Capacity Strategy at Alden Products

Capacity strategy should embody a mental model of how a firm works in a given industry and geographic region. There are a series of assumptions and predictions about the log-term behaviour of markets, technologies, costs and competitor’s behaviour. Such a model would include the following factors: * Predicted growth and variability of demand for the firm’s products and services * Costs of building and operating different sized-facilities * Likely rate and direction of technological evolution Expected behaviour of competitors * Anticipated availability, capabilities and costs of external suppliers The European organization of Alden Products, Inc. is contemplating a doubling of unit sales over the next ten years. Their largest plant, located in Holland, was set up 25 years earlier to supply all demands of the EEC countries on the continent. It has since expanded six times. The question in mind pertaining to the case is that: * Should it expand again? * Should it build a new plant in Southern Europe? Or should it expand its use of contract fillers? As of 1988, 75% of Alden-Europe’s sales took place on the continent and 25% came from UK. Out of 75% of the continent, * 25% came from France, * 12. 5% came from Italy, * 37. 5% came from Spain and Germany Alden-Europe’s overall growth was expected to average over 40% per year but this varied across various countries. Thus, there was a high degree of uncertainty about the growth rate in several countries. The capacity strategy adopted by API was Policy C: Add Capacity Only after Demand Exceeds It. This policy implies that the company’s capacity plan will contain a negative cushion so that the likelihood of running short is greater than the likelihood of having excess capacity. As per my analysis of the scenario, I feel that API should expand at Uniplant based upon the following factors: How capacity and operations management will interact in case of expansion? An operation’s actual capacity is affected by some important factors. They are as follows: 1. Capacity is technology based: A number of Uniplant’s products used proprietary formulations and ingredients. Opening up a plant in new location would make the management get reluctant to risk the secrecy of these formulations. The same would be applicable if they would go ahead with contract fillers. 2. Capacity depends on the interaction of multiple resource constraints: Uniplant attains the following advantage over Southern Europe in matters like: * No additional land needed * Availability of labour * Fewer additional employees * Cost Advantage in terms of production of own plastic bottles Availability and long-term relationship with suppliers * Speed up the processing time . Capacity is location specific: Holland is a desirable place in terms of access to raw materials, proximity to markets via existing rail lines and highways, labour costs, tax rates and political and social stability. 4. Capacity is mix dependent: The capacity of the plant which was under 90% was greatly dependent on the production mix which included both the product mix and size mix. Different products/services consume different amounts of various resources, so a change in location could affect the product mix as the availability of the various resources could also differ. Capacity depends on management policies: The management was clear about the fact the product quality should be clearly distinguishable as superior to the competition in terms of performance, packaging and design finish. Hence by subcontracting, the company would increase the risk of reduction in quality and customer service and increase in indirect costs. 6. Capacity is affected by the degree of variability of demand: Sales in different countries were expected to grow at different rates. There were also changes predicted to occur in wage and exchange rates. Hence, an increase in the number of plants would just complicate the entire issue. In terms of sizing of capacity increments taking into account scale considerations, the company should attain long term economies of scale. This scale refers to the economies that arise from using one large facility rather than a number of smaller ones. This often results in savings because the processing capacity is roughly proportional to its interior volume and its cost is more closely related to the surface area in terms of where the materials and labour hours are concentrated. We also know that though there is a growth in demand, variability exists across different countries. Greater the variability, there are chances that there would be a greater amount of underutilized capacity and at this stage opening a new plant in a different location altogether could make the entire scenario vulnerable. Drawbacks of not opening a new plant in Southern Europe are as follows: * Loose an opportunity to tap a lower cost labour market * Reduction in transportation costs had a new plant come up in Southern Europe * Would not be able to offset the protectionist sentiment in both France and Italy. Thus we see that by adopting the option of expansion at Uniplant, the company would be in a better state as compared to the other options. However a few recommendations in terms of changes to be mad in the expansion plan are provided below: Uniplant’s mark-up price should be reduced from 10% to 5% initially and then become nil in mere future. This would increase the number of sales from the customer point of view and would also help other countries to price their products competitively even during times when there is any kind of fluctuation in exchange rates. They should equalize the unit transportation costs to all subsidiaries which would make the entire process less complex and fair. This would help in maintaining long term relationships with them. Standardized products could be subcontracted but products involving high-technology shouldn’t be under contract filling as this could increase the risk of quality deterioration and increase in indirect costs.

Management finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Management finance - Essay Example The reporting system in the company is new and shall be changing the norms and the culture of the company. With the introduction of new processes to the company operations then it is usually faced with resistant from the employees. The change in the processes of the company and the introduction of new process or norm is resisted whether it comes from inside or from outside of the company (Leanne, 2009). The reporting system in the company is resisted as well and employees consider it as the means of under estimating their performances in the company and shall not be able to truly evaluate their performances. The reporting system shall be considered as in just for the employees as the manager shall be taken the advantage of the performance and the employees and/or workers shall not be recognized for their performance (Debra & Bradley, 1999). Thus in order to get a better response and acceptability from the employees the report should be the true reflection of the performance of the em ployees. Budget is the most important part of reporting as the actual performance of the department is compared with the budget and thus the evaluation is done. The involvement of the employees shall be playing an important role in the reports as when the budget is prepared with the input from the employees considered along with the management perceptions then the budget prepared shall be much more realistic and achievable and the reports shall be getting a positive and accepted response by the employees (David, 2003). Budget is an integral part of the report and is utilized throughout the process, which involve planning, implementing and control (Mukdad, 2011), as the company enhances its internal controls and thus progress towards a more effective and controlled procedures. The budget in the report shall be much realistic, which involves the employees and the managers of all the departments of the company can attain and thus prepare a realistic and

Starting a new solar panel company in Germany Research Paper

Starting a new solar panel company in Germany - Research Paper Example The sophistication of the economy is in evidence in the way high technology dominates its industries, with cars, chemicals, machineries, and related products constituting the core of its exports to the rest of the world. Outside of Europe too, in the context of the larger world economy, Germany’s economy stands proud as the fifth largest in the world. The sophistication of its products on the other hand also imply one, the presence of a highly technical and highly educated and intelligent workforce, and two, a sophisticated economy with serious and equally sophisticated energy needs. By way of quantifying the economy, in 2013 it was valued at $3.227 trillion at purchasing price parity, making it officially the sixth largest economy in the world. Its per capita GDP on the other hand is pegged at $39,500, making it number 29 in that area in the whole world, and highlighting the prosperity of the country and its citizens in general. The country also boasts of a labor force that i s entirely devoted to industries and to services except for less than two percent of about 44 million German workers. That 1.6 percent of the workforce toils in the agriculture sector. Industry makes up about a quarter of the labor force, while the rest, or close to three quarters, are involved in services (2; 9). Other indicators of economic health, such as economic freedom, also indicate a German economy that has been on the up and up for a long time, and in a way has never been in better shape as now, with the country achieving its highest rating for economy freedom historically in 2014. Moving back twenty years into the past, Germany was deemed as having an economy that was moderately free, but has since moved into the category of mostly free countries in the past eight years, advancing in its ranking consistently throughout that time, to achieve its highest rating at present (13). Elsewhere the prognosis is that Germany has moreover done better than its

Database Management System vs Information Retrieval System :: IT Essays

1. Differentiate Between Database Management System And Information Retrieval System By Focusing On Their Functionalities. Database Management System According to Modern Database Management eight edition, by Jeffrey A. Hoffer, Mary B. Prescott and Fred R. McFadden database management system (DBMS) is define as a software system that is used to create, maintain, and provide controlled access to user databases. Support Concurrent Updates Concurrent updates occur when various users make updates to the database at the same time. Supporting concurrent updates is also critical to database management as this component ensures that updates are made appropriately and the end result is precise. Without DBMS interference important data could be lost and or imprecise data stored. DBMS uses features to bear concurrent updates such as batch processing, locking, two-phase locking, and time stamping to help make certain that updates are done correctly. Again, the user is not alert all this is incident as it is the database management system’s liability to make sure all updates are stored appropriately Recovery of Data In the event a misfortune occurs, DBMS must offer ways to pull through a database so that data is not eternally lost. There are times computers may break down, a fire or other natural disaster may occur, or a user may enter inaccurate information invalidating or making records conflicting If the database is cracked or spoiled in any way, the DBMS must be able to recover the correct state of the database, and this process is called Recovery. The easiest way to do this is to make standard backups of information. This can be done at a set controlled time so in the event a catastrophe occurs, the database can be restored to the state that it was last at prior to backup. Security Security is the avoidance of illegal users accessing the database. DBMS uses features such as encryption, authentication, authorization and views to provide security to the database. Encryption is when DBMS converts the data in a database to an unreadable format. No illegal person trying to access this information will be able to read it. Authorized users will be able to see it in normal form. Authentication is a technique in which the database officer can identify the person accessing the database. Authorized users are given passwords and successful entry of a legitimate password will allow the user entry into the database, if a password is not effectively entered, the user will be denied access. Authorization is a set of rules that the database administrator (DBA) sets up to specify levels of practice that individuals or groups are allowed to have.

In what ways does Shakespeare make Duncan’s death dramatic? Essay

â€Å"Macbeth† is a tragedy filled with deceit, evil and ambition. However what makes this play so great is the way in which Shakespeare unfolds the drama to us. In the play â€Å"Macbeth†, Shakespeare makes the death of Duncan dramatic in many ways. A way in which Shakespeare makes Duncan’s death appear so dramatic is by the fact that his â€Å"loyal and trusted servant† is the one to kill him. This sense of irony heightens the drama as from the description of Macbeth, he would be the last person to expect this from. Macbeth is the hero of the play as well as being the villain and it is this dual role that makes the play seem so dramatic. Shakespeare adds a twist into the play by making Macbeth appear to be something which he is not. He is first presented to us as a loyal servant to the king and to Scotland. This is reflected by Duncan’s appreciative comments such as â€Å"more is thy due than more than all can pay† and the superlative â€Å"o worthiest cousin.† We are told that due to his heroic acts in the battlefield, he is going to replace the Thane of Cawdor, who has been deceitful, and betrayed Duncan. This tells us that Duncan has already been betrayed before. Macbeth is courageous and looks up to Duncan, to whom he sees it his duty to protect and honour. We find out that Duncan himself is not a fighter himself as he is unaware of what brutal things have happened on the battlefield because he says, â€Å"What bloody man is that? He can report, as seemeth by his plight† (Act 1, Scene 2, line 1) This tells us Duncan is the type of King who stays in his castle and leaves the soldiers do the fighting. There has been a civil war in Scotland, which indicates to us that Duncan’s kingship is being doubted, hence the reason for the Thane of Cawdor betraying him and thus becoming a traitor. We are also made aware of the central issue of the chain of Beings and the Divine Right of Kings. The order is God, King, Nobles and finally ordinary people. The King sees himself, as does everyone else, as God’s representative on Earth, and killing him is by far worse than killing an ordinary person. If the chain is ever broken chaos is said to break out and in this way Shakespeare makes Duncan’s death dramatic as by killing him, Macbeth will cause chaos because he is in fact murdering someone who has been chosen by God. Duncan is the King of Scotland. Recently there has been political unrest, and there has been an attempt to overthrow him. He is presented to us as a religious, innocent and naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve man. Duncan is seen as naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve. He says, â€Å"There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face†. (Act 1, Scene 4, line 11-12) This metaphor indicates to us that he is a naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve man. He is so innocent that appears that it will be easy for Macbeth to take advantage of him. Here he claims that one cannot tell by looking at someone what they are thinking. As he believes this, he makes no attempt to see through people. This makes us question his judgement as he had built â€Å"absolute trust† on a man that had betrayed him. This also makes the audience wonder whether he will be deceived again by the man that will take the The Thane of Cawdor’s position and therefore add to the sense of drama by giving the audience a sense of intrigue. Macbeth is in a dilemma whether he should or should not kill the king. This is all revealed in Macbeth’s soliloquy where he speaks alone to the audience, revealing his inner most thoughts. This is a dramatic way in which Shakespeare lets us know what the characters are really thinking. In this speech Shakespeare creates a sense of catastrophe by the language with which he gives to Macbeth. He recognises that he should not do the â€Å"deed† when he states that as the â€Å"Host† † he should against his murderer shut the door not bear the knife myself.† This poetic language makes us realise that Macbeth is sensitive and adds a sense of drama as it makes us more aware that what he is doing is greatly wrong. The heavy sounding d of â€Å"deep damnation† sticks in the audiences ears as Macbeth is sensitive as indicated by the poetic language. â€Å"Hath been so clear in his great office, that his virtues will plead like angels, trumpet-tongu’d, against the deep damnation of his taking-off† (Act 1, Scene 7, line 18-20) The imagery of angels telling heaven and voices like trumpets to cry out against the deed, which is not what he wants, and so he eventually decides not to do it. This makes Duncan’s death dramatic because it is such a huge decision to make and there is a ‘twist and turn’ in him making his decision, and the fact that Duncan is linked with religious imagery in the form of angels. Shows the impact of the death high lighting that â€Å"every eye† shall be affected reinforcing what a loved man Duncan is Act Two opens dramatically with darkness surrounding the stage and the audience in suspense as to whether or not Macbeth will commit â€Å"the horrid deed.† However, by the end of the scene, Macbeth decides to kill Duncan, after being persuaded by his wife. Lady Macbeth has ambitions for him. She wants him to be king and has always wanted this for her husband, and is determined that he fulfils his ambitions. She persuades him and tells him her plan. All Macbeth has to do is put it into action. This leaves the ball in Macbeth’s court. Everything is set up for him, and all that is left for him to do is commit the murder, which also adds to the drama. Lady Macbeth also adds drama as she waits downstairs waiting for Macbeth to report to her after he has murdered Duncan. This leaves us in suspense over whether he is going to follow his own will or that of his wife, and we are kept in suspense. Just before killing Duncan, there is another soliloquy. Macbeth imagines that there is a dagger in front of him, which is guiding him towards killing Duncan. He is ready to kill, and he is in a horrific state. All the evil things are coming together, and he is breaking the order. In doing this, he is going against the Divine Right of Kings, and is going against the whole world. There is darkness and Macbeth does not want the whole world to see how evil he is. When the bell rings, that is the point where he proceeds to murder Duncan, who once again has failed to read ‘the minds construction in the face.’ We are not shown the killing and in this way it appears more dramatic as we are left to imagine for ourselves. After killing Duncan, Shakespeare makes things more dramatic and this is shown by the language that Shakespeare gives to Macbeth to convey his sense of guilt. He tells his wife, â€Å"One cried ‘God bless us!’ and ‘Amen’ the other, as they had seen me with these hangman hands, list’ning their fear, I could not say ‘Amen’ when they did say ‘God Bless us’.† (Act 2, Scene 2, lines 29-32) Macbeth cannot pray, and this is shown to us when Macbeth is obsessed with his inability to say â€Å"Amen†, as he knows that he has been seen with his bloody hands after murdering Duncan. He is conscience stricken as he struggles to say â€Å"Amen†. Macbeth now feels cut off completely from God, and there is no longer a relationship between himself and God and because God has seen everything he has done, he can never turn to him again, and pray. Macbeth also feels haunted by a voice saying that he has murdered and will never sleep again, â€Å"Me thought I heard a voice cry, ‘sleep no more: Macbeth does murder sleep† (Act 2, Scene 2, lines 37-39) Now Macbeth thinks he hears a voice that is telling him that he will never sleep again. All this makes Duncan’s death so dramatic, not because of the way Macbeth killed him, but the consequences going through Macbeth’s head afterwards. Not only is Macbeth unable to pray, but now he is unable to sleep as well. Also the fact that Macbeth feels that not even an entire ocean can wash his hands of the deed, suggests a state of total damnation. He says, â€Å"Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash all this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incardine, making the green one red† (Act 2, Scene 2, lines 63-64) Macbeth feels that not even an entire ocean can remove the guilt and wash the blood from his hands, and instead the countless masses of water will turn blood red, because there is so much of it, and the green sea a red sea. Macbeth’s guilt is expressed through the image of blood, and he believes no matter what he does or where he goes, the guilt will always be there with him. Macbeth finally admits how great the crime he has committed is, when he says, â€Å"Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would thou couldst† (Act 2, Scene 2, line 77) Macbeth wishes he could turn back time. He wishes that the moment when he plunged the dagger into Duncan’s flesh never happened, and that he could make it disappear. He says that if it were possible to bring Duncan back to life he would. This seals Macbeth’s misery, and makes the death seem even more dramatic because the murderer himself is miserable and regrets killing Duncan.

Writing Skills Are An Important Way Of Communicating Essay

Writing skills are an important way of communicating. Writing skills, build a different connection between the writer and reader in a different way from oral communication. Writing encourages critical thinking, which helps writers learn how to interpret the world around them. Good writing skills allow students to give a certain message clearly. GSW 1100 has introduced me to many different aspects of writing that was completely new to me. During the time, I spent as a high school student, I never had to write more than a three-page paper. Although I have always had the potential to complete a great paper, there was always some errors. However, while in my first semester in college, all the requirements for a paper changed. This semester I have learned that I am not one of the best writers. Therefore, I may not be passing the GSW1100 course, but I have improved in my writing. I have learned a few strengths about myself through writing. One would be how doing basic research and how to c ite them. Another would be how I take processes to help me succeed in my writing. Finally, how I manage to keep my essays organized and make my points clear. To start, I have completed a few processes that helped me write my essays. For my first essay, I completed it and felt very confident. I completed my first essay just like I would back in high school. When I was in high school, I would just try to complete my essays within the first two days. The second essay requirements were a bitShow MoreRelatedHow Social Media And Technology Is Changing The Way We Speak Essay1374 Words   |  6 Pagestechnology is changing the way we speak and write. Language is important, it impacts the daily lives of people of any race or culture. Language help us communicate and express our feelings. We communicate with our words and gestures that interact with our everyday lives. 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The most effective way of communicating- when communicating there are many different forms of communication, therefore you will need to decide how to communicate the specified message

Engineering Ethics Free Essay Example, 750 words

According to Fleddermann (2011) police vehicles are exposed to greater risks than passenger vehicles. For example, the police officers park their vehicles close to the road at some distance behind the stopped vehicles. This helps to protect both stopped vehicles and the police officers from being crashed by stray vehicles racing from behind. Therefore, passenger vehicles are not sufficient for police use because they are equally exposed to the risk if struck from the rear. Therefore, police vehicles should be redesigned in a different way from passenger vehicles in order to minimize the loss of accidents. The hazard is caused by the position of the fuel tank hence the slider is drawn towards redesign instance implying that it is essential for the engineers to redesign the police vehicles fuel tank (Fleddermann 2011). The ford company is also liable for redesigning the position of the fuel tank. However, redesigning is not a legal requirement since the company has already satisfied t he federal legal requirements. However, redesigning is vital in order for the company to build its image (Lieu Sorby, 2009). Some of the cost of redesigning the vehicle will be borne by the buyers while others will be borne by the company. We will write a custom essay sample on Engineering Ethics or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page