• International Journal of Quality Innovation
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.57-76
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• 2009

Although many adherents openly praise the importance of quality management practices (QMP) in organisations, others have identified significant costs and implementation obstacles. Some recent studies showed that QMP have failed due to the ignorance of quality cultures. How to improve the success rate of QMP in organisations has become a critical issue both in the academy and in practice. This paper discusses the common enablers of and cultural impacts on QMP. It explores the dimensions of national versus organisational culture, and identifies the main features of four quality culture models as advocated in the literature in relation to facilitating QMP in organisations. It was found that flat structures, decentralised functions, empowerment, flexibility, innovation, limited rules and regulations and teamwork favor the QMP implementation. For facilitating culture changes for QMP, values associated with low power distance, low uncertainty avoidance and collectivism would have to be nurtured. Further research is needed to incorporate the findings and develop a practical quality culture approach for real applications in industry.

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2006.09a
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• pp.295-296
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• 2006

High hardness of P/M parts can be obtained in the cooling section of the sintering furnace by using sinter hardenable materials, thus the post-sintering heat treatment can be eliminated. However, the sinter hardened materials would have difficulties in secondary machining if it is required, which will limit the applications of sinter hardenable materials in the machined parts. Recent development in warm compaction technology can enable us not only to achieve the high green density up to $7.4\;g/cm^3$, but also the high green strength which is needed for green machining. Therefore by using warm compaction technology, the green machining can be applied to sinter hardenable materials for the high density, strength and hardness P/M parts. In the present study, a pre-alloyed steel powder, ATOMET4601, was used by mixing with 2.0% copper, 1.0% nickel, 0.9% graphite and a proprietary lubricant using a binder treatment process - FLOMET. The specimens were compacted and green machined with different machining parameters. The machined surface finish and part integrity were evaluated in selecting the optimal conditions for green machining. The possibility of applying the green machining to the high-density structural parts was explored.