International Journal for Quality Research

10

Authors: Dominik Zimon

The aim of this publication was determining the impact of implementation of the ISO 14001 standard requirements on creating sustainable supply chains in the textile industry. The research process included the development of research tools such as questionnaires. Surveys of anonymous nature were sent by e-mail to top management representatives organizations operating in the south-eastern Poland and Slovakia who hold a certified quality management system according to ISO 14001. The research process carried out as well as the analysis of the obtained results allowed to respond to the research questions. As a result it can be stated that the ISO 14001 standard is an instrument that has a noticeable impact on improving the concept of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) in the textile industry.

12

Authors: Matej Babič, Cristiano Fragassa, Grzegorz Lesiuk, Dragan Marinković

In this article, a new method for complexity determination by using fractals in combination with an artificial intelligent approach is proposed and its application in laser hardening technology is detailed. In particular, nanoindentation tests were applied as a way to investigate the hardness properties of tool steel alloys with respect to both marginal and relevant changes in laser hardening parameters. Specifically, process duration and temperature were considered, together with nanoindentation, later related to surface characteristics by image analysis and Hurst exponent determination. Three different Machine Learning algorithms (Random Forest, Support Vector Machine and k-Nearest Neighbors) were used and predictions compared with measures in terms of mean, variability and linear correlation. Evidences confirmed the general applicability of this method, based on integrating fractals for microstructure analysis and machine learning for their deep understanding, in material science and process engineering.

12

Authors: Zuzana Mitalova, Darina Duplakova, Dusan Mital, Juliana Litecka, Velimir Dedic, Enes Sukic

Wood-plastic composites present the specific group of composite materials consisting of plastic matrix and natural reinforcement in meal or fibre form. There are publications which are presented in the scientific databases whose field of investigating is the mechanical and physical properties, the way of manufacturing and chemical composition of WPC materials. However, there is only a small percentage in the field of machining of composite materials with the natural reinforcement. The presented article is focused on the surface topography evaluation of wood plastic composite materials after turning. Parameters of surface roughness were evaluated using the optical contactless method - MicroProf FRT optical profilometer. During the turning process, a trace is formed on the surface profile - in the form of thread with the expected pitch. Surface roughness parameters and conclusions were formulated according to obtained results.

14

Authors: Mohammad Ayed Aloufi

The aim of this review was to examine to what extent the need for nursing specific Clinical Decision Support Systems has been realised in terms of progress in research on this topic, areas of such researches and the findings of these researches. The topic title itself was used as the search term in Google Scholar for different time frames and only papers which have nursing CDSS in their titles were selected. This process yielded 32 papers, which were listed and described briefly. From the listed and described 32 papers, some trends on types of papers and assessment results were tabulated in terms of number of papers in each category and the pertinent references. Three tables were obtained in this manner. The maximum number of papers dealt with evaluation or effects of nursing CDSS. There were nine reviews on the topic spread over time. Seven papers had factors or barriers as their topics. Notably, only one paper dealt with use of mobile devices in nursing CDSS in spite of the fact that use of smart phones is rapidly increasing in every part of life. While 14 papers assessed CDSS positively, seven assessed it negatively. Another seven were neutral in assessment or there was no clear statement on this. Three papers dealt with scope for nursing CDSS, which should prompt more research on this. Reviews were mostly used. There were only two papers which used high quality RCT, The findings of the review are discussed using appropriate arguments and scope for future research has been indicated at each point and listed at the end. Some limitations of this review have also been listed.

14

Authors: André Luis Korzenowski, Wagner Lourenzi Simões, Lucas Schmidt Goecks, Melissa Gerhard, Pablo Fogaça, Rossano Santos Noronha

This study aims to evaluate the economic viability of SPC implementation in an out-of-specification production system in order to find the most sustainable point to change from the 100% inspection to sampling inspection. It can prevent losses with false alarms and, or, excessive inspection. It was a computational simulation study through the application of Duncan's (1956) model for the economic design of control charts. The model was optimized using a simulated annealing algorithm to find the parameters' values - a comparative study realized with a real case and a decision flow chart for SPC implementation provided. The results have several relevant practical implications, since the correct decision concerning the inspection type to be adopted based on the proportion of defective items allows its operation with lower costs, eliminating wastes in unnecessary inspections. The optimization of resources also contributes to focusing efforts on continuous process improvement.

16

Authors: Martin Schadler, homas Teichert, Tim Herzhoff, Sascha Klein, Karl-Armin Brohm

In 2017, around 99.5% of all companies in Germany belonged to the small and medium-sized enterprise category. They generated a turnover of 2.33 trillion euros, corresponding to 35.0% of the total turnover in Germany. SMEs are dependent on gaining a competitive advantage through a wide range of unique selling points and specializations in order to stand out from the competition and ensure their long-term existence in the market. The vast majority of products and innovations are planned, developed, and implemented within a project framework. This paper deals with the questions of which success criteria are particularly important for SMEs, which conditions must be fulfilled, and which monitoring and control measures are necessary to ensure that the project remains on the road to success and has a particularly high probability of being completed successfully. Extensive literature research was conducted in the course of the investigations. Sources by both project management specialists in the working environment and academic publications from project management associations and interest groups were examined.

18

Authors: Mercurius Broto Legowo, Budi Indiarto, Deden Prayitno

The purpose of this research is to develop a unified model of quality assurance system for ISO-certified higher education institutions, by integrating Accreditation of The BAN-PT and ISO 9001:2008. BAN-PT is National Accreditation Board of Higher Education in Indonesia has a standard for quality academic process improvement for higher education institutions. ISO 9001 is a standard for quality management systems. There are two issues need to be resolved when an ISO-certified higher education institutions implement Accreditation of BAN-PT. First, it is not easy to identify reusable ISO clauses and requirements when applying for BAN-PT accreditation. Second, it is difficult for ISO-certified higher education institutions to implement BAN-PT Accreditation directly, due to the differences in language, structure, and detail of these two sets of documents. The results of this study, we present a unified model that solves these two problems and can support to implement the BAN-PT Accreditation.

18

Authors: Salman Althobaiti, Sultan Alharthi, Ali Moosa ALZahrani

The aim of this qualitative systematic review is to review the studies on patient perceptions of nursing care quality. All the papers available in the first five pages of Google Scholar using time frames of any time and 2016-2020 (10 web pages) and 2020 (five web pages) were reviewed. The review found that surveys using many different types of measurement frameworks was the methodology of choice for a majority of works. Among the topics, framework validation, care dimensions and specific problems like AIDS, surgery patients and cancer patients were researched most. Many types of measurement frameworks have been used for measuring patient perceptions of nursing care quality. Factors related to the patient, care environment and nursing were identified by the researchers. Individualised care, communicating the truth, competent and prompt care and response to various personal care needs of the patient, timely attention to urgent calls, safety, avoiding medical errors, empathy and instilling trust and confidence in the patient are important care dimensions. Patient-related dimensions are mainly demographic. They include age, education, occupation, income, marital status and certain behavioural attributes, which are outside the control of hospitals. Nurses may be able to adjust to individual behavioural problems to some extent, but not of all patients all the time. Nursing dimensions like working environment, staff strength, leadership effectiveness, involvement or empowerment for independent decision making, strain and burnout and work-life balance problems affect their care quality at professional level. At their personal level, knowledge, skills, competence and training, positive attitude towards the profession are important determinants. A care quality improvement bundle can be designed by the hospital to facilitate the nurses to improve on these factors. The hospitals need to obtain periodical feedback on the administrative aspects of nursing care from the nurses and make any improvement required to provide the proper working conditions without strain and burnout and facilitating work-life balance.

18

Authors: José Salvador da Motta Reis, Fernanda De Oliveira Silva, Maximilian Espuny, Larah Giffoni Lescura Alexandre, Luís César Ferreira Motta Barbosa, Ana Cláudia Munhoz Bonassa, Amanda Marcondes Faria, Nilo Antonio de Souza Sampaio, Gilberto Santos, Otávio José de Oliveira

With it's rapid contagion, the new coronavirus is spreading more and more around the world. Studies point out that the difficulty in solving this pandemic lies in the lack of identification of those infected for their symptoms, which sometimes do not exist. The objectives of this work are to carry out a bibliometric study, identifying the main countries, authors, journals, institutions and keywords that make up this field of knowledge; analyze the research opportunities in the main articles to identify the main study trends about Covid-19; and check if there is a correlation between the number of publications and the number of infected by Covid-19. Among the main groups identified in the studies, the following stand out: regulation of the wildlife market, detection, prevention, impacts on patients, proposal of vaccines, treatment and Covid-19 cure. One of the main contributions of this study was the transmission of relevant knowledge about Covid-19 with the intention to improve quality of life.

22

Authors: Marek Bugdol, Piotr Jedynak

The article discusses the importance of remuneration systems in organizations using Total Quality Management (TQM) and presents the current state of knowledge regarding the role of remuneration systems in quality improvement. The main objective of this paper is to determine the role played by (rarely researched) bonus systems in the process of motivating employees to improve product and service quality. Firstly, the authors indicate to what extent quality criteria are included in the designing of remuneration systems. Secondly, they provide employee feedback on how motivating their pay systems are. Thirdly, they determine to what extent different pay solutions are assessed as fair. Findings: decisions on bonus granting are based on not only objective product/service quality criteria but also opinions such as assessments made by superiors and criteria such as zero work-related accidents, zero sickness absences, or customer satisfaction levels. Thus, it is difficult to assume that bonus granting criteria are completely fair. The conducted analysis shows that a considerable group of the respondents consider bonus awarding as a source of perceived injustice. The most important factors influencing employee motivation include commendations from superiors (in service enterprises) and the possibility of self-control in production enterprises. Contributions: the conducted research extends the knowledge of the role of bonus systems in processes aimed at improving the quality of services and products.