PURPOSES : Water content causes a big problem in terms of the quality and economy of the asphalt plant. However, the current guidelines do not suggest specific rules other than roof installation. Therefore, this study proposes a water content management index, QM, and management flow chart by analyzing the water content variability of the stockpile and cold bin aggregates and suggests a guideline rule for improving water content management, including stockpile floor inclination via analysis of slope stability. METHODS : To analyze the variability of water content in the asphalt plant, stockpile and cold bin aggregate samples were collected from the asphalt plant over two years and a water content lab test was conducted via sieve analysis. In addition, domestic and foreign water content management guidelines were compared and the economic effect was analyzed according to water content DB analysis for the importance of water content management. The influence factors of water content variability were also analyzed. To apply the 3σ quality management technique for the development of the water content management index, QM, a water content management limit and procedure was proposed through the asphalt mix design. RESULTS : As a result of analyzing the water content variability, it was found that the water content of the stockpile fine aggregates should be intensively managed immediately after the rainy season and the QM index developed in this study should be 1 or more. In addition, as a result of the stability analysis according to the change in the stockpile floor inclination, it was found that the safety factor was lowered according to the slope angle and floor inclination. CONCLUSIONS : In the past, a passive method of preventing rainwater with a roof was used for water content management and ambiguous qualitative rules were suggested in the guidelines. In this study, a procedure for managing the water content of asphalt plant aggregates using the QM index, a quantitative stock floor inclination chart, and rules for improving water content management were presented for the quality control of asphalt plant aggregates.

In this study, a correlation between execution of quality management activities and their results was verified by applying the Malcolm Baldrige model (hereafter referred to as the MB model) as a quality management performance measurement indicator for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Korea. To achieve this goal, we need to determine whether the categorical requirements in the MB model are recognized consistently in SMEs, as a prerequisite. To this end, factor analysis was conducted for measurement variables in each category, which revealed that the process indicator was made up of six factors and the outcome indicator was made up of five factors, like those configured in the MB model. This result can be interpreted to mean that the requirements in each category of the MB model were well produced and recognized consistently throughout SMEs in South Korea. In addition, the analysis of causality between the process indicator (quality management activities) and the outcome indicator (management results) showed high causality between them. Although the quality management levels of SMEs in South Korea are inferior to those of conglomerates or other national quality award-winning companies, this study is significant in that the causality between quality management activities and results was verified, since this study targeted SMEs in South Korea as the target of investigation. Thus, it is empirically proven that the MB model can contribute to improved management results for SMEs in Korea.

The new businesses started by the companies usually results in being unsuccessful. The main reasons for that are either aiming targeting wrong customers, unsatisfaction of customers’ requesting quality standards, or taking wrong actions against the competitors in the market. Therefore, companies should aim the targets for the newly developing products based on the fulfilling values for the customers when they start the new businesses, and should take good cares for risk managements at the each step of the new business to prevent the failure in advance. In addition to that, the companies starting new businesses not only need to take the customers attributes (CA) into account, but they also should apply the new technologies as one system to initiate a new business to satisfy the basic wants of the customers. This article suggests the New Product Development Pursuing Model using the Indicative Planning methodology and the Quality Management tools. The New Product Development Pursuing Model would be completed by the following steps as below; 1. Drawing the CTQ (Critical To Quality) for setting up the new product development objectives by : i) using the VOC (Voice Of Customers) obtained by the QFD (Quality Function Deploypment) if the market is mature, ii) applying AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) to information in the QIS (Quality Information System) if the market is unmature to get enough need information of the customers. 2. Risk Management in NPD : The NPD pursuing model consisted of the IP (indicative planning) is suggested not by the process of top-down-way mandatory planning process, but by the tools used in the administrative science and economic fields, namely by governance. The companies could apply innovative methodology for new products development processes to fulfil the customers satisfaction in the fields, through the CA (Contingency Approach) of the NPD (New Product Development) process.

The CEO leadership and employee’s concerning and participation to quality management innovation activity is critical factor for improving the business performance. This empirical study is aims to find that whether the quality management activity is significant or not in the automotive parts suppliers. To perform this research, we distributed 250 sheets totally, and withdraw 194 sheets. We analysed 169 sheets that we could use for this research using SPSS 18.0 and AMOS 18.0. We had the results that CEO leadership is significantly positive effects on the employees’s participation to quality management. And the result of process improvement have positively effective and significant effects on the product improvement result and business performance of firms.

In order to obtain the fundamental informations on cellulase of Trichoderma viride QM 9414 for its production and utilization, some physico-chemical properties of the enzyme were reviewed. When T. viride QM 9414 was cultured on wheat bran medium, filter paper-disintegrating and carboxymethyl cellulose(CMC)-saccharifying activity were incresed with the cell growth, and thereafter CMC-saccharifying activity was kept on almost the same leved while filter-paper disintegrating activity was decreased sharply. And β-glucosidase was formed maximally on the late stationary phase of growth. The crude cellulase of cell-free extracts was purified by (NH_4)_2SO, fractionation, Sephadex-G 200 column chromatography and DEAE Sephadex A-50 column chromatography. Filter paper-disintegrating, CMC-saccharifying and β-glucosidase activity were purified 10-fold, 47-fold and 38-fold, respectively. The crude enzyme was proved to be a complex of three different enzyme proteins which were showing filter paper-disintegrating, CMC-saccharifying and β-glucosidase activity. The optimal pH of the three enzyme components was alike pH 4.0, and the optimal temperature for CMC-saccharifying, filter paper-disintegrating and β-glucosidase activity were 40℃, 45℃ and 50℃ respectively. The Km and Vmax values of CMC saccharifying activity for CMC were 0.485% and 3.10(μmole/min·㎖), and the Km and Vmax values of β-glucosidase for ONPG(o-nitrophenol glucopyranoside) were 0.944×10 exp (-3)M and 0.097(μmole/min·㎖), respectively. The Km and Vmax values of filter paper-disintegrating activity for Avicel were determined to be 0.09% and 0.178(μmole/min·㎖), respectively. β-Glucosidase activity was competitively inhibited by glucose, and the Ki value for this enzyme was 3.54×10 exp (-3)M, CMC saccharifying activity was found to be greatly inhibited by cellobiose.