Engineering Commons^™

The Effects Of Risk Management Program Implementation On Worker Safety Knowledge, John C. Donnelly

Community & Environmental Health Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the effect of the implementation of a risk management program tool on worker safety knowledge in a composite building material fabrication facility whose workers suffered from an increasingly high injury (incidence) rate in recent years. Risk assessment codes (RACs) and job safety analyses (JSAs) were the primary tools used to introduce workers to the concept of risk. Because employee involvement is a crucial element in JSA development. employee input was frequently solicited throughout JSA development.

The study instrument consisted of a pre-test and post-test survey, to which an experimental and control group were subjected. The instrument was …

A Feasibility Study On The Automation Of Domestic Airline Passenger Customer Service Check-In Procedures For Far Part 121 Carriers, Don Michael Trevor Bennett

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

This study was conducted in an attempt to determine whether airlines can benefit from a fully automated customer service system which will be used by major, Part 121, operators for domestic travel purposes only. The proposed system will be designed to alleviate airport terminals check-in counter congestion and improve customer service personnel effectiveness and efficiency.

Domestic traffic is expected to increase by 50 percent by the year 2004. An Automatic Ticketing and Baggage (ATB) system will allow passengers to process all flight related transactions only once. A self checking-in system allows a passenger to obtain boarding passes and destination bag …

A Computer-Aided Software Engineering (Case) Approach To Business Process Reengineering (Bpr), Faiza I. Khan

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

This thesis addresses the problem of lack of procedures by which managers can identify business processes that would benefit from reengineering and which could be used to guide the BPR activity to its successful conclusion. The purpose of this study is to analyze various Software Engineering (SE) principles to determine whether they could be used to support Business Process Reengineering (BPR) activities either directly or with some modification, and if so, whether available Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE) tools might be applied to BPR in support of managers who wish to implement it. The principles of SE and BPR are discussed …

An Investigation Into Aircraft Availability, Michael S. Kapitzke

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force currently uses an expected value model in the Aircraft Availability Model (AAM) to calculate aircraft availability. However, even with the application of Lean Logistics, the failure-demand rate and the depot repair time are not fixed and the mean value is still used in the model. This research looks at the effect of the magnitude of the variance of the distributions of failure-demand rate and depot repair time. Also, this research evaluates the effect of variable mean failure-demand rates on the variability of aircraft availability. A simulation model was developed which applied the variable failure-demand rates and depot …

An Empirical Investigation Of The Integrated Weapon System Management Concept Of Seamless Processes, Timothy H. Surabian

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigated the way four Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) single manager organizations operationalized the Integrated Weapon System Management (IWSM) concept of "seamless processes." In this thesis, the IWSM concept of "seamless processes" refers to the degree of integration between acquisition and sustainment organizations. Four SPO organizations were involved in six case studies. This research focused on the way "seamless processes" affect the shifting of the organizational "center of gravity" within or between single manager organizations. An interview questionnaire was administered to 13 Product Center managers and 6 Logistics Center managers. The interview questions focused on IWSM in general, …

A Performance Analysis Of The Air Force War Time Lean Logistics Pipeline, Craig S. Gaddis, David A. Haase

Theses and Dissertations

Lean Logistics is an innovative proposal designed to reduce the costs associated with reparable inventory management. The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether a wartime lean logistics pipeline can maintain acceptable aircraft availability rates in response to induced variations of order and ship time (OST) and flying hours for deployed forces. The Dyna-MEIRIC Version 6.4 simulation program was used to evaluate nine different factor-level combinations. The factors, OST and flying hours were varied at three different levels, low, medium, and high. Analysis of the results was accomplished using a two-factor ANOVA. The authors discovered that while increasing OST …

Aligning Demand For Spare Parts With Their Underlying Failure Mode, Steven D. Kephart, Richard C. Roberts

Theses and Dissertations

Current Air Force demand forecasting systems, DO41 and REALM, assume reparable demand is solely flying hour driven. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between demands, flying hours, and number of sorties at the work unit code level and improve reparable demand forecasting. A three phase methodology is used to analyze the demand, flying hour, and sortie relationship. The first phase uses multiple regression to determine a relationship at various work unit code levels. Multiple regression provides limited correlation between demands, flying hours, and sorties. The second phase uses Poisson regression to evaluate the integer, count nature …

An Evaluation Of Cost Metrics Used Within Aeronautical Systems Center, Kevin M. Byrne

Theses and Dissertations

Aeronautical Systems Center (ASC) system program offices rely on cost metrics to acquire information on program effectiveness and organizational improvement. This study was an attempt to determine the effectiveness of ASC’s cost metrics. The effectiveness of the metrics were determined by the desirability of the behaviors which are exhibited when individuals utilize the specific metrics. Using an expert panel to evaluate the metrics, data was collected using the Group Research Laboratory for Logistics located in Armstrong Laboratory at Wright Patterson AFB, OH. Metric diagnostic charts were utilized to arrange the data into a format which would provide effectiveness information. The …

Aggregating Organizational Performance Metrics Using The Analytic Hierarchy Process, Bret L. Indermill

Theses and Dissertations

Measurement provides factual information which is necessary for effective control of business processes. Implementing a Total Quality Management (TQM) philosophy is a common process in many organizations today. The United States Air Force is using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria to measure organizational performance in implementing the Quality Air Force (QAF) initiative. Unfortunately, the Baldrige-based unit self-assessment (USA) process is an inconsistent measure due to its subjectivity, and is also time consuming to use. This study determined that a new USA method based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was not a significant improvement over the existing QAF-USA …

A Comparison Of Consistent Versus Inconsistent Scheduling Rules In A Flow Shop Environment, Nicola Gismondi

Theses and Dissertations

A consistent scheduling rule is one which will ensure a job's priority (relative to all other job's) will remain constant as it moves from queue to queue in a production system. Previous research concerning flow shop priority scheduling rules focused on comparison of either consistent or inconsistent rules. Conversely, this study sought to provide additional insight by comprising consistent and inconsistent rules in a flow shop environment The Air Force uses both types of rules in maintenance and logistics scheduling. Time and money can be saved if the scheduling managers can better understand the effect of consistency on a system. …

A Study Of The Structural Limitation Affecting Implementation Of The Government Performance And Results Act In Air Force Materiel Command Logistics, Darwina M. Liguori

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis provides an in-depth discussion of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993. The GPRA is a new law that mandates strategic management be conducted in all federal government agencies. Soon all federal government agencies will be directed to comply with the requirements of the law and implement strategic management within their organizations. This study selected Air Force Materiel Command Headquarters (AFMC) logistics organizations and subordinate units as the test organization. Interviews were conducted with headquarters AFMC logistics and strategic planning personnel, as well as 88th Logistics Group personnel to evaluate several issues within their organization: (1) …

Tracking Air Force Pallets Using Rfid Technology: A Concept Study, Gary A. Gross

Theses and Dissertations

The lack of asset visibility experienced at Aerial Ports of Embarkation (APOEs) during Operation Desert Storm is a phenomenon that has occurred in every major conflict for the last 40 years. The costs associated with this lack of control directly relate to the combat readiness and capability of supported units. This study examined the possibility of installing a Radio Frequency Identification (RF-ID) system to track Department of Defense 463L pallets worldwide. Performance characteristics of commercially available RF-ID systems were summarized, and a conceptual Air Mobility Command (AMC) tracking system was presented. For purposes of concept study, Amtech Corporation's Intellitag RT …

The Effect Of Consolidating Two-Level Reparable Inventories On Aggregate Inventory Requirements And Mission Capability, Glenn R. Barney

Theses and Dissertations

One of the proposals of Lean Logistics is the relocation of many inventory assets to Intermediate Supply Points (ISPs). This research investigates the effect of consolidating Two Level Maintenance designated reparable asset inventories. The effects of interest are the potential reduction in aggregate inventory requirement and resulting savings and the effect of delayed issue of the assets on mission capability. The metric selected to measure the effect on mission capability for this study is the Not Mission Capable-Supply (NMCS) rate. A spreadsheet analysis of world-wide Two-Level Maintenance designated reparable asset demands over the study period is used to determine the …

Just In Time Manufacturing: A Migration From Materials Requirements Planning, Scott A. Koehler

Theses and Dissertations

Manufacturing planning and control systems play an important role in an organization's effectiveness. Over the past twenty to thirty years, U.S. manufacturing companies have faced increasing competition for market share from Japanese and other Pacific rim countries. This thesis will investigate the evolutionary path followed by manufacturing companies that have implemented various manufacturing planning and control systems. Specifically, Materials Requirements Planning (MRP) and Just In Time (JIT) production will be analyzed. MRP is a means of convening demand for the final product into a requirements schedule for the various components comprising that product. The JIT philosophy calls for continuously improving …

Understanding Collaborative Writing Of Technical Proposals With A Process/Product Model, Frank Joseph Greco

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Group work creates concerns with respect to performance, collaboration, and conflict management. Writing technical proposals creates appropriate settings for gaining insight into work group efficiencies and project conflict. The research involved different work groups preparing responses to Federal Government solicitations. A proposed Process/Product model was applied to create a new framework and perception of the technical proposal development effort. There exists a rich dialectic between the forces of Process, (how the effort is accomplished), and, Product, (what the effort will produce.) The investigation attempted to learn if the P/P model provides explanations for project conflict during technical collaborative writing.

The …

A Methodology To Generate Air Force Materiel Command Manpower Reduction Alternatives, Steven T. Bishop

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to generate manpower authorization reduction alternatives for Air Force Materiel Command. The advent of low-cost personal computer software applications, such as Excel, has created an assessable tool with the ability to solve linear programming problems. This research examines the manpower resource reduction process of Air Force Materiel Command and models the Resources Allocation - Integrated Process Team (RA-IPT) decision process. A linear programming model is developed to assign these reduction through a weighted sum. The linear programming model is developed as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet model, the Exercise Support Program (ESP), using Visual Basic …