[an error occurred while processing this directive]

BUS5540 Quality and reliability - Semester 1 , 2008

Unit leader :

Brian Jenney

Lecturer(s) :

Clayton

  • Brian Jenney

Introduction

Unit synopsis

This subject introduces students to the principles and practices of Total Quality Management and the relevant International Standards in use. There is no viable organisation, be it in industry, commerce or government, that does not plan and execute quality into its operations. These latter stretch from manpower planning through to customer service and maintenance of equipment.

There is direct relationship to world-class performance via statistical methodology for process capability, process control, acceptance sampling and reliability design. Concepts such as lifecycle costing and replacement planning all form a part of the larger canvas of continuous quality improvement.

Applications of personal computer software in quality management, reliability and replacement are constantly being upgraded.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this subject students should have practical knowledge of the principles and practice of quality control and reliability studies. Special emphasis is placed on the fundamentals behind the several software packages that are available so that practical applications can be embarked upon with a good degree of confidence.

Students should have gained competence and confidence in being able quickly to frame and effect quality control procedures and practices within any organisation for which they work.

Workload

For on campus students, workload commitments are:

  • two-hour lecture and
  • one-hour tutorial 
  • a minimum of 2-3 hours of personal study per one hour of contact time in order to satisfy the reading and assignment expectations.

Unit relationships

Prerequisites

Before attempting this unit you must have satisfactorily completed

12 points of postgraduate level Faculty of Information Technology units.

Relationships

BUS5540 is an elective unit in the Master of Business Systems.

Before attempting this unit you must have satisfactorily completed 12 points of postgraduate level Faculty of Information Technology units.

Continuous improvement

Monash is committed to ‘Excellence in education' and strives for the highest possible quality in teaching and learning. To monitor how successful we are in providing quality teaching and learning Monash regularly seeks feedback from students, employers and staff. Two of the formal ways that you are invited to provide feedback are through Unit Evaluations and through Monquest Teaching Evaluations.

One of the key formal ways students have to provide feedback is through Unit Evaluation Surveys. It is Monash policy for every unit offered to be evaluated each year. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the surveys as they are an important avenue for students to "have their say". The feedback is anonymous and provides the Faculty with evidence of aspects that students are satisfied and areas for improvement.

Student Evaluations

The Faculty of IT administers the Unit Evaluation surveys online through the my.monash portal, although for some smaller classes there may be alternative evaluations conducted in class.

If you wish to view how previous students rated this unit, please go to http://www.monash.edu.au/unit-evaluation-reports/

Over the past few years the Faculty of Information Technology has made a number of improvements to its courses as a result of unit evaluation feedback. Some of these include systematic analysis and planning of unit improvements, and consistent assignment return guidelines.

Monquest Teaching Evaluation surveys may be used by some of your academic staff this semester. They are administered by the Centre for Higher Education Quality (CHEQ) and may be completed in class with a facilitator or on-line through the my.monash portal. The data provided to lecturers is completely anonymous. Monquest surveys provide academic staff with evidence of the effectiveness of their teaching and identify areas for improvement. Individual Monquest reports are confidential, however, you can see the summary results of Monquest evaluations for 2006 at http://www.adm.monash.edu.au/cheq/evaluations/monquest/profiles/index.html

Unit staff - contact details

Unit leader

Dr Brian Jenney
Honorary Research Fellow
Phone +61 3 990 52427
Fax +61 3 990 52315

Lecturer(s) :

Dr Brian Jenney
Honorary Research Fellow
Phone +61 3 990 52427
Fax +61 3 990 52315

Teaching and learning method

Students will attend lectures, tutorials and undertake private study as outlined in tutorials.

Communication, participation and feedback

Monash aims to provide a learning environment in which students receive a range of ongoing feedback throughout their studies. You will receive feedback on your work and progress in this unit. This may take the form of group feedback, individual feedback, peer feedback, self-comparison, verbal and written feedback, discussions (on line and in class) as well as more formal feedback related to assignment marks and grades. You are encouraged to draw on a variety of feedback to enhance your learning.

It is essential that you take action immediately if you realise that you have a problem that is affecting your study. Semesters are short, so we can help you best if you let us know as soon as problems arise. Regardless of whether the problem is related directly to your progress in the unit, if it is likely to interfere with your progress you should discuss it with your lecturer or a Community Service counsellor as soon as possible.

Unit Schedule

Week Topic Key dates
1 General sytems introduction  
2 Variation and Sampling  
3 Charting  
4 Supply Assurance and Standardization ISO9000 Assignment handed out
Mid semester break
5 Acceptance sampling  
6 Sampling risk Finalisation of assignment title
7 MIL-STD-105E  
8 Service industries  
9 Reliability  
10 Weibull 1  
11 Weibull 2  
12 Redundancy Assignment due Monday 12 May
13 Revision  

Unit Resources

Prescribed text(s) and readings

Required textbook: BUS5540 Lecture Notes (handed out in the third week)

Other reference texts are given with the course outline in the first lecture

Text books are available from the Monash University Book Shops. Availability from other suppliers cannot be assured. The Bookshop orders texts in specifically for this unit. You are advised to purchase your text book early.

Recommended text(s) and readings

Recommended textbook: Evans J R and Lindsay W M (2002) The management and control of quality 5th edn. Sydney: International Thomson Publishing

Other reference texts are given with the course outline in the first lecture

Required software and/or hardware

QIS Baby

Relcode (student version)

Software may be:

  • downloaded from http://muso.monash.edu.au
  • purchased at academic price at good software retailers

Equipment and consumables required or provided

On-campus students may use the facilities available in the computing labs. Information about computer use for students is available from the ITS Student Resource Guide in the Monash University Handbook. You will need to allocate up to 2 hours per week for use of a computer, including time for newsgroups/discussion groups.

Study resources

Study resources we will provide for your study are:

BUS5540 Lecture Notes (handed out in the third week)

This Unit Information outlining the administrative information for the unit

The BUS5540 website on MUSO where assignments and supplementary material will be posted

Library access

The Monash University Library site contains details about borrowing rights and catalogue searching. To learn more about the library and the various resources available, please go to http://www.lib.monash.edu.au.  Be sure to obtain a copy of the Library Guide, and if necessary, the instructions for remote access from the library website.

Monash University Studies Online (MUSO)

All unit and lecture materials are available through MUSO (Monash University Studies Online). Blackboard is the primary application used to deliver your unit resources. Some units will be piloted in Moodle.

You can access MUSO and Blackboard via the portal (http://my.monash.edu.au).

Click on the Study and enrolment tab, then Blackboard under the MUSO learning systems.

In order for your Blackboard unit(s) to function correctly, your computer needs to be correctly configured.

For example :

  • Blackboard supported browser
  • Supported Java runtime environment

For more information, please visit

http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/students/downloadables-student.html

You can contact the MUSO Support by: Phone: (+61 3) 9903 1268

For further contact information including operational hours, please visit

http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/students/contact.html

Further information can be obtained from the MUSO support site:

http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/index.html

If your unit is piloted in Moodle, you will see a link from your Blackboard unit to Moodle at http://moodle.med.monash.edu.au.
From the Faculty of Information Technology category, click on the link for your unit.

Assessment

Unit assessment policy

To pass this unit, a student must obtain :
  • 40% or more in the unit's examination and
  • 40% or more in the unit's non-examination assessment
     and
  • an overall unit mark of 50% or more
If a student does not achieve 40% or more in the unit examination or the unit non-examination assessment then a mark of no greater than 44-N will be recorded for the unit.

Assignment tasks

  • Assignment Task

    Title : Tutorial test 1

    Description :

    Histograms and Control Charts

    Weighting : 5%

    Criteria for assessment :

    Correctness and understanding - ability to derive the benefits of the relevant techniques

    Due date : 31 March

  • Assignment Task

    Title : Tutorial test 2

    Description :

    OC Curves and Multiple Choice General Questions

    Weighting : 5%

    Criteria for assessment :

    Correctness and understanding - ability to derive the benefits of the relevant techniques

    Due date : 21 April

  • Assignment Task

    Title : Personal Report

    Description :

    Written report on Qualty and Reliability Topic

    Weighting : 15%

    Criteria for assessment :

    Report writing skills - structure, coherence, expression and presentation

    Evidence and argument -  identifying relevant sources, systematically addressing the key areas identified and drawing conclusions and recommendations for improvement

    Due date : 12 May

  • Assignment Task

    Title : Tutorial test 3

    Description :

    Redundancy and Weibull Exercise

    Weighting : 5%

    Criteria for assessment :

    Correctness and understanding - ability to derive the benefits of the relevant techniques

    Due date : 19 May

Examinations

  • Examination

    Weighting : 70%

    Length : 2 hours

    Type ( open/closed book ) : Closed book

Assignment submission

Assignments will be submitted by email to the lecturer

Assignment coversheets

Please include an Assignment cover sheet. Assignment coversheets can be found  via the "Student assignment coversheets" (http://infotech.monash.edu.au/resources/student/assignments/) page on the faculty website

University and Faculty policy on assessment

Due dates and extensions

The due dates for the submission of assignments are given in the previous section. Please make every effort to submit work by the due dates. It is your responsibility to structure your study program around assignment deadlines, family, work and other commitments. Factors such as normal work pressures, vacations, etc. are seldom regarded as appropriate reasons for granting extensions. Students are advised to NOT assume that granting of an extension is a matter of course.

Requests for extensions must be made to the unit lecturer at your campus at least two days before the due date. You will be asked to forward original medical certificates in cases of illness, and may be asked to provide other forms of documentation where necessary. A copy of the email or other written communication of an extension must be attached to the assignment submission.

Late assignment

Assignments received after the due date will be subject to a penalty of 5% per day, including weekends. Assignments received later than one week after the due date will not normally be accepted.

This policy is strict because comments or guidance will be given on hard-copy assignment submissions as they are returned.

Return dates

Students can expect assignments to be returned within two weeks of the submission date or after receipt, whichever is later.

Assessment for the unit as a whole is in accordance with the provisions of the Monash University Education Policy at http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/assessment/

We will aim to have assignment results made available to you within two weeks after assignment receipt.

Plagiarism, cheating and collusion

Plagiarism and cheating are regarded as very serious offences. In cases where cheating  has been confirmed, students have been severely penalised, from losing all marks for an assignment, to facing disciplinary action at the Faculty level. While we would wish that all our students adhere to sound ethical conduct and honesty, I will ask you to acquaint yourself with Student Rights and Responsibilities (http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/about/committees-groups/facboard/policies/studrights.html) and the Faculty regulations that apply to students detected cheating as these will be applied in all detected cases.

In this University, cheating means seeking to obtain an unfair advantage in any examination or any other written or practical work to be submitted or completed by a student for assessment. It includes the use, or attempted use, of any means to gain an unfair advantage for any assessable work in the unit, where the means is contrary to the instructions for such work. 

When you submit an individual assessment item, such as a program, a report, an essay, assignment or other piece of work, under your name you are understood to be stating that this is your own work. If a submission is identical with, or similar to, someone else's work, an assumption of cheating may arise. If you are planning on working with another student, it is acceptable to undertake research together, and discuss problems, but it is not acceptable to jointly develop or share solutions unless this is specified by your lecturer. 

Intentionally providing students with your solutions to assignments is classified as "assisting to cheat" and students who do this may be subject to disciplinary action. You should take reasonable care that your solution is not accidentally or deliberately obtained by other students. For example, do not leave copies of your work in progress on the hard drives of shared computers, and do not show your work to other students. If you believe this may have happened, please be sure to contact your lecturer as soon as possible.

Cheating also includes taking into an examination any material contrary to the regulations, including any bilingual dictionary, whether or not with the intention of using it to obtain an advantage.

Plagiarism involves the false representation of another person's ideas, or findings, as your own by either copying material or paraphrasing without citing sources. It is both professional and ethical to reference clearly the ideas and information that you have used from another writer. If the source is not identified, then you have plagiarised work of the other author. Plagiarism is a form of dishonesty that is insulting to the reader and grossly unfair to your student colleagues.

Register of counselling about plagiarism

The university requires faculties to keep a simple and confidential register to record counselling to students about plagiarism (e.g. warnings). The register is accessible to Associate Deans Teaching (or nominees) and, where requested, students concerned have access to their own details in the register. The register is to serve as a record of counselling about the nature of plagiarism, not as a record of allegations; and no provision of appeals in relation to the register is necessary or applicable.

Non-discriminatory language

The Faculty of Information Technology is committed to the use of non-discriminatory language in all forms of communication. Discriminatory language is that which refers in abusive terms to gender, race, age, sexual orientation, citizenship or nationality, ethnic or language background, physical or mental ability, or political or religious views, or which stereotypes groups in an adverse manner. This is not meant to preclude or inhibit legitimate academic debate on any issue; however, the language used in such debate should be non-discriminatory and sensitive to these matters. It is important to avoid the use of discriminatory language in your communications and written work. The most common form of discriminatory language in academic work tends to be in the area of gender inclusiveness. You are, therefore, requested to check for this and to ensure your work and communications are non-discriminatory in all respects.

Students with disabilities

Students with disabilities that may disadvantage them in assessment should seek advice from one of the following before completing assessment tasks and examinations:

Deferred assessment and special consideration

Deferred assessment (not to be confused with an extension for submission of an assignment) may be granted in cases of extenuating personal circumstances such as serious personal illness or bereavement. Information and forms for Special Consideration and deferred assessment applications are available at http://www.monash.edu.au/exams/special-consideration.html. Contact the Faculty's Student Services staff at your campus for further information and advice.