Measurements performance

Reliable suppliers can have a long-term supply chain arrangement with the company, and this can improve customer relationships. Internal benefits are lower inventory cost, better productivity, and enabling attention to more important tasks like safety and quality. 

They can help build a better image, reputation, and relationship with customer. 

The famous saying, We can t manage what we can t measttre , has a resonance in many organizations. Failure may originate from a lack of or ineffective 

In this sense, it is fair to say that uncertainty not only affects projects at startup, when predictions are typically hard to make, but also during other phases, when changes are constantly required, when it is necessary to consider different alternatives and when massive cooperation and exchange of information occurs with other actors. A high level of uncertainty generates risks at all project stages, in terms of both upside risks (opportunities) and downside risks. 

In processes, risks can be revealed in many different ways (e.g., business disruptions deviations from stated service or production standards and obstacles to the achievement of the goals of the organization and the supply chain as a whole). 

Proposition 4 Organizations that view risk management as an activity that overlaps with all processes and projects may be able to mitigate the negative effect of risks on objectives and boost success and profit. 

These four propositions are summarised in Fig. 5.2. They might influence the definition of the appropriate risk assessment method. Particularly, the propositions 1 and 2 might be the starting point for the definition and prioritization of the primaiy objectives, according to the perceptions and evaluations of managers. The propositions 3 and 4 might be the starting point for the selection of the areas where risks should be measmed. 

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In practice, it is nontrivial to manually select the parameter values to obtain successful results. Moreover, it is not obvious how to measure the quality of the results. Therefore, a well defined performance measure and an efficient parameter optimization method are desired. 

One approach to a mathematically well defined performance measure is to interpret the amplitude values of a processed signal as realizations of a stochastic variable x which can take a discrete number of values with probabilities P , n = 1,2,..., N. Briefly motivated in the introduction, then an interesting quality measure is the entropy H x) of the amplitude distribu-... 

In the experiments, the probabilities were estimated from the processed signal by means of a histogram. It is well known that the entropy is large for nearly uniform distributions and small for distributions with few peaks. Thus it is an interesting candidate as a performance measure when the goal is to process a signal to become more easily interpreted. 

By means of the performance measure H x) described above, systematic and iterative search for good parameter values can be performed. In this work, one systematic and two iterative search methods were explored. 

In the near future the technique will be further evaluated using ultrasonic signals from natural defects, e.g., fatigue cracks. The performance measure and the parameter optimization procedure wilt also be refined in order to obtain a computationally efficient implementation, easy to use for a trained operator. 

In order to provide measuring of cracks depth on complicated profile areas there is a special function in the device. The function makes it possible to perform measurements by studying on a samples with defects of the measured depth. 

Production Controls The nature of the produc tion control logic differs greatly between continuous and batch plants. A good example of produc tion control in a continuous process is refineiy optimization. From the assay of the incoming crude oil, the values of the various possible refined products, the contractual commitments to dehver certain products, the performance measures of the various units within a refinery, and the hke, it is possible to determine the mix of produc ts that optimizes the economic return from processing this crude. The solution of this problem involves many relationships and constraints and is solved with techniques such as linear programming. 

Static performance measurements related to positioner/ac tuator operation are conformity, measured accuracy, hysteresis, dead baud, repeatability, and locked stem-pressure gain. Definitions and standardized test procedures for determining these measurements can be found in ISA-S75.13-1989, Method of Evaluating the Performance of Positioners with Analog Input Signals and Pneumatic Output . 

CCPS G-55. Guidelines for Performance Measures for Continuous Improvement of Process Safety Management Systems. American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Center for Chemical Process Safety, New York. 

Although not as informative as past performance measures or hard evidence of good programs, the existence of a company policy stating a candidate toller s commitment to health, safety and environmental responsibility should be determined. These policies, typically signed and displayed prominently in the facility, help ensure management and company executives are fully aware of their commitment to workers and the public. 

Frank, K., Armor-Penetrator Performance Measures, US Army Ballistic Research Laboratory Memorandum Report No. ARBRL-MR-03097, Arberdeen Proving Ground, MD, 30 pp., March 1981. 

Figure 1.4.1 Pressure drop calibration and pump performance measurement. ...

The case studies that follow have mainly come from live product development projects in industry. Whilst not all case studies require the methodology to predict an absolute capability, a common way of applying CA is by evaluating and comparing a number of design schemes and selecting the one with the most acceptable performance measure, either estimated Cp, assembly risk or failure cost. In some cases, commercial confidence precludes the inclusion of detailed drawings of the components used in the analyses. CA has been used in industry in a number of different ways. Some of these are discussed below ... 

For applied work, an optical characterization technique should be as simple, rapid, and informative as possible. Other valuable aspects are the ability to perform measurements in a contactless manner at (or even above) room temperature. Modulation Spectroscopy is one of the most usehil techniques for studying the optical proponents of the bulk (semiconductors or metals) and surface (semiconductors) of technologically important materials. It is relatively simple, inexpensive, compact, and easy to use. Although photoluminescence is the most widely used technique for characterizing bulk and thin-film semiconductors. Modulation Spectroscopy is gainii in popularity as new applications are found and the database is increased. There are about 100 laboratories (university, industry, and government) around the world that use Modulation Spectroscopy for semiconductor characterization. 

Many different measures of local ventilation performance exist. These measures can be divided into three main categories capture velocities, capture efficiencies, and containment efficiencies. Table 10.1 shows the connections between hood types and different efficiency measurements. Section 10.5 describes procedures for measuring each of these performance measures. 

For supply inlets in rooms some performance measurements exist, such as air exchange and ventilation efficiencies (see Chapter 8). It is usually not possible to use these for local ventilation supply inlets, and for the moment there are no specific measurements to evaluate the influence of an inlet on contaminants. Some trials with comparison indices, which compare inhaled concentrations (or exposures) with and without a supply inlet, have been done. 

Perform measurement system studies on each measurement system and bring the system under statistical control. 

Don t bring devices under control of the measurement system if they are not used in performing measurements. 

In the present case the state variables are most conveniently chosen as crystal size, moments of the distribution and solution concentration (which, as shown above, give rise to ordinary rather than partial differential equations, equations 7.14-7.18) while the control is solution temperature. The performance measure adopted is to maximize the terminal size of the S-crystals (i.e. those originating as added seeds those from nuclei being A -crystals )... 

Keep the presentation focused on the integration project do not be drawn into discussions on particular strengths or weaknesses of the existing systems. If possible, illustrate expected improvements using existing measures of performance. Where performance measures do not exist, propose them, and propose to define the existing level of performance in order to measure future improvement. 

The assessment should also seek out systems for measuring performance. Remember that there is a need to measure both PSM and ESH performance, as well as the effectiveness of the processes in place. It is likely that at least some PSM and ESH performance measures will be in place, such as injury rates, number of incident investigations, regulatory infractions and insurance premiums. Your questions should probe for issues that managers track, but perhaps only informally, that could provide new measures of performance. 

Measurement of performance. Quality Management requires that measures of performance be established for every activity. These measures include end-of-pipe measurement, such as amounts of material released into the environment or injury rates, and in-process measures of how efficiently you are managing, such as time to review safety improvement proposals or total resources expended on PSM. Each team should be required to identify potential performance measures for the processes they are developing and the activities these processes manage. Many of the end-of-pipe measures will already exist these should be critically examined to ensure that they truly measure performance and are not unduly influenced by other factors. For example, the number of accidents in a fleet of road vehicles is almost directly dependent on the number of miles driven with no improvement in performance, a reduction in miles driven would reduce the number of accidents. 

CCPS has developed guidelines for the measurement of PSM performance that provide useful ideas on measurement. Their approach for developing performance measures integrates Quality Management with a well-tested methodology for developing measures based on mathematical algorithms derived from expert assessment of system performance. The purpose was to identify well-defined, measurable, and practical indicators of performance that are updated on a schedule which makes the performance measure continuously useful. To date, measures have been developed for... 

Measuring waste generated and released. Virtually every environmental issue is related to the generation of waste. Therefore, quantities of waste generated over time are good environmental performance measures. 

Stephen Poltorzycki, Environmental Performance Measurement, Arthur D. Little, Ine. Perspectives Series, 1992. 

Some measures of PSM and ESH performance are easy to identify, establish and track. These include accident rates, effluent tonnages and composition and number of days lost to illness. Almost all of these traditional performance measures are end-of-pipe that is, they measure the output of the management system and allow corrective action only after a failure has occurred. The ideal measurement system identifies potential problems ahead of actual failure allowing corrective action to be taken. This requires using techniques such as audits and hazard assessments. 

Exhibit 7-1. Possible Performance Measures for the Integrated System... 

Undoubtedly there will already be several established performance measures some of these may be replaced with new measures. It can be important to continue these established measures, at least for a short time. This is because most people will be familiar with these measures and may need time to become comfortable with any new measures. 

Exhibit 7-1 listed a number of possible performance measures. Some of these are commonly used and need no explanation others may be unfamiliar and are described in more detail below. The direction of goodness is not the same for all measurements, so use care in interpreting trends. For some measures, repetitive findings are a particular concern. 

At this point the VP, ESH and his set of integration teams worked to develop the performance measures that would be used to assess both the success of the overall integration effort and Quality Chemical Company s performance in the areas of ESH and PSM. Some of the measures specific to documentation systems were ... 

There are numerous other CCPS publications that may be helpful in your integration effort. In particular, the selection of measures to monitor the effectiveness of your integration effort and identify continuous improvement opportunities can be enhanced through the use of the results of a CCPS research and development effort to develop performance measures for CCPS s 12 process safety elements. These results will be described in the CCPS Guidelines for Developing Performance Measures for Continuous Improvement of Process Safety Management (scheduled for publication in... 

Finally, there is active interest in developing catalyst systems, both ballistic and polymerization, that would promote combustion stability at high pressures (especially in metal-free systems for smokeless applications) and allow processing lattitude for relatively large motors. The ferric-based systems currently being used fall short of these performance measures. Compounds that form complex structures with the metal chelate to reduce its activity to acceptable levels seem to be most promising. Interestingly, the use of an antibiotic has been cited in this context [19],... 

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