Challenges in Managing Innovation Across Supply Chains â€Evaluation and Implementation

[pic] Business Major-Minor Supply Chain Management Course Assignment Challenges in Managing Innovation across Supply Chains —Evaluation and Implementation Student: Ying Deng Student ID:1205690 Course Number: 07 14511 Teacher: Professor Dr Victoria Hanna Date: 10/01/2013 Acknowledgement This research paper is written for the subject: â€Å"Global Marketing† in the University of Birmingham. Firstly, we would like to thanks Almighty Lord to give us knowledge and keep us healthy during the whole period of our research work.Secondly, we are greatly indebted to our lecturer and advisor-Professor David Walker for his valued opinions and expert advice in the preparation of this thesis. Thirdly, we would like to express our appreciation to the convenient internet that greatly helped us to find whatever information that we needed. Finally, we want to express our gratitude to the Fujifilm Corporation for its kind assistance and support throughout the writing progress of this thesi s.We have also managed to collect some important information from the relative journals and books. All group members of the assignment University of Birmingham, April 2012 Table of contents Acknowledgement Abstract Importance of supply chain innovation Innovation and its source and types Challenge of innovation management—evaluation of innovation Effect of buyer-supplier power relations Example cases of success and failureChallenge of innovation management—implementation of innovation Implementation’s detailed challenges in different types of industry—service and physical goods Implementation’s detailed challenges in different types of industry—emerging and mature industries More challenges in innovation management REFERENCES Abstract Title of course: Supply Chain Management Program: Various. Authors: Ying Deng Supervisor: Dr Victoria Hanna Date: Sep 2012 to Dec 2012 Background: The complexity and scale of any firm’s supply chain has made the management of supply chain innovation difficult and full of uncertainty.However the fast developing market requires the supply chain to innovate as fast and efficient as possible. There are amounts of successful and failed cases of innovations across supply chain from the last centuries, yet it is a big challenge to successfully manage the innovations. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to investigate what Fujifilm did and is doing to develop in the global circumstance and with all the internal and external factors’ impacts, also what it probably will or should do in the future to maintain its current status and to improve.Conclusion: After evaluating Fujifilm’s history and current situation along with its recent marketing feedback data, also referring to abundant marketing theories and books, we will suggest Fujifilm to take various acts and strategies to remain competitive and maintain & increase its market share. Keywords: Supple chain, Innovation, Manag ement, Evaluation, Risk, Implementation, Buyer-supplier power, Product life cycle, Pre- and Post-contractual, service and physical goods, emerging and mature industriesThe â€Å"18 months law† (Gorden E, Moore, 1965) had suggested and been proved that the electronic market doubles its product’s function while halves its prices. The other industries, while maybe slower than the electronics but similarly fast changing, suggests, that the businesses innovate in every possible aspects within and related to themselves, to fit into the fast pace of today’s dynamic world with the information explosion, to catch up with the increasing globalization, savage price competition, increased customer demand for enhanced quality and reliability.Studies and experiences show that R&D spending is strongly positively associated with the probability of introducing a new product, and most of the businesses are willing to invest in the R&D activities to create the internal innovations (BRDIS data, NSF 11-300). However, apart from the internal R&D, the innovation can also be gained both from the supply chain itself such as by re-organizing resources or enhancing distribution systems, and the other ends across the supply chain, such as improvement from end-users’ feedback. One of the well-known examples is P&G's Continuous Replenishment Planning (CRP).The company Proctor & Gamble changed the entire value chain by driving orders based on DC withdrawal and sales data that successfully improved its service and reduced costs across the supply channel (Roger C. Vergin, & Kevin Barr, 1999). The direct customer input derives innovation, such as the overall product concept, and the timing of the launch to packaging and delivery (Kevin O'Marah, 2005). Other typical examples including innovations caused by improved assembly line such as the Ford Company in the early 1910s, and advanced technologies and processes such as the enhanced Ocean shipping container by Malcom Mclean in the 1956, etc.According to Porter’s five forces theory, the business is affected by its suppliers, customers, new enchants and new substitutes (Micheal E, Porter, 1979). Supply chain as it stands for, is usually regarded as the flow of resources and products from the supplier, through the firm, to the customers. Supply chain links the supplier, the business and the end-users (customers), as one of its key natures. The other features include its complexity caused by the fact that businesses’ product manufacturing or service providing usually involves more than one supplier and customer.These facts lead to the high possibility of innovations from the supply chain. Not only has the physical goods’ flow in the supply provided opportunities of innovation, but also the information flow from the opposite direction of the physical goods. The sources of innovation are mainly concluded as â€Å"push† and â€Å"pull† (Clegg, Juliana & Pilkington, 2 011). The â€Å"push† stands for technological opportunities that breed the innovation. The â€Å"pull† stands for market needs that urge for innovation. Also, there are more than the two sources, such as regulation change, users’ feedback, staff, etc.Innovation across supply chain can be from both to the â€Å"pull† and â€Å"push† fact just as the examples of Ford and P&G respectively. As stated above, the vast source of innovation of supply chain and from the supply chain provides a great pool of ideas and potential. However, accordingly, the variety also raises the problem of whether a specific innovation actually suits the business and the industry, and whether it can actually fulfill the aim of innovation—to make the profit rise, to satisfy stakeholder’s interests better by changes such as reduced cost or added value.The scale of supply chain raises the uncertainty of an innovation. This brings us to the discussion of challenges in managing innovation. How to evaluate the suitability of a supply chain innovation to an firm? Will there be any potential constraints to the innovation in the supply chain? How to deal with the timing issue of the evaluation? Will this innovation be risky in any part of the supply chain, from the supplier to the customer? Innovation can mainly be sorted into four types: Product, Process, Position, and Paradigm (4P’s).Whichever it is sorted into, innovation can be defined as a new idea, or the recombination of old ideas, or a scheme than challenges present order, or a formula, or a unique approach (Van de Ven, 1986:591). Most examples of the simple innovation are R&D departments’ new product design. This type of innovation are usually based on careful market research, built after detailed study of profitability and potential risk, released into the market after thorough limited-scoop test and trial. model) During all this process, the staff of the firm can gain full understanding of the design, and the design can be changed at any stage of the process to fit into the firm’s expectations and the market’s current trends. Also, as this type of innovation origins within the firm, the main timing issue of it will lay on the dynamic need and technology of the external market environment, while the consideration of competitors’ imitation/substitute can be comparatively lower as all the details could be kept in house or by patenting.On the other hand, innovations from the supply chain could be different. As the innovation can lay in any part of the supply chain, such as a enhanced information exchange system, or the distribution system’s transformation, the innovation will need thorough evaluation process to decide its suitability, such as the Farbey et al. (1993) and  Farbey & Finkelstein (2000) IS implementation’s evaluation framework. The effect of the innovation might not fit into the firm’s market envir onment and its current situation’s strategy.One of the most important aspects of the supply chain management is to study the buyer-supplier power relation, to reduce cost and increase value of the supply chain. Innovations across the supply chain, whether it is an information update or system reform or use of new technology, they can influence the power relation of the supply chain, desirably or undesirably. Positive changes to the power relation can help the firm gain a favorable position in or after the process of purchase/signing of contract.Taking the consideration of buyer-supplier power shift before an innovation is adopted is vital to the success of its implementation. The power relations, affected by information, scarcity and utility, can actually decide the profitability of the production and risk distribution between the firm itself and its suppliers & buyers. If the innovation to the supply chain lowers the liability to specific supply of materials, for example, th en the firm’s buyer power towards its supplier increases, with a possibility to bargain for lower prices on the materials.If, however, the liability is increased by the innovation, the supplier’s power increases, giving them the power to increase the selling price. The innovations, bringing changes to the current buyer-supplier relations, have the risk of lowering the buyer/supplier power of the firm, hence putting the firm in a unfavorable position in the supply chain, with the consequence of new or increased cost paid to suppliers, or reduced price to the buyers. It may also cause a decline in quality or efficiency as a series consequence.The wrong evaluation of the changes an innovation can bring to the supply chain and its buyer-supplier relations can be disastrous. Let us have a look at the Aris Isotoner’s 1994 sourcing calamity case. Trying to lower the cost, the executive of the company replaced the in-house production with outsourcing from suppliers in o ther Asian locales. However, this approach did not reduce the cost but raised it around 10-20%. Also, the responding speed was found slower, and the quality of the product was plummeted.As a series result, the company’s sales halved, causing more than $100 million loss and long lasting effects that required more investing to maintain the company. The Aris case is a clear example of how important it is to accurately evaluate the suitability and risk level of an innovation. The idea of outsourcing needs to be considered together with the current difference between in-house production and buying from suppliers. Not only the cost need to be considered, but also the quality of the product, and the speed of product supply.Taking it a little further, the communication process with the supplier can incur unexpected costs, for example, the lawyer fee. The matter of unemployment to the old plant’s employees could possibly cause HR problems that need time and effort to solve. The financial situation of the company may go through cash flow issues since the purchase of product can be much more expensive than raw materials. If the case is the other way around, that a company wants to bring the components’ production in-house, there can be multiple considerations, too.Apart from the problem of cost, location and quality, there can be human resource (suitable staff for the new plant, for example) and technology problems. As the production technology is comparatively new to the firm’s staff, it could be difficult to build up efficiency with the same cost at the beginning. Before an innovation to the supply chain is brought into practice, it is crucial to consider every possible impact that this innovation can have. Based on the scale of even the tiniest company, this could be difficult not to miss any aspect.In fact, supply chain innovation is more than difficult to go over restricted-scale test as there are actually no samples of supply chain. Eith er put the innovation into practice to observe the result after a while, or â€Å"simulate† it in imaginary models that cannot be perfectly detailed and has considerable mistake rates. Even if the suitability and risk level of an innovation can be accessed, can the response of the whole supply chain be quick enough and accurate enough? Will the integration of changed resources, information, the staff’s thinking and supplier updating be in time?Will there be â€Å"distortions† within the communication between the ends of supply chain? Is there any demand or idea conflict in the different fraction of the supply chain? These can all be the challenges that an innovation in the supply chain can meet. Also because of the innovation across the supply chain can hardly be kept in house, the firm’s competitors can get access to the ideas and the two firms may enter the situation that whichever introduces the new idea into the market first gains more advantage.Thus the innovation from the supply chain might end up as low or even no profit after evaluation, adoption, development and testing. This brings us to the challenge of proper implementation method and speed of the innovation. Based on different types of the supply chain, natures of different industries and the different environment of the market, the concerns and priorities of the implementation can actually be completely different. We will look into the difference between service and physical goods supply chain, and the difference between mature and emerging industries’ supply chain in the following paragraphs.All the challenges mentioned above can be seen in both service supply chains and physical good’s supply chains. These two types of supply chains share many same challenges, such as cost management, resource allocation, etc. They both need to be more dispersed, digitized and dynamic to catch up with the market trends. Unless the physical goods industry can successfull y digest the brought-innovation to gain its own patents, the two types of industries will both face the challenge of competitors’ imitation and timing.They will have differences of challenges, such as () but the major ones are usually the same as mentioned above. However, their priorities could be totally different. Though the service and physical goods supply chains face the same challenges mentioned above, there are some major differences between these two types of supply chain innovation. The difference is not shown by challenge’s types, but by the importance or significance of the same challenge.For example, service supply chain face the challenge of updating their staff’s knowledge of the new innovation as human resource is vital to the business and they actually face more intangible innovation than tangible ones, while physical goods supply chains might need to focus more on updating the plants and materials to follow up the new innovation’s require ments. Service, as an intangible product, focus its value more on technologies, techniques and human resource that accomplishes the service, and customer interaction level is generally higher.This implements that the service industry will focus more on intangible equities than tangible ones. When an innovation is in operation, for example, a new set of service, the service supply chain may suffer huge losses if its human resource and technology cannot follow the change, which may even lead to complete failure on the innovation. Also, the tight relation between service and customer participation requires the supply chain to be highly agile (Narasimhan, et al, 2006) to deal with changing demands.On the other hand, the physical goods supply chains are less strained to keep their staff on the trend. After evaluation of innovation, they are more affected by the problems related to physical production, such as material’s moving, location, distribution, etc. In emerging markets and mature ones, there can be difference of priorities to manage challenges, too. See it from the product life cycle theory (PLC), the mature markets’ products have stabilized consumer base, and the strategy of the firm is set and focused.The mature industries tend to have more incremental innovations either on process or on the product, thus they might need more time to evaluate the innovation based on existing products, and the consideration of cost and stuff/culture conversion. The strategies such as cost leadership, focus strategy, or differentiation give specific demand of innovation—lower the cost, or quicker delivery, or advanced function, etc. The human resource is well equipped with needed knowledge and technique, whereas the thinking of staff is harder to change.The priority of innovation management could be stabilizing, maintaining, improving, thus call for incremental innovation. The challenges are featured as trying not to affect existing value creation activi ties. Opposite to it, the emerging industries are going through fast growth, and demands radical innovation that has the potential to largely increase revenue or significantly reduce cost. The emerging industries have more possibility to encounter major breakthroughs and the radical innovations. There may be tense competition for market share. The market is unstable and the corporate strategies could change every day to follow market trends.Based on the emerging market, the supply chain’s innovations need to be fast responding and competency-building. The difference of innovation’s requirements can result in different evaluation standards and different methods to carry out the innovations. What’s more, we can see from the buy-supplier relation perspective. The emerging industries’ supply chain may hold more possibilities of communicating with new suppliers for new resources, so there need to be thorough consideration of the pre-contractual power relations . Wrong estimation of power relations may cause unnecessary costs.This requires more work on cost management and balancing benefits between different parties. In some of the cases, emerging industries face less competition, so the challenge of timing could be minor, but a few other cases mainly on service industries show that the emerging business could face even more severe competition and their profitability can vary significantly according to the introduction time. The suitability of innovation could be even harder to decide, because they will need to evaluate by speculation instead of looking for existing experience.They can consider less on the culture/staff conversion, though, as the thinking mode has not been set up yet. While for mature industries the existing pre-contractual relations are relatively stable because the information and resource of the buyer and supplier, no matter whether they are new entrants or existing firms, will actually be more stable. They will need to consider post-contractual power relations carefully, though, when the supply chain innovations are related to the replacement of suppliers. The transaction cost economy (TCE) shows that any changes to existing contracts can raise uncertainty hence raise risk to the supply chain.Based on individual industries’ difference, the challenges of managing innovation across the supply chain can be different in importance, significance and difficulty to settle. The nature of the industry, for example, whether it is national or international business, determines the priorities of challenge management. This is more specific to the individual differences, and requires experience and thorough research and careful design to successfully manage the innovations. The above mentioned challenges of evaluation and implementation are just two aspects of the challenges that innovation across the supply chain might encounter.There are also other challenges, such as managing conflicting requirements between the innovation’s development and the existing system, managing long term human resource and culture in relation to the innovation, developing the proper strategy to achieve win-win situation with the new innovation, etc. The last two mentioned above link to the features of the supply chain—more than one party is involved. The difference of staff and culture between the source party of innovation and the receiver party of it leads to the need of change in minds for the new innovation.The fact of involvement of the multiple parties leads to the possibility of win-win situation. However, this possibility could be a challenge because this could be a scenario of the game theory. Innovations can be the source of huge breakthrough and greater success to a firm’s supply chain. It can also be the source to risk and failure of the firm. Managing the challenges of supply chain innovation, though it is complex and require great efforts, can reduce the risks of the innovation. References: Watson, G. and Lonsdale, C. (eds. ) (2003) Managing the Supply Base within Business Networks, chapter 4Allwright, A. and Oliver, R. (1993) Buying Goods and Services, chapters 12-14 R Verma and K K Boyer, (2010) Operations and Supply Chain Management: World Class Theory and Practice, South-Western Dong Won Cho, Young Hae Lee, Sung Hwa Ahn, Min Kyu Hwang, (2012)A framework for measuring the performance of service supply chain management, Soft Computing for Management Systems, 62(3), Pages 801–818 A. J. van Weele, (2010) â€Å"Purchasing & supply chain management: analysis, strategy, planning and practice† 5th edition, Andover: Cengage Learning,Evangelista Pietro, Alan McKinnon, Edward Sweeney and Emilio Esposito, (2013)†Supply Chain Innovation for Competing in Highly Dynamic Markets: Challenges and Solutions. † IGI Global, 2012, 1-350. Web: 3-32 Alessandro Brun, Maria Caridi, Assessing Improvement Opportunities and Risks of Supply Chai n Transformation Projects (ed. ), (2008) â€Å"Supply Chain†[online], available from: INTECH, http://www. intechopen. com/books/supply_chain/assessing_improvement_opportunities_and_risks_of_supply_chain_transformation_projects (02/01/2013) Debra Hofman, Stan Aronow, 21 May 2012, The Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 for 2012 [online], http://www. artner. com/id=2021615#t-N70737 (05/01/2013) Jan 2006, The 11 greatest supply chain disasters [online], available from: Supply Chain Digest, http://www2. isye. gatech. edu/~jjb/wh/tidbits/top-sc-disasters. pdf (29/12/2012) Jackson, R. , (1995) An Empirical investigation of the differences in goods and services as perceived by organizational buyers, Industrial Marketing Management, 24 (2), pp. 99-108 Andrew Cox, Paul Ireland, Chris Lonsdale, Joe Sanderson and Glyn Watson, (2004) â€Å"Supply Chains, Markets and Power—Mapping buyer and supplier power regimes† [online], Taylor & Francis e-Library, available from: Google books, h ttp://books. oogle. co. uk/books? hl=zh-CN&lr=&id=HYBP9GsLpw8C&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=buyer+supplier+power&ots=MmcU_1fXwW&sig=VwMwnViasijZHb5CNSVb53Rrlw4&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=buyer%20supplier%20power&f=false (23/12/2012) Marjolein C. J. Caniels, Cees J. Gelderman,(2007) â€Å"Power and interdependence in buyer supplier relationships: A purchasing portfolio approach†, Industrial Marketing Management, Volume 36, Issue 2, Pages 219-229, ISSN 0019-8501, 10. 1016/j. indmarman. 2005. 08. 012. http://www. sciencedirect. com/science/article/pii/S001985010500132X) (28/12/2012) J M Tuazon, (2011)†The top three reasons supply chain transformations fail† [online], available from: enterprise innovation, http://enterpriseinnovation. net/whitepaper/top-three-reasons-supply-chain-transformations-fail (31/12/2012) â€Å"Procter & Gamble: Finding the Right Business Model† [Online], available from: https://dspace. ist. utl. pt/bitstream/2295/141516/1/AOSI-2007-CASOH. pdf (26/12/ 2012)

The Masque of the Red Death

â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† Literary Analysis: A Look at Imagery We continue our literary analysis of â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† by Edgar Allan Poe with a look at the graphic imagery in the short story. players †¢ slide 1 of 4 Imagery is the use of figurative or descriptive language to create a vivid mental picture. It involves at least one of the five senses–sight, sound, touch, feel, taste. Imagery in â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† is ghastly. †¢ slide 2 of 4 Example of Imagery – â€Å"There were sharp pains, and sudden dizziness, and then profuse bleeding at the pores, with dissolution.The scarlet stains upon the body and especially upon the face of the victim, were the pest ban which shut him out from the sympathy of his fellow men. † (145). Senses – Sight, Touch Analysis – Poe establishes the mood and setting of the story with the vivid description of the Red Death. The passage establishes the h orror of the disease and explains why the guests would react to the blood stained intruder at the end of the story. †¢ slide 3 of 4 Imagery in the 7th RoomExample of Imagery – â€Å"The seventh apartment was closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the walls, falling in heavy folds upon the carpet of the same material and hue† (146). Senses – Sight, Touch Analysis: The oppressiveness of the 7th room contrasts the gaiety of the previous six. The darkness of the room and the heaviness and darkness of the curtain symbolizes death. No wonder none of the guests wish to come near it. Note the pun on â€Å"shroud. † Example of Imagery – â€Å"The panes here were scarlet–a deep color†¦.In the corridors that followed the suite, there stood, opposite to each window, a heavy tripod, bearing a brazier of fire, that projected its rays through the tinted glass and so glaringly illuminated the room. And thus were produced a multitude of gaudy and fantastic appearances†¦ The effect of the firelight that streamed upon the dark hangings through the blood tinted panes was ghastly in the extreme† (146-7) Senses – Sight Analysis – So much for peaceful death. The images created by the brazier of fire and blood tinted glass give the room of death a ghastly appearance.The gaudy and fantastic appearances, the blood tinted panes, and the fire create an image of hell, hinting that perhaps the guests and the Prince fear not just the Red Death, but their eternal fate. †¢ slide 4 of 4 More Examples Example of Imagery – â€Å"Its pendulum swung to and fro with a heavy monotonous clang; there came from the brazen lungs of the clock a sound which was clear and loud and deep and exceedingly musical† (147). Senses – Sound Analysis – No wonder the musicians stopped when this clock struck.Poe uses personification–brazen lungs–to em phasize the deepness of the â€Å"heavy monotonous clang,† a clang that serves as an hourly reminder to the guests that death is approaching. Example of Imagery – â€Å"The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habilments of the grave†¦ His vesture was dabed in blood and his broad brow, with all the features of the face was besprinkled with the scarlet horror. † (149). Senses – Sight Death – The personified Red Death strikes fear and anger in the hearts of Prospero and his guests.Once the Red Death appears, it never leaves. Symbolism in â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† Why are there seven rooms in â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death†? Learn all that and more with this guide to symbolism. latest †¢ slide 1 of 6 Edgar Allan Poe's â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† should be studied at many levels: (1) the literal level – the literal level is a study of the events that actually take plac e in the story; (2) an allegorical level – an allegory is a story in which the objects, characters, and events are symbolic of something grander in scale.In order to understand the story allegorically, one needs a firm understanding of symbols in â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death. † †¢ slide 2 of 6 Symbols ; Analysis The Red Death symbolizes the inevitability of death. Although there is no specific disease with the exact symptoms described in the story, critics believe the disease's description has elements of tuberculosis, a disease which killed many of those close to Poe. It also brings forth memories of the Black Death which depopulated much of Europe during the Middle Ages.The Castle represents man's efforts to prevent death. Regardless of wealth, social position, or popularity, death arrives as an uninvited guest. Prince Prospero symbolizes the end of feudalism. Prospero's inviting only wealthy knights and ladies to his castle at the expense of peasants and c ommoners represents the socioeconomic divide between landowners and peasants that existed during the feudalistic period. It is not coincidental that the Black Death, which reduced the number of workers, led to a demand for labor and played an important role in ending feudalism in Europe.The Ebony Clock is a constant reminder of death and symbolizes the inevitability of it. The revelers could neither stop its pendulum from swinging nor could they prevent its ominous tones from dampering their enthusiasm. †¢ The Seven Rooms represent the stages of life. More on this later. The Masqueraders symbolize all humans and gives creedence to the interpretation that the seven rooms represent the seven ages of man (covered further in the next section). †¢ slide 3 of 6 Color Symbolism Colors play an important role in this story:Red – The most obvious color symbolism in â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† is in its title. Red symbolizes death and blood. The gruesome descript ion of the Red Death gives the color a ghastly connotation, especially in light of the red window panes contained in the death room at the far western end of the imperial suite. Black/Ebony – The seventh room was â€Å"closely shrouded in black velvet tapestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the walls, falling in heavy folds upon a carpet of the same material and hue† (146).This seventh room contains â€Å"no light of any kind† and represents the darkness of death. In this room stands the ebony clock. Upon hearing its chimes the guests were reminded of death: â€Å"the giddiest grew pale, and the more aged and sedate passed their hands over their brows as if in confused reverie or meditation† (147). Blue/Purple/Green/Orange/White/Violet – These are the colors of the first six rooms in the imperial suite. I will address them together insomuch that they represent a prism and therefore reflect a progression, lending creedence to the interpre tation that the story is an allegory for life.This interpretation, however, is complicated by the fact that the color of Prospero's room do not occur in the same sequence as they do in a prism, possibly reflective of Prospero's twisted sense of fairness or an attempt by the author to associate particular colors with a specific period in life. †¢ Others interpret the 7 rooms in â€Å"The Masque of the Red Death† as a symbol of Prospero's indulgence in the seven deadly sins: 1. Pride/Vanity – Pride is the excessive belief in one's own abilities, similar to vanity, which is setting one's heart on things of little value.Prospero's belief that he is more powerful than death is a vivid demonstration of pride. 2. Envy – It is unclear who the Prince might envy, but he sure is trying hard to impress someone. 3. Gluttony – Gluttony is the act of consuming more than one is required. Instead of using his means to protect more people, something he is obligated to do as prince, he lavishes his guests with â€Å"ample provisions† and â€Å"the appliances of pleasure. † 4. Lust – Lust is an excessive craving for the pleasures of the body, usually associated with sex. The era in which Poe wrote prohibited he explicit or implicit description of sex, but what do you think was going on at an anything goes party? 5. Anger – The Prince becomes angry with the uninvited guest and attacks it. 6. Greed – Although it is apparent Prince Prospero shares his wealth with a thousand guests, he helps those who need it least and withholds his substance from those in need. 7. Sloth – Sloth is the absence of work. The prince seems like a hard worker; his work, however, is on the physical realm not the spiritual realm. †¢ slide 6 of 6 What do you think they mean? If you have an alternate interpretation, let me know in the comments.

Indian Legal History: Sultanate Period Essay

The Delhi Sultanate is a term used to cover five short-lived dynasties, Delhi based kingdoms or sultanates, mostly of Turkic and Pashtun (Afghan) origin in medieval India. The sultanates ruled from Delhi between 1206 and 1526, when the last was replaced by the Mughal Dynasty. The five dynasties were the Mamluk dynasty (1206–90); the Khilji dynasty (1290–1320); the Tughlaq dynasty (1320–1414); the Sayyid dynasty (1414–51); and the Afghan Lodi dynasty (1451–1526). (i) Administrative Units: The civil administration of the sultanate was headed by the Sultan and his Chief Minister (Wazir; à ¦â€°Ã  ¦Å"à ¦ ¿Ã  ¦ °). The sultanate was divided into administrative divisions from the province (Subah) to the village level. The province was the composition of districts (Sarkars). Each district was further divided into parganas. A group of villages constituted a pargana. (ii) Constitution of Courts: The Mediaeval India the Sultan, being head of the State. was the supreme authority to administer justice in his kingdom. It was one of the important functions of the Sultan. It was done in three stages: Diwan-e-Qaza (arbitrator à ¦ ¬Ã  ¦ ¿Ã  ¦Å¡Ã  ¦ ¾Ã  ¦ °Ã  ¦â€¢), Diwan-e-Mazalim (Head of bureaucracy à ¦ ªÃ  § Ã  ¦ °Ã  ¦ §Ã  ¦ ¾Ã  ¦ ¨ à ¦ ªÃ  § Ã  ¦ °Ã  ¦ ¶Ã  ¦ ¾Ã  ¦ ¸Ã  ¦ ¨Ã  ¦ ¿Ã  ¦â€¢ à ¦â€¢Ã  ¦ °Ã  § Ã  ¦ ®Ã  ¦â€¢Ã  ¦ °Ã  § Ã  ¦ ¤Ã  ¦ ¾), Diwan-e-Siyasat (Commander-in-Chief of forces à ¦ ¸Ã  §â€¡Ã  ¦ ¨Ã  ¦ ¾Ã  ¦ ªÃ  ¦ ¤Ã  ¦ ¿). The courts were required to seek his prior approval before awarding the capital punishment (à ¦ «Ã  ¦ ¾Ã  ¦ Ã  ¦ ¸Ã  ¦ ¿ à ¦ ¦Ã  §â€¡Ã  ¦â€œÃ  §Å¸Ã  ¦ ¾Ã  ¦ ° à ¦â€ Ã  ¦â€"à §â€¡ à ¦â€¢Ã  §â€¹Ã  ¦ °Ã  § Ã  ¦Å¸Ã  ¦â€¢Ã  §â€¡ à ¦ ¸Ã  § Ã  ¦ ²Ã  ¦ ¤Ã  ¦ ¾Ã  ¦ ¨Ã  §â€¡Ã  ¦ ° à ¦â€¦Ã  ¦ ¨Ã  § Ã  ¦ ®Ã  ¦ ¤Ã  ¦ ¿ à ¦ ¨Ã  ¦ ¿Ã  ¦ ¤Ã  §â€¡ à ¦ ¹Ã  ¦â€¡Ã  ¦ ¤Ã  §â€¹) The judicial system under the Sultan was organized based on administrative divisions of the kingdom. It was classified in a systematic divisions of courts and the powers and jurisdiction of each court was clearly defined. 1. Central Capital: Six Courts which were established at the capital of the Sultanate are follow: a. The King’s Court b. Diwan-e-Mazalim c. Diwan-e-Risalat d. Sadre Johan’s Court e. Chief Justice’s Court f. Diwan-e-Siyasat The King’s Court was presided over by the Sultan. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction on all kinds of cases. It was the highest court of appeal. The Sultan was assisted by two Muftis (highly qualified in law). Diwan-e-mazalim: The court of Diwan-e-Mazalim was the highest court of criminal appeal and the Court of Diwan-e-Risalat was the highest court of civil appeal. The Chief Justice was the second highest officer next to the Sultan. The court of Ecclesiastical cases (à ¦ §Ã  ¦ °Ã  § Ã  ¦ ® à ¦ ¸Ã  ¦â€šÃ  ¦â€¢Ã  § Ã  ¦ °Ã  ¦ ¾Ã  ¦ ¨Ã  § Ã  ¦ ¤ à ¦â€¢Ã  §â€¡Ã  ¦ ¸)was transferred to the Sadre Johan. The court of Diwan-e-Siyasat was constituted to deal with the case of rebels (à ¦ ¬Ã  ¦ ¿Ã  ¦ ¦Ã  § Ã  ¦ °Ã  §â€¹Ã  ¦ ¹Ã  §â‚¬Ã  ¦ ¦Ã  §â€¡Ã  ¦ ° à ¦â€¢Ã  §â€¡Ã  ¦ ¸ à ¦ ¨Ã  ¦ ¿Ã  §Å¸Ã  §â€¡). The Chief Justice’s Court was established in 1206. It was presided over by the Chief Justice and dealt with all kinds of cases. (b) Provinces: In each province(Subah; à ¦ ¸Ã  § Ã  ¦ ¬Ã  ¦ ¾Ã  ¦ ¹)had five courts namely, Adalat Nazim Subah, Adalat Qazi-e-Subah, Governor’s Bench (Nazim Subah’s Bench), Diwan-e-Subah and Sadre-e-Subah. Adalat Nazim Subah was the Governor’s (Subedar; à ¦ ¸Ã  § Ã  ¦ ¬Ã  ¦ ¾Ã  ¦ ¦Ã  ¦ ¾Ã  ¦ °) Court. In the provinces the Sultan was represented by him. He exercised original and appellate jurisdiction like the Sultan.. While exercising his appellate jurisdiction, the Governor(à ¦ ¸Ã  § Ã  ¦ ¬Ã  ¦ ¾Ã  ¦ ¦Ã  ¦ ¾Ã  ¦ °) sat with the Qazi-e-Subah. From the decision of this bench, a final appeal was allowed to be filed in Central Court of Delhi. Adalat Qazi-e-Subah was presided over by the Chief Provincial Qazi. He was empowered to try civil and criminal cases. Appeals form this court made to the Adalat Nazim-e-Subah. The Court of Diwan-e-Subah was the final authority in the province in all cases concerning land revenue. The Sadre-e-Subah was the Chief Ecclesiastical Officer in the province. He represented Sadre Johan, in Subah matters relating to grant of stipend, lands etc. (c) Districts: In each district (Sarkar) at he district headquarter, six courts ware established namely: Qazi, Dadbaks or Mir Adls, Faujdars, Sadre, Amils and Kotwals. The Court of the District was empowered to hear all original civil and criminal cases. Appeals were also filed before this court from the judgements of the Pargana Qazis, Kotwals and village pachayats. The court was presided over by the District Qazi who appointed on the recommendation of the Qazi-e-Subah or directly by Sadre Johan. (d) Parganas: At each pargana headquarter two courts were established, namely, Qazi-e-Pargana and Kotwal. The court of Qazi-e-Pargana had all the powers of a District Qazi in all civil and criminal cases except hearing appeals. Petty criminal cases were filed before the Kotwal. He was the Principal Executive Officer in towns. (e) Villages: A pargana was divided into a group of villages. For each group of villages there was a village assembly or panchayet. It’s a body of five leading men to look after the executive and judicial affairs. The Sarpanch or Chairman was appointed by the Nazim or the Faujder. The Panchayets decided civil and criminal cases of a purely local character. (iii) Judicial Reforms of Sher Shah: In 1540 Sher Shah laid the foundations of Sur Dynasty in India after defeating the Mughal Emperor Humayun, son of Babar. Sher Shah ruled only for five years. he introduced various remarkable reforms in the administrative and judicial system fo his kingdom. His important judicial reforms as follows:- 1. . Sher Shah introduced the system of having the pargans, separate courts of first instance for civil and criminal cases. At each pargana, he stationed a Civil Judge called Munsif. 2. When a Munsif was appointed, his duties were specifically enumerated. 3. The duties of Governors and their deputies regarding the preservation of law and order were emphasised. 4. Moqoddomas or heads of the village Councils ware recognized amd were ordered to prevent theft and robberies. In cases of robberies, they were made up to pay for the loss sustained by the victim. Police regulations were now drawn up for the first time in India. 5. The judicial officers below the Chief Provincial Qazi were transferred after every two or three years. The practice continued in British India. 6. The Chief Qazi of the province or the Qazi-ul-Quzat was the some cases authorized to report directly to the Emperor on the conduct of the Governor.

BUSINESS CAPSTONE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

BUSINESS CAPSTONE - Essay Example The issues that companies mostly deal with are unionization, implementation of change, threat of new entrants, issues pertaining to law and sometime faces intimidations due to turbulent business and political environment. In this study, the issues faced by CSC Australia will be uncovered. CSC is an Australian company involved in providing technology enabled business solutions and services to the clients (CSC). The company caters to both the private as well as the government clients. The company supplies desktop computers to the client sites. The supplies are made at the local corporate head offices of the client (Background 2012). However, the company is now working with an oil and Gas corporation, whose onsite delivery refers to delivering of desktops to the offshore locations. Delivering desktops to abroad locations creates huge environmental risk and if anything goes wrong during the delivery process, CSC Australia will be liable and may need to compensate the client. Moreover, th e client is also asking for unlimited liability rather initial capping on contract. In this context, according to the vice president of CSC Australia, Michael Horton, CSC Australia is facing issues related to liability capping. Liability capping is generally carried out or negotiated prior initiating the contract, but allows renegotiations (Issue 2012). Therefore it can be stated that the company is presently dealing with issues pertaining to law suits. Causes The primary reason behind the arising legal issues is mainly related with the liability capping. CSC Australia fears that, if unlimited liability is accepted, it may cause serious damages to the company’s financial position. Apart from that, acceptance of unlimited liability may create more burden on CSC as their client may ask to compensate the entire worth of their company. For example, if anything worst happens and if the client is a large company, the compensation claimed by them can be far more than the actual wort h and can ruin the financial stability of CSC Australia. Hence it can be stated that unlimited liability may pose huge threat to the company. Nevertheless, for the company to successfully close the deal and ensure lowest possible liability capping, negotiation with the client needs to be properly carried out (Cause 2012) The first section of the study has identified the issue faced by CSC Australia and its causes. Now in the next half of the project, the solution or how the issue can be addressed by the company will be suggested. In this process several alternatives will be developed and the best alternative will be chosen for implementation. PART 2 Decision Criteria In order to deal with the legal issue, CSC Australia needs to make proper decision. Although to get rid of the concern, the company will have a number of alternatives, but to deal with the issues effectively, the company needs to choose the best alternative. A decision criterion refers to the factors, based on which the alternative cours

Trading Infrastructure Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Trading Infrastructure - Case Study Example The selection of the distribution channel depends on the market segment which the ceramics companies are targeting. The ceramic company must know the specific market segment and target customers it wants to get. Moreover, there must be a producer-distributor fit in which the two companies must complement their marketing policies, strategies and image. When the company sees fit, it may come up with an assessment of its previous performance of its experience and track record over the years. The wholesalers constitute a significant bulk of the ceramic trading operations carried out by well-established Australian ceramic companies. The wholesalers buy from the major producers and these companies sell it in small quantities to the retailers. These companies have also built their design and artistic excellence on ceramics products over decades of research and innovation. These companies ask foreign and local ceramic designers to constantly come up with creative designs with functional applications. Innovative styles are adopted and fusion of designs is also fostered. Hence, Australia's ceramics industry which combines European designs with Asian elegance is truly world-class. Only one major Australian company imports high-quality ceramics from the United States and the UK.( see www.countryprofile.com) The trading operations of the wholesalers are done both on a cash and credit basis. Wholesaler ceramic companies agree on specific banking and financial institutions to settl e their transactions. The ceramic companies engage in wholesale and retail trade of ceramics and ceramic-related products. Operations of wholesalers are highly flexible and the companies can deliver bulk orders with advance notice( what others offered serves). Note: This sentence means that only wholesalers can deliver bulk orders. The retailers and agents cannot since these have limited capital. This is the meaning of this sentence. Agents refer to Australian companies which cater to the international market. Ceramic agents have a high degree of international training and sales motives and performance. Agents can be run by a single individual or a marketing team. Example of international agents include Janet Mansfield, Aremco and Ceramic Solutions. Retailers are the small and medium scale ceramic businesses which are run independently by well-known resident ceramic artists. There are 300 registered ceramic retailers(.check the directory of ceramic suppliers of the Australian ceramic industry and tile council.) The retailers have a stronger personal relationship with the final end-users of the products. Retailers are able to carry a wide array of ceramic products. Retailers can offer credit for their customers. However, the outputs of these small ceramic businesses constitute less than 10% of the output of the entire industry( .(Please add up the revenues of the wholesalers which I placed in this article. Their output is much higher than the retailers.) These outputs are geared towards special individual collector's editions of a select group of ceramic collectors in Europe and in the US. The customary mark-ups for this industry ranges from 10% for retailers, 15% for wholesalers to 30% for highly specialized ceramic manufacture rs which caters to individual collectors (.This is the mark-up of similar export-based craft businesses similar to ceramics. Big producers

The Transforming Power of Suffering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Transforming Power of Suffering - Essay Example   At the time that this poem is written, Milton is one of the greatest writers of England, and this horrible condition called blindness is about to end his career, thus rendering him useless, much like the talent in the Bible which the third man buries and eventually becomes the reason for God to punish him (Matt. 25:26-30, The New International Version). For the poet, it seems that being blind is being useless, and being useless is tantamount to preparing oneself to get punished. This is the true cause of Milton’s suffering as he is writing this poem. ... H. Lawrence’s â€Å"The Blind Man.† In the story, Maurice secretly struggles with his blindness by keeping himself busy with daily chores on the farm: â€Å"He milked the cows, carried in the pails [and] attended to the pigs and horses† (Lawrence). These are actually a few things that a normal blind man can never get himself to do. Nevertheless, Maurice seems to be pushing himself to do these tasks. Why? The reason is one that he reveals to Bertie toward the end of the story: â€Å"What I am afraid of†¦is that [my wife Isabel will] find me a dead weight [and that] I feel it isn’t fair she’s saddled with me† (Lawrence). Maurice, therefore, just like the poet Milton, feels the same kind of suffering particularly because of their fear of being useless. Nevertheless, what Jernigan states – that â€Å"the blind tend to see [themselves] as others see [them]† (4) – is somehow true as most blind people tend to suffer only un til they realize that suffering brings them the gifts of humility, compassion, and hope. The virtue of humility is evident in the following lines of Milton’s â€Å"On His Blindness†: â€Å"†¦though my soul more bent/ To serve therewith my Maker, and present My true account, lest He returning chide† (Milton 4-6). In these lines of the poem, the poet himself admits that although he is ready to serve God, he has no choice but to humbly admit his â€Å"true account† – his actual circumstances or the fact that he is blind and that he cannot do anything about it. Indeed, humility is all about mustering enough courage to admit the true state of things and at the same time admitting one’s helplessness in the face of it.  

Imagery of darkness in Macbeth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Imagery of darkness in Macbeth - Essay Example Because of this, King Duncan made Macbeth the Thane of Cawdor (the former Thane is to be killed because he’s a traitor). This makes Macbeth think that what the witches said were true. He was inspired by the idea that he will be King and briefly considered â€Å"murder† but felt guilty and he says â€Å"My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, Shakes so my single state of man that function is smotherd in surmise, and nothing is But what is not..† (Act, 1 Scene 1). But when King Duncan announces that Malcolm, his son, would be heir to the throne, Macbeth began to consider murder again. This he told his wife, the Lady Macbeth, who made a plan on how to kill Duncan. Because the King is about to visit them in their castle, Lady Macbeth thought it would be best to kill him there. Macbeth hesitates on this idea but his wife persuades him anyway, telling him to â€Å"act like a man†. That night, when everybody is asleep, Macbeth saw an image of a dagger pointing to the King’s room. When he was done with the deed, he heard strange noises and voices. His wife told him to stop thinking about it and move on, and she smeared blood on the guards’ faces to frame them up. The next morning, everyone discovers the dead King’s body and Macbeth killed the guards. Upon hearing the news, Malcolm and Donalbain, the King’s sons, escaped Scotland to flee the murders. This is when Macbeth was named king. However, Macbeth gets reminded that Banquo was going to be the father of Kings, so he tells a servant to go and kill Banquo and his son. Banquo got killed but his son escapes. At a feast, he saw Banquo’s ghost on his dinner table and started raving fearfully. This alarmed the guests, who were mostly composed of nobles. Because of this, Macbeth decided to visit the witches again for prophesies. There, the witches told him to 1) be wary of Macduff (he opposed Macbeth’s succession to the throne), 2) "None of woman born shall

Magazine ad analysis 1-1.5 page Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Magazine ad analysis 1-1.5 page - Essay Example The other half of the ad features a large picture of the product and three small close-ups of portions of Parker’s face on a black background and explained with a good deal of text. As a result, the ad is presented in a split vertical panel allowing one side to ‘speak’ to the consumer on an emotional level while the other side ‘speaks’ on a more scientific level to try to convince customers to purchase this product. This presentation makes it clear that the Elaboration Likelihood Model is being used to persuade customers to purchase the product. The Elaboration Likelihood Model consists of two routes of thinking. The first of these is the central route. The central route uses high elaboration to encourage extensive issue-relevant thinking. This route is taken on the right side of the advertisement in the black panel. Here, the consumer is shown close-up specific areas of the face that the product is intended to improve. While the text promises that with use of the product â€Å"skin looks dramatically younger†, the close-up pictures illustrate where it improves appearance by plumping the skin such as around the mouth area, how it improves appearance by filling in lines such as those usually found on the forehead and how it smoothes skin with a close-up of Parker smoothing the product over her cheek with a carefully manicured hand. The final piece of information provided in this panel is a circle divided into three equal parts, each of which is filled with a symbol or segment of a main ingredient used in the product. This suggests that the product is all-natural and thus presumably healthier than other products that are built with more chemicals. This high degree of information forces the intended consumer to consider the various issues involved in her choices for skin care products, promising desired results in a healthy, all-natural material. The second route of thinking used in the Elaboration Likelihood Model is the

How Life Would Change if We All Had a Better Memory Essay

How Life Would Change if We All Had a Better Memory - Essay Example Perhaps we have a tendency to forget things as a way of working with people around us without going totally postal on them. At the same time, we wouldn’t need to sit up all night cramming for tests since a simple read-through the notes would give us the information we need to pass the test. Of course, then tests might be restructured to test whether we can actually think or just regurgitate information we’ve been fed. But maybe that would be a good thing, too. Memory actually turns out to be a fascinating subject when one stops to consider the possibilities. If everyone had a better memory, the entire structure of school would need to be changed. We wouldn’t need to take US history in middle school, then high school and then college, we could spend that extra time working on other subjects or investigating different things to a greater degree. As I’ve mentioned, the structure of tests would necessarily be different, not focusing so much on whether we can remember the right dates for a particularly important battle, since that would be too easy, but instead testing whether or not we can analyze the significance of that battle, why it was decisive (not what we read about why it was important but actually coming up with our own ideas about it) and then relating the lessons learned through that battle to events occurring in the present. If Americans actually began thinking instead of just trying to repeat what they’ve heard, we might have an entirely better country.

Section 5 paraphrase Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Section 5 paraphrase - Essay Example According to the t-test, there was no gender impact on the attendance when the transport was provided (.123). The relevance of the test given comfortable seats was slightly relevant when comparing the mean of men and women on a 5-point scale, which was 3.03 and 3.47 respectively. As illustrated in the presented data, most of the female participants neither agreed nor disagreed, but there were a few answers in the slightly agree category. Notably, the mens answers for the same were; neither agreed nor disagree for the whole test. It is essential to note that the description for the question of the likelihood of attending the game based on the schedule was similar for men and women. In response, the women’s mean answer had a score of 3.65 which translate to a neither agree nor disagree with a few elements of slightly agree. On the contrary, men had a score of 2.91 which interpret into a slightly disagree with a few elements of neither agree nor disagree. The chart illustrates SPSS the values of the possibility of respondent attending a SCSU softball game as influenced by three factors: availability of transportation to and from the games, knowing the game schedule, and the availability of comfortable seats. Evaluation of the potential differences in the likelihood of attending a softball match at the Husky Dome based on four variables events during the game breaks, awareness of the schedule, promotional giveaways, and availability of concessions, in relation to student status. As shown in Chart 5.1, the Levenes test for the possibility to attend a game at the Husky Dome based on student status was irrelevant for the four variables. Specifically, the variables for this experiment were awareness of the game, promotional giveaways, concession stands, and events during breaks in the game. Using the t-test, we identified the significance of student status and the prospect to attend the game for each of the four variables. In relation to the

Future Career Goal and Current Skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Future Career Goal and Current Skills - Essay Example Therefore, I studied a bachelor’s degree in business, to understand the general concept of business and then I joined Leeds Business School to do my master in Strategic Management. Firstly, I am an initiative person with high level of confidence and I have taken some big decisions in my life such as getting married early, in the second year of my undergraduate study. Moreover, I quit a good job with a high salary to build upon my knowledge, which, in my opinion, will lead me to get a better job. Secondly, because I love planning, which I believe is one of my strength, I choose Strategic management program in masters. Thirdly, I have very good communication skills, partially in mother language. For long-term goal, to be an effective leader, I need to have technical skills, which is the knowledge about a certain work, human skills which is an ability to work with people, and conceptual skills which are the key skills of creating a vision and having a strategic plan on organisation (Northouse, 2013). Moreover, as a potential leader, practicing leadership roles is really needed for structuring my personal leadership skills. Furthermore, Understanding the different cultures is crucial for me because my home country has multi-national citizens. Moreover, I need to learn the right way of delivering a message and vision effectively, under different circumstances (Appendix A) For the short-term goal of being a successful lecturer, I have to develop myself personally and academically to provide good learning instructions to the students. This will require a lot of effort and incremental change towards building the desired knowledge (Biggs and Tang, 2011). In addition to this, it is essential for me to be critical when I explain the theories to my students. This will open their mind and improve they're anal the lysis and evaluations skills. (Appendix A)

Nestle Essay Example for Free

Nestle Essay Nestle, one of the largest packaged food company has been unanimously declared a leader in its field. Founded and located in Vevey, Switzerland, it was established in 1905 and from then on it started its journey of delivering quality food products to consumers worldwide (About Nestle, 2008). Any firm, regardless of its size, national or multinational relies heavily on its purchasing department and supply management to add value to the firms operations. f a firm compromises on its purchasing standards it will suffer losses in its manufacturing process and ultimately in sales. For any manufacturing firm, purchasing and supply management are the first step which are directly linked to all consequent stages of the manufacturing process ,thereby it is extremely important to start of the entire process with an efficient and effective purchasing procedure so that it is reflected in the final product (Stilson Bachman, Sep. 2009). The globalization of Nestle as well as the accelerating competition in the food sector emphasizes on the need for regular assessments of their purchasing strategies and supply management system. The purchasing system at Nestle functions as part of the supply chain management rather than an independent function and aims to achieve cost minimization and profit optimization (Swerdlick, Summer 2008). At Nestle there are a few basic purchasing objectives: †¢ Efficient and timely delivery of goods, materials and services. †¢ Continuous assessment of the performance and reliability of suppliers. †¢ Adding value to the company functions and contributing to the growth and profitability of the company. †¢ Availing benefits offered by suppliers and encouraging competition among suppliers which tends to create a healthy working environment (Swerdlick, Summer 2008). At Nestle there are two basic purchasing roles which take into consideration the strategic and operational activities taking place within the company: †¢ Strategic buyers along with the expert opinions of other professionals are responsible for performing market analysis, screening suppliers and selecting the most appropriate ones, negotiations and contract management. Amongst the many responsibilities the most important ones that strategic buyers are faced with is the safeguarding of quality standards, adding to product development and channelling supplier technology to add value to the company products. †¢ Operational buyers, on the other hand are responsible for the operational part of the purchasing process i.e. sending purchase orders, receiving delivery for them etc. these functions can be performed by any department in the organization which requires any goods or services (Czerwonka, Summer 2008). Planning and strategy determination are extremely crucial factors involved in the purchasing process, since they are the basic steps towards the achievement of growth and profitability objectives of the company. although the basic aim that is kept in mind while determining the strategy is cost minimization but at the same time equal importance is given to the issue of supplier commitment to work with Nestle. At the same time ,strategy determination also takes into account factors of business sector objectives and value addition opportunities. These objectives eventually form the basis of a sustainable and unique market advantage (Stilson Bachman, Sep. 2008). The next step is then to come to an agreement with suppliers to impose few standardized specifications which would not only result in an efficient supply chain management but also lead to lower costs and greater price leverage (Weiss, Summer 2008). At Nestle it is strongly emphasized that purchasing is not just restricted to just one specific department rather it’s a cross functional team effort where everyone has a say in the operational activities of the purchasing process (The Keys to Success, Summer 2008). A good supplier selection is extremely important since in the long run it is the supplier who adds value to the company’s operations and contributes to its growth and success relative to its competitors. And it is for this reason that Nestle strongly believes in maintaining amiable relations with suppliers based on mutual trust and understanding. It believes that suppliers are a vital part of the company’s development process where they have a big role in identifying niche opportunities in the market, providing new product ideas and adding their innovativeness and creativity to the overall business operations. Therefore, Nestle has set a standard criteria based on which it selects the most ideal suppliers who will prove to be beneficial to both the companies (The Keys to Success (AN 32186182), Summer 2008). The criterion is: †¢ Level of innovativeness that the supplier believes in implementing in his company. †¢ Financial position and reputation in the market. †¢ Organizational structure and mode of operations in the company. †¢ Ability and willingness to adapt to the working practices and ethics followed by Nestle (About Nestle, 2008). Since Nestle is involved in food manufacturing, quality management is a crucial issue because lack of quality in food products is not only a risk to consumer health but is also a serious criminal offense in certain countries. To maintain quality standards, Nestle is highly dependent on its suppliers to assure Nestle of the delivery of top quality products and services. For this it is absolutely necessary for the suppliers to be aware of Nestlà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s quality policy as well as its safety and quality control standards (Czerwonka, Summer 2008). To further ensure that quality standards are maintained, suppliers of raw materials and packaging materials undergo an audit process where the quality of goods and services provided by any given supplier are properly assessed and inspected (Margarella, Aug. 2003). Nestle requires from its supplier that defective and faulty goods are replaced or rectified within a reasonable time period. Each supplier that gets a chance to work with Nestle undergoes intense scrutiny before it gets an approval because Nestle cannot afford to compromise on its years of excellence in delivering hygienic, nutritional, safe and high quality food products to its consumers. To ensure that the competitive advantage of quality is maintained, Nestle evaluates the ethics and business conduct, competence, sustainable environmental practices and process controls before giving its final approval to any supplier. Purchasing is not just a one-time process rather it’s an on-going process for a huge company like Nestle which is generating revenue in millions (Principles of Purchasing, 2008). For this reason it has employed a computerized information system that maintains inventory management, list of suppliers, quality issues pertaining to certain goods or suppliers, variation in prices in the market, forecasted prices etc.This system allows for timely and better decision making since real time data comprehensive data is available at all times and also the management can be immediately informed of any discrepancies in the purchasing procedure or any unexpected problems that may arise (Stilson Bachman, Sep. 2009). Nestle uses an internal web based tool (Purchasing intranet) which is extremely effective in communicating with the internal purchasing community about quantities being supplied, price variations or any such matters (Principles of Purchasing, 2008). In this age of information technology, Nestle has realized the importance of integrating technology into their day to day operations for better efficiency, cost benefits and enhancement in services to customers and it is for this reason that Nestle is also currently involved in e-procurement which has seemed to cut down on considerable costs for the company. Nestle is a strict disciplinary when it comes to following legal obligations and requirements. Purchasing is a business process which involves the entering into an agreement with a third party to purchase and facilitate the delivery of goods and services. For this reason it is extremely important to have written agreements where the terms are clearly defined and are precise thereby eliminating any chances of potential misunderstanding between both the parties   (Principles of Purchasing, 2008). Nestle feels that there is a strong link between efficient purchasing and supply management and the quality of personnel employed in the company (Principles of Purchasing, 2008). The professionalism, competence entrepreneurial qualities and pro-activeness are factors that need be there in the human resources to avail maximum benefits while procuring goods and services from suppliers (The Keys to Success (AN 32186182), Summer 2008). A motivated and dedicated purchasing team will provide and effective function and may represent a competitive advantage for the company. To avail this advantage the human resources at Nestle are trained, motivated and encouraged to create new challenges and expand knowledge while keeping in view the company objectives and policies.

Water Level Control System Of The Tank Engineering Essay

Water Level Control System Of The Tank Engineering Essay The report provides an interim account of water level control system of a tank. The step-test experimental results for both (old and new) tanks and the method of calculating the water flow rate into the tank has been discussed. In addition, the techniques to work out the pump horsepower, motor power and the pump efficiency had been covered in this report. Future work on the laboratory experiment on proportional gain (P) and proportional plus integral gain (PI) testing and its relevance to industrial process and the approach to accomplish the set objectives of the project were discussed. CONTENT SUMMARY i CONTENT ii LIST OF FIGURES iii LIST OF TABLES iv AIM 4 OBJECTIVE 5 1.1 EXPERIMENT COMPONENTS 5 1.1.1 AMPLIFIER 5 1.1.2 SENSOR 6 1.1.5 VANE PUMP 9 1.1.5.1 PUMP TEST 10 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 12 3. CONTROLLER 12 3.1 P ONLY 13 3.2 P+I CONTROLLER 14 3.3 PID CONTROLLER 15 4. METHODOLOGY 15 4.2 P ONLY EXPERIMENT 16 4.3 P+I EXPERIMENT 17 5. RESULTS DISCUSSION ANALYSIS 18 5.1 SYSTEM TRANSFER FUNCTION 18 5.2 SYSTEM MODELLING 19 5.3 SYSTEM PERFERMANCE 19 5.4. RESULT DISCUSSION 20 21 6. CONCLUSION 21 7. REFERENCES 22 8. APPENDIX 23 LIST OF FIGURES Graph 1: Outcome of Pump Testing Graph 11 LIST OF TABLES NOMENCLATURE P Proportional PI Proportional Integral PD Positive displacement PID Proportional-Integral-Derivative PWM Pulse width modulation Qo Output Qi Input INTRODUCTION In years back level control has been a major issue in the industrial processes. The controlling of liquid level is essential in most industrial processes such as: food processing, nuclear power plants, water purification systems, industrial chemical processing, boilers etc. Although, most industrial problems such as: controlling the speed of motor, or fluid level in a tank, or temperature of the furnace are due to the installation of control process when the control concepts had not been properly understood (Dutton et al., 1997). However, the ingenuity of control engineer can often overcome these challenges by producing a well-behaved piece of equipment. Mostly, proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controllers are used for liquid level control in most applications and can be applied to many industrial processes and mechanical systems. PID controllers proven to be a perfect controller for simple and linear processes, but when it comes to controlling of non-linear and multivariable processes, the controller parameters have to be continuously adjusted (Bhuvaneswari et al., 2008). In process control systems, nonlinearity is the rule rather than the exception. Most control loops such as pressure, temperature, composition, etc., are significantly nonlinear. This may be because of nonlinearity due to control valves, or on account of variations in process gain, time constant, and dead time, as discussed in (McMillan et al, 1994). Therefore, the study of control system has contributed to huge impact positively to our modern day development. A plant can be controlled manually or automatically and the control system consists of a plant with its actuators, sensors and a controller. Manual controlling process of a plant cannot be as accurately enough compared to automatic control. An automatic controller is made up of device, electronic circuit, computer, or mechanical linkage etc. The interface between the plant and the controller requires actuators (control elements) to provide control action. In instrumentation, detectors and sensors (measurement elements) are needed to provide information about the plant status to the controller (Golten and Verwer, 1991). However, the most important characteristic of a plant is its stability, which indicates that a system can be control smoothly without undue oscillation or overcorrection. The behaviour and performance of a control system depends on the interaction of the entire element. The difference between the set-point and the actual value of the variable is called error. Another important characteristic of a control system is how quickly it can respond to an error and correct it. The smaller the error, the better it would be for the control system. The basic types of process control are open loop and closed loop system. + The open loop system has no feedback because it has no sensor to sense the fluid level in the tank. While the closed loop system is characterised by a sensor and a feedback signal which carries information from the measurement device to the comparator. Typical actuators used in liquid level control systems include pumps, motorised valve, on-off valves, etc. In addition, level sensors such as displacement float, capacitance probe, pressure sensor (Bateson, 1999), etc., provide liquid level measurement for the purpose of feedback control. In a closed loop feedback control system, the forward path transfer function is G(s) representing the process or plant being controlled together with any controller dynamics. The feedback path transfer function, H(s), represents the measurement system or transducer which provides the feedback signal (Golten and Verwer, 1991). The overall transfer function relating the controlled variable Qo to the desired value or reference, Qi is Qi Qo Figure 1: Closed loop block diagram Hence, the procedure of deriving the equation above can be found in the appendix page. In addition, the prime objective of feedback control systems is to minimise the differences between the output and the reference input since this represents the error. The control system should be quick as possible in reducing this error to zero (or to some reasonable low value) when there is either a disturbance or change in reference value (Golten and Verwer, 1991). Feedback has similar advantages when applied to automatic control system, it has the ability of controlling a system that deals with unexpected disturbances that might occur within the system and adapt to changes in the plant. Therefore, with the advancement of electronics and its applications, the understanding of close loop control system increased rapidly, since feedback amplifier is essential (Healey, 1975). A simple control system is used to maintain a constant water level in a tank, example of such is toilet systems in various homes. The swinging arm attached to the input valve of the WC water tank allows water to flow into the tank until the float rises to a point that closes the valve. When the water level is low in the tank, the swinging arm moves downwards which allows more water to flow into the tank. This continues until the swinging arm returns to its initial state. This is a simple and effective level control system for water tank. Another level of control system is a steam boiler where the level of the water in the boiler must be maintained between certain limits; otherwise, it may lead to serious damage to the boiler and building as well as cause hazard to the building occupants (Miller et al, 2004). Water gages serves as a means of measurement level in the boiler. In an engineering context, the addition of control systems must be justified in terms of their profitability, or environment safety. A control system must be effective and efficient, and remain so throughout the life of the plant (Dutton et al., 1997). The performance of a system is often expressed in terms of their parameters such as: speed of response, stability and steady-state error. A good speed of response may often be achieved at the expense of steady state error and stability (Premier, 2008)  [1]  . Stability is one of the most important characteristics in any system. For a system to be stable, the system components must be appropriatel y sized for the application and the system must be correctly adjusted (tuned). The objectives of this project is to investigate the control of water level in non-linear water tank which is fed by a centrifugal pump and discharges to a sump tank through a valve. The tank is a V shaped tank which has a straight wall. The system inflow would be adjusted alongside with the control signal to the outlet valve and the outlet pump during the simulation. Furthermore, the project task includes designing a proportional (P) only and proportional + integral (PI) controller for a specific operating point and implementing it as an analogue s-domain system. The objectives would be accomplished by examining the dynamics of the water tank, modelling it from first principles and by applying step tests to identify the system model at various operating points. The diagram below shows the equipment used to carry out the experiment. Figure 2: Water tank level control system Figure 4: Block diagram of V Shaped Tank system AIM To characterise a new V tank Conduct identification and control experimentation Comparing it with an existing replicate system OBJECTIVE Relating level control to industrial applications. Understanding the dynamics of water tank, modelling it from first principle Application of step-test to identify the system model at various operating points. Designing a proportional + integral controller for specific operating point. 1.1 EXPERIMENT COMPONENTS In order to perform the laboratory experiment on process plant (V-tank), the experimental components used are: amplifier, sensor transducer, water tank, valve, and pump which are discussed below. 1.1.1 AMPLIFIER The amplifier is a very important part of any control system. Basically, it is used to deliver an output signal which is larger, in a prescribed way, than the input signal. A good designed amplifier mostly requires that the input impedance should be large so that the source is not loaded, and the output impedance should be small so that the power element can be easily driven (Anand Zmood, 1995)  [2]  . An amplifier could be referred to as the signal conditioner use in this experiment. An am In pulse width modulation (PWM) the amplitude and repetition rate remain constant, and the width of the pulse is varied according to the modulation signal amplitude (Parr, 1996)  [3]   Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) signals are increasingly being used to drive continuous actuators such as d.c. motor, hydraulic servos and a.c. motor. If the switching frequency of the PWM amplifier is sufficiently high in relation to the actuator time constants, then the signals will be average around the value (Olsson Piani, 1992)  [4]  . The motor is driven by a Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) power amplifier, which supplies power to the motor proportional to a voltage signal from the controller. Pulses are produces at regular intervals, the duration or width of the pulse being proportional to the size of the voltage at each of the times concerned (Bolton, 1991)  [5]  . The reason why pulse width modulation is used is that conventional power amplifiers would simply burn at high power levels. The advantage of switching is that the solid-state devices are not continuously loaded with high power and therefore their power dissipation is low. This fact makes PWM amplifier very efficient. In PWM amplifier, the switching can be directly controlled from the digital output ports of a computer. 1.1.2 SENSOR In virtually every engineering application, there is the need to measure some physical quantities, such as displacements, speeds, forces, pressures, temperatures, stresses, flows and so on. These measurements are performed using this physical device called sensors, which are capable of converting a physical quantity to a more readily manipulated electrical quantity (Onwubolu, 2005). A sensor could be referred to as transducer. Although, there are different kinds of liquid level transducers which are used in variety of control applications with different function such as: float-type liquid level transducers, hydrostatic pressure liquid level transducers, capacitance probes, and so on. But with respect to this project, the pressure transducer will be the point of focus. The pressure transducer is used to measure the height (or head) level in the tank For a sensor to function effectively there is a need for signal conditioner and a display system. This signal conditional obtains signal from the sensor and manipulates it into a condition which are suitable either for display, or control system usefulness. Hence, a display system shows the output readings from the signal conditional (Bolton, 1999)  [6]  . Since the dynamic and static characteristics of the sensor or measuring element affect the indication of the actual value of the output variable, then the sensor plays an important role in determining the overall performance of the control system. The sensor usually determines the transfer function in the feedback path. If the time constants of a sensor are negligibly small compared with other time constants of the control system, the transfer function of the sensor simply becomes constant (Ogata, K., 1997). In selecting a good transducer with respect to its performance and system measurement, certain criteria had to be fulfilled. The accuracy of the transducer to which it has been calibrated, its response to error within the system, its stability i.e. the ability of the transducer to give the same output reading when used to measure a constant input over a period of time, etc (Bolton, 2008)  [7]  . 1.1.3 WATER TANK Water tank is a The tank characteristics are non linear depending on the operating point and are such that tank level surface is a function of the level. Figure 5: Tank fluid level system The objective of the controller in the level control process is to maintain a level set point at a given value and be able to accept new set point values dynamically and this level control system must be controlled by the proper controller. In considering the top section of the tank as shown in fig. 5 above, the flow-rate can be calculated using Bernoullis equation. From Bernoullis law the flow through a valve q (m3s-1) is related to the pressure head across the valve h (m) by the following equation, in which g is the acceleration due to gravity, Cd is the coefficient of discharge (m2) (Dutton et al., 1997). Modelling the Tank The tank can be modelled from first principles with the provision of certain assumptions. For the sake of simplicity, it is possible to consider the top section of the tank with parallel sides and then extend this model to deal with the whole tank. The prismatic section of the tank can be considered to be a simple rectangular tank with an inflow Q and an outflow, QL as in Figure 2. By considering conservation of matter, we can say that the flow into the tank must be equal to the flow out plus the flow converted into a change in level. but if then 1.1.4 VALVE Control valves are commonly encountered elements in process plant and the equation that describes their flow behaviour are nonlinear. Other nonlinear effects may exist because of the valve characteristic and the equipment surrounding the value. Control valves are used to regulate the flow rate of fluid in a system. The control of flow rate can be achieved by varying the size of the passage through which the fluid flows (Stenerson, 2004)  [8]  . The control valve modulates the flow of a fluid by introducing a variable area aperture into the pipeline. The volumetric flow rate, Q, of a particular liquid through a valve is proportional to the pressure drop across it, à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  P. Thus, let kv be the valve coefficient which is the function of the valve opening or lift, h. in order to avoid dimensionality, the lift, h is defined as a fractional lift, i.e. when h is 1 the control valve is fully open, and when the h is 0 the value is shut. 1.1.5 VANE PUMP In selecting a pump for a specific task, there are certain factors that needs to be considered such as: the height at which the pump will be moving the liquid to, the speed that is required, and the pressure flow at the pumps outlet. A pump is a mechanical device that changes mechanical power into fluid power. Positive displacement (PD) pumps perform work by expanding and then compressing a cavity, space, or moveable boundary within the pump. In most cases, these pumps actually captured the liquid and transport it through the pump to the discharge nozzle (Bachus Custodio, 2003)  [9]  . However, the flow through PD pump is mostly a function of the speed of the driver or motor. A D.C motor drives the pump at a constant speed in most cases so that the delivery would be constant, i.e. the flow Q is normally constant (Healey, 1975). The pressure or head that a PD pump can generate is mostly a function of the thickness of the casing and strength of the associated accompanying parts (seals, hoses gaskets). In addition, a PD pump has been designed to have some strict tolerance parts. This strict tolerance controls the flow, and pressure that these pumps can generate. The ability to pressurize the fluid to higher pressures will depend on the tolerance of the components within the pump. Hence, the closer the pumps tolerance, the higher the capabilities would be (Brumbach Clade, 2003).  [10]  Furthermore, there are three types of positive displacement pumps in use nowadays which are: vane pump, gear pump and the piston pump. These kinds of pump had different similarities depending on their performance but based on this task it would be concentrated on vane pump. Vane pump are used in hydraulic systems. When the rotor rotates the pumps vanes in a counter clockwise direction which caused the vanes to slide in and out of their slots within the pump housing, a large amount of fluid would be carried from the inlet to the outlet (Onwubolu, 2005)  [11]  . This results from the eccentricity of the centre of the rotor with respect to that of the housing. Figure 3: Vane Pump 1.1.5.1 PUMP TEST In order to examine the pumps accuracy, a test was carried out on the pump. The pump was used to move water from one container to the other within a time limit. Using the laboratory scale machine, the empty container was measured to weighs 0.585Kg. However, the pump was tested at different voltage supplied to the pump from 1v 10v at every one minute and then measured the filled container to know the actual weight. The reading was measured in kilogram (kg) which was converted to litres per minute. The conversion was 1kg to 1litre at a constant time. The outcome of the pump testing experiment could be seen in the graph below. Graph 1: Outcome of Pump Testing Graph In addition, the pump testing results obtained from the graph above shows that the pump was not functioning perfectly. The inaccuracy of the pumps efficiency is as a result of imbalance modified vanes inside the pump. The actual dimension of the vane inside the pump was 8mm inner diameter, 52mm outside diameter and 22mm thickness. The out diameter of the vane was cut-down or modified to roughly about 40mm for the vane to rotate easily within the casing. Hence, the graphs shape should be linear and not the linear curve shape in graph 1. From this experiment, it was observed that at any increase in voltage supplied to the pump; there will be large amount of pressure increase from the flow outlet and vice versa. Pump Figure 4: Modified Vane Size Figure 5: Actual Vane Size 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Literature review 3. CONTROLLER A controller is a device which monitors and influences the operational condition of a given dynamical system. In closed loop control system, a controller is used to compare the output of a system with the required condition and convert the error into a control action designed to reduce error. The error might be as a result of some changes in the conditions being controlled or because of changes in the set value. Most industrial controllers use electricity or pressurized fluid such as oil or air as power sources. Controllers may also be classified according to the kind of power employed in their operation, such as pneumatic controllers, hydraulic controllers, or electronic controllers. For this kind of controllers to be used for a particular task, it must be based on the nature of the plant and the operating conditions (Ogata, K., 1997)  [12]  . 3.1 P ONLY With proportional control the change in the controller output from the set point value is proportional to the error (Bolton, 1991)  [13]  . This means that the correction of the control element such as valve will receive signal which depends on the size of the correction required. Although, a system with a proportional control may have a steady state offset (or drop) in response to a constant reference input and may not be entirely capable of rejecting a constant disturbance (Mutambara, 1999). For higher order systems, large values of the proportional feedback gain will typically lead to instability. For most systems there is an upper limit on the proportional feedback gain in order to achieve a well damped stable response, and this limit may still have an unacceptable steady state error. Therefore, there is a limit on how much the errors can be reduced by using proportional feedback only. One of the ways to improve the steady state accuracy of the control system is to introduce integral control. Set point Error Process variable Amplifier Actuator signal Plant 3.2 P+I CONTROLLER The primary reason for integral control is to reduce or eliminate constant steady state errors within the plant or system. Several limitations of proportional control are resolved by integral control. The steady state response to this class of load disturbance is completely eliminated. Thus, as long as the system remains stable, the system output equals the desired output regardless of the value of KP and its dynamic response (Mutambara, 1999)  [14]  . If the designer wishes to increase the dynamic speed of response with large integral gain, then the response of the system becomes very oscillatory. Hence, in order to avoid this oscillatory behaviour of the system then both proportional and integral control should be used at the same time. Set point Error Process variable Amplifier Actuator signal 3.3 PID CONTROLLER Most industrial processes are controlled using proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controllers. The popularity of PID controllers can be attributed to their good performance in wide range of operating conditions and partly to their functional simplicity, which make it easy to operate (Dorf and Bishop, 2005)  [15]  . PID controllers are so effective that its controlling ability are standard in processing industries such as petroleum, refining, etc. In order to design a particular control loop system, the constants value of KP, KI and KD had to be adjusted to an acceptable performance. Increasing KP and KI tends to reduce system errors but may not be capable of also producing adequate stability, while increasing KD tends to improve stability. The combination of the three control components in this system yields complete control over the system dynamics. The proportional-integral-derivation (PID) controller provides both an acceptable degree of error reduction and an acceptable stability and damping. 4. METHODOLOGY 4.1 STEP-TEST EXPERIMENT The first part of the laboratory experiment involves determining the theoretical model at various level (h) of the water tank which include the prismatic bottom of the tank, the V shaped section and the top parallel sides of the tank. The water level in the tank was measured by a pressure sensor which was calibrated in the instrumentation laboratory prior to the experiment which showed that the pressure transducer produced a voltage signal proportional to the head. To start this experiment, the centrifugal pump was switched on and the Lab View step input programme was opened. The centrifugal pump was used to fill the water tank from a rectangular sump tank and also ensuring that there was enough water in the sump tank to perform the experiment. Although, the control valve was ensured to be fully open so that there would be continuous flow of water from the sump tank into the main tank as a result of constant running of the pump. After warming up the pump for some time, the pump bias was then set on the Lab View program to 1.3 volts (constantly) were the water is just about to start dropping into the tank. Using one second sampling time, the step volt was increased repeatedly by an additional 0.1 volts each time the head (h) settles from 0v 0.1v, 0.1v 0.2v, and so on. As a result of increases in voltage, the water level would be increased as well in the tank. Once the water level reached the top of the tank, in order to prevent the water from overflowing the step volt was reduced back to zero volt (0v) which allows the water to be empty back into the sump tank from the main tank and data or result was collected from the PC. 4.2 P ONLY EXPERIMENT In order to perform the P only experiment, the proportional gain has to be calculated to get the accurate value that would be input into the system. The proportional gain value can then be input into the LabVIEW package to run the experiment. The set point can be changed form one point to another to see how the plant would responds to the sudden changes to increase in set point The second part of the experiment entailed the design of the P only controller and P + I controller. As regards to the P only controller, once the values of the steady state gain and time constant were found from the initial step input experiment, the next step was to design a P only controller which will give closed loop dynamics 1/3 that of the open loop plant, which was then used to calculate the values of Kp at known head (h). Having calculated the Kp values, the pump was then switched on and allowed to warm up, also the Lab View P only controller programme was initiated. With the pump warmed up the Kp value was then entered into the P only controller programme alongside the same value for the pump bias and the sample time used in the previous experiment, i.e. 1.28 volts and 1 seconds respectively. The P only controller programme was allowed to run and the results for the sensor output (volts), the error (e) and the control effort were recorded and retrieved. 4.3 P+I EXPERIMENT Finally to control the level of water in the tank and eliminate the steady state error the Proportional Integral Controller experiment was initiated, the hf (design level to which the tank is to be controlled) was defined and further derivation resulted in two unknowns, Kp and TI. The values for Kp and TI were then calculated for, then input into the Proportional Integral Controller program and allowed to run with a sample time of 1 seconds. The results for the sensor output (volts), the error (e) and the controller output were recorded and retrieved. 5. RESULTS DISCUSSION ANALYSIS 5.1 SYSTEM TRANSFER FUNCTION AMPLIFIER WATER TANK SENSOR CONTROL VALVE PUMP PROPORTIONAL ONLY PROPORTIONAL PLUS INTEGRAL 5.2 SYSTEM MODELLING 5.3 SYSTEM PERFERMANCE 5.4. RESULT DISCUSSION Graph 1: Step-test experiment of voltage against time. Graph 2: Step-test experiment of voltage against time 6. CONCLUSION FUTURE WORK Filter design discussion: noise reducer 7. REFERENCES Bateson, R.N., 1999. Introduction to control system technology. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, London: Prentice-Hall. Bhuvaneswari, N.S. Uma, G. and Rangaswamy. T.R., 2008. Adaptive and optimal control of a non-linear process using intelligent controllers. Applied Soft Computing [e-journal] (9) pp.182-190. Available through: Science Direct database [Accessed 26 November 2010]. Dutton, K. Thompson, S. and Barraclough, B., 1997. The art of control engineering. Harlow; Reading, Mass.: Addison Wesley. Girdhar, P. and Moniz, O., 2005. Practical centrifugal pumps: design, operation and maintenance. Oxford: Newnes. Golten, J. and Verwer, A., 1991. Control system design and simulation. London: McGraw-Hill. Healey, M., 1975. Principles of automatic control. 3rd ed. London: English Universities Press. Miller, R. Miller, M.R. and Oravetz, J., 2004. Audel Questions and Answers for Plumbers Examinations. USA: Wiley Publishing. Shinners, S. M., 1998. Modern control system theory and design, 2nd ed. Canada: John Wiley Sons, Inc. Wahren, U., 1997. Practical introduction to pumping technology: a basic guide to pumps. Houston: Gulf Pub. Co.

History of Genetic Engineering

History of Genetic Engineering Genetic engineering is a deliberate modification of the characteristics of an organism by manipulating its genetic material. This chapter describes how work carried out between 1970s and 1980s produced technologies that researchers now use to manipulate the genetic material of organisms. Key concepts covered: Recombinant-DNA technology is a technology in which genetic material from one organism is introduced into another organism and then replicated and expressed by that other organism. Gene sequencing is the process of determining the precise order of nucleotides within a DNA molecule. Recombinant-DNA technology has been used to make insulin and other human proteins for medicine. Recombinant DNA The prospect of recombinant DNA emerged from two advances in biochemistry: (1) Discoveries of restriction enzymes that act as scissors to cut molecules of DNA at specific nucleotide sequences; and (2) Discoveries of DNA ligases enzymes that forge molecular bonds. Creation of First Recombinant DNA (1972) In 1972, Paul Berg (1926- ), a biochemistry professor at Stanford University, created the first recombinant DNA molecule. He first isolated the DNA molecules from two different organisms, the SV40 monkey virus and a bacterial virus known as Lamdba bacteriophage (or phage ÃŽÂ »).   Using a cut-and-splice method, he created sticky ends in the DNA of both viruses. Then he joined them together with DNA ligase. Invention of Recombinant DNA (rDNA) Technology (1973) Recombinant-DNA technology is a technology in which a rDNA plasamid is introduced into bacteria and then replicated and expressed by that bacteria. It was invented through the work of Herbert W. Boyer (1936- ), Stanley N. Cohen (1935- ), Paul Berg, and Janet Mertz (1949- ). After Berg created the first recombinant DNA molecules in 1972, Boyer and Cohen took Bergs work a step further by introducing the rDNA plasmid to E. coli bacterial cells. A plasmid is DNA, found in bacteria, that is separate from and can replicate independently of the bacteriums chromosomal DNA. The phenomenon of transformation permits the rDNA plasmid to be introduced into and expressed by E. coli cells. The bacteria containing the rDNA plasmid grow on petri dishes to form tiny colonies. But in a typical procedure, only 1 in about 10,000 bacteria cells takes up the rDNA plasmid. The rDNA plasmid must contain a selectable gene so that they can be efficiently picked up   from the culture. This can be done by using a drug-resistance gene to make the rDNA plasmid resistant to antibiotics such as tetracycline.   Adding tetracycline to the culture will ensure that only the bacteria with the rDNA plasmids survive. In 1974, at the urge of Standford Universitys patent office, Boyer and Cohen filed a patent for recombinant DNA technology. Asilomar Conferences Potential dangers of recombinant genetic engineering emerged even before Berg published his landmark 1972 paper. Although the SV40 virus was thought to be harmless for human, Borg was concerned about the prospect of an altered form of the virus spreading through a common bacteria. So he deferred part of his research program, and did not insert the recombinant virus into bacterial cells as he originally planned. In 1973, Berg organized a small conference at Asilomar, California to address the growing concerns about gene-manipulation technology. In 1974 Berg published a widely discussed letter on the potential dangers of recombinant DNA research. Subsequently, a moratorium on research in 1975 (Asilomar II) provided time for regulations to be devised and put into effect in 1976. Gene Sequencing, Gene Splicing, and Reverse Transcription Gene Sequencing Gene sequencing is the process of determining the precise order of nucleotides within a DNA molecule. It includes any method that is used to determine the order of the four bases A, G, C, and T in a strand of DNA. Frederick Sanger (1918-2013), a biochemist in England, is a pioneer of sequencing. He has received two Nobel prizes: one for the sequencing of proteins (in 1958), the other for the sequencing of DNA (in 1980). In the early 1950s, Sanger had solved the sequencing of a protein using a sequence of degradation reactions. A protein is made up of a sequence of amino acids strung into a chain. To identify the sequence of a protein, Sanger would snap off one amino acid from the end of the chain, dissolve it in solvents, and identify it chemically. He would repeat the degradation and identification process until he reached the end of the protein. In the mid-1960s, Sanger switched his focus from protein to DNA. But his methods that had worked so well for proteins didnt work for DNA. Proteins are chemically structured such that amino acids can be serially snapped off the chain but with DNA, no such tools existed. In 1971, Sanger devised a gene-sequencing technique using the copying reaction of DNA polymerase. At first, the method was inefficient and error-prone because the copying reaction was too fast. In 1975, He made an ingenious modification. He doctored the copying reaction with a series of chemicals variants of A, C, G, and T -that were still recognized by DNA polymerase, but slowed down its copying ability. On February 24, 1977, Sanger used this technique to reveal the full sequence of   phi X 174 (or ÃŽÂ ¦X174) bacteriophage. Gene Splicing In 1977, scientists discovered that most animal (and animal virus) proteins were not encoded in long, continuous stretches of DNA. They were split into modules, interrupted by regions called introns that do not hold protein-encoding information. By splitting the genes into modules, a cell could generate more combination of messages out of a single gene. When a DNA with introns is used to build RNA the introns have to be removed from the RNA message. This phrase for the process is called gene splicing or RNA splicing. Reverse Transcription In 1970, David Baltimore (1938- ) and Howard Temin (1934-94), two virologists, discovered an enzyme that could build DNA from an RNA template. They called the enzyme reverse transcriptase. Using this enzyme, every RNA in a cell could be used as a template to build its corresponding DNA. The production of proteins from recombinant DNA represented a crucial transition in the history of medical technology. To understand the impact of this transition from genes to medicine we need to understand the nature of drugs. Nearly every drug works by binding to its target and enabling or disabling it turning molecular switches on or off. To be useful, a drug must bind to its switches but to only a selected set of switches. Most molecules can barely achieve this level of specificity but proteins have been designed explicitly for this purpose. Proteins are the enabler and disablers, the regulators, the gatekeepers, the operators, of cellular reactions. They are the switches that most drugs seek to turn on or off. Proteins are thus poised to be some of the most potent and most discriminating medicines in the pharmacological world. But to make a protein, one needs its gene and here recombinant DNA technology provided the crucial link. The cloning of human gens allowed scientists to manufacture proteins and the synthesis of proteins opened the possibility of targeting the millions of biochemical reactions in the human body. Proteins made it possible for chemists to intervene on previously impenetrable aspects of our physiology. The use of recombinant DNA to produce proteins thus marked a transition not just between one gene and one medicine, but between genes and anovel universe of drugs. Founding of Genetech (1975) In 1975, Robert Swanson (1947-99), a venture capitalist, approached Herb Boyer with a proposal to starting a company that would use gene-cloning techniques to make medicines. Boyer was fascinated. His own son had been diagnosed with a potential growth disorder, and Boyer had been gripped by the possibility of producing human growth hormone, a protein to treat such growth defects. Three hours after they met, Swanson and Boyer had reached a tentative agreement to start such a company with seed moneys from venture firms. Boyer called this company Genentech a condensation of Genetic Engineering Technology. Synthesis of Insulin (1978) Purified animal-sourced insulin was the only type of insulin available to diabetics until genetic advances occurred later with medical research. The amino acid structure of insulin was characterized in 1953 by Frederick Sanger. The protein was made up of two chains (A and B) one larger and one smaller, cross-linked by chemical bonds. Boyers plan for the synthesis of insulin was simple. He did not have the gene for human insulin at hand no one did but he would build it from scratch using DNA chemistry, nucleotide by nucleotide, triplet upon triplet. He would make one gene for the A chain, and another gene for the B chain. He would insert both the genes in bacteria and trick them to synthesizing the human proteins.. He would purify the two protein chains and then stitch them chemically to obtain the U-shaped molecule. But Boyer was cautious. He wanted an easier test case before lunging straight for insulin.   He focused on another protein somatostatin also a hormone, but with little commercial potential. To synthesize the somatostatin gene from scratch, Boyer recruited Keiichi Itakura and Art Riggs from the City of Hope in Los Angeles. Swanson was opposed to the whole plan. He wanted Boyer to move to insulin directly. Genentech was living in borrowed space on borrowed money. Still Boyer convinced Swanson to give somatostatin a chance. In the meantime, two teams of of geneticist had also entered the race to make insulin. One at Harvard and the other one at UCSF. By the fall of 1977, they succeeded in synthesizing somatostatin, and started focusing on insulin. At this time, the competition was fierce. The Harvard team had apparently cloned the native human gene out of human cells and were ready to make the protein. The UCSF team has synthesized a few micrograms of protein and were planning to inject the human hormone into patients. It was Asilomar that came to their rescue. Like most University laboratories with federal funding, the UCSF team was bounded by the Asilomar restrictions on recombinant DNA. In contrast, Boyers team had decided to use a chemically synthesized version of the insulin gene. A synthetic gene DNA created as a naked chemical fell into the gray zone of Asilomars language and was relatively exempt. Genentech, as a privately funded company, was also relatively exempt from the federal guidelines. In the summer of 1978, Boyer learned that the Harvard team was about to announce successful isolation of the human hormone gene. To his relief, the gene that the Harvard team had cloned was not human but rate insulin. Cloning had made it easy to cross the barriers between species. By May 1978, Genentech had synthesized the two chains of insulin in bacteria. By July, the scientists had purified the proteins out of the bacteria debris. In early August, they snipped of the the attached bacterial proteins and isolated the two individual chains.   On August 21, 1978, they joined the protein chains together in a test tube to create the first molecules of recombinant insulin. In September 1979, Genentech applied for a patient for insulin. The Genetech patent would soon become one of the most lucrative petents in the history of technology. Synthesis of factor VIII (1983) Hemophilia is a rare bleeding disorder in which the blood doesnt clot normally. If you have hemophilia, you may bleed for a longer time than others after an injury. You also may bleed inside your body (internally), especially in your knees, ankles, and elbows. This bleeding can damage your organs and tissues and may be life threatening. Hemophilia is caused by a single mutation in the gene for a crucial clotting factor in blood, called factor VIII, and, until the mid-1980s, was treated with injections of concentrated factor VIII. During 1982 and early 1983, an emergence of mysterious immunological collapse among patients with multiple blood transfusions pinpointed the cause of the illness to blood-born factor that had contaminated the supply of factor VIII -a virus called AIDS. Nearly all the HIV-infacted hemophiliacs from the initial cohort had died of the complications of AIDS. In the spring of 1983, Dave Goeddel (1951- ) at Genentech began to focus on cloning the factor VIII gene. Meanwhile, a team of researchers from Harvard, lead by Tom Maniatis (1943- ) and Mark Ptashne (1940- ), formed a company called Genetics Institute (GI) also joined the race. As with insulin, the logic behind the cloning effort was evident: rather than purifying the missing clotting factor out of liters of human blood, why not create the protein artificially, using gene cloning? If factor VIII could be produced through gene-cloning methods, it would be virtually free of any human contaminants, i=thereby rendering it inherently safer than any blood-derived protein. Genetech knew that the factor VIII project would challenge the outer limits of gene-cloning technology. Somatostatin had 14 amino acids; insulin had 51. Factor VIII had 2,350. To succeed, the gene cloners would need to use new cloning technologies   Both the somatstatin and insulin genes had been created from scratch by stitching together bases of DNA. But factor VIII gene was far too large to be created using DNA chemistry. To isolate the factor VIII gene, Genetech would need to tpull the native gene out of human cells. Tom Maniatis of GI, found a solution: he had pioneered the technology to build genes out of RNA   templateds using reverse transcriptase, the enzyme that could build DNA from RNA. Reverse transcriptase made it possible to clone a gene after the intervening stuffer sequences had been snipped off by the cells splicing apparatus. In April, 1983, both Genentech and GI announced that they had purified recombinant factor VIII in test tubes a blood-clotting factor untainted by human blood. The production of factor VIII from its gene broke an important conceptual ground. The fears of Asilomar had been perfectly inverted. And gene cloning had emerged as potentially the safest way to produce a medical product for human use.