Final year projects (Baccalaureus Theses) (Industrial Engineering)

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Browsing Final year projects (Baccalaureus Theses) (Industrial Engineering) by Subject "Commuters"

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    Quantification and evaluation of customer travelling experience using quality management tools
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2011-12) Skuce, Emile; Fourie, C. J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Industrial Engineering.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: "There are approximately 3,9 million public transport commuters. The 2,5 million taxi commuters account for over 63 percent of public transport work trips, bus services account for another 22 percent of public transport commuters and the balance are carried to work by train." [arrivealive.co.za, June 2011]. This study was done in 2005, today there are much more train commuters. The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA)/Metrorail Management in Maintenance Management is a newly established research team in the Department of Industrial Engineering. During an initial planning session, various projects were identified, many ideally suited for final-year projects. One such project is the quantification and evaluation of the experience of passengers onboard the PRASA coaches with the aim of improving quality. One of the mission statements of PRASA is to give their passengers an experience they will never forget. It is therefore important to PRASA management and staff to be able to quantify this experience. Not only is the comfort and service of importance, but also the reliability, adherence to schedules and overall safety. The current customer satisfaction index is around 66% and with different actions taken by PRASA it has not improved as much. The information from this project will be valuable to align all of the customer and coach aspects. During the project, a study of certain services within PRASA, to ultimately improve the overall efficiency of PRASA and its employees, at the customer levels will be undertaken. The project helped in determining the PRASA coach and service factors that are most important to the commuters and that require improvement. Firstly, the research and study of various techniques and principles used to evaluate customer experiences was done to ensure a successful collection, translation, and use of the collected data through surveys. It was required to determine all the boundaries of the project in order to work within the given scope. The study on surveys and questionnaires was done next, to understand all the principles, steps and procedures involved for a successful survey. A study on the use of a Quality Function Deployment (QFD) model and a scoring system was undertaken and used to ensure that the collected data from the surveys can be interpreted to relevant results and recommendations. For the most effective use of the results, the Pareto principle was studied and used to ensure that the best results on the improvement of the customer experience would come from the least amount of improvement features. Department of Industrial Engineering Page vi Whilst the survey was undertaken, various observations and comments from the commuters were noted. These observations and comments were further studied to retrieve additional information on the commuter experience and were used to give more relevant recommendations. Most of the observations and comments refer to the questions asked and the results obtained within the survey. Data verification was done, to ensure that the data collected from the survey are reliable and useable. It showed that the data is usable, without large margins of deviation. Next the data analysis was done, to get results and suggest recommendations to improve on the results. The results and recommendations of all the most important features, which were obtained by using the scoring system and the Pareto principle, of the coaches and service are given within the report. These most important aspects are; the timeliness of the coaches, the safety onboard the coaches and on the platforms against criminal offences, the cleanliness of the coaches, and no technical failures or train breakdowns. Most of these important aspects can be overcome if an effective maintenance plan is in place.