Friday, November 29, 2019

Six Sigma Processes an Example of the Topic Business Essays by

Six Sigma Processes by Expert Jayjay1 | 23 Dec 2016 Introduction Today, business environments demand that solutions not only resolve specific problems but also that they be replicable in other scenarios and yield the same results. Developed by Bill Smith for Motorola in 1986 to reduce error margins in production, Six Sigma practices have been adopted by industries and professionals as a standard of excellence (Keller, 2004). Though the primary motivation for adopting Six Sigma is in the improving the efficiency of processes and cost reduction, Winkler (2007) points out that it can significantly improve the professional and technical effectiveness in an organization. However, Dusharmes (2001) that there is also a need to evaluate managers Six Sigma experience. His survey indicates that Six Sigma practices have made the most significant impact on manufacturing and technical operations but did not have the same level of impact on improving on satisfaction ratings. Need essay sample on "Six Sigma Processes" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed As a manager in an electronics company, the realization that business solutions, however sound or proven they are, can not be simply accepted or expected to have the same results in every organization. Gales (2003) assessment of several application of Six Sigma as standards for projects and organizations indicates that the core of effective results is greatly dependent not so much as in applying the principles but adapting what aspects of it are used. The objective of this paper is to assess the significance of Six Sigma practices to my experience as a manager and how this experience can be evaluated with Six Sigma practices and results in other industries. In doing so, the study will support the identification of key factors to be considered in the development of Six Sigma frameworks, identification of projects were the principals can be applied and how to determine the rate of success of applying Six Sigma practices. Six Sigma Experience According to Harry and Schroeder (2002), one of the first introductions any manager gets about Six Sigma has been through the Motorola experience, thus, the positivist reactions to the practices. There is an assumption that Six Sigma practices will improve operations, particularly production, across the board, an almost simplistic view on the practices. In hindsight, my interest in Six Sigma was focused on the results that have been accomplished by Motorola Honeywell International and General Electric to name a few rather than to the results it will bring to my own organization. Though, there is no doubt that Six Sigma results are replicable, little did I understand that the degree of inpidualization of operations or Six Sigma applications needed to create the same results. Specifics My involvement with Six Sigma process involved the definition of roles and responsibilities, project charters, project selection, DMAIC processes and the pareto selection method. My participation was part of my administrative functions in the company and involved primarily needs identification, definitions of frameworks and parameters and manpower education. To facilitate the implementation of Six Sigma practices, mandatory orientation and education programs were required of middle to upper management officers. At the same time, focus group discussions were organized to survey how Six Sigma can be adopted by the organization. I attended all of the mandatory orientations and participated in two of focus group discussions as liaison for quality standards. The orientations lasted for six weeks which were then followed by focus group discussions that lasted for eight weeks. After four weeks, an operational and management plan was presented for evaluation and comments. The report was accomplished by a selected to team of the companys managers working with an independent company of consultants. The initial phase focused on logistics and delivery and was slated for a two-week test run to follow an evaluation by managers. Upon determination of the requirements that will be needed for full implementation, the framework was then adopted by the manufacturing department. Reflection and Observation One of the first I realized was that Six Sigma is not just about improving practices or accomplishing desired outcomes: it is also about admitting existing deficiencies in operations, practices and personnel that have been preventing the accomplishment of the goals. At the same time, I noticed that the definition of these factors differs from each inpidual which in turn challenges the development of collaborative perspectives about what has to be done. For example, if one is to focus on production, then yield is the ultimately goal but other perspectives are just as important. From a financial standpoint, cost is the primary concern while operations focus on production turnover. Regardless of the focus of the concerns, they all have an impact on the company and the effectiveness of Six Sigma processes. Another observation that I made was that there is still a need to further knowledge regarding Six Sigma processes and methodologies. This entails not only educating ones self on practices within ones own industry but also the application of Six Sigma principles in other industries and fields of interest like health or services. When I implemented the Six Sigma frameworks to my department, I personally realized the need to create collaborative platforms to evaluate the impact of the frameworks amongst staff and managers. Consequently, I also was surprised at the level of insight that could be developed and it occurred to me that Six Sigma is not just about accomplishing production or operational goals. More importantly, I discovered that it had the potential of revolutionizing the organization as a whole as well as inpidually, professionally and personally. Conceptualization My experience shows the tendency of people to want to adapt to trends without first understanding the requirements or implications of doing so. In the case of Six Sigma, there is no denying it its value as a management practice but there should also be realization that like any other strategy, it entails research and study before any application can be made effective (Kang et al, 2005). The core objective of the practice, reducing output and process variance, development of measurable business processes and sustaining improvement and development are not unique to Six Sigma. These objectives are common to all strategic management practices such total quality management (TQM) and lean production (Heuring, 2004). What ultimately Six Sigma does, I realized, is to bring down these objectives into a concise model, such as in the use of process capability studies, the organizations operational and performance objectives. Keller (2004) reasons that Six Sigma is not a management a cure-all but is a means of building the competencies to identify what needs curing, how it can be done and how the effectiveness of such efforts can be measured. Similarly, Dusharme (2001) advocates that there is a need for managers to continue their education regarding Six Sigma or to bring Six Sigma into the organizations culture instead of simply using it on a case to case basis. To my understanding, this means that there is a need to translate the conceptual foundations of Six Sigma into all management practices: Six Sigma is not to be just management practice, but should be its philosophy. At the same time, there should also be a realization of critiques and limitations to Six Sigma. Based on the survey done by Morris (2006) on companies using Six Sigma processes, Six Sigma principles allow limit the ability to respond with agility in changes to markets particularly in the entry of new product and substitutes. This king of weakness can prove to be fatal as most markets are aiming for liberalization or globalization. The realization is that as much as Six Sigma principles can improve effectiveness or capacity, it can not ensure competitiveness or profitability (Keller, 2004). Experimentation To validate management principles, one strategy is to use it outside the original settings that it has been developed. In the case of Six Sigma, this is to bring it outside of the electronics manufacturing industry. Another strategy I believe is to remove from the evaluation outcomes which it can not be used as a determinant. Based on these constraints, I have chosen to evaluate the effectivity of Six Sigma principles in clinical health testing such as in the case of picture archiving and communications system (PACS) used in radiology. In the study, the main concern is the development of a cost-effective database of radiological images used for clinical studies. At the same time, the database system had to determine, catalogue the quality of images. The researchers developed a cause-effect diagram as basis of the Six Sigma framework to be implemented. Cataloguing the sigma level requirements with resources of each element of the PACS, the research was able to determine what elements were utilizing too much of the systems resources. The research concluded that because of Six Sigmas low tolerance for error, the elements that had to undergo retooling were identified effectively and has been instrumental in achieving a level of zero defects in PACS quality and to streamline the system resources and in turn, the cost and requirements of the database (Kang et al, 2005). Conclusion I believe that like all management philosophies, principles or assumptions, there is a need to qualify the effectiveness of Six Sigma. This is not to diminish its value but rather to appreciate its real value: it allows for the development of specific solutions to ensure productivity and effectivity of business processes and objectives. Critiques of it need not be confrontational and instead should be made to improve it. I came to see that as much as we accept the changes that evolve in business, markets and organizations, we should also be able to accept that strategies and practices have to evolve as well. One particular incident has stayed with from the time I was still trying to educate myself about Six Sigma. As I was studying the implementation roles, an associated commented to me that the roles were based on martial arts ranks. It made recall a conversation I had with a karate enthusiast whom I asked about the significance of the belts in his sport. He told me that the belts was not to determine who was better than another but to determine the level of aptitude the student has in applying what he has learned in Karate. It occurred to me that, many of the basic principles of Six Sigma are not new but rather forgotten or have been lost in the need to communicate strategies and objectives in a professional manner. Is it not basic to want our outputs to be of uniform standard and quality? Shouldnt we have the capacity if what we are doing remains effective? Shouldnt we have a continuing commitment to improve and develop our business or organization? I believe that one of the real values of Six Sigma is that it has brought us back to the fundamentals of successful management. In conclusion, the experience I had with Six Sigma allowed me to grow as a professional and appreciate the idea of something that was new and novel. And this I am sure is one of the competencies that I will need to stay competitive, sensitive and responsive as a manager and as an inpidual. References Dusharme, Dirk (2001). Six Sigma Survey: Breaking Through the Six Sigma Hype. Quality Digest, November. Retrieved October 20, 2007, from http://www.qualitydigest.com/nov01/html/sixsigmaarticle.html Gale, Sarah Fister (2003). Building frameworks for Six Sigma success - Case Studies - quality management philosophy. Workforce, May. Retrieved October 20, 2007, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FXS/is_5_82/ai_101531687 George, Michael L.,Maxey, John,Rowlands David T., and George,Michael (2004).The Lean Six Sigma Pocket Toolbook: A Quick Reference Guide to 100 Tools for Improving Quality and Speed. New York: McGraw-Hill Harry, Mikel and Schroeder, Richard (2000). Six Sigma, Random House, Inc Heuring, Linda (2004). Six Sigma in sight: with Six Sigma techniques, managers improve processes and quality based on hard data. HR Magazine, March. Retrieved October 20, 2007, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_3_49/ai_n6038393 Kang, Jin Oh, Kim, Myoung Ho, Hong, Seong Eon, Jung, Jae Ho and Song, Mi Jin (2005). The Application of the Six Sigma Program for the Quality Management of the PACS. Am. J. Roentgenol., November 185. pp 1361 - 1365. Keller, Paul A. (2004). Six Sigma Demystified: A Self-Teaching Guide (Demystified). New York: McGraw-Hill Morris, Betsy (2006). Old rule: be lean and mean. Fortune. Retrieved October 20, 2007, from http://money.cnn.com/2006/07/10/magazines/fortune/rule4.fortune/index.htm Winkler, Michael P. (2007). Design for Six Sigma. Army Logistician, July-August. Retrieved October 20, 2007, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PAI/is_4_39/ai_n19392963

Monday, November 25, 2019

Coursework 9 For ECO320 Example

Coursework 9 For ECO320 Example Coursework 9 For ECO320 – Coursework Example MONETARY POLICY Fed’s Monetary PolicyDescribe the Fed’s objective function and how it can be used with an economic model to evaluate alternative monetary policies?In the world of economy, different policymakers may try their level best to stabilize the economy mainly by smoothing out the various business cycles in the surrounding. According to Fed’s objectives, its primary goals included the following: maximizing output, reducing the rate of unemployment and also ensuring that the rate of inflation in the economy is low. Fed’s objective function is also referred to as the Fed’s loss function mainly because when the value of the function is much higher the economy becomes worse off. The objective function describes the tradeoff between inflation rates and the output level in the economy. Fed’s objective function can be used to evaluate alternative monetary policy. The difference between the actual inflation rate and the ideal one is the inflat ion gap; the inflation gap rises during economic expansion and reduces in the period of recession, and it is merely positive. The tradeoff between the output gap and inflation gap is always determined by the Fed’s objective function (Surico, 2007). However, Fed’s objective function looks at the aggressiveness of the policymakers and during the period of economic shock the inflation rates or output levels in the economy are returned to their exact levels. Besides, the economic model depicts that when output increase for a while, the unemployment level will reduce and over a certain time inflation rate decreases (Surico, 2007).Why didn’t policy based on the Phillips curve work to help the Fed reduce the unemployment rate to a lower level than before? What happened in the 1970s as the Fed tried to take advantage of the tradeoff between inflation and unemployment? The policy on Philip’s curve did not work to help Fed reduce unemployment level to a lower level because the tradeoff between the higher level of unemployment and higher inflation is no longer there. Therefore, there is a positive correlation between high inflation and high unemployment. In the 1970s, policymakers tried to take advantage of the tradeoff between unemployment and inflation rates but it did not work either. However, this caused the rate of expected inflation to raise hence the level of unemployment and inflation rose. Similarly, this also led to the short-run Philips curve to shift upwards.ReferenceSurico, P. (2007). The Feds monetary policy rule and US inflation: The case of asymmetric preferences.  Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control,  31(1), 305-324.

Friday, November 22, 2019

Eugene Debs Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Eugene Debs - Assignment Example The Audubon Park is built in a 5,023 square-foot piece of land and is the first in Los Angeles City to be fully powered by on-site solar systems. Moreover, the building uses less water than any other conventional structure of its size. This paper is going to explore the Audubon Center and green building by describing what I saw and learned. The paper will also highlight the importance of green buildings for sustainability, particularly in Los Angeles, by discussing what kinds of changes and alternatives could be implemented in my home or on my college campus. Audubon Center Recently, I visited Audubon Center at Debs Park and learnt a lot regarding environmental conservation. I discovered that in order to conserve the environment, one has to put in place various significant issues. For instance, on assessing the Audubon Center, I concluded that virtually every aspect of the building, from ground floor to the rooftop, was custom-made to conform to the stringent requirements. Where need be, recycled materials including melted down handguns and scrap metal were adversely used in the rebar to act as strengthening materials to the concrete blocks and floors. Organic materials were also significantly embraced. This is demonstrated in all aspects, from the carpeting of Mexican agave plant, to cabinets and desks made of wheat board and sunflower board. Audubon Center uses a fully solar-powered air conditioning system thus meeting various goals of broad-based environmental movement that not only encourages the use of clean energy technologies, but also brings presence of nature close to people who rarely leave urban centers to travel to nature. I discovered that the solar power that cost about $90,000 and is about 10 tons uses an 800-square foot array of Chinese Sunda vacuum tube solar harvesters, each having a copper heat pipe and an aluminum nitride absorber plate that harvests the solar radiation. I found out that the Sunda tubes work on a principle of heat-pipe, whic h asserts that water under low pressure in tubes is normally heated and is transformed to a vapor that eventually flows up to the condensation section of the tube. Ultimately, water is heated and flows to the manifold that connects all the tubes, thus transferring thermal energy from the collectors to the hot water storage tank through insulated pipes. There are several things that can be done in my home area to conserve energy. Firstly, in order to achieve the requirements for the platinum Rating, my community must ensure that it constructs a building that would meet the fundamental requirement of green building by earning a minimum of 52 sustainability points out of the possible 69. I would advice my community that points are awarded on basically everything from the selection of site to the building materials used to being innovative in interior design by having indoor finishing that are environmentally friendly. It is worth noting that the Audubon Center at Debs Park scooped 53 L EED points. A major fraction of the points came from its efficiency in water system as well as renewable energy sources. I would also insist on using the locally manufactured and harvested materials which may include wood, sheet metal, paving materials, landscape plantings and concrete, since these are stressed by the LEED program. On visiting the Audubon Center, I discovered

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

International and Pacific Asian Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International and Pacific Asian Business - Essay Example New Trade Theories The new trade theories address the area of competitive strategy in various ways, usually (but not always) relating to globalisation. Sloman (2005 p.307) identifies the following as reasons for organisations to expand beyond their home nation: access to new markets, new customers, new supply sources and new ideas and skills. They also have to deal with competition within their home nation from overseas organisations who can produce goods at a lower cost or with some innovative function or features. One of the main reasons organisations go overseas is to reduce their overall costs. Sloman (2005 pp.310-311) identifies the following as areas within which costs can be reduced by setting up operations overseas: Resource costs, including labour Skills held by workers, including entrepreneurial and management skills Cost reductions as a result of the learning curve Economies of scale Transport costs Government policies. Many of these areas are addressed by new trade theori es. Economies of Scale Economies of scale result from increasing production capacity to reduce the overall costs of production. Lynch (2009 p.801) defines them as â€Å"the extra cost savings that occur when higher-volume production allows unit costs to be reduced†. ... The presence of economies of scale can prevent new competitors entering the market if they involve large-scale production facilities or very specialised facilities requiring significant capital investment to replicate. Demand-Led Growth Setterfield (2003, p.25) identifies a counterpoint to the focus on supply-side driven growth in the form of demand-led growth. He outlines two effects on growth rates stemming from the demand-side of the growth equation: the potential for demand failures in the long run, and the impact of demand conditions on productive resources over time. The theory states that â€Å"there is no supply-determined equilibrium† (ibid) for output levels. Instead output levels are determined by relatively autonomous demand conditions coupled with supply-side conditions. Setterfield (2005, p.26) says that â€Å"the sequence of short-run outcomes associated with the demand-determined utilisation of productive resources traces out the economy’s long-run grow th path† and does not automatically to the output path of the economy. He further points out that â€Å"the potential growth rate of the economy depends on the growth of physical capacity, labour resources and factor productivity† but that â€Å"each of these is affected by the demand-determined actual rate of growth† (ibid). In short, demand-led growth requires attention to be paid to the demand side of the supply = demand equation. The Product Life-Cycle Every product has a life-cycle, starting with growth and ending with decline and obsolescence: Figure 1: The stages in a product’s life cycle (Source: Sloman, 2005, p.313) When considering the global situation, launch would normally take place in the country

Monday, November 18, 2019

Case study identifying and assessing the analytical failures Essay

Case study identifying and assessing the analytical failures - Essay Example On April 15, 2013 there were bombings near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The results of these blasts were that three people were killed and 264 others were injured. The two explosions were caused by pressure cooker bombs. 1 The Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States identified two suspects in the bombing. The two suspects were Muslim brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Though their reasoning for actually initiating this incident can be only known to the suspects, people might assume based on their own bias that this could have to do with religious tensions in the United States which have been strong since the bombing of the World Trade Center. Many people have a bias of Muslims and it was believed that the two brothers were terrorists. One of the brothers, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was killed when a car ran over him after struggling with police while the other brother escaped and was later apprehended.2 Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who survived and was captured by the police said that they were motivated by the extremist Islamic beliefs and the war that was being led by the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan. He revealed that they worked independently and no external terrorist groups were involved. They learned to make the bombs from an online magazine by the Al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen known as Inspire.3 It is also alleged that the two brothers contemplated suicide bombings. Ultimately, the duo decided to use the pressure cooker bombs. Dzhokhar also said that they wanted to defend Islam against the United States which led the Iraq and Afghanistan war, which they saw it to be against Muslims.4 However, some political analysts suggest that Tamerlan’s inability to become fully accepted into the American society might have been the root cause for the attack. Many people who are not American born may have a difficult time psychologically is not accepting of them as a minority. This can then that can lead up to their

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Cheap Alternative Polymeric Materials To Abs

Cheap Alternative Polymeric Materials To Abs In recent years, fused deposition modeling (FDM) has become a widely used technology in rapid prototyping process. Typically polymer materials used are acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polycarbonate (PC). The polymer is fed into equipment as a 1.6mm diameter, which is heated and extruded onto a building platform. The ABS filament sold by the equipment suppliers is very expensive at aroundà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ¡270 per kg [1]. Also, during the FDM process, some of this material is used as build supports and which is simply thrown away after being removed from the parts. This project aims to use alternative materials for the FDM process. 1.2 Previous Work of Project This project is followed by a summer 2009 project that Yifei Zhang did. In Zhangs project, one grade of virgin ABS has similar melt and flow properties to the benchmark material, but due to the limitations of laboratory equipment and project funds, Zhang cannot get the result. Zhang also try to use WEEE ABS as a potential source, but the degree of purity (98%) could not be accepted in FDM operation. In addition, a nylon strimmer line was found which had the suitable filament diameter, but it also failed because of the viscosity of the materials. 1.3 Objectives of Project After summarize the Zhangs experience, the target of project is to identify the cheap alternative polymeric materials to ABS. Before the project, a further polymer understanding of the melt and flow properties should be reviewed. Some problems Zhang met need to be solved to successfully produce the product. Some experiments, which Zhang did, need to be repeated to have a better understanding of this project. Some trial materials are aimed to produce the products, and then the properties of product are evaluated. 2. Literature Survey 2.1 Why use rapid prototyping methods? Rapid Prototyping (RP) is defined as the use of a computer aided design (CAD)-based automated additive manufacturing process to construct parts that are used directly as finished products or components[2]. Generally, it is a quick way to turn a virtual design to a real model. There are many purposes for a prototyping, for example, validate system specification or deliver early proof of concept or create a market demo [3]. The best reasons to rapid prototyping is to save time and save money. A complete product design cycle is very long, and there are a lot of trials and errors in the processing. The rapid prototyping processing can be used to modify the trial and debug the prototype in a short time. In addition, the resources can be saved by producing reduce scale model. 2.2 Rapid prototyping equipment With the development of modern science and technology, techniques of rapid prototyping technology increasingly diversified, such as stereo lithography (SL), laminated object manufacturing (LOM), selective laser sintering (SLS), selective laser melting (SLM), fused deposition modeling (FDM), ink jet printing (IJP), 3-D printing (3DP) [4]. There are three categories according to the raw material used in these processing. They are liquid-based system, powder-based system and solid-based system [2] [3]. FDM belongs to solid-based RP processes. The product made by FDM operation can be used as trial tests or for further studies, which reduces the risk of designing mistakes. 2.2.1 Stratasys FDM System Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), which invented by Stratasys Inc, is used in the project. Generally, FDM is a typical PR process, which contains a computer controlled, and micro-extrusion system. In the process, the polymer is fed into the equipment as a 1.6 diameter filament, which is heated and extruded through a die as a 0.5mm fluid filament. By lay down of the melt filament from nozzle, certain thickness of 2-D layers structure is formed, then by repeating the process for the second layer, repeat this process layer by layer, then a complex 3-D structure is formed. As can be seen in Fig 1, the processing route follows the design, forming and finishes these three steps. In the route of this manufacture, pre-process CAD file is designed by FDM Quickslice software and saved as STL format [6], and then during the manufacture part, the thermoplastic material is extruded and formed layer by layer on precise paths. Remove the support structures then the final product is completed. Extrusion process is a key step in the FDM manufacturing [Fig 2]. Generally speaking, the polymer filament is in solid state when feeding into the FDM machine. The filaments of molten thermoplastic are extruded from a heated nozzle. The process lays down both support material filament and build material filament for one layer at a time. The diameter of the filament is about 1.67mm, and the range of diameter of different tips is from 0.025mm to 0.4mm. Functional prototyping is used via an additive fabrication system. Manufacturing tools and End-Use parts also can be produced with FDM system. There are many advantages including streamlining the development process, reducing the cost and getting to the market faster [7]. The disadvantage is obvious, the price of cartridge is very expensive, and ABS build (including the breakaway materials) is  £275.00 per kg. So find the cheap alternative material is the target of the project. 2.2.2 Mesostructure of FDM ABS [8] There are two kinds of mesostructure during the FDM processing [Fig 3]. The aligned mesostructure is the standard model of the machine. Another skew mesotructure uses the alternating jogs of length 0.5(W+g) in the ProEngineer drawing [Fig 4]. A correction in the nozzle height setting, ÃŽÂ ´ z (see equation 1), using the z-direction shrinkage factor, is set in the QuickSlice program. The void density on the material plane i is defined as 🙠 see equation 2). The extent of circumferential fiber-to-fiber bonding is quantified using a cross-section average of the fiber-to-fiber interface bond length densities. For a single fiber, it is defined as: (see equation 3) According to Jose, James and John, the same filament materials (ABS P400) and the same serial FDM machine were used to test. So the data have the reference value. As can be seen in Fig 5, the lowest void density value is the skewed configuration structure. From the chart above (Fig 5 Fig 6 and Fig 7), Fiber gap (g) and flow rate are two key factors on mesostructure while temperatures (Te and TL) had very little influence. So for the best properties, minimum void and maximum bond length are needed. 2.3 Alternative material 2.3.1 Standard Material The current materials using for the FDM manufacturing process are supplied by Stratasys Inc, which could be ABS plastic, PC and wax [9]. The P400 ABS, whose main mechanical properties can be clearly know in Fig 8, bought from the machine vendor was used as benchmark this project, provided as white filament with a diameter of 1.67mm and a  ± 0.02 mm tolerance, measured by laboratorys calipers. 2.3.2 Recycled ABS Recycled ABS, I think, still is the most ideal choose in this project. The recycled WEEE industry is growing by more attention nowadays. Compared to virgin ABS, the price of WEEE ABS is rather cheap. Due to the problem of the degree of purity in former project, one solution of project is to investigate methods of filtering recycled ABS for FDM. During recent years, some researches about WEEE have been carried out [11] [12]. There are similar results on their reports. With the respect to the properties of virgin ABS, a decrease in mechanical properties (except the modulus of elasticity) was recorded for both PC/ABS and ABS/HIPS mixtures [11]. One approach to different characteristics of recycled polymer was reported by Liang [13]. The contaminants of these recycled polymers are showed in Fig 11. Previous degradation levels ABS and WEEE ABS FTIR spectra for WEEE ABS can be compared with virgin ABS to estimate differences. According to Balarts research, small degradation in ABS was evaluated in the FTIR spectra (Fig 12). The hydroxyl groups which absorb near 3250cm-1 shown, and the carbonyl groups, which absorb near 1750cm-1 missed in the spectra [11]. 2.3.4 Mixture of ABS/PC system According to Balart [11], Equivalent Box Model (EBM) was carried out to analysis the mechanical behavior of ABS/PC blends. EBM can obtain a range of tensile values of blends. Fig 13 shows different curves with the critical values and different A values which is an experimental parameter related to the various interaction forces along the interface. As Balart pointed, the optimum range between10wt% and 20wt% PC in mixture shows an industrial material with balanced properties [11]. One reason is that mechanical ductile properties do not decrease [11]. Furthermore, according to Arnold, the mechanical properties of recycled ABS, especially ductility, are significantly affected by gas evolution during the process of ABS from WEEE [14]. Tarantill and Mitsakaki have done some tests about the proprieties of ABS/PC blends. In this project, more can be dig deeper in ABS based on the Zhangs work. First, FTIR spectra can be used to compare the virgin ABS, after processing ABS and WEEE ABS. The relationship between WEEE ABS, after processing ABS and standard ABS should be clear in this project. Second, ABS/PC mixture is one way to investigate. In Balarts report, the optimum range is 10wt% to 20wt%; the mechanical properties of this range also have a good performance. Furthermore, to refine the WEEE ABS is also one way, but due to the current situation; it is hard to find a process to increase the purity of WEEE ABS (98%). Simply mix one equivalent part of purity ABS and one equivalent part of WEEE ABS may be possible. Higher purity of WEEE ABS may have better properties. 2.3.5 Alternative Nylon Source According to Zhangs research, Nylon could be an alternative material to replace the ABS P400. Compared to the ABS, Nylon have lower price. In the laboratory, nylon strimmer line has already been produced into filament with the same diameter as benchmark P400 ABS. It is easier to get the raw material. One key factor for this alternative material is melt temperature when nylon as a sample. The recommend FDM operation on standard P400 ABS was 100oC higher than the melting point. Among the nylon-6, nylon-12 and nylon-66, nylon-12, which could be a potential material, has the lowest melting point 179oC [15]. Compared to P400 benchmark, the melt mass flow rate can be a reasonable range from 7.0 to 20 [16]. During the Zhangs trial of nylon material, 300oC is the highest temperature limitation for liquefying the FDM machine, but nylon-6 need higher. So glue gun can be used for higher FDM operation temperature. The further properties of the Nylon product need to be evaluated in the experiment . 2.4 Measuring Instruments The target of the project is to find the alternative material to replace the ABS-P400, before that, the properties of ABS-P400 and after processing ABS should be investigated. By comparing the differences of these two materials, the possible of re-used after processing ABS is demonstrated. Moreover, the data of the standard material can be the reference of the alternative materials. The main equipments and tests may be used below. 2.4.1 Melt Flow Index (MFI) Viscous Flow According to Zhangs report, viscous flow of the material is the key to this project. Low viscosity simply means that the materials are able to flow easily [2]. Viscosity is lowered significantly by increasing temperature according to the equation 4: Where 0 is a constant, Q is the activation energy for flow, R is the universal gas constant and T is absolute temperature. In this project, MFI is used to measure the viscous flow. According to Zhang, the some MFI results were obtained. MFI Instrument The Melt Flow Index (MFI) is a way to measure the ease of flow of the melt of a thermoplastic polymer. In Farlexs free dictionary, it is defined as the weight of polymer in grams flowing in 10 minutes through a capillary of specific diameter and length by a pressure applied via prescribed alternative gravimetric weights for alternative prescribed temperatures[17]. One conclusion of Balart is that extrusion and injection moulding process are very important to ensure good mixing conditions and homogeneity. MFI measurements were used with an extrusion plastometer [11]. Flow rate, whose unit is g/10mins, reflects the melt polymers features. In this project, there are two criterions for different grades of ABS plastic. One is 2200C/10kg for injection moulding condition, which is a general standard of flow property. Another condition 2700C/2.16kg, which is a special condition for FDM condition (in Zhangs report), need to be evaluated. Because the working atmosphere of FDM is complicated, t he push force of extrusion cannot be constant due to the different speed of extrusion. To simulate the environment of FDM, the push force must be understood. The data of MFI will have the value of reference. In this project, the difference of MFI between virgin ABS and reused ABS will be evaluated. In theory, for the thermal plastic, repeated heating and cooling cycle does not change the size of the plastic molecular chains, so MFI should not be changed [18]. However, storage conditions of reused materials are usually poor, usually placed at random, the properties of material are mostly metamorphic. According to Zhangs report, sample drying should be mentioned due to the absorbent of polymer. This element will greatly affect the accuracy. The specimens including ABS and nylon were put into oven for 2hours at 900C for ABS (1200C for PC) [13] and keep dry condition to prevent further water absorbing. The other factor affecting precision is cleaning. Die diameter affect the speed of melt flow. It is easy to have the deposition in the inner wall. The test result reduces due to the increasing of resistance of melt flow. So the cleaning is very important element to the accurate. 2.4.2 Capillary Rheometry Equipment Capillary rheometer is another way to measure the viscosity of the materials. The polymer is put into a test tube with a known diameter, and there are several horizontal marks scribed on it. When put some pressure to the polymer, a vacuum is used to get the flow polymer, and the time required is measured for the melt from one mark to another. Elliott [19] explains this device also can test the density and surface tension. 2.4.3 Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectrometers FTIR test designed in this project is to show the different molecules in the trial materials other than ABS P400. FTIR test is to evaluate what is the material composition of the FDM ABS and after FDM processing material, and to find out whether after FDM processing materials become degenerate. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) is based on the interferogram, which is the idea of the interference of radiation [20]. A single is produced by the change of path length between the two beams; the changeable of distance and frequency are convertible by the mathematical of Fourier-transformation [20]. The most common interferometer used is a Michelson interferometer. There are two perpendicularly mirrors which are bisected by a semi-reflecting film (Fig 2). The two beams defected from theses mirrors return to the beam splitter where they recombine and interfere. The moving mirror supplies an optical path difference, which controls the transmission and reflection. 2.4.4 Glue Gun According to Zhangs report, nylon strimmer line has been produced with the same diameter as benchmark P400 ABS. However, it was found that the strimmer line was unable to extrude from the FDM tip as need. When the temperature gets to 295 oC, which is the highest temperature limitation for liquefying the FDM machine, a small amount of material was extruded [21]. In this project, glue gun can be used to replace the tip to get higher temperature. The gun uses a heat element to continuous heat the plastic glue, the temperature of which can reach around 380 degrees [21]. 2.5 mechanical rest 2.5.1 Tensile Test The designing of tensile test aimed to evaluate the mechanical property among all alternative material. The specimen was studied by tensile test using a Lloyd LR50KPlus materials testing machine (Fareham, UK). For each selected building material, the testing samples were produced on three patterns of raster orientation, which built up in X, Y, and Z axis respectively. All tensile test samples were made with ISO 527-2-5A standard with a dumbbell shape. According to Zhangs report, benchmark P400 ABS sample was test, the result shows in Fig 10.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Victorian Dinner Parties :: Victorian Era

Victorian Dinner Parties Victorian dinner parties where associated with the upper class, not usually the middle class, and were attended by eminent guests of status. Lord Steyne, a character from the novel Vanity Fair, would have been invited to many such parties were he a real person who lived in that Era. The Victorian hostess had to consider three main things: The Guests At Victorian dinner parties, the hostess invited guests from the upper class of society. Typically, she invited one guest of honor, an eminent gentleman (Margetson 73). She also looked to invite some guests with musical skills or entertaining abilities. The number of men and women had to be equal, since every gentleman was given charge of a single lady of similar rank whom he was to accompany into the dinning room. During the course of the night, he made sure that she had a pleasant time (Ferguson). Pairing men and women into such couples was easy for the hostess when her guest had a spouse -- since she was required by etiquette to invite the spouse of her guest in addition to him - but pairing was more difficult when she invited unmarried persons. When she had a single man at her party, the hostess had the duty of finding him a single woman to entertain; though this task was difficult because ladies did not accept invitations unless they had an escort already, for fear of being call ed "fast" (Margetson 73). The Setting Pairing the guests was not the sole concern of the Victorian hostess. She had to make sure her house was in order, in particular, her parlor and dinning room, since the party was set in those two areas. First, guests would assemble in the parlor, where the pairing took place. Then, starting with the highest-ranking guest, each man escorted his lady into the dinning room, which the hostess decorated with opulence. After dinner, the ladies went back into the parlor for tea or coffee, while the men stayed at the table, talking, drinking and smoking. Next, the men went to join the women in the parlor. The ones who were too inebriated stayed behind. During this final part of the occasion, guests amused themselves with card games, magic tricks, and musical entertainment (Ferguson) . The Dinner The Victorian hostess had a primary goal in mind when she held a dinner party, and that purpose was to flaunt her status. She aimed to impress her guests with elaborate dishes. Victorian Dinner Parties :: Victorian Era Victorian Dinner Parties Victorian dinner parties where associated with the upper class, not usually the middle class, and were attended by eminent guests of status. Lord Steyne, a character from the novel Vanity Fair, would have been invited to many such parties were he a real person who lived in that Era. The Victorian hostess had to consider three main things: The Guests At Victorian dinner parties, the hostess invited guests from the upper class of society. Typically, she invited one guest of honor, an eminent gentleman (Margetson 73). She also looked to invite some guests with musical skills or entertaining abilities. The number of men and women had to be equal, since every gentleman was given charge of a single lady of similar rank whom he was to accompany into the dinning room. During the course of the night, he made sure that she had a pleasant time (Ferguson). Pairing men and women into such couples was easy for the hostess when her guest had a spouse -- since she was required by etiquette to invite the spouse of her guest in addition to him - but pairing was more difficult when she invited unmarried persons. When she had a single man at her party, the hostess had the duty of finding him a single woman to entertain; though this task was difficult because ladies did not accept invitations unless they had an escort already, for fear of being call ed "fast" (Margetson 73). The Setting Pairing the guests was not the sole concern of the Victorian hostess. She had to make sure her house was in order, in particular, her parlor and dinning room, since the party was set in those two areas. First, guests would assemble in the parlor, where the pairing took place. Then, starting with the highest-ranking guest, each man escorted his lady into the dinning room, which the hostess decorated with opulence. After dinner, the ladies went back into the parlor for tea or coffee, while the men stayed at the table, talking, drinking and smoking. Next, the men went to join the women in the parlor. The ones who were too inebriated stayed behind. During this final part of the occasion, guests amused themselves with card games, magic tricks, and musical entertainment (Ferguson) . The Dinner The Victorian hostess had a primary goal in mind when she held a dinner party, and that purpose was to flaunt her status. She aimed to impress her guests with elaborate dishes.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Causes of Cold War

Causes of the Cold War The Cold War was a very dangerous period of history that lasted from 1945 to 1991. The Cold War was started almost immediately after the surrender ing Germany to the end of World War II there was a threat tot the planet and its existence if this war was ever to be fought. Both upheld a great amount of resources into the expanding their military readiness. It was more than a war between two countries, it was a war between different ideologies in fear of the government.In the United States a â€Å"witch hunt† was carried out against communists, as they feared that communism would take over the country and in the Soviet Union people were â€Å"fenced in† by fear of the police and government and they were not free to travel abroad as many escaped from the hard reigning regime (Artikkel). After World War II two great powers emerged in the world. The world was split into two spheres, the West and the East. The power in the West rested in the hands of th e United States and the power in the East the power rested in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.The USSR wanted to spread its ideal government, Communism in Eastern Europe and create a â€Å"buffer zone† as defense against any attacks by the U. S. (Capitalists) or by Germany. In 1946 Europe was split in two the West and East(western democracies and the United States and the Soviet Union and Soviet occupied territory). In Berlin, the capital of Germany a wall was erected to separate theWest the East side, The was known as the â€Å"Iron Curtain†, it was a symbolic of the treat each side felt from the other. The U. S. and U. S. S.R. were as different as day and night. Therefore neither trusted the other completely. A capitalist economy is based on private ownership, private profit and free competition, it encourages private individuals to own businesses and make profits (capitalism). On the other hand a communist economy is very different. The economy is controlled by the government and the country's wealth and resources are owned by the state or government. The state controls and plans all economic activity so that everybody benefits (communism).During World War I and II, the USSR was invaded multiple times resulting in many russian casualties. The USSR began planning making sure they would be secure from any future attack or aggression along the western border. Stalin, the USSR leader, decided to surround Russia with a buffer of â€Å"friendly† countries. The U. S. was afraid that the ideology of Communist would spread largely and vasty. When the USSR began attempting to improve its security by having satellite states, the U. S. saw this as an attempt by the USSR to spread the influence of Communism throughout the world.The United States had the nuclear bomb and soon after that Russia had a nuclear bomb also. Since neither side trusted the other and both wanted to extend their great ideology to the rest of the world, the Cold War hea ted up. Each side constantly believed the other wanted to destroy the other and felt the need to create a better military force. A military tension began between the two countries. The United States also expanded its navy, armed ships with new technology. Scientists were developing new weapons to aid this military buildup.Russia, too also built up their military as well. During this time period, while the Russians pushed the Germans out of their border, they also pushed inwards into Eastern Europe. Russia occupied many countries, making it easier for them to establish control and as they established controls in these areas, they gave the local Communist parties a lot of support. Thus, widened their influence in their countries and brought along Moscow-trained Communist leaders who had gone to the USSR during the war spreading the influence of Communism ((Artikkel).Meanwhile Stalin saw this as an opportunity to establish his ideal one-party governments in these countries , he combine d all allie government and removed their partners which were needed as the Communist Parties in the different countries were not strong enough on their own to gain the support of the people and govern the country. The USSR was now able to continue and increase/maintain power in Eastern Europe, successfully forming the satellite states (Iron Curtain). The arms race had a different result on the economies for each country.The US experienced great economic expansion, new companies were founded by the people to supply the needs of the military. More money was being pumped into the society and as people received more money, they wanted choices how to spend their money. So businesses that expanded this economies expansion. Resources were diverted from one area to provide for the expansion of the military. Since the government owned everything, new companies formed took resources from other areas of their economy.The military expansion robbed resources the provided needs for the needs of t he people hence the result was a shortage of food and other necessary goods for the day to day survival. The arms race resulted in a contraction of the Russian economy. In June 1947, the Marshall Plan was put into effect in order to stop the Russians from influencing any of the weakened western powers(Marshall). Meanwhile the United States sent billions of dollars to help aid to Europe democracies and rebuild vastly reducing the influence of Communism. This brought back Western Germany and rebuilt it as a new ally in US’s fight against USSR.As a result of Russia rejection of aid to Marshall Plan, East Germany was not completely rebuilt, the lack of reconstruction showed and also during its reunification. The Communists never paid for all of the reconstruction cost while Germany’s economy did taking big hit in their economy. The Truman Doctrine, a plan to help states going through a struggle for freedom against their oppressors, was instituted in 1948. President Truman said, â€Å"I believe it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures (Truman). Communism was only allowed to areas already under Soviet control, and Americans would resist Soviet expansion everywhere else. The Truman Doctrine could not have been more clearly directed towards East Germany and, technically, West Germany (Truman). Germany was still under the power of an outside force and also under the power the Deutsches Demokratische Republik. In 1949 the Allies made good on what they promised in the Truman Doctrine and unified West Germany into the BDR (Federal Republic of Germany) and also the Russians instituted the DDR, which turned out to be more of a regime than a government (Truman).

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Sample Answer Ccts by Miss Emy Jong

National level public examinations such as the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and Sijil Pelajaran Tinggi Malaysia (STPM) have always generated a lot of interest among the general public as they are essential for entrance into universities and also to enter into the work market. In the recent few years, attention has been drawn to the phenomenon of students getting up to 20 As in the SPM examinations and this has been a source of contention especially with regards to scholarship allocation and university placements. The government then has been mulling a decision to set a limit on the maximum number of subjects a candidate may sit for as a way to simplify the selection process into tertiary studies. The writer of this article, Dr. I. Lourdesamy of the Pacific Institute Technology in Petaling Jaya offers his views on this development and the article is aptly titled â€Å"SPM Subjects: Let students make the choice. Basically, the writer is of the opinion that setting a cap on the number of subjects a student may sit for does not address the real issue of suitable selection criteria into tertiary education, and he goes on to suggest how we may best tackle the issue by giving his recommendations as well as what he feels the goal of education should be. The writer proposes that we should not limit the number of subjects SPM students can sit for, and instead students can be evaluated on the basis of their performance in subjects directly related to the proposed field of study. He is disagreeable to limiting students’ opportunity to learn, and feels that the students should be allowed to decide on their own goals based on their capacity and aptitude. He also suggests that schools offer a range of elective subjects to cater to different student interests. Furthermore, the writer opines that most students have too much free time and actually should be encouraged to do more. Finally, the writer addresses the primary objective of education – to provide opportunity for its students to maximize their learning potential. Personally, I find the writer’s argument of not limiting the number of subjects for SPM students to be reasonable and logical. As he said earlier, if the concern is the assessment process for scholarships and places in universities then what we need is a clear and comprehensive guideline on the selection criteria for the various disciplines in tertiary education. Actually, the practice of taking into account only subjects which are directly relevant to the proposed field of study has long been practiced and limiting the number of subjects would not help in any way to determine which students are more deserving of university placements or scholarships. What students need to be made aware of is that they need to prepare for their desired field of study by taking relevant subjects which would be necessary in the selection process. The author’s arguments on allowing students to decide on their own goals based on their capacity and aptitude, besides having schools offering elective subjects are indeed good suggestions. Having gone through the path of being a student myself, I strongly feel that if students are given more say in what they are studying, it will make them more motivated and keen to learn. They can also be challenged appropriately, and the scenario of having students being bored (because the syllabus is too easy or uninteresting) or not being able to follow lessons (because they are too weak) will be greatly reduced. However, the implementation of such suggestions may be very difficult as a lot of resources will need to be made available to schools and students. We would have to first have a large enough pool of competent teachers to teach students these various subjects at all levels of difficulty, and sorting out the logistics such as allocation of classrooms and time-tabling could also prove very challenging. Students’ use of their free time was also one of the points raised in the article. The author obviously feels that students could be more productive and that they do not have much to do. While there may be some truth to his argument, I think that it is not fair to generalize and say that all students are too free and should be asked to do more. How much time a student actually spends on his studies and other worthwhile activities differs greatly from one student to another. It really depends on the individual’s motivation and goals. Some students who are already pushing themselves very hard should actually be taught to relax and have more balance in their life. Therefore, this argument shows the author’s bias towards students nowadays and he should give more careful thought to this before making such conclusions.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Analyze Opening Clip of Shallow Grave essays

Analyze Opening Clip of Shallow Grave essays Assignment: Analyze Clip of Shallow Grave As an otherwise uneducated viewer, this clip makes me think that the director desires for the audience to know that this film is going to be something out of the ordinary. From the beginning credits, which slide from right to left, to the strange and obscure camera angles used throughout the opening scene you can tell the director wants the audience to feel like they are being thrown into the mind of the apparently drug-induced main character. The smooth line of introductory credits which flows effortlessly across the screen shows a heightened sense of peculiarity. Most directors of films in this genre focus on more film format than the creativity of their own minds. This director is trying to express his creativity by being unlike the rest of his peers. The face-paced introduction from the city streets to the quaintly contemptuous otherwise strangely sarcastic doormat which reads: NOT TODAY, THANK YOU., gives you a feel for what exactly the director is trying to say. In my opinion, he wants you to know what kind of mind hes getting you into. In other words, that all of this opening substance isnt really as important as the main storyline, which involves trusting your friends and keeping an open mind. A point which he is swiftly getting to. From watching this opening clip I feel semi-compelled to rent the movie seeing as how the director wants the audience to be inside the main characters mind, similar to the movie Fight Club, (which I loved). Although, on the other hand, I feel that it might be a waste of my time to watch a movie which reminds me much of a Pink Floyd video (not that Pink Floyd is bad but I just have a problem with rock stars who bring shame on rock music by using drugs and drinking uncontrollably). The reason the movie gives me that impression is simply that the man viewed looks very drug ind ...

Monday, November 4, 2019

How people change management is related to Business Process Management Assignment

How people change management is related to Business Process Management - Assignment Example This paper explores the relationship that exists between people change management and Business Process Management. Organisational change management or people change management plays a very vital part in ensuring successful business process management. It involves changing the beheviour of people making up the organisation and equipping them with the necessary skills required to take the organisation into the desired direction. People change management helps organisational change managers as well as business process managers to create change awareness, reduce employee resistance, manage change impact and implement desired business process change effectively (Brocke & Rosemann 2010; Jeston & Nelis 2014). Business process management is a field usually focused on bringing efficiency in business process and increase the effectiveness and agility with which the organisation strives towards its set objectives. In many cases, organisations pursue efficiency in order to cut down production costs and contain employee lay-offs through cost control. Effectiveness in every business process is the sure means through which companies can attain their goals such as establishing high customer experience and hence satisfaction through excellent customer service. In the modern market, consumer dynamics are fast changing and organisations have to be in better positions to respond to changes in the markets (Brocke & Rosemann 2010). Agility enables companies to swiftly respond to the changes in the market and turn existing challenges into business opportunities. Change management is basically one of the most daunting tasks for managers. This is because it involves changing people. Organisational change demands the transformation of the culture of the organisation, which stills comes down to changing people within the organization (Brocke & Rosemann 2010). Every change

Saturday, November 2, 2019

A Successful Manager Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

A Successful Manager - Assignment Example I believe success means being able to deliver what is expected of you in your professional line and even better. Many believe that success is being better than your friends or relatives. According to me, success means being better than I was yesterday. Material possession should not be a way of measuring success, but according to how much one has improved from the previous day. To improve personal limitation one needs self-awareness. Some of the elements included in it are goals, values, and abilities. This will help a person become a better manager in future. Self- awareness encourages someone to things they thought they could not. Self-awareness, in turn, helps someone to get to self-actualization. This is where one is able to do any task because they believe in themselves. They may also have the skill that even gives them more confidence. Being hesitant to study abroad, I got motivation from when I saw other student graduates from the English learning school so I studied hard and graduated. To improve a personal and professional relationship, self- closure is important. It also helps improve one’s understanding and concern about a situation. It also improves the quality of communication, collaboration, and performance with others. Trust is a very important element in business. In business, one should be ready to share in case of a problem. It helps to share because one will get help and get different views that they can combine and be unstoppable. A person with self-management skill is very lucky. This means they can manage their emotions, time and stress. Time is one of the most important elements in business, therefore, should be properly managed and used effectively. Management of stress, on the other hand, is very important for effectiveness in the workplace.