Decision support tools are used in many organisations to support organisational decision making activities. However, very limited studies have been found focussing on the decision support tools for selecting organisational improvement initiatives. Improvement initiatives are approaches, management systems, tools and/or techniques that can be used for managing and improving organisations, such as Lean, ISO9001 and Improvement Team. Four existing decision support tools were reviewed and compared. All four decision support tools consist of decision matrix, rating and ranking to assist in selecting appropriate improvement initiative. Finally, several potential future studies have been proposed.
Abstract. This paper explains the measurement of anthropometricdimensions ofprimary school children and investigation ofrisk factors associated with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among primary school children. A total of 266 students within three different schools were participated in anthropometric data measurements and questionnaire survey of the MSDs prevelance complain among them. Ten anthropometric measurements (Stature, Sitting height, Sitting shoulder height, Popliteal height, Hip breadth, Elbow seat height, Buttock-popliteal length, Buttock-knee length, Thigh clearance and Weight) were used. Martin type anthropometer set, height scale and weighing scale were used as a direct measurement method for the data collection on this study. Musculoskeletal symptoms were recorded using Modified Nordic Body Map Questionnaires. In addition Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) was used to assess the awkward posture of the school children for both designs. The results of the proposed furniture shows a better RULA final score for each group of muscles which give a score ranging from only 1 to 2 (Acceptable Posture) compared to the existing furniture that need further investigation. This anthropometrics data is very useful to the furniture manufacturer in designing school furniture in order to reduce the mismatch between furniture designed and Malaysian primary school children.
Solid-state recycling is a sustainable technique for recycling aluminium scrap, and the process before recycling is essential to control the physical properties of the product. In this work, the effect of the thermally-treated chips on the extrudate density was investigated. The aluminium chips were thermally-treated to enrich the alumina layer and reduce compaction pressure during chips compaction before recycled using direct hot extrusion. The chips that were transformed into compacted billets were extruded directly without melting and conducted according to 24 full factorial experimental design. The density test on the recycle extrudate found that the density variation ranged from 2724 to 2983 kg/m3. The ANOVA result showed that all factors investigated were statistically significant. The most significant factor was the preheating temperature, followed by extrusion ratio, chip treatment temperature, chip treatment time, and the interaction of chip treatment-time–extrusion ratio. The predictive model suggested by the ANOVA is useful to predict the density with 1% error. Microstructure examination revealed the presence of alumina entrapped in the recycle extrudate, in which thermal-treated chips contained more alumina than that of the untreated chips. The result indicated that the thermal treatment performed on the chips had enriched the in-situ alumina, affecting the density of the recycle extrudate.
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