risk management (ORM) system practices in Australia. It provides a new perspective on how to use national and international operational management system standards as a basis for systematic management of operational risks. Based on the extensive literature review and the analysis of operational risk management system practices that are common in Australian organisations, this paper identifies the critical factors for effective use of an ORM system. The proposed framework could also be used as a model to research ORM system applications in other countries.

Selecting Six Sigma Projects

Akpolat, Hasan,Xu, Jichao 한국품질경영학회 2002 The Asian Journal on Quality Vol.3 No.2

The quality improvement methodology Six Sigma gained enormous international popularity in the past few years, mainly due to its successful implementation at General Electric. Six Sigma is now commonly understood not only as a statistical measure for process performance (60 stands for 3.4 defects per million opportunities) to improve product quality but it has also become a strategic initiative undertaken by many organisations to improve management quality. In the centre of the Six Sigma methodology is the improvement project, often referred to as Black Belt or Green Belt project. Although every business is different and business priorities differ from company to company, however all businesses face the same problem when it comes to Six Sigma projects: How to choose the right project? This article intends to provide some answers to this and other frequently asked questions about Six Sigma projects.

A Framework for Systematic Management of Operational Risks

Hasan Akpolat,Thitima Pitinanondha 한국품질경영학회 2009 The Asian Journal on Quality Vol.10 No.2

Six Sigma in Non-Manufacturing Environments

( Hasan Akpolat ) 한국품질경영학회 2004 The Asian Journal on Quality Vol.5 No.2

The Art of Process Improvement?: A comparative Analysis [1]

( Hasan Akpolat ) 한국품질경영학회 2004 The Asian Journal on Quality Vol.5 No.-

Detection and Control of Variation Source for a Production Unit

Xu, Jichao,Akpolat, Hasan 한국품질경영학회 2003 The Asian Journal on Quality Vol.4 No.1

Variation is the archenemy of quality. To reduce or control the variation in a complex production unit, firstly we need to identify the location of the root cause of the variation. This paper discusses the detection of variability and the techniques used for reduction of variation for a production unit consisting of many processes. In the first part of this paper, the background of variability detection in production systems is introduced which is then followed by a weighted network corresponding to correlation matrix of all processes. Based on the network and clustering criterion of maximum spanning tree, a classification of all processes is derived. Furthermore, the variation of each process in a class is determined by residual analysis. In the last part, the use of methods of robust design for the processes with a larger variability is discussed.

A Multivariate Discriminator for Process Drift

LIU, Yumin,XU, Jichao,Akpolat, Hasan 한국품질경영학회 2002 The Asian Journal on Quality Vol.3 No.1

Multivariate Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (MEWMA) chart is a control chart under multivariate process based on the idea of EWMA that rapidly detects small dispersion with a trend. The MEWMA chart was first time discussed by Woodall. However, in his study the correlativity among the multivariate was not considered for the selection of the constant of the diagonal matrix (the smooth parameter λ). In this paper, the EWMA chart with a generalized smooth parameter matrix has been discussed which is believed to have a better fitness for practical production than Woodall's approach.