Michał Zasadzień

Improvement of Selected Logistics Processes Using Quality Engineering Tools

Abstract Increase in the number of orders, the increasing quality requirements and the speed of order preparation require implementation of new solutions and improvement of logistics processes. Any disruption that occurs during execution of an order often leads to customer dissatisfaction, as well as loss of his/her confidence. The article presents a case study of the use of quality engineering methods and tools to improve the e-commerce logistic process. This made it possible to identify and prioritize key issues, identify their causes, and formulate improvement and prevention measures.

INNOVATIVE APPLICATION OF QUALITY MANAGEMENT TOOLS IN A HARD COAL MINE

Hard coal mines in Poland are more and more frequently implementing quality management systems, which obliges them to apply the principle of continuous improvement of both major and ancillary processes. Continuous improvement in an organisation can be implemented by means of a number of quality management methods and tools, which increase the effectiveness of processes in an organisation. However, in Polish hard coal mines the tools of quality management are very seldom used. The authors of the article want to show the possibility of using selected quality management methods in a hard coal mine, which are innovative for this enterprise and introduce a new quality of the processes. One of the major ancillary processes in a hard coal mine is maintenance. The effectiveness of this process depends on many factors, such as: keeping the technical equipment always ready, effective removal of failures and reducing the duration of downtimes caused by failures to minimum. The priority of the maintenance process is to keep the machines and equipment included in the mining system ready for production. High readiness can be maintained among others by shortening the time of failure removal. This is all the more important that the mining line is a serial system of machines - a failure of one machine prevents other machines from working. For this reason, implementation of a selected method of quality management will be proposed in this article to improve the effectiveness of the maintenance process in a hard coal mine. This will allow identifying the major causes of prolonged downtimes and finding an optimal solution to this problem.

The Hidden Factors of Public Administration in Poland

Public sector has a great importance for the contemporary society. It is the quality of provided services that is becoming more and more significant in its functioning. The main aim of public institutions is to serve the local society and provide services at the highest level. The authors of this article have surveyed the quality level of service provided by the Municipal Councils in Silesian voivodeship. The analysis was conducted on the basis of research done by means of questionnaire based on the Servqual methodology. Twenty eight variables were included within the scope of the research. The aim of the paper was to conduct an extrapolation analysis of hidden factors of 28 attributes of service quality in public administration. On the basis of the hidden factors analysis attributes were divided into five factors. On the basis of the research, it can be observed that when studying service quality by means of Servqual method, a classical division of variables in Servqual method into five areas can be unquestioningly followed. It should be remembered that this division was created for financial services and it does not have to be right for other service sectors.

Statistical Process Control as a Failure Removal Improvement Tool

Abstract Continuous improvement should be a part of the strategy of every modern company that wishes to meet the requirements posed by the demanding, competitive market. The article presents a concept of applying a tool known from quality engineering, i.e. Shewhart control charts, for the improvement of the maintenance process in a small company providing services for the agricultural and construction industries. The improvement of the process included the reducing of the downtime of belt conveyors due to failures. Using control charts allowed the detection of interferences in the process and defining of their nature. Using other tools such as 5 WHY allowed the identification of the root causes of overly long downtimes and, consequently, formulation and implementation of improvements and preventive measures that were optimal for the organisation. The verification of actions taken has shown their positive impact on the process, which was reflected in the shortening of downtime and, subsequently, streamlining the failure removal process. The paper presents a possibility and validity of utilising quality engineering tools, such as Shewhart’s charts, 5 WHY or Ishikawa diagram, for improving the maintenance processes.

Application of the Six Sigma Method for Improving Maintenance Processes – Case Study

The article presents an implementation attempt of the DMAIC method used in the Six Sigma concept for the improvement of production processes connected with maintenance. Thanks to the tools included therein (process map, FMEA, SIPOC chart) we were able to define the: problem, i.e. which types of breakdowns cause the most machine stoppage; precise structure of the failure removal process and its needs, owners, resources, client-supplier relationships in particular sub-processes; source causes for overly long stoppages. Learning the process and the causes of malfunctions allowed us to develop improvement procedures aimed at minimising the fault removal times. The procedures developed have been implemented in the company alongside a control plan, which will ensure supervision and their efficient functioning in the future.

A Concept of an IT Tool for Supporting Knowledge Transfer Among Facility Maintenance Employees as Part of Intelligent Organization

The article presents a concept of an IT tool, supporting knowledge transfer among people working in a facility maintenance department. The developed assumptions of the tool are a continuation of the previously conducted investigations into the current status and expectations regarding the transfer of knowledge among the employees of such a department in an international enterprise producing pre–insulated steel pipes. The presented concept includes a description of the functionality and a data structure which enables ensuring this functionality. The tool’s functionality has been presented by means of use case diagrams. Particular cases have been characterized in detail in scenarios presented in tables. To increase the clarity of the description in the study, also systems of windows used to present the scenarios have been shown. The data structure which allows obtaining the pre–defined functionality of the tool has been presented by means of a model compliant with IDEF1x.