First Day in Delta College Essay

January, 14th 2014, was my first day at Delta College. I have heard some say that their first day of college was full of excitement, but for me it was completely new experience. My first day in Delta College was a memorable experience due to three reasons: I was exposed to the new environment, I met new teachers, and I met some new friends. On the first day of college, I saw the new environment and it made me feel more and more comfortable. At my first glimpse of my new campus, the air smelled new, the faces looked new and the environment seemed so different from Cambodia (my country) that it took away my anxieties. As my new friends, Theara, Sok, Samdy, and I roamed around, visiting every Delta College building, following the map. We saw awesome facilities support by high technology in the auto shop and we didn’t even know what it was called. All I know about it was that some of these machines were used it to fix cars. It was my first time seeing those amazing technologies. I t might sound that it was just ignorance in my new world, but it just really seemed new to me. These great experiences in the new environment helped me to adjust to Delta College as well. My first teacher for my English 84 class was named Becerra-Qu, and my second teacher for my Precalculus I class was named Tripp, R. At first they seemed so serious, but it was just the way their teaching styles were, which I found very helpful with my education. Then later on, my new friend told me that both teachers were nice people, but they just wanted their students to take their classes seriously. My friend also said, â€Å"They look serious and mean but they also make joke around and make the students felt more comfortable to study in their classroom.† She told me that â€Å"Every teacher has his or her own ways to teaching because some students tend to not to pay attention to their teachers if they don’t set up their rules in his or her classroom.† My first day of college was kind of scary but after my friend told me some stories about the teacher, it made me feel better. On my first day in Delta College, I made a couple new friends’ named Theara, Sok, Sam, Samdy, Vuth and I found them worth having. At the start, all of those new faces made me feel uncomfortable because they were looking at me as if I were an interesting creature that they had never seen before. My first hour at Delta College made me feel lonely and miserable. During the first hour, I realized that I missed the majority of my old friends in my country, whether they were nice or rude to me. On my first day in Delta College, I remembered all of those good old days with my good old friends and all the good old memories that I spent with them in Cambodia. However, things went back to normal as if I had returned to my old life after I had my first English 84 classes at 8:30 in the morning. English 84 class was nice and I met some new classmates there, named Theara, Sok, Sam, Samdy, and Vuth. We all spoke Khmer, and they all came from the same country as I did; however, we all came from different provinces. Some of my new classmates that I met on my first day of school have been friends of mine since that first day. Most importantly, as I was Cambodian, I had a hard time to read, to write, and to listen to my classmates including the teacher. Most of students that studied in English 84 with me didn’t speak English in a correct way. So, on my first day in my English 84 class, I always spoke broken English. When my first English 84 class was over at 10:30, I started to walk down to Shima building and stopped to ask someone I met for directions to my math class. I actually arrived to the class late because I got lost in the Shima building. In addition, when I got to my Math class fifteen minutes late, it was terrible and I didn’t get what the teacher said at first because he was speaking too fast for me, so I just found my own seat and settled down in the Math class for one hour and a half. It was a big challenge for me to go to college because I came from another country, but it gave me a memorable experience that I will never forget. Overall, I believe that the first day of College was an exciting journey because of all the new things that we had been through and experienced. For me, my first day in Delta College turned out to be terrible experience that I had never expected, but was a step that boosted my interesting and also my  confidence.

C2 Paper

Paper Reference(s) 6664 Edexcel GCE Core Mathematics C2 Advanced Subsidiary Tuesday 10 January 2006 ? Afternoon Time: 1 hour 30 minutes Materials required for examination Mathematical Formulae (Green) Items included with question papers Nil Candidates may use any calculator EXCEPT those with the facility for symbolic algebra, differentiation and/or integration. Thus candidates may NOT use calculators such as the Texas Instruments TI 89, TI 92, Casio CFX 9970G, Hewlett Packard HP 48G. Instructions to Candidates In the boxes on the answer book, write the name of the examining body (Edexcel), your centre number, candidate number, the unit title (Core Mathematics C2), the paper reference (6664), your surname, other name and signature. When a calculator is used, the answer should be given to an appropriate degree of accuracy. Information for Candidates A booklet ‘Mathematical Formulae and Statistical Tables’ is provided. Full marks may be obtained for answers to ALL questions. The marks for individual questions and the parts of questions are shown in round brackets: e. g. (2). There are 9 questions on this paper. The total mark for this paper is 75. Advice to Candidates You must ensure that your answers to parts of questions are clearly labelled. You must show sufficient working to make your methods clear to the Examiner. Answers without working may gain no credit. N23552A This publication may only be reproduced in accordance with Edexcel Limited copyright policy.  ©2006 Edexcel Limited. 1. Given that f(1) = 0, (x) = 2Ãâ€"3 + x2 – 5x + c, where c is a constant. (a) find the value of c, (2) (b) factorise f(x) completely, (4) (c) find the remainder when f(x) is divided by (2x – 3). (2) 2. (a) Find the first 3 terms, in ascending powers of x, of the binomial expansion of (1 + px)9, where p is a constant. (2) The first 3 terms are 1, 36x and qx2, where q is a constant. (b) Find the value of p and the value of q. (4) N23552A 2 3. y B Figure 1 C P O A x In Figure 1, A(4, 0) and B(3, 5) are the end points of a diameter of the circle C. Find (a) the exact length of AB, (2) (b) the coordinates of the midpoint P of AB, (2) (c) an equation for the circle C. (3) 4. The first term of a geometric series is 120. The sum to infinity of the series is 480. (a) Show that the common ration, r, is 3 . 4 (3) (b) Find, to 2 decimal places, the difference between the 5th and 6th terms. (2) (c) Calculate the sum of the first 7 terms. (2) The sum of the first n terms of the series is greater than 300. (d) Calculate the smallest possible value of n. (4) N23552A 3 5. Figure 2 A 6m 5m 5m B O In Figure 2 OAB is a sector of a circle, radius 5 m. The chord AB is 6 m long. 7 ? . (a) Show that cos AOB = 25 (2) ? (b) Hence find the angle AOB in radians, giving your answer to 3 decimal places. (1) (c) Calculate the area of the sector OAB. (2) (d) Hence calculate the shaded area. (3) 6. The speed, v m s–1, of a train at time t seconds is given by v = ? (1. 2t – 1), 0 ? t ? 30. The following table shows the speed of the train at 5 second intervals. t v 0 0 5 1. 22 10 2. 28 15 20 6. 11 25 30 (a) Complete the table, giving the values of v to 2 decimal places. 3) The distance, s metres, travelled by the train in 30 seconds is given by ? s = ? ? (1. 2 t ? 1) dt . ?0 (b) Use the trapezium rule, with all the values from your table, to estimate the value of s. (3) 30 N23552A 4 7. The curve C has equation y = 2Ãâ€"3 – 5Ãâ€"2 – 4x + 2. (a) Find dy . dx (2) (b) Using the result from part (a), find the coordinates of the turning points of C. (4) d2 y (c) Find . dx 2 (2) (d) Hence, or otherwise, determine the nature of the turning points of C. (2) 8. (a) Find all the values of ? to 1 decimal place, in the interval 0? ? ? < 360? for which 5 sin (? + 30? ) = 3. (4) (b) Find all the values of ? , to 1 decimal place, in the interval 0? ? ? < 360? for which tan2 ? = 4. (5) N23552A 5 9. y Figure 3 3 2 A R B O x Figure 3 shows the shaded region R which is bounded by the curve y = –2Ãâ€"2 + 4x and the 3 line y = . The points A and B are the points of intersection of the line and the curve. 2 Find (a) the x-coordinates of the points A and B, (4) (b) the exact area of R. (6) TOTAL FOR PAPER: 75 MARKS END N23552A 6

Free Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Free Market - Essay Example It has been highly controversial whether free market is suitable for the present world economy. It is still unknown which economic policy would solve the fundamental economic problems of the present economy. It is time to analyze whether the concept of mixed economy would find success in this present world. It is again controversial up to what extent the governmental regulation must be allowed in a mixed economy. Moreover, it is also important to review the amount of access of free market and its validity and significance in the present world economy. It will be useful if we analyze the concepts of Adam Smith and Milton Friedman and the opposition of Keynes and Karl Marx in the context of the present world economy. Adam Smith advocated the concepts of free market and explained in his work An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations the mechanism that he believed being operated in the economic society. According to Adam Smith, individuals strive to attain wealth by aiming only on their personal gain. These individuals however cannot consume everything that they produce and has to share it with others who value it and pay the price for it. So the public interests of the society can be satisfied by this system of division of labor and free market. Smith, the father of economics, have authored the invisible hand which is able to explain all sorts of economic phenomena in all fields. The book has included the valuable views of Adam Smith about free market. Adam Smith explained the concept and told that businessmen or entrepreneurs always aim for the best profit and consumers always do aim for the lowest price. Consumer choice thus would become the force that influences the price in the market. Consumers would demonstrate their demand or negligence towards products that appear in the market. These consumer demand or pressure would thus encourage entrepreneurs or producers to invest more on the same product and bring more of them into the markets. T hus it is nothing but the consumer demand that pressurize the producers to invest their money into the profitable industry. Thus industry brings the most demanded goods to the markets and consumers also receive their favorable products, thereby resulting in the general economic well being of the society. Adam Smith considered this market-based system as a great advantage as people are forced to respond (producers) according to the want and demands of other people. Free market is the concept in which price is regulated by the corresponding demand or supply. Trade and business would be completely voluntary in free market concept without any interference from force, rule or fraud. In a free market system, the theory of supply and demand would rule the economy bringing the prices of the products towards a typical equilibrium state that would balance the demand and the supply. Another major advocate of free market system is Milton Friedman. He opined that that there is a close and direct relationship between economic freedom and economic growth. Milton Friedman, the American economist (famous for his macro and microeconomics) was of the opinion that free markets would challenge and destroy away political centralization and political control completely. In his book, Capitalism and Freedom he mentioned that the role of a government in free market economy is to maintain political and social freedom. Freidman highly supported free market concept and explained several of its advantages. According to him, â€Å"The most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit.† He opined that the one and only way to get a lot of people cooperate together jointly is through free market. As a

Analysis of French wine come-back fuels market scrap Essay

Analysis of French wine come-back fuels market scrap - Essay Example In terms of analysis of the current situation and the recommendation for CCVF wine, the PEST analysis shows that the government of France and the other European Union governments are have created an environment that is conducive to the prosperity of the wine fermenting business in these countries. The peaceful environment in all the European Union States will hasten business transactions in the wine making business. Also, the economic condition in France and the neighboring European Union member states shows that there is an economic slowdown because the demand for wine products has shifted to alternative products. Thus, there is an overstock of wine products in the wine basements and the grocery stores. Also, inflation has plays a small part in the economic situation here. Thus, since there is no strong demand for wine products, the sales growth in wine products has stymied in these European Union places. Socially, the company has to include the different cultures and practices of current and prospective customers in countries around the world in their marketing strategy. The company has to advertise its wine products in television, radio and newspapers infusing the local cultures and traditions in order to get not only the sales but also the hearts of the current and prospective customers. Technologically, the wine making process has been preserved through the years. However, the marketing st rategy then has been remaining stagnant and needs to change in order to keep up with the competing products like beer, rhum and other spirits.

Consumer and consumption Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Consumer and consumption - Essay Example This "Consumer and consumption" essay outlines the marketing strategies that Coca-Cola used to become the leader on the market. The globalized world has resulted to new borderless markets with numerous corporations crossing geographical and political boundaries to market and initiate operations and investments on a global scale. International marketing leads to a new problem where organizations have to utilize ingenuity, creativity, and huge budgets to attain a competitive edge in the market. This has resulted in international marketing concept; leading organizations to utilize different perspective in attracting customers on a global scale through perceptions and brand images. While a consumer product is made in the factory, consumers in most cases do not buy the product, but the brand, which is perceived to add value to it. This was a statement by Charles Revlon, the founder of Revlon, who noted that in the factory, he made cosmetics, but customers bought hope from the stores. This trend will be strategically portrayed in Coca-Cola Company in manufacturing, marketing, and production of the coca cola beverage that has become one of the leading global brand names in refreshments. The Coca Cola company history began in 1886, when the curiosity of one Atlanta pharmacist Dr. Pemeberton resulted to the creation of a tasty distinctive soft drink, which could be sold in many soda fountains. The strategy was creating flavored syrup, mixing with carbonated water, and giving to neighbors around his pharmacy. Those who tasted the drink exclaimed that it was excellent (Coca Cola, 2011). During the first year, the Coca Cola servings were at 5cents per glass, with the sales being an average of nine servings daily in Atlanta; compare this with the current estimated coca cola servings of about 1.6 billion daily current (Coca cola, 2011). The history that marked the current Coca Cola Company as it is known today dates back to 1894, after the death of the founder; when Biedenham installed the first bottling machinery at the Mississippi soda fountain, which was the first attempt to sell Coca Cola drink in bottles (Coca Cola, 2011). Joseph Whitehead and Lupton developed what i s known as the Coca Cola worldwide bottling system, as it is known to

In this course you have been exposed to many current trends in Term Paper

In this course you have been exposed to many current trends in Business Intelligence. Two important emerging trends are the u - Term Paper Example Moreover, there are technologies such as reality mining which are also emerging in the business world. Reality mining is mainly used to analyze the collected machine-sensed environmental data with regard to social behavior of human beings (Doody & Shields, n.d., pp. 1-31). The paper intends to present an elaborative explanation of a few of the current technological trends being used in the business. Furthermore, the paper would also depict the various impacts of RFID technology and reality mining on the present day organizations. The paper would also discuss the merits as well as the demerits of the aforesaid technologies in business. Discussion Technologies have a very crucial role to play in the present altering business environment. There has been a continuous emergence of new technologies in the business world. A few of them such as RFID technology and reality mining would be explained in details below: Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) i s one of the most important tools or technologies for business entities. This technology is quite effective and is capable of replacing the present modern day technology such as bar code. The technology offers strategic benefits to the business as it can track the record in case of supply chain activities more competently and effectively. This technology also provides real-time-in-transit visibility (ITV) and can also observe the general enterprise assets in the business (Sweeney II, 2010). A few of the present day examples of RFID is recognized in supply chain to create pallet tracking application which is used in companies such as Wal-Mart and its suppliers. The access control system such as keyless entry is also a RFID technology. Apart from this, applications like point-of-sale, automatic tool collection system, and animal tracking devices among others also use this technology (Hunt, Puglia & Puglia, 2007). Impacts of RFID on an Organization (Pros and Cons) The impact of RFID fo r the organization is based on how it is being handled by the organization. The ability of the technology to ensure services such as real-time and serialized data could prove to be quite essential to the organization. The best way to know the impact of the RFID on the organization is by assessing the area of the business where this technology is employed. The overall impact of RFID to the business can be assessed with the assistance of three distinct work flows. They are business processes, physical infrastructure as well as system and information. Proper execution of these three aspects alone would depict the major impacts of the technology in the organization (Sweeney II, 2010). On the other hand, the technology also has certain demerits that are quite vital to be analyzed. It has been observed that the technology of RFID reader at times faces difficulties to read the information if the tags are installed in liquids as well as in metal products. The problem occurs because liquid a nd metal surfaces replicate the radio waves, which makes the tags unreadable. Again, certain interventions can be observed in the proper use this technology if devices for example forklifts as well as walkies-talkies are in the surrounding area of the distribution centers (Shah & Murtaza, n.d. pp. 1-9). Effective Use of RFID Technology in Business By Harnessing the Benefits and Avoiding the Pitfalls The use of RFID technology in

Compare or Contrast Sonny's Blues & Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Compare or Contrast Sonny's Blues & - Essay Example ers try to conceal their true identities but they do not understand that they cannot disconnect themselves from their history and that their identity remains intact with their history. Sonny’s Blues characterizes Sonny and his brother as two counterparts of African American race. Sonny wants freedom from suffering while his brother accepts everything and locks his true personality. Both of them try to get rid of Harlem as its environment was criminalizing its inhabitants. According to Baldwin, disaster waits for the dwellers of Harlem and â€Å"some escaped the trap, most didn’t†. Sonny’s brother shows submissiveness by accepting what comes his way while Sonny stands as a revolutionary. In Everyday Use, Walker portrays two sisters, both standing in contrast to one another. Maggie accepts her identity and is submissive while Dee rejects her identity and wants freedom and proves that she is different. She feels that she is oppressed by her past as after telling about her changed name she says, She feels herself oppressed being a part of her race and wants to get rid of her identity. However, she cannot break her linkage to her roots. Both the stories reveal that the African Americans even after gaining freedom go through a phase that is depressing and pressurizing for them as they still consider themselves subjugated or ignored by the society in which, they exist. Some characters try to break their links with the past but they cannot, however, some accept their status and own their history. Sonny and Maggie want to lead their lives by being attached to their heritage and fight with their own selves to know better about themselves. Sonny as an African American boy takes refuge in crime to some extent and later on in Jazz music while Maggie takes refuge in her home and accepts her status and feels herself connected to her history and is the righteous owner of her mother’s belongings for which, she is proud of. Jazz music stands as a source of connection for

Walter Rauschenbusch and social theology gospel Essay

Walter Rauschenbusch and social theology gospel - Essay Example The works of Rauschenbusch and his duties as a Protestant pastor were influenced very much by the teachings of Marx and his Communist Manifesto. They were about capital and labor and the dehumanizing condition of the ordinary working American in his time. But he worked with small congregations and he wanted to be near the common workingman. He wrote: I wanted to do hard work for God. Indeed, one of the great thoughts that came upon me was that I ought to follow Jesus Christ in my personal life, and die over again his death. I felt that every Christian ought to participate in the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in that way help to redeem humanity, and it was that thought that gave my life it's fundamental direction in the doing of Christian work. (Kyle Potter) Rauschenbusch began his first long-term pastorate at the Second German Baptist Church in New York, in a poor and dangerous neighborhood called "Hell's Kitchen," on 1 June 1886. He began to evangelize first and foremost, but that his education "in individualistic conservatism" had not prepared him for the poor standards of living, lack of education and danger. Rauschenbusch then decided that industrial crises existed due to the capitalistic system under which the poor struggled, exacerbating sickness, violence, and problems presented by bad food. (Kyle Potter) He wrote in The Social Gospel the inhuman condition that he had observed. In the 90s, he said, he saw "good men go into disreputable lines of employment and respectable widows consent to live with men who would support them and their children" (Rauschenbusch). Such was the condition at the time. Morality was down, there was a lot of poverty, and the system was to some extent inclined to a particular group known as the capitalists or oligarchs, but which were called in Marx and Engel's manifesto the bourgeois, in contrast to the lower class which was the proletariat. Rauschenbusch was not concerned however of the ideology; rather, he was concerned of the Gospel in relation to the suffering of the working man. His writings, and teachings, were aimed to alleviate the plight of the workingman who was being abused and oppressed, and reduced to the lowest serf. The working conditions were worse at that time; the capitalist was only concerned of his capital while the living conditions of the working man, including his family, home, insurance were not being looked into. Rauschenbusch's view of Christianity was that its purpose was to spread a Kingdom of God, not through a fire and brimstone style of preaching but by leading a Christlike life (Wikipedia). Rauschenbusch gave a special emphasis on theology, legitimizing it in mainstream American Protestantism. There is one and major distinction between Karl Marx's communist manifesto and Walter Rauschenbusch's social Gospel theology, and that is the former disregarded the belief in God amid socialism and communism ideas, while the latter connects his theories with the suffering Christ. Rauschenbusch argues that man should relate himself to the crucified Christ. He explained that the Kingdom of God "is not a matter of getting individuals to heaven, but of transforming the life on earth into the harmony of heaven" (Wikipedia). The causes, conditions

Toyota Motor Corporation Essay Example for Free

Toyota Motor Corporation Essay Toyota Motor Corporation is an automotive manufacture stationed in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. It was established in 1937 by Kiichiro Toyoda as a spin-off from Toyota Industries, his father’s company, to create automobiles. It has grown from just a dream to the world’s largest automobile manufacturer by 2012. Toyota made history when it became the first automobile manufacturer to produce 10 million vehicles in just one year. It has so far produced more than 200 million vehicles. The company produces vehicles under the brands of Lexus, Scion, Toyota, Hino, and Ranz. The company has, however, faced challenges because it has failed to perform the corporate structure, cooperate with regulator better, and pay adequate attention to the complaints of their consumers. I. Issues that the managers in the case are confronting The managers of Toyota are currently facing various issues. By 2012 they had to recall more than nine million cars since there were strong claims that they had defects. Recalling this huge number of cars would results in huge losses. First, there would be the cost of repairing these vehicles so that they can be roadworthy. Then there is the amount of time spent focusing on  the repair or damage control due to the defective vehicles that could be used in other productive activities. Meanwhile, as they are busy recalling the vehicles, their competitors are focusing on production and this could mean increase in their sales. The management has to work double and strategize on how to manage this mishap so that it does not result in unnecessary huge company losses. The managers’ methods of handling this crisis will significantly affect the turnover of the company. This thus calls for a lot of professionalism and tact when handling the situation. Moreover, the company has been the cause of thirty-seven deaths since the year 2000. This kind of information when released to the public negatively affects how the public perceives the company. The case study reports that unintended acceleration was one of the major reasons why the vehicles were recalled. The managers of Toyota will have to find out the effect of this kind of information on the attitudes of the consumers and reverse them. The managers are also confronted with the need to engage in more effective advertisement to correct the dented image of the company. They also need to assess their production techniques to make sure that such defects will not occur again anytime in future. I. Management concepts and theories Toyota has a strong culture because they have core values and norms which are widely shared among over 30,000 staff members. The company has an integrationist perspective of culture. The integrated culture has led to the company’s huge success. It shares organization-wide agreement of managerially sanctioned values. The Michigan Model of human resource management can critically evaluate the issues raised in the case study when based on Theory X (Rudman, 1999). The theory points out that the workers avoid responsibility and they cannot be trusted. When a company calls back nine million vehicles, a number almost equal to the number of cars produced annually, then somebody is definitely underperforming. There must be a whole department full of employees of Toyota who have been mandated with the responsibility of ensuring that the vehicles produced are fit for the road. Their failure to ensure that over nine million vehicles do not go to the market fit makes them not easy to be tr usted. The workers can also be classified as lazy since industrious workers would never let such a huge number of cars be released to the market while defective on their watch. Additionally, the company needs little autonomy just like in the Michigan Model of human resource development (Rudman, 1999). Their independence should be limited, as they need tight control and close monitoring. These conditions would assert that the company does not get overwhelmed by its mission to be number one and forget about the importance of releasing safe cars into the market. Being ahead of their competition has proved to Toyota that that is a very dangerous place to be. The company must have developed a sense of pride that made them complacent and indifferent to reality. The complacency finally developed into arrogance since their workers saw no need of assessing their products to match current quality standards because after all, they were still number one. The company focused on containments and cost reduction instead of focusing on what was really necessary, quality of output. Production on such large scales would make it easy to reduce costs due to economies of scale ( Herman, 2008). However, it reaches a point where reduction of production cost would have a negative effect on the quality of output. At such circumstances, the workers should have ensured that quality was important. This way they would not have rushed into releasing the products into the market and end up selling to the world vehicles that had defects such as unintended acceleration. The model regards the employees simply as resources for achieving the goals of the organization (Nankervis, Compton, Baird 2010). The company would find them irrelevant for inclusion into the process of strategizing and planning for the future of the company. The management would therefore lack a good quorum when discussing best scrutiny methods that would not result in the sale of defective vehicles by the company. Regardless of this, common sense should be considered as the only route to the success of the company. The notion that assessment of products to ensure that they match the level of quality that has been advertised to the consumers should be common to all. They should not allow the sale of products that fall short of the currently expected level of quality as this eventually affects the company sales. II. Critical review about the management strategies There are various decisions that could be tried by Toyota to resolve the issue. The company should give its regional managers more freedom to make independent decisions rather than have a rigid Japan-centered structure of  organization (Clegg, Kornberger, Pitsis 2011). Giving their regional managers more autonomy would speed up the process of decision making as it cuts down on the bureaucracy issues. It also increases creativity as the managers are allowed to come up with better managerial activities since they are free to do so. This freedom, when used responsibly by the managers, would help reduce the risk of complacency and ignorance to customer satisfaction as it has been noted by the current company practices. The effects of the mistakes of one regional manager can also be minimized since their decisions are not implemented on a global scale. Instead of having nine million recalled cars we might have just two hundred thousand since not all the regional managers will make the same mistake. The regional managers would also have role models of good management to emulate. Since these role models would be their colleagues then they are very likely to be successful at fulfilling their mission of meeting the same targets as their mentors. Toyota’s decision to deny the claims that they were defective cars to their consumers did not work at all. You cannot have the loss of thirty seven lives in your conscience and still be able to look at the family and friends’ victims’ eyes and deny that you had nothing to do with when in fact you really did. This was a very bad decision and that is why it did not work and they had to apologize later on. They should have taken the claims more seriously and investigated the matter too very well before making public announcements of denial or acceptance of their mistakes. The fact that they initially denied the claims and then apologized later on then recalled over nine million cars means that they had not taken seriously the allegations against them. III. Recommendations Toyota should have employed the Japanese approach of organizational culture to remedy this situation (Adler, Gundersen 2008). They should first create new knowledge. This would be done by assessing the situation and determining what is really going on and the cause of the problems. It is only by creating new knowledge that the problem can be understood and the solutions to these problems calculated. You cannot solve a problem if you know nothing about it. Research should be done to gauge what the public knows and compare it with the right information. Corrective advertising should be implemented in cases where there is a huge discrepancy. The company should also tap  tacit and subjective insights. The tacit insights include those cultures, which are implied or understood without stating. Subjective insights are one’s understanding of specific effect and cause in a particular context influenced or based on tastes, personal feelings and opinions. The company should also bank on the hunches and intuition of employees (Waddell, Jones George 2011). The employees know and understand how the business works. This means that they know one or two ideas that are not obvious to everyone else. They should use the company when dealing with such a crisis. This way the best approaches known to man will be formulated as you cannot go wrong when you have over 30,000 ideas to choose from. The company should not depend exclusively on processing objective data. In summary, Toyota has experienced some setbacks as it has not been able to cooperate better with regulator, perform the corporate structure, and pay enough attention to consumers’ complaints. The managers of Toyota are currently faced with issues such as recalling of more than nine million cars since there were strong claims that they had defects and the company has been the cause of thirty-seven deaths since the year 2000. The Michigan Model of human resource management can critically evaluate the issues raised in the case study when based on Theory X. Finally, Toyota should have employed the Japanese approach of organizational culture to remedy this situation. They should first create new knowledge. References Adler, N. Gundersen, A. 2008. International Dimensions of Organisational Behaviour 5th edn, Thompson Higher Education, Ohio, USA Aguinis, Herman (2008). Performance Management, 2nd Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, New York Clegg, S., Kornberger, M., Pitsis, T. 2011, Managing Organisations: An Introduction to Theory and Practice, London, Sage. Nankervis, A. R., Compton, R. L. Baird, M. 2010, Human Resource Management: Strategies and Processes, 7th edn, Southbank, Thomson. Rudman, R. 1999, Human Resource Management in New Zealand. 3rd edn, Auckland: Addison Wesley Longman, New Zealand Limited. Waddell, D, Jones, G George, J. 2011, Contemporary Management. 2nd edn. McGraw-Hill, North Ryde.

Health care Transparency Essay Example for Free

Health care Transparency Essay Health care Transparency is openness about the quality of healthcare provided, sharing information whether it be good or bad for the purpose of improvement. In the past, health care transparency was secretive, people did not want to share patent information for reason of privacy to their clients as well to avoid law suits. However there is a way in which you can share information without violating doctor patient privilege. The future of health care transparency looks as though it is going to improve, I say improve because I agree with Dr. Patrick Crawley that the movement will allow sharing of information therefore allowing improvements to be made leading to less law suits. Really kind of taking on a best practices type of mentality as well sometimes we need others to step in and help work through issues that may arise. Overall I think that hospitals becoming transparent will force improvement, at first I am sure there will be a struggle just as in any new process however once the kinks are worked out improvement will shine through. Health care transparency will help patients make more informed decisions when deciding where to go when care is needed, this may cause longer wait times at first however raising the standards and outing the facilities that are not providing good treatment cause only force them to do whatever it takes to increase standards and service provided. We as consumers need to become more informed decisions makers however with information available to us is limited we are unable to make accurate decisions on where to receive our care. We have systems/sites in which we can choose babysitters, plumbers and other types of services we made need why would we not want to choose our health care facility with the same type of research. Some of this information is already made available by some facilities, such as checking out wait times and even being able to sign up to be seen before even arriving improving the time in which we would wait to  receive care. The more we alignment with this advancement the better the care we will see.

Memo On Internal Control Audit Accounting Essay

Memo On Internal Control Audit Accounting Essay The purpose of this memo is to document the audit objectives with related planned audit procedures regarding the Faculty Professional Expense (FPE) accounts audit as well as to identify the internal control weakness and recommendations within the FPE process. The current concerns about the Internal Audit department will also be discussed at the end of this memo. Use of FPE Accounts: The objectivity of the use of FPE accounts is to provide faculty members reimbursements and credits for allowable expense paid that are directly related to the pursuit of faculty members teaching or research activities. Faculty members bookstore purchases claims are processed differently from non-bookstore purchases. The maximum entitled FPE account for each member per fiscal year is $3000. The board would want to ensure that all FPE accounts are being used as intended; that all expenditures being claimed must be legitimate and specifically meet the definition of allowable expenses. Thus, we need to examine the current control procedures and policies in place within the FPE process, then evaluate and document the effectiveness and sufficiency of controls over FPE process. Exhibit 1 provides three detailed Audit Objectives related to our internal control audit of FPE account and the related procedures that we would perform to provide a high level of assurance. Exhibit 1- Audit Objectives and Procedures Audit Objectives Audit Procedures 1. All expense claims (both bookstore purchases and non-bookstore purchases) are certified; that they are being properly authorized and approved to verify for its occurrence/existence. a)  bookstore purchases  : Inquire bookstore managers and clerks whether they are aware of the list of allowable products that faculty members can purchase in the bookstore using their FPE account and whether there are policies and procedures that guide the bookstore clerks on how to deal with the FPE account. Observe whether the clerks would refuse to initiate a purchase transaction(s) related to FPE account when the purchase consists of non-allowable products. Obstacles:  Although the bookstore manager is aware of the policies and have knowledge about most professors taking advantage of the FPE account, but it seems that she didnt properly train her staff of what items are allowable for FPE credits and further instructed her staff to be nice to the faculty members as these transactions would help them to increase store sales and do not want to dissatisfy long term customers. Thus, the integrity of bookstore manager is questionable and the information we get at the bookstore level is likely to be biased. Inquire Maggie on the monthly generated report of bookstore purchases using FPE account. Whether the report consists of an automatic control by computers that would match the product codes of each purchase to its allowable product codes list for FPE claims and generate an exception report on any unmatched items. If automatic controls do not exist, then examine whether manual controls are in place to confirm allowable product codes for claims. Inquire Maggie on product codes for any non-allowable product purchases using FPE accounts and send an invoice to the faculty members for any non-legitimate claims. b)  Non-bookstore purchases Inquire relevant Department heads on their normal practices of approving faculty members claims.   Interview with Department head on their awareness of the FPE policies that they should be experienced with the definition of allowable expenses. Obstacles:  The Department heads answers to our questions may be biased if using the FPE accounts for personal benefits is a normal practice for the faculty members and that approving these types of expenditures are acceptable for the most of the Department heads. Randomly obtain copies of approved expense claim forms and ensure that all claims come with supported documents such as types of purchases, relevant receipt, and evidence of approval by their Department heads. Consider randomly examining the large amount or usual claims and verify its appropriateness. For example, office furniture purchased could be verified by checking to see if the furniture is located at the office of the faculty member; Membership fees in professional bodies could be verified by checking if that the professional bodies are related to the home faculty where that faculty member belongs to.   Obstacles:  Some expenditure may be harder to verify. For example, travel or travel related expenses and laptop could be claimed primary for personal use. 2. Controls are adequate to ensure that balance of FPE accounts are accurate and that they should be reconciled with reimbursements made to bookstore and/or faculty members. Inquire Maggie on her procedures regarding the monthly reconciliation of FPE accounts. In the event of discrepancy is found, inquire about her follow up procedures to correct the discrepancy. Randomly select the completed reconciliations done by Maggie and examine whether they are initialed by Darlene. Check to ensure that no credit balances exist for all FPE accounts (i.e. faculty members could not use their FPE account for more than $3000 per fiscal year.) Check to ensure that at year end (April 30), all remaining balances of FPE accounts are transferred to the Scholarship Trust Fund either automatically or manually. (i.e. FPE balances should be zero at each year end) 3. Management policies are in place that the FPE programs are being effectively managed and monitored. Inquire The Human Resource Department on control procedures over termination of faculty members. That the lists of faculty members should be complete and up to date. Inquire HR department staff whether they would notice the Financial Service Department immediately after terminating any faculty member so that they could terminate the FPE account associated with the terminated faculty member on a timely basis. Check to see if Financial Service would verify with HR department for a new faculty member when setting up a new FPE account associated with that member. Ensure that the FPE program is being monitored for its effectiveness on a continuous basis and any major changes should be presented/ discussed with the board. Current Control Weakness The current control environment and general control over the FPE accounts are considered to be very weak mainly due to the lack of control procedures and policies in place in the bookstore level, poor quality of review/procedures before approving receipts by Department heads and lack of independent check/verification of approvals made by department heads including lack of segregation of duties in the Financial Service Department. Exhibits 2 identified these significant internal control weaknesses within the FPE process, described the implications of each weakness as well as recommendations for improvement. Exhibit 2- Control Weakness, Implication and Recommendation Weakness Implication Recommendation 1. Either no well established procedures and policies regarding the use of FPE account for bookstore purchases in place for manager and staff to be followed  or  Policies and Procedures exist but Royola Berterson, Bookstore manager did not follow and didnt instruct her staff to follow. Instead bookstore manager instructed the staff to be courteous and helpful to faculty members because they are long-term customers and do not want to lose them and hence doesnt really care of what allowable purchases to expense against FPE account. e.g. Brian Ross (professor) bought clothes, computer for personal use at home. This clearly shows the staff members credited FPE account for clothes bought at bookstore. Either it is possible that the bookstore staff does not have the list for allowable expense under FPE which they should have or if they have the list then they are just not following it. Most professors take advantage of the Bookstore for a number of purchases. These purchases included the non-allowable expenditures that were not supposed to be charged against the FPE accounts, resulting in misuse of the FPE accounts for the bookstore purchases. -Establish clear and enforceable policies and procedures at the bookstore to ensure that FPE accounts may only be used against allowable expenditure. -Implement an automatic system at sales terminal that would read the product code and match them to the pre-authorized categories of product code (i.e. books, equipments), so that non-allowable purchase such as clothing from the bookstore using the FPE account could be automatically rejected. -Book store clerks should confirm the identity of the faculty members before crediting the FPE account to prevent the misuse of lost cards. -Consider hiring another bookstore manager since Royola Pertersons integrity is questionable 2. Poor quality of review of approvals for non-bookstore purchases by various Department heads. No procedures of how to review the attached receipts of non-bookstore purchases to check if those expenses are allowed to be deducted under FPE account or not. No procedures to check if those non-bookstore purchases were used for office or personal purpose. e.g. Brian Ross (professor) plan to travel for business and holiday purpose- expense related to business purpose and non business purpose needs to be segregated Misuse of FPE account can result in an increase of FPE expenses. Faculty members can claim reimbursements for purchase of items for personal use by providing those receipts. Faculty members can claim for items not allowable under non-bookstore purchases due to lack of control procedures. FPE expense can be maximum of $3000*195 faculty members= $585,000. Faculty members will be more inclined to deceive/ claim unallowable expenses if errors go undetected. Require all division managers to review all the receipts submitted by faculty members to check if its an allowable expense to be reimbursed to employees for non-bookstore purchases. Need to check the date on the receipt submitted by faculty members for allowable reimbursements to see if the expense incurred is in the current year for cutoff. -Need to check if non-bookstore purchases/expenses were solely for the purpose of office/university benefit (not personal benefit)- to segregate the personal expense from office expense (e.g. Travel expense related to business and personal use- to reimburse business related travel expense only) -Check for previous years receipts submitted by those faculty members who are found to claim unallowable expense by providing receipts to charge back those amounts. 3. Lack of independent check in the Financial Service Department of the receipts submitted by different department heads for its accuracy and reliability if its an allowable expense that is being claimed for reimbursement as Maggie just debits the expense account and initiates a cheque requisition for payment to the faculty members. Maggie shouldnt do both reconciliation and writing cheques at the same time, which clearly indicates lack of segregation of duties. Intentional/ unintentional errors made by divisional heads will go undetected. This will result in reimbursing amounts that shouldnt have been which increases the expense under â€Å"FPE account† which otherwise would have been transferred to a â€Å"Scholarship Trust Fund†. Faculty members will be more inclined to deceive/claim unallowable expenses if errors go undetected. Fraud may occur as Maggie can easily make adjustments at the year-end if the total university account posting related to FPE is not equal to the amount relieved from the faculty FPE accounts. -Requires Financial department to check for all claims/receipts that are being claimed to confirm if its an allowable expense under FPE account before initiating a cheque requisition for payment to the faculty member. -Hire a new employee in financial department to check all the receipts initialized by department heads. -Duties of reconciliation and writing cheques should be segregated by hiring a new employee. Current concerns about the Internal Audit department Structure- related Lack of independence as there is no direct presentation/reporting to the Board at their quarterly meetings. Responsibility- related Nature of job duties- Internal auditor working/replacing staff in the financial services during vacations violates independence issues and is not a part of responsibility of an internal auditor. Internal auditors should not prepare bank reconciliation for bank accounts. Independence rules will be violated if internal auditor assists Vice-president of financial services. Recommendations: Need to present/report findings, results and issues directly to Board of Governors at quarterly meetings rather than reporting it to VP to avoid independence issues. When employees in financial service department goes on vacation there should be employees within the financial service department to cover for them and they should be paid overtime to give an incentive to them. Only one financial employee should be permitted to take long planned vacation at a time which can be reserved by employees well in advance. Additionally, work done by the employee replacing the employee on vacation should be double checked by someone else for its accuracy. Duty of bank reconciliation for all bank accounts should be segregated so that employee responsible for bank reconciliation is not responsible for any other accounting department work (i.e. A/P or A/R department) to have proper segregation of duties. Internal auditor shouldnt assist Vice-president of financial services to remain independent as internal auditor will be auditing the work of vice president, in case if internal auditor does assist Vice-president, it should be clearly disclosed in internal auditors report that is presented to external auditor. Conclusion Bloomington University does not have effective controls procedures in place for use of FPE account. Evidences have been found to prove the misuse of FPE account by faculty members because of lack of review by bookstore manager, department heads and financial department to allow reimbursing all claims. We recommend the Board to immediately take action to improve its control weaknesses over the FPE process. A list of our recommendations is provided in exhibit 2. An alternative way would be to eliminate the use of FPE account, because the integrity of FPE program seems to be very questionable. The procedures to replace the FPE accounts could be as followed. For book-store purchases and non-book store purchases, different department should be in place to order/buy on behalf of faculty members. Faculty members can just place an order to that separate department of their needs to carry out their job and that department will automatically take care of all allowable purchases to be made.

John Woo: from Hong Kong to Hollywood, The Killer and Face-Off Essay

John Woo: from Hong Kong to Hollywood, The Killer and Face/Off John Woo and his â€Å"heroic bloodshed† have revolutionized and rejuvenated the action genre, combining melodrama with action to create the male melodrama, in which he explores the codes of masculinity while redefining them. Robert Hanke says that â€Å"explosive pyrotechnics seem to be privileged over plot, narrative or character† (Hanke 41) and yet notes that Jillian Sandell maintains the opinion that Woo does not â€Å"celebrate this violence, but rather uses it to represent a nostalgia for a lost code of honor and chivalry† (Hanke 1999: 45). While characterized by violence, Woo’s films define masculinity within a changing world. He does not set out to make violent films, defending A Better Tomorrow by saying â€Å"It’s not a gangster movie. It’s a film about chivalry, about honor, but set in the modern world. I want to teach the new generation: ‘What is friendship? What is brotherhood? What have we lost? What we have to get back.à ¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬  (Logan 1995: 116), a statement that can be applied to both The Killer (1989) and Face/Off (1997). In The Killer, Jeff and Stanley are nostalgic about the past, saying how things have changed. Loss is a literal theme in both movies, as Jeff tries to regain Sally’s sight and in Face/Off Archer has lost his son and seeks to regain a sense of identity and purpose, and ultimately a son. Woo makes his films to fill this lack that he sees in the modern world. He is influenced by many different films and n...

Contemporary Review of Work Experience Essay -- essays research papers

‘Learning through experience is the normal, common place approach to learning, and we take it for granted.’ Miller and Boud (1996) After my work experience at Franklin College and St Mary’s school, I whole heartedly agree with this statement. During my life I have taken my experiences for granted for example throughout my academic career and vocational encounters I haven’t really reflected on them. Swedish research that was later developed by Marton, Hounsell and Entwistle (1997) suggested that there were two types of learning – deep or surface learning. Whenever I have looked back at my experiences, I have looked at it at surface value rather than from a deep view; Piaget (1971) defines the deep view as ‘people who are willing to change their existing knowledge-the cognitive structure-in order to accommodate the new idea.’ In the past I haven’t been willing to change my knowledge, just add to it which leads to surface learning. In order for me to deepen my learning I produced a learning contract which included learning outcomes in it for me to achieve; a learning log from which I could ‘reflect’ upon and as Moon (1999) says ‘A learning journal is essentially a vehicle for reflection.’ So this was an important component of my experience. The first stage was to plan for my experience and for it to be successful I had to plan well because ‘effective planning is at the heart of effective teaching and learning.’ Gower (1997) I had to produce an initial proposal where I put forward potential career area that I could work in. I then had to submit a work placement details form, and this involved me ringing Toll Bar school and agreeing the placement which initially seemed easy; I managed to speak to someone who worked in the department and they said it would be fine but would ring me back to confirm this; I received no phone call so rang them on numerous occasions only to be told every time that the P.E department weren’t available and that they would get back to me. I had another institution in mind just in case this had arisen and had learnt from my previous experience and manage to get a firm answer this time. I realised sometimes things aren’t as easy as they seem and that I have to persist and follow things up want if I want anything done; even if I am frustrated I still have to act in the appropriate manner. I then had to develop my learning contract and th... ...ole most places were similar. This discussion made me feel a little uneasy as it involved talking about liable and loco parentis, but my host allayed my fears and I understand that its part of the job to consider these things; with effective planning it would reduce the probability of a major incident occurring. My outcome that states that I want to know how to respond to certain pupils is really a repeat of the sixth outcome and is an error on my behalf and lack of preparation when preparing my learning contract as I mentioned before. My last learning outcome was a simple one as I just used the internet and asked a newly qualified teacher to find out the relevant qualification, for example the PGCE. In the near future I could perform his whole process again but try and plan it more effectively than I did this time; it is one area that I have to improve vastly if I am to succeed in any domain in life. If I were to partake in any work experience my learning outcomes would have to be more specific and I would have to include personal outcomes so I could reflect deeper into my learning. I could keep a learning log during a semester of term and reflect on how I work during university.

Web Based Information System

Implications for project management and development processes The unique nature of many web-based applications broadens the role of traditional project management and adds a new dimension to the software development process. In addition to the participation and contribution of analysts, designers, programmers, architects, managers, domain experts and so on, web-based applications often contain significant multimedia content (images, movie clips, sound clips and text) requiring specialist resources for their development. Multimedia development Groups separate from the software engineers usually produce multimedia web content in parallel, in a similar way that on-line help is typically produced by a technical writer rather than a software developer. Some recent studies indicate that specialist resources needed to develop multimedia content may outnumber software engineers. For the purposes of estimating software development effort, multimedia content is assumed to exist and the effort required for their production is outside the scope of the software engineering process. However, the effort of integrating these elements needs to taken into account. Furthermore the effort to create the multimedia content itself must be incorporated to produce an overall project estimate. focus on developing business logic The novelty of developing web-based applications can be captivating and may obscure the fact that modelling an application’s business logic, whether it is being implemented in a web page, a component or an object remains the central focus of the project. Web-based application development requires project management best practice as much as any other type of application development. Business networking Business networking is a marketing method by which business opportunities are created through networks of like-minded business people. There are several prominent business networking organizations that create models of networking activity that, when followed, allow the business person to build new business relationship and generate business opportunities at the same time. Many business people contend business networking is a more cost-effective method of generating new business than advertising or public relations efforts. This is because business networking is a low-cost activity that involves more personal commitment than company money. As an example, a business network may agree to meet weekly or monthly with the purpose of exchanging business leads and referrals with fellow members. To complement this activity, members often meet outside this circle, on their own time, and build their own â€Å"one-to-one† relationship with the fellow member. Business networking can be conducted in a local business community, or on a more larger scale via the Internet. Business networking websites have grown over recent years due to the Internet's ability to connect people from all over the world. Business networking can have a meaning also in the ICT domain, i. e. the provision of operating support to companies / organizations, and related value chains / value networks. It refers to an activity coordination with a wider scope and a simpler implementation than pre-organized workflows or web-based impromptu searches for transaction counterparts (workflow is useful to coordinate activities, but it is complicated by the use of s. . â€Å"patterns† to deviate the flow of work from a pure sequence, in order to compensate its intrinsic â€Å"linearity†; impromptu searches for transaction counterparts on the web are useful as well, but only for non strategic supplies; both are complicated by a plethora of interfaces — SOA / XML / web services — needed among different organizations and even between different IT applications with in the same organization). Online business networking Businesses are increasingly using business social networks like XING or professional business networking tools like Boardex as a means of growing their circle of business contacts and promoting themselves online. Since businesses are expanding globally, social networks make it easier to keep in touch with other contacts around the world. Specific cross-border e-commerce platforms and business partnering networks now make globalization accessible also for small and medium sized companies. Face-to-face business networking Professionals who wish to leverage their presentation skills with the urgency of physically being present, attend general and exclusive events. Many professionals tend to prefer face-to-face networking over online based networking because the potential for higher quality relationships are possible. Many individuals also prefer face-to-face because people tend to prefer actually knowing and meeting who they intend to do business with. General business networking Before online networking, there was and has always been, networking face-to-face. â€Å"Schmoozing† or â€Å"rubbing elbows† are expressions used among business professionals for introducing and meeting one another, and establishing rapport. Business networking in the ICT domain Companies / organizations — and related value chains / value networks — need some sort of IT support. Traditionally, it is provided by software applications, software packages /suites, ERPs and/or workflows; presently, also by different types of web-based innovations. A truly â€Å"ICT† business networking approach rethinks — and rebuilds — the operating support from scratch, around two key business features: information contributions, to be provided by the activities involved (whether they are performed by human beings, automated tools or jointly by the two, in a coordinated way); (automated) information exchanges, to be provided by the TLC network. Information contributions and exchanges, in turn, need to be supported by data storage (plain or redundant, with or without automated recovery to grant service continuity) and access security (signature, encryption, authentication, decryption), which both can be provided either as add-on's or as built-in features. Introduction to Novell Novell, Inc. has made news over the years for its business struggles. Novell enjoyed success as a popular vendor of network software — principally the NetWare ® operating system. Today the company is working to build an Internet networking business, but they face strong competition. NetWare The NetWare operating system supports the networking of personal computers (PCs). Installed on a PC, NetWare creates a server environment for the sharing of files, printers, and other network â€Å"services. † One of the first software products designed for PC networking, early versions of NetWare appeared in the late 1980s. NetWare 3 was originally called â€Å"NetWare 386† and released for use with Intel's 80386 processor. Likewise, Novell developed NetWare 4 in the early 1990s for the Intel 80486. NetWare 5, the latest version of Novell's operating system, has been available since September, 1998. Together, NetWare 3, 4, and 5 enjoy an installed base of millions of servers worldwide. NetWare encountered stiff competition from Microsoft beginning in the mid-1990s with the introduction of Windows NT Server products. Some believe the rapid growth of Linux server networking — although difficult to measure accurately due to the open nature of that operating system — is also impacting NetWare's popularity. NDS The media sometimes refers to Novell Directory Services (NDS ®) as the â€Å"crown jewel† of Novell's product offerings. Like NetWare, NDS has benefited from a long development history resulting in mature technology with a large installed customer base. What makes NDS especially appealing is its flexibility and the range of potential applications in network management and ecommerce. NDS is an LDAP directory service. Directory services like NDS provide information repositories for distributed network resources ranging from devices to Web site customer profiles. LDAP — the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol — offers a standard way to access this information. Web sites such as CNN and AltaVista use the NDS eDirectoryâ„ ¢ product. eDirectory tracks visitor activity to these sites, building a special-purpose â€Å"database† of customers that can be used to provide personalization services. While NDS was originally a NetWare-only technology, eDirectory now works with Windows NT and 2000, Solaris, and Linux in addition to NetWare 5 servers. Novell offers several other products based on eDirectory technology. NDS Corporate Edition, for example, implements network resource management. The digitalmeâ„ ¢ service adds more secure personalization capabilities to eDirectory. As with NetWare, however, Novell faces competition in the directory services space from Microsoft Active Directory (not to mention products from other vendors such as iPlanet Directory Server). More Web Services In 1996 and 1997, Novell achieved some success with its IntranetWare product family design for intranet data sharing. Today, Novell continues to offer GroupWise email and calendaring for intranets (and other Web-based networks). Novell also is working with technology for Web content caching. The Novell Content Exchange subscription service brings Internet caching and other software to the data center where Web content is served. Conclusion Novell's low stock price has led to speculation of a possible buyout in the company's near future. These rumors are nothing new. As far back as 1996 and 1997, industry pundits debated various buyout or merger scenarios involving IBM, AT&T, Netscape, and even Microsoft. None of these scenarios came to pass, so perhaps it most likely — layoffs aside — that Novell will continue working to grow its network services business in the months and years ahead.

Fast Food Nation Fast Essay

Eric Schlosser is the author who has written about the fast food industry and he presents many of his findings in the book â€Å"Fast Food Nation†. However, his book is not merely an expose of the fast food industry but is even more a consideration of how the fast food industry has shaped and defined American society in America and for other nations as America exports its fast food culture to others. Schlosser describes a great deal of American culture to the fast food mentality, and he finds that globalization is taking the fast food culture around the world at a rapid rate. Schlosser addresses a number of specific issues related to food production and distribution. He connects the social order of a society to the kind of food it eats and the way it eats that food, with American society very much defined by the fast food culture that has developed. Schlosser tends to represent the theory stressing the importance of interdependence among all behavior patterns and institutions within a social system, as can be seen from how he connects fast food to other social processes and institutions. The icon that represents fast food culture for most people is McDonald’s, though the fast food culture developed long before the creation of that restaurant chain. Schlosser considers the impact of such fast-food chains but also considers the primacy of the hamburger in the American diet and some of the dangers it poses. McDonald’s reliance on hamburger is a questionable item for a steady diet in a more health conscious age, and interferes with local customs and food in different parts of the world. Schlosser addresses this issue from several perspectives, beginning with a consideration of how safe the meat really is, not only on the basis of nutritional value but also on the basis of additives, preservatives, diseases, and even potential radioactivity. Some beef is considered questionable, and much of it makes its way through the USDA to school cafeterias as part of the National School Lunch Program. This is a very damaging charge as the most questionable beef is sent directly to the most vulnerable population, suggesting that protecting the industry is more important to the government than protecting the consumer. The hamburger is connected to a huge industry, which in turn has a vital role in the overall American economy. More than this, the image of the hamburger represents America to many people around the world, and other icons carrying the idea of America is seen in the logos of companies like McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and similar companies. A related food item is the potato, for french fries are apart of in hamburger meals. Schlosser makes it clear to the reader that many of the foods he or she eats have been altered, with artificial flavors added even to natural foods like potatoes. French fries are not simply carved out of potatoes and then cooked–they are also laced with food additives of various sorts, including artificial flavoring, to assure that the flavor is uniform and that it comes through after the processing and cooking. Some additives are also used to maintain the color of the product, so that it appears as the color the consumer associates with a given food even if that would not be the natural color if the food were merely cooked and served. Obviously, all this raises questions about how safe the various additives may be and whether this has been as thoroughly investigated as it should have been. Schlosser points out the process involved but does not take a strong stand against such practices. The way fast food is prepared has made much of this secondary industry necessary, and supports the connection between fast food and the social order made by Schlosser. The work environment is also addressed by Schlosser, and much of what he reports is troubling. The dangerous situation in slaughterhouses has long been known. Schlosser finds that the dangers have not diminished a great deal in the processes of raising, slaughtering, processing and distributing meat products in America in spite of inspections and OSHA regulations and other efforts. Pressure on some companies to increase revenues and profits has also meant companies breaking the law and taking chances with the lives of employees and even the public. Also, many of the workers are illegal immigrants, favored because they are willing to take menial jobs for low wages to raise, pick, transport, and process food. The needs of this industry shape a number of social institutions and also have a direct effect on local communities by bringing in people who require more social services than would otherwise be the norm. Throughout, Schlosser shows not only the dangers inherent in the fast food industry itself but also ways in which this industry has altered American society and may alter society around the world. The underlying force involved is profit rather than food value, and this is raising questions/concerns about the values we are exporting. Work Cited Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation. New York: Perennial, 2002.

Mrf Tyre Suggestions

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 0. 1 0. 1. 1 GENERAL Nylon Tyre Cord: Nylon tyre cord is made from high tenacity continuous filament yarn by twisting and plying. There are two major types of nylons used as tyre cord, i. e. nylon-6 and nylon-6,6. The properties of nylon-6 and nylon-6,6 vary marginally and are controlled by the manufacturing process, type of stabilisers and additives used. In India only nylon-6 is produced commercially for tyre cord. Thetypesofnylon-6tyrecordusedinIndiaare840/2,1260/2,1260/3, 1680/ 2 and 1890 / 2 where number indicates denier of ply / no. of plies in the cord.The denier per filament is 6. 0. 1. 2 Tyre Cord: The other materials used as tyre cord are cotton, rayon, polyester, fibre glass, steel,aromatic polyamides. Each of these materials has its own merits and demerits. The major criteria for acceptance of any material in tyre are its tensile strength, dimensional stability, durability, thermal stability, hysteresis and adhesion. Tests and actual application conditio ns have shown that although other cord materials meet one or more specific requirements, nylon by and large meets the desirable requirements for almost all the performance criteria. . 1. 3 Tyres: The tyre cord fabric provides the tyre its fundamental properties such as shape, size, load carrying capacity, abrasion resistance, fatigue resistance, etc. A tyre is a composite of cord and rubber. There are three varieties of tyres viz. bias-angle tyres, radial tyres and bias-belted tyres. They differ in the way the tyre fabric plies are laid inside the tyre. 0. 1. 4 Manufacturing Process: The manufacturing process for nylon-6 tyre cord can be broadly divided into following production steps: (a) Polymerisation of caprolactam to manufacture nylon chips. (b) Extraction and drying of chips. (c) Melt spinning of chips to manufacture nylon tyre yarn. (d) Preparation ofcordfrom tyre yarn by twisting and plying. (e) Recycling of nylon-6 waste. 0. 1. 5 Polymerisation: Nylon is made by polymerisat ion of caprolactam with certain additives like amino acids and dicarboxylic acid salts and certain heat stabiliser such as copper based organic compounds. The polymerisation process involves ring opening polycondensation and polyaddition reactions. All the three polymerisation reaction steps are equilibrium reactions.A typical process of polymerisation of nylon can be either a batch or a continuous process. The continuous process, developed after the batch process was commercialised, offers simplicity of design, ease of operation and control and high capacity. An optimal polymerisation process would involve two stages, wherein, the first stage involves pressure at high initial water concentration. In the second stage a rapid transition from high water content to a low water content is achieved by release of pressure and subsequent application of vacuum. Industrial grade nylon-6 with relative viscosity 3. 2 to 3. has higher degree of polymerisation compared to textile grade nylon-6 w ith relative viscosity 2. 2 to 2. 6. 0. 1. 6 Extrusion and Drying of Chips: The nylon chips are washed to remove water soluble impurities and then dried. The process maybe batch or continuous. 0. 1. 7 Melt Spinning: The polymer chips are melt in extruder. The molten polymer is then spun through a spinnerette. The molten filaments are quenched or cooled by a laminar flow of air. The spin finish is applied on filament and then wound on spin bobbins and drawn to make tyre yarns. In the conventional process, the spinning and drawing was done in two steps.In the spin-draw process, a step is reduced compared to 2-step conventional process. As a consequence, some sources of process disturbances are eliminated which results in improved yarn uniformity. 0. 1. 8 Preparation of Cord: Nylon tyre yarns are then twisted in S or Z direction and plied having 2 or 3 plies to form a tyre cord. 0. 1. 9 Recovery of Nylon-6 Waste: Depending on the quality of waste, any of the following method may be use d for recycling of nylon waste. Direct use of fibre waste RegrannulationPolymer Powderi) without melting ii) with melting. i) deploymerisationandfilteration i) precipitation from solutions Recovery of caprolactam by deploymerisation. Recovery of amino caproic acid. The first three processes require relatively purer and undegraded form of waste. Amongst the last two, caprolactam recovery is mostly adopted by Indian industry due to ease of purification of recovered caprolactam. 0. 1. 10 Raw Materials, (Catalysts, Additives, Spin Finish Etc. ): For nylon-6, the only major raw material required is caprolactam. Water is required as an initiator for ring opening during polymerisation. Nitrogen gas is required for blanketing, drying and conveying of polymer. 0. 1. 1 Additives/Catalysts: Aminoacids and diamine dicarboxylic add salts which provide water on condensation have been found to be useful for enhancing the rate of polymerisation. 0. 1. 12 Stabilisers: Nylon is susceptible to degrada tion by Lght, heat, oxygen etc. To make it suitable for the purpose of tyre cord, stabilisers are added. The light stabilisers used are manganous chloride + hypophosphorous add and imidazoles. Diphenylamine and acetone condensates give excellent resistance to heat. Copper complexes as halides, acetate, phosphates, salts of higher fatty adds like stearates, palmitates, laurates, etc. re quite effective as heat and light stabilisers. Spin Finish: The functions of spin finishes are to reduce friction to get proper filament cohesion and to provide static protection. Lubricants used to reduce friction are usually mineral oils, fatty glycerides. The antistats used to provide static protection are surface active organic compounds. In case of nylon tyre cord, where molten polymer is drawn in yarn stages and fabric is dipped at a very high temperatures (upto 210Â ° C), preference has been towards the use of non-fuming type spin finishes. 0. . 14 Major Capital Equipments: The major capital e quipments for each section of the plant viz polymerisation, spinning, cord making and caprolactam recovery are listed in para 1. 7. 0. 1. 15 Development of Technology: The developments in technology canbe grouped into the following: Product development. Development in the polymerisation process. Development in extraction and drying. Development in melt spinning process. A. Product Development: Till 1937, cotton used to be the only tyre cord material throughout the world. Thereafter rayon became popular.Subsequently with the advent of synthetic fibres, the use of nylon increased, which continues to be used in both the developed and developing countries, Other materials used are polyester introduced in 1962, fibre glassin 1967 and steelin 1970. NTC was earlier spun as 210 d-yarn and then plied to give 840 d tyre cord. With the development of technology, now, directly 840 d yarn can be spun and then plied to get denier ranges of 1260, 1680 and 1890 tyre cord. The denier per filament ha s however remained^ fe though some attempts have been made to use 8 deniers filaments also. It has been possible to increase tenacity from 8 gpd to9. gpd. B. Developments in Polymerisation Process: In early process, a relatively crude batch autoclave reactor was used for polymerisation. The V K tube reactors for continuous polymerisation, were introduced during early 50s. Initially, V K tube reactor had capacities of 1. 5 TPD which has now been increased upto 40 TPD. Over a period of time, number of stages of polymerisation has also increased from one to seven. Continuous developments have also taken place for modifying the design of reactors to achieve plug flow condition and uniform flow and temperature gradient, improve residence time, conversion rate and quality of products.The details of some such developments are discussed in para 1. 8. C. Developments in Extraction and Drying: In this area also, batch type extraction and drying process have been replaced by continuous process es. Chips are now stored in S. S. tanks and conveyed pneumatically to spinning section. D. Developments in Spinning Process Melting of chips was done by oil heated grids in the pre-world war era, then by electrically heated grids. In the late fifties a short barrel screw extruder was introduced which is now replaced by longbarrel extruder.Another development is increase in the spinning capacity by increased number of spinning positions and also increased number of ends per spinning position. Other improvements are in yarn solidification and quenching process, spin finish application methods etc. During late seventies, the spin-drawn process was introduced to get higher productivity and better product. During the same period, high speed spinning with take up speed of 3,000 to 4,000 mtrs/min (as compared to upto 1500 mtrs/ min in case of conventional process) was developed. 0. 2 . 2. 1 STRUCTURE OF INDUSTRY AND STATE OF THE ART: Structure of Industry: Licensed and Installed Capacity T he total licensed and installed capacity of NTC in India at present is around 29,500 TPA and 22,500 TPA respectively, as per the details given in para 2. 1. 10. LOI / IL have been issued which cover capacity of 54,200 TPA. Production: The production of NTC in India started in 1971 with 595 tonnes and increased to around 23,600 tonnes in 1985. NTC has replaced rayon tyre yarn as tyre cord yarn and market share of NTC at present is 75%.Capacity Utilisation: The licensed and installed capacity is based on certain denier while production is of different deniers and the product-mix of all manufacturers varies depending on market requirements. However, the overall average capacity utilisation ofNTCinIndiahasbeenaorundl05%duringthelastfiveyears. Distribution of Units: Active NTC manufacturers are public limited companies spread almost all over India with average capacity of 4000 TP A. Performance of Industry: The production, sales, net fixed assets, net worth of all the NTC manufacturers s how an upward trend.There is a general growth rate of 20% per annum on sales turnover during last five years. Import/Export: Import of NTC increased from 1677 tonnes in 1980-81 to 5295 tonnes in 198384 The price of NTC at international level is just half of the price in India. This is mainly due to high cost of raw materials, higher conversion costs due to old technologies and small size of Indian plants as compared to the plants in developed countries. Due to this, export of tyre yarn from India is negligible. Sources of Technology and their Broad Performance: Unitika, Japan has supplied technology and plant to three out of five Indian manufacturers of NTC.The other two manufacturers started with imported plants. The details of these collaborations are given in para 2. 15. 2. Performance of all the collaborations is satisfactory. Though, indigenous technology comprising of batch polymerisation and conventional spinning process have been developed, none of the NTC plants in India ha s yet started with such indigenous technology. The latest technologies comprising of multi-stage continuous polymerisation, continuous extraction and drying of chips, spin draw technology or high speed spinning process are not yet available indigenously.The recent trend in India to look to the ‘east' for technology may be due to the availability of technology comparable to those available from the west at a lower know how fees and lower plant costs. 2. 2 Technological Status of Indian Industry (Unit wise): The comparison of installed capacities, actual production and capacity utilisation and financial analysis in terms of net sales, net fixed assets, net profit and net worth over the period of last five years and present specific raw materials and utilities consumptions, wastage generation and recovery etc. for the following selected units is given in para 2. . J. K. Synthetics Ltd. National Rayon Corpn. Ltd. Shri Ram Fibres Ltd. Nirlon Synthetics Fibres & Chemicals Ltd. Barod a Rayon Corporation Ltd. Details of the historical background, sources of technology, research and development efforts, results achieved, etc. for each of the above units are summarised hereunder. a) J. K. Synthetics Ltd: J. K. Synthetics Limited, pioneer in the manufacture of NTC, have absorbed to a great extent the conventional technology over the last 2 decades. The company has its own research insitute—The Sir Padampat Research Centre (SPRC) and has recently floated a company—Jaykay Tech. hich can supply the conventional technology. As far as horizontal transfer is concerned, conventional technology developed and absorbed by J. K. has little commercial relevance. J. K. ‘s licenced and installed capacities are 6000 to 5000 TPA respectively. The company has recently entered into technical collaboration with M/s Tong Yang of south Korea for their latest Spin-Draw technology. The new unitwithacapacityofl2. 5TPDiscomingup. b) The National Rayon Corporation Ltd. (N ational Rayon): National Rayon commenced production of rayon tyre cord in 1961 and nylon tyre cord in 1976.The company has a technical collaboration for the latter with Unitika, who have supplied the technology and plant. The company had installed indigenously developed equipment for conversion of polymer waste to granules of spinnable grade. They have successfully indigenised manufacturing of all additives through in-house research as well as developing other suppliers. National Rayon's licensed and installed capacities are 5,000 and 5,250 TPA respectively. The company's performance during 1983 and 1984 had been adverse due to closure of plant because of labour problems.The production during 1985 to 1988 is more than the licensed capacity. As a part of modernisation and expansion programme they have installed spin-draw machines. The spin-draw yarn produced and made into fabric has alreadybeenapprovedbythecustomers. National Rayon have a fullfledged R centre approved by the Governme nt of India and is engaged in import substitution, technology absorption, machinery development and trouble shooting. National Rayon have developed process technology for polypropylene industrial yarn of high tenacity and has been regularly supplying polypropylene yarn for market development.It has also developed rayon industrial yarn, an industrial fabric for non tyre applications. National Rayon have recently installed, for the first time in India, air jet looms for making tyre fabrics of high quality. c) Shri Ram Fibres Limited (SRF): SRF' s plant for manufacture of nylon tyre cord and yarn was commissioned in 1974 in technical collaboration with Unitika. Company's present capacity is 6,335 TPA. SRF has a full-fledged Research and Development Laboratory and is constantly updating process methods and technology for product development.SRF have an independent research institute too. A very recent process developed and patented is that for polymerisation of nylon-6,6. d) Nirlon Synt hetic Fibres & Chemicals Ltd. (Nirlon) Nirlon commenced production of nylon filament yarn and tyre cord in 1962. The company had recently gone into technical collaboration with Zimmer for an expansion of their nylon tyre cord plant. Their present capacity is 5,000 TPA. Zimmer's design is based on multi polycondensation process and single stage spin draw process. Nirlon has a well established research and development base.The company had absorbed the conventional technology for manufacture of nylon tyre cord and is concentrating in developing and acquiring more modern manufacturing process. e) The Baroda Rayon Corporation Ltd. (Baroda Rayon) Baroda Rayon commenced production of rayon in 1962. Subsequently, the company commenced production of nylon tyre cord in 1981 in technical 8 collaboration with Unitika. Their present installed capacity is 2,000 TPA. Expansion of their plant to 4,000 TPA is under implementation and is expected to be commissionedby end 1987. f) The following new un its likely to come up in the near future.The present status / each of these projects is given in detail in para 2. 1. GarwareNylons Limited: Presently the company manufactures nylon and polyester filament yarn and is expanding its activities to manufacture nylon tyre cord, nylon tyre and industrial fabric in collaboration with Allied Corporation, U. S. A. , the largest producer of tyre cord in the world. Century Enka Limited: The company's major activity is manufacture of nylon and other man made fibres and plastics. Century Enka has a collaboration with their principals Enka International of Holland for the technology for manufacture of nylon 6 tyre cord.The production has commenced recently. Ballarpur Industries Ltd. andE. I. Du Pont Nemours & Co. of U. S. A. : They have jointly proposed to promote a Rs. 130 crores joint venture company to produce nylon-6,6 tyre cord for the first time in the country in collaboration with economic development corporation of Goa. An annual producti on of 16,700 tonnes of nylon-6,6 tyre yarn is envisaged. Kanoria Alkalies & Plastics Ltd: They have entered into collaboration for technical know-how, plant and machinery for manufacture of nylon tyre cord with Unitika which has been approved by Government of India. 0. 2. Status of Raw Material Industry: At present only Gujarat State Fertiliser Corpn. Ltd. , Baroda manufacture caprolactam with the capacity of 20,000 TPA in India. Three LOI have been issued by the government with a total capacity of 2,20,000 TPA. The demand projections for caprolactam made by the Committee for Perspective Planning of Petrochemical Industry by 2000 AD are 1,16,000,1,96,000 and 3,02,000 TPA for year 1989-90,1994-95 and 1999-2000 respectively. Hence, till the units who have LOI go into production, imports of caprolactam is unavoidable. The quality of indigenous caprolactam in terms of its permanganate no. nd also in terms of consistancy between various batches of manufacture is not comparable to that of imported caprolactam. 0. 2. 4 Status of Tyre Industry International: There are three types of tyre construction viz. , bias, bias-belted and radial. Radial and bias belted construction are more efficient than simple bias construction. In the world tyre market, radial tyres dominate. They were first inroduced in passenger cars then in commercial vehicles, buses and truck respectively. In U. S. A. market, no rapid change over from bias to radial tyres took place because of the tremendous capital investment required.Instead, belted bias tyres which could be manufactured on existing equipments were developed. The current trends in tyre design and manufacturing include: Use of fewer fabric plies in tyres by utilising larger and stronger cords. Use of special treatments in yarn manufacturing of the cord processing to reduce the creep of cords in tyre. Use of newer fibres such as polyester and modified nylons etc. 0. 2. 5 Status of Tyre Industry -Indian: The installed capacity of Indian t yre industry is 12 million nos. per annum, the estimated demands of tyres by 1989-90 and 1994-95 are around 21 and 31 million nos. espectively, as per estimates of Automobile Tyre Manufacturers' Assocation (ATM A). Preference so far has been towards bias angle, because of the practice of overloading; practically no care of tyres by owners / drivers and poor road conditions. However, some radial passenger car tyres have also been introduced in the market. Due to the higher melting point of nylon-6,6 and polyester as compared to that of nylon-6, the tyre curing temperature can be increased to 250Â ° C from 210Â ° C (for nylon-6). This would make curing of tyres faster and hence reduce curing cycle.This would result in higher output and also higher productivity. In practice, howevr, fast curing is not realisable in case of heavy duty tyres as the thicklayer of tread rubber will get distortedby fast curing. To take advantage of this higher productivity, the tyre manufacturers will hav e to install higher capacity curing furnaces, which will require substantial investment. Hence, before tyre manufacturers decide to install such furnaces, they would like to confirm regular availability of nylon-6,6 tyre cords at reasonable prices preferably from more than one supplier. 10The switch over from nylon-6 to nylon-6,6 would also result in more down time in tyre manufacturing. Similarly switch over from nylon to polyester requires change in dip condition, double dip processing and more downtime. Hence, whatever nylon they use, they will use it for 100 % of their requirements. 0. 2. 6 Tyre Cord and its Suitability for Various Types of Tyres: Different types of tyres require tyre cords with different properties, indicated in para 2. 12. Radial tyre or belted tyre designs take adavantage of these different requirements by placing different types of cords in the belt and in the carcass.As per the test carried out by one of the Indian radial tyre manufacturers, nylon-rayon was found to be the best combination for Indian conditions. 0. 2. 7 Status of Tyre Cord Industry -International: Major varieties of cords suitable for tyres are cotton, rayon, nylon, polyester, steel, glass fibres and aromatic polyamides. Although flat spotting shown by nylon was originally objected to strongly, nylon has continued to be the preferred tyre cord material because of its price and its superior thermal and fatigue resistance.Nylon-6 is used in Europe and other developing countries while nylon-6,6 is more prominent in U. S. A. mainly due to the manufacturing facilities established and availability of basic raw material. During the last ten to twelve years development have been largely of evolutionary nature aiming to overcome limitations of existing tyre fibres and to make them acceptable for wideruse. 0. 2. 8 Status of Tyre Cord Industry in India: Tenacity of NTC available to Indian tyre manufacturers locally varies from 8. 4 to 9. 4 with average value of 9. 2 gpd.The pres ent demand of NTC in India is around 25,000 TPA which is likely to grow to 40,000,50,000 and 61,000 TPA by 1990,1995 and 2000 AD respectively. At least for next 10-15 years, even in case of radial tyres, nylon would continue to remain as one of the components either in carcass or as belt material. With the existing manufacturing facilities, the type of vehicles in use and existing road conditions, nylon-6 will remain the material of choice except for a small quantity of radial tyres for passenger vehicles where polyester may prove to be superior.At present very little nylon-6,6 is used in India, both for textiles and industrial applications. Besides nylon-6,6 is not produced indigenously. Nylon-6,6 is costlier than nylon-6 worldwide and is likely to be more so in India. Nylon-6,6 is unlikely to be used by tyre companies for their bus and truck tyres 11 (weightage 80%) in near future, mainly due to generation of high shoulder temperature. In view of the above, establishment of fresh production capacities for nylon-6,6 industrial yarn in India may not have much scope considring interest of industry as well as the end-users. . 2. 9 State ofthe Art Scene (International) Twenty five leading manufacturers of NTC in the world are listed in para 2. 15. 1. SalientFeatures of Contemporary Technologies: The technology for manufacture of NTC is standardised as far as polymerisation process is concerned. Product characteristics of different technologies may vary marginally depending upon the type of additives and stabilisers used, design of equipment and control method of production parameters. However, design of spinning plants differs from supplier to supplier.Salient features of contemporary technologies of the following technology suppliers who have supplied/offered technologies to India are discussed in detail in para 2. 15. 2. Zimmer A . G. , West Germany. Lurgi GMBH, West Germany. Unitika Ltd. , Japan. E. I. DuPontDeNemours&Co. ,U. S. A. SniaBPD, Italy. Some importa nt features of these technology suppliers are described in subsequent paragraphs: Zimmer A. G. : Zimmer offers production of nylon-6 in continuous polymerisation operation. The specific Zimmer design allows lower water/chip ratio resulting in a high extract content in washing water, thus saving energy to caprolactam recovery plant.The company offers economic standard design for production capacities of 10 to 50 TPD for high viscosity polymer (tyre cord grade). For caprolactam recovery, Zimmer prefers batch operation for higher flexibility regarding quality and capacity. The plant is specifically designed for low caprolactam concentration in waste water, so that it can be either reused in polymerisation plant, or discharged as innocuous waste. 12 For spinning and drawing, Zimmer offers both, the two step separate process and the one step spin draw process. The former process favours production of: i) lower deniers economically i) low shrinkage yarns iii) large variety of yarn types. The one step spin draw process favours continuous production of heavier denier yarns in large capacities. It results in improvedyarn uniformity. .Lurgi GmbH: Lurgi offers both continuous polycondensation and batch polycondensation route for nylon-6 for use in tyre cord and other technical/ industrial yarn. Lurgi also offers caprolactam recovery unit deploymerisation and condensation plant and equipment for evaporation of the extracted water, treatment of concentrated caprolactam water and distillation.The company offers technology for conventional speed spinning as well as high speed spin draw process. Untika Ltd. , Japan: Unitika offers continuous polymerisation process having a pre-polymeriser coupled with continuous extraction, washing and drying of chips. It also offers caprolactam recovery process. In its polymerisation process, Unitika claims 50% saving in polymerisation time. Viscosity of melt can be adjusted as per requirement during pre-polymerisation. The spinning process offered is both conventional spinning and drawing as well as spin draw process. E. I. Du Pont de Nemours & Co. U. S. A. : Du Pont's industrial yarn process is based on nylon-6,6 salt i. e. hexamethylene diammonium adipate. The company has practised the continuous polymerisation technology and has developed conditions which maximise conversion, maintain precise viscosity control and ensure extended service life. Nylon-6,6 is produced continuously in a series of five vessels – evaporator, reactor, flasher, separator and finisher. Streamlined design of polymer vessels and distribution system minimises gel formation, recapture of heat and diamine and hence reduces cost of operating system. 3 Preferred Du Pont technology is based on coupling the spinning machine directly to the continuous polymeriser. It also utilises coupled spindraw. The advantages are elimination of chip making, handling, drying and remelting as also provision of maximum polymer uniformity. Du Pont offers exten sively developd quality control and laboratory testing procedures and a single, specially formulated fibre finish for all products. SNIABPD: SNIA is an Italian company giving process knowhow, plants and equipments for manufacture of nylon filament yarn and tyre cord.The company has the spin draw technology. 0. 2. 10 Latest Developments in Manufacturig Process/Design of Equipment: Product Development: Recent developments have been in the areas of improved dimensional stability of the cord, higher tenacity of tyre cords and improved heat stabiliser formulations to reduce the mechanical loss due to heat generation in tyres. Improvements in Polymerisation Process: Recent developments in this area include attainment of higher molecular weight by vacuum finishing, solid phase poymerisation to get final polymer free of extractables etc. addition of chain – coupling agents. Other significantadvances includes: For removal of unconverted monomer For lower level of water extractables in nylon polymer For improved flow and temperature distribution For transferring heat to the centre of the reactor and also to equalise flow rates Improvements in Spinning Process: The developments are directed to achieve higher spinning output upto 97% and to spin NTC of high molecular weight and melt viscosity to have high tenacity tyre cord upto 10 gpd. 0. 2. 1 Critical Evaluation of Contemporary Technology: During initial stage the technology of the synthetic fibre remained with only a 14 Falling film / spray reactors, reactorsworkingundervacuum. Organic polymer coating, internally, ofVK tube reactors. Incorporation of a tubular heat exchangerinthereactor. Provision of perforated plates and vertical aluminium partitions. few giants in the category of front line producers. Because of their conservative attitudes, no rapid technology changes were forth coming.However, the role played by the independent engineering companies which took the risks has been a great boon in the developme nt of technology. Technology suppliers can be broadly classified as front line suppliers having production back up like Unitika, Du Pont etc. and engineering companies like Zimmer, Lurgi, etc. Technology from front line producers is superior technology, requiring less time and wastage generation during production stabilisation at plant commissioning stage. However, know-how fees of these suppliers is higher compared to that of engineering companies.Engineering companies have vast experience in plant erection, basic and detailed engineering. Know-how fees of these companies are comparatively lower. The present trend is to look to the East for technology compatible with that of western countries as it is more economical, although of late, they too are becoming expensive. A project profile based on the typical offer of contemporary technology for a 6,000 TPA NTC project is placed at Annexure I. Instead of putting up many small size plants, it would be advisable to put up a few large si ze plants for economy of scale.The improvement in quality of polymer is a developmental activity which is continuous at international level. Indian companies should also endeavour to improve quality by adopting new engineering and equipment development either through their own R department or through their technical collaborations. New and better type of additives and catalysts development at international level should be incorporated by the Indian companies. Spinning plants having higher spinning efficiency and compactness, are always advisable for a country like India,to reduce the cost of production.One step process of very high spinning speed to make full drawn yarn may not be relevant in India, as at present most of the weaving and cord preparatory processes are of conventional type. So the ideal thing would be to change over to readily available higher throughput equipment. 0. 3 0. 3. 1. TECHNOLOGY ABSORPTION AND GAPS: R Efforts in National Laboratories/Institutions and Their Tie Up With Industry: Institutions like IIT, S ASMIRA, MANTRA etc. , private research institutions like 15 Sir Padampat research Centre, Shri Ram Institute of Industrial Reserach etc. nd in-house R centres of manufacturing industry are engaged in minor research projects for optimisation of production parameters or improvement of product characteristics. Developing countries like India although gradually laying more emphasis on its research and development, have not been able to catch up with their developed or advanced counterparts i. e. there is a considerable time lag between adoption of any particular process in some advanced part of the world and its commissioning in India. The efforts made to bridge this gap in the following areas are as folio ws: Indigensation of capital equipments, spares etc.Indigenisation of raw materials. Modifications and improvements in process, plant and equipments. The major constraint faced by manufacturers of indigenous equipments and spares are: non -availability of design and detailed engineering drawings. patented designs of proprietary equipments by technology suppliers, sources of capital equipments recommended by technology suppliers, limited indigenous demand of such equipments. 0. 3. 2 Indian Standards Specification: As a part of standardisation, the Bureau of Indian Standards has developed IS Specifications for methods of tests for tyre yarns as per the following details.IS:4910 Parti Part II Partlll Part IV Part V PartVI Tyre yarns, cords and tyre cord fabrics made from man made fibres, methods of tests for. Linear density. Breaking load, elongation at break and tenacity. Dippickup Heat shrinkage and heat shrinkage force. Wet contraction and wet contractive force. Definitionofterms. 16 Part VII Part VIII Part IX PartX Part XI Heat degradation. Thickness (gauge) Sampling Growth Commercial weight. The specifications of polyamide tyre cord warp-sheet for automotive tyres published by the bureau is, IS 11926:1987. The spec ifications are given in Table 4. . 3. 3 Profitability of Indian Industry and its Relationships with Technology: At present the profit margins of NTC manufacturers are fairly satisfactory, even with the present conventional technologies and small capacity plants. Interaction with user industry by NTC manufacturers is also quite good. However, the constraints in respect of technology absorption faced by Indian NTC industry are: low capacities of plant. imported capital equipments, parts and spares, non-availability of trained technological manpower, poor labour – management relations. . 3. 4 Export Performance Due to high cost of raw materials and also higher conversion costs due to small capacity plants based on older technologies, the Indian NTC industry has not been able to contribute in the export market. 0. 3. 5 Comparison of Product Specification Between Units: In India, the product range and specifications of all the manuacturing units is almost identical. 0. 3. 6 Modern isation Need: As mentioned earlier, cost of production of Indian NTC industry is higher due to small capacity plants based on older technologies.There is an urgent need to modernise these plants to adopt most advanced technologies and a much higher level of operations. 17 However, for such modernisation substantial funds willlbe required. Financial Institutions are giving soft loans under technology development funds and industries have started taking advantage of this scheme. 0. 3. 7 Technology Gap: Technology gaps in following areas have been identified and discussed in para 3. 9 Product developments Plant capacity Polymerisation process Melt spining process Indigenous manufacture of plant and equipments Indigenous availability of raw materials, additives and spin finishes etc.Internationally, cords with yams having 8 deniers per filament and upto 3,000 deniers of cords and 11 gpd tenacity are available, while in India cords with yarns having only 6 deniers per filament and 9. 2 g pd tenacity are manufactured. The average plant capacity of NTC in India, till 1983, was 2,000 TP A against the defined economic size of plant of 6,000 TP A. Polymerisation: Since the modern continuous polymerisation, extraction, washing and drying systems are suited to large capacity, till recently only conventional batch processes were used.Further, continuous polymerisation lines eliminating chip formation (especially in nylon-6,6) and remelting are not in use at preesent, in India. Melt spinning: More efficient large capacity spinning equipments are being used in the world. These have sophisticated yarn sensing and monitoring systems and hence the quality of yarn is much better with higher throughput. Such latest spinning processes are not available in the country and such technology is now being imported. 18 Reasons for technological gaps are: seller's market situation large number of small capacity plants. otalabsence of exportmarket. good financial performance of Indian Indus try even with the available technologies. general / absence of R&D efforts and know-why exercises, limited developments in the Indian automobile industry, lackof product upgradation at tyre manufacturer's end. To bridge the technological gaps, import of latest spinning equipments and process know-how for spin draw and high speed spinning process, designs and drawings for modernisation of existing polymerisation processes are required. 0. 4. 0 SUGGESTED: STEPS TO BRIDGE TECHNOGICAL GAPThe following suggestions are made to bridge the technological gap: a) Latest technology comprising of continuous polymerisation in two stage V K Tube reactors, continuous extraction and drying of chips, spin draw technology or high speed spinning processes for fully oriented yarn may be imported and horizontally transferred in India. Although some pilot units have been installed by spinners, the industry seems to be waiting for customers' acceptance. b) Develop indigenous manufacture of selected equipm ents, wherever it is economically viable and import only latest plant and equipments on selective basis. ) Develop basic and detailed engineering expertise in Indian engineering companies to necessitate import of only design and drawings for new plants rather than package import. An engineering organisation having expertise in basic and detailed engineering should be encouraged for development and transfer of technology for NTC and related products. d) Widen R&D efforts both at industry and research institutions level with active association and close cooperation between them. e) Provide necessary incentives to indigenous development of manufacture of plant and equipment. 9 f) Permit only large sized plants. g) Provide incentives for intensified research activities at industry level with close monitoring of such incentives. Establish a central tyre research institute with facilities to test developments in new designs of tyres, new tyre cord materials and modifications in tyre cord materials. Develop skills in technical personal, by arranging training abroad or by arranging traimng programmes by institutions like IIT, S ASMIR A, etc. and constant interaction with foreign experts. 20