Thesis Generation Chapter 1

Presented by
Prof.Madya Ir. Dr. Puvanasvaran a/l A. Perumal
Writing a Proposal:
Developing a Focused Project
Writing Thesis: The Big Picture

Your proposal describes your proposed plan of work:

What you intend to study (scope and research
questions).
How you intend to study your topic (methodology).
Why this topic needs to be studied (significance).
When you will complete this work (timeline).
(Occasionally) Where you will conduct this work.
 Writing Thesis

Purpose:
Justify and plan (or contract for) a research project.

Show how your project contributes to existing research.

Demonstrate that you understand how to conduct

discipline-specific research in an acceptable time-frame.
Audience:
your academic advisor and committee
 Creating a Working Title

Orient your readers to your research topic.

Indicate the type of study you will conduct.

Examples:
Design and Analysis on the Robust Control of A X-Y Ballscrew
Mechanism
Green Supplier Model for Composite Manufacturing Industry
Improve Complete Access to Data within Collaborative Systems
Automated Deform Detection on Automotive Body Panels using
Neural Network based Segmentation
Abstract
Provide a brief overview of the thesis

Summarize important elements (Introduction,

Statement of the Problem, Background of the
Study, Methods and Procedures and
Results).
 Abstract: Example 1
Environmental management system (EMS) is a tool for managing the
(introduction)
impact of an organizations activities on the environment...(Problem statement) there
are studies reveal that industries are currently facing a number of challenges to
maintain competitiveness, productivity and minimal environmental impact
(problem statement) the standard lack of guidelines to accomplish continuous
improvement element, operational definition on continuous improvement and
method to assess it (Background of study) The purpose of this study is to integrate
lean principles with ISO 14001 standard to achieve sustainability through
continuous improvements (Objectives) First objective, identify both systems
characteristic through literature review and questionnaire survey, then continue
with the second objective, find the linkages between both system and develop
an integration model and finally the third objective, validate the model using
focus group. (methods and procedures) Reliability test and descriptive statistics using
statistical package of the social science software were used to record, analyse
and interpret the raw rata. (Results) new model called Lean Environmental
Management Integration System (LEMIS) has been developed The models
validation results shows that by integrating the standard with Lean principles
through LEMIS model leads the standard to achieve sustainability and
continuous improvement. This study presents a unique approach of integrating
the two main models as a single framework benefiting contemporary
organizations. The study concludes by stating that more case studies in this
direction are required to be conducted for examining the feasibility of
amalgamation and implementing ISO 14001:2004 standards with the philosophy
of Lean Principles to enable the achievement of world class standards.
Contents of Chapter One -
Introduction
Background of Study
Problem Statement
Research Questions
Objectives
Limitations/ Scope of Study
Definition of Terms
Significance of The Study
 Background of Study

Establish the general territory (real world or

research).
Describe the broad foundations of your study
provide sufficient background for readers.
Indicate the general scope of your project.
Provide an overview of the sections that will
appear in your thesis (optional).
Engage the readers.
 Background of Study : Example
Lean manufacturing isBriefly, it is called leanto produce a
product or perform a service (Hayes and Pisano, 1994). As per Paul
Dean Ceng (2006) stated in his study, OEE isemphasizes zero
waste in the value streams. The OEE is one of the approaches in
quantifying if the utilization of equipment or machine is in lean or
wasteful way since its main purpose is to identify the scarps related to
the equipment in different sections, to take corrective measures in order
to eliminate the scarps and exploit the potential capacity of the
equipment (Motavallian, 2007).
The overall equipment effectiveness indexruns at full speed and
capacity at the same time produces good quality products (Rouhani,
2009). Although the data of overall effectiveness of equipment seem
very simple, extracting useful information from a series of calculations is
a very important and difficult task (Aliahmadi, 2003). The reasonsin
an organization and its resulting confusion of data definition. Besides
that, various approaches which are used in the measurement of
manufacturing performance could lead to large number of measurement
in different hierarchical levels and most of them are contradictory
(Nakajima, 1989; Kaplan and Norton, 1992; Jones, 1994).
 Background of Study: Example
Unavailability or infeasibility of data to be collected in the form
required for each formula is another difficulty of OEE implementation.
For instance, often companies struggle to define an ideal cycle time,
particularly in non-machinery and less well-automated manufacture
(Bamber et al, 2003). The ambiguity of the OEE implementation could
further contribute to deviation in evaluating the utilization and
performance of a particular equipment. If you cant measure it, you
cant manage it, as stated by Paul Dean Ceng (2006). Nevertheless,
there is no formula or textbook which addresses the issue of over-
production on highly utilized equipment and the ideal cycle time that an
equipment with constant and fixed process time should have. There is
no guidance in clarifying the trade-off relationship between high
machine utilization and low customer demand as well as the
corresponding solution. Faced with these conditions, there is a
necessity of innovative and simple measurement to evaluate the
equipment performance incorporating the customer demand.
 Problem Statement

Answer the question: What is the gap that needs

to be filled? and/or What is the problem that
needs to be solved?
State the problem clearly early in a paragraph.
Limit the variables you address in stating your
problem or question.
Consider framing the problem as a question.
 Problem Statement: Example
Many organisations are under pressure to demonstrate their performance
on management of the environmental impacts on their business activities
responsibly and effectively (Hall, 2000). Zutshi and Sohal (2004) in their study
mentioned that industries are currently facing a number of challenges to
maintain competitiveness and productivity while at the same time creating a
minimal environmental impact. (problem needs to solved) Due to thisconsidering the
implementation of an environmental management system (EMS) (Limit the variables)
Environmental Management System (EMS) is definedThe most well-
known EMS model is ISO 14001. ISO 14001 sets the criteria for an EMS and it
enables EMS to Rao (2005) has mentioned that an EMS is not a stagnant
system but continually evolve ISO 14001 is voluntary based standard (Limit the
variables) Voluntary standards are usually seen to be ineffective since its
implementation depends on management incentives which lead to less than
optimal performance by organizations on the environmental sustainability front
(Pojasek, 2008). (State the problem)
Ghisellini and Thurston (2005) argued.... Zutshi and Sohal (2004) have also
arguedIn support to Zutshi and Sohal argument Martin and Koppen (2006)
also have mentioned that .... (Supportive statements)
Besides that, Pojasek (2006) also have mentioned thatin procedures that are
not clear and reproducible. Meanwhile, Pullin (1998) argued that (Supportive
statements)
 Problem Statement: Example
It also indicates that many organizations are struggling to sustain their
environmental management system due to lack of proper guidance on the
system sustainability (Pojasek, 2008). As result, this study intent to integrate
lean principles into ISO 14001 in order to specify this limitation. (framing the problem as a
question) Since leanfor continual improvement (Pojasek, 2008). Hence, the study
will enable to open new exploration regarding the relationship of the ISO 14001
and lean, with the same objectives, goals and use. These two factors are
Purpose/Aims/Rationale/Research Questions

Explain the goals and research objectives of the

study.
Show the original contributions of your study.
Provide a more detailed account of the points
summarized in the introduction.
Include a rationale for the study.
Be clear about what your study will not address.
Purpose/Aims/Rationale/Research Questions
(contd)
In addition, this section may:
Describe the research questions and/or
hypotheses of the study.
Include a subsection defining important
terms.
State limitations of the research.
Provide a rationale for the particular subjects
of the study.
 Objectives

includes both the general and specific objectives (must be

parallel to your Significance of Study)
Must be measureable (Dot not use word likes understand)
 Objective: Example

To identify the characteristic of ISO 14001 standard clauses

and core elements of lean principles through literature
review and questionnaire survey.
To develop Lean - Environmental Management System
(EMS) integration model by identifying the linkage between
ISO 14001 Clauses and lean principles core elements.
To validate the Lean - Environmental Management System
(LEMIS) integration model using focus group methodology.
Limitations/ Scope of Study
Provide limitations to identify potential
weaknesses of the study.
Example of a limitation:
This study is focusing on the computation of single OEE
measurement per each of six Autoclaves to cover all the
product mixes cured of which their curing time are all
constant and fixed as per curing recipe.
This study doesnt attempt to demonstrate the
implementation of OEE on those equipments with varying
cycle time from time to time within a product type. Such
equipment as this will have its ideal cycle time in defining the
performance ratio.
Definition of Terms
Researchers define terms so that readers can
understand the context in which the words
are being used or their usual or unrestricted
meaning
Define terms that individuals outside the field of
study may not understand.
Define terms when they first appear so that a
reader does not read ahead in the proposal
operating with one set of definitions only to find
out later that the author is using a different set.
Significance of the Study
In thesis and dissertations, often the author
includes a section describing the significance
of the study for select audiences.
The writer creates a clear rationale for the
importance of the study.
In this section, the writer can elaborate on the
significance for researchers, practitioners,
and policymakers.
The researcher might include:
Reasons why the study adds to the scholarly research and
literature in the field.
Reasons about how the study helps improve practice.
Reasons why the study will improve policy.
 Significance of the Study: Example
Manufacturing environment nowadays...This has amplified the concept of On
Time In full (OTIF) to be more important...Often times, however, traditional
approach of OEE neglected the importance of utilizing equipment capacity up to
maximum capacity in accordance to customer demand. As a result of that...Even
thoughincluding the concept of planning factor in computation of OEE (Francis
Wauters and Jean Mathot, 2007; Andre Icso, n.d.), but it is just evaluated in term
of time (gross operating time over total calendar time) which could be simplified in
total calendar time approach. In order to overcome the limitation like this, this
study will adapt and evaluate the planning factor of each process from the
perspective of production unit examining the number of loading. With the change
of definition in planning factor, the efficiency of planner is examined from time to
time to seek for optimization of machine usage.
 Significance of the Study: Example
In addition of that, a good managementA simple and comprehensive metric (de
Ron and Rooda, 2005) which incorporates all product types is important. This is
to provide a brief measurement of current condition and to enable on-time
decision making based on actual data. Besides that, a good management metric
should be characterized with ease of data collection (Tomo Harada, n.d.). In view
of that, flexible measurement is a necessity of being good management metric to
be adapted and measured from time to time. As such, creativity could be
promoted in achieving the flexibility for the competitive advantage (Oke, 2003;
Yung and Chan, 2003; Sanchez and Perez, 2001; Gerwin, 1993; Jordan and
Graves, 1995; Upton, 1995a cited in Ooi, 2005). The flexibility stated can be
obtained through the re-definition of the measurement in aggregate unit which
covers all product mixes of the equipment. In this study, the aggregate unit is
calculated accordingly with the schedule of the production based on their
corresponding importance factor named weighted averaging factor.
 Significance of the Study: Example
In most of the companies implementing OEE as their equipment performance
evaluation, the customer demand and production rate are in the trade-off
relationship and hardly to be balanced in term of waste elimination. Inappropriate
management between these two parameters could lead to over-production or
idling machine, and sometimes the shortage of production. However, the machine
utilization and overproduction should be not always in opposite standpoint and
could be working together. It is possible to avoid or minimize the effect of over-
production in the path pursuing high equipment utilization. This is shown in this
study that the definition of performance ratio is incorporated with customer
demand, which is represented by the Takt time. The concept of Takt time in OEE
computation has not only balanced the issue of overproduction and machine
utilization, but it has also quantified the different performance ratio on the
equipment with constant cycle time since the Takt time varies from time to time
accordingly to the change of customer demand.
 Significance of the Study: Example
As a short summary, this study will be examining the validity of OEE universal
implementation in various types of manufacturing environments, and some of
them were known to be improperly used. Various elements are introduced in this
study to enable OEE computation. This study is providing new angle in looking at
the possibility and flexibility of modifying the traditional approach in order to adapt
the OEE measurement accordingly in different manufacturing nature, which is
determined by the types of equipment used. This study seeks to create an impact
on the OEE computation which covers the considerations stated above via the
following novelties:
1. Customer demands to avoid over-production issue.
2. Aggregate unit to cover all product mixes and types produced.
3. Planning factor to promote On Time In Full (OTIF).
4. Total calendar approach to track out total downtime wasted.