Computing security exam question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Computing security exam question - Essay Example PKI provides a powerful and robust environment to ensure security of consumer interests, transactions, and information. Stephen Wilson states that â€Å"It is well known that PKI’s successes have mostly been in closed schemes†. This paper will seek to assess and analyze the effectiveness of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is a schema that provides high level of security and confidentiality for Internet users that seek to engage in online transactions and e-commerce. It enables information and monetary transactions to be conducted in a safe and secure manner. A digital certificate is issued in order to recognize individuals and organizations. PKI utilizes public and private keys over the Internet in order to ensure high levels of authentication and privacy. The Internet presents valuable business opportunities for individuals and organization, but it also causes safety and veracity problems (Carlisle, 1999). PKI helps to provide supplementary levels of safety and veracity for online business transactions and e-commerce. The rapid growth of the Internet pushed the need for high levels of trust, confidentiality, and security. Several companies began to design security algorithms and protocols in order to ensure safe and secure transactions. Netscape designed the SSL proto col which allowed the use of digital certificates and security algorithms for safe business transactions over the Internet. PKI was dubbed to the ultimate security protocol and mechanism in the 1990s. A number of vendors began to operate in the environment seeking to create standards and procedures. However the hype over PKI was over by the start of the twenty first century as vendors began to register technical and operational problems over its implementation. The rapid proliferation of the Internet during the 1990s also raised concern about conviction and

Intro to ethics Essay Example for Free

Intro to ethics Essay The career field that I have chosen is public relations which also has a focus in journalism. Since journalism is often known as the 4th government branch because it watches over the actions of the other branches there are many controversial issues involved which required applied ethics to work through. Business ethics can be seen very strongly in public relations and journalism because there are often conflicts between advertisers which is here the largest amount of revenue comes from and editorial. For example, an article may be getting ready to run about how someone was killed by a person who illegally obtained a gun. The article may spark some gun control arguments and opinions. In the same issue of the paper there might be a firearm store placing a large display advertisement for a sale they are having. There is a dilemma there that will need applied business ethics to decide what to do. Do they run both anyways, or stick with the advertiser and trim down the details of the article so there is not as much focus on gun control? There are legal rights issues that required applied ethics reasoning also associated with public relations and journalism. There are certain details and name and things that can only be printed based on specific things such as a person being certain age and circumstances. Some areas consider it illegal to print in the obituaries that someone committed suicide. Sometimes though if it is a public matter that many people witnessed it is had to avoid printing that a suicide occurred without people know there is information being with held. In addition to this there is also always the possibility of sources being incorrect and the information you print being libelous to someone. Finally there is computer and information ethics in applied ethics. This category can be seen in public relations and journalism in much the same way as legal issues with being slanderous or libelous to someone or a company. Depending on what sources one use there may be false information coming from the computer and information. A professional in public relations of journalism has to take the responsibility to fact check and check the credentials of the sources they are using. The responsibility to check facts does not lay with the source, but with the journalist. If they received incorrect information that could have been spotted if fact checking was done they are negligent and can face very serious consequences. Fact checking cannot only hurt the legally, but also ethically. The people, businesses and other things that are written about are affected deeply. Sometimes there has to be a choice made as to whether a story is worthy of printing if it is going to harm someone or someone’s family members. Most of the time the ethical choices that have to be made in public relations and journalism stem from not which side of a topic to be on, but what to put out to the public on topics. For example, even if a reporter feels that abortion is completely wrong they cannot express this opinion. They have to write for both sides just giving the facts to what things each side says. They could be thinking abut writing to persuade people on why abortion is wrong, but the ethical decision is to step back and understand where both sides of the argument are coming from.

The principles of Quick Response Manufacturing

The principles of Quick Response Manufacturing Abstract Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) is a strategy which needs to applied throughout the company and whose primary goal is the reduction of lead-time in each and every operation of the company while simultaneously reducing costs and improving quality.  [1]  QRM can be defined in two contexts: (i) Externally (Customers point of view): QRM means quickly responding to customer needs by designing and producing goods customized to cater those needs. (ii) Internally, QRM stresses on reducing the lead times throughout the organization, leading to lower inventory, better quality, reduced cost, and greater responsiveness. QRM uses Manufacturing Critical-path Time (MCT) as the metric for measuring the success of QRM processes. MCT is an extension of the concept of lead-time, which is the time from the receipt of order from the customer till the product is delivered to the customer. There are 2 ways of implementing QRM: one is using large breakthrough improvements and the other is through continuous improvements. QRM was developed by Rajan Suri, a Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who is famous for his works on continuous improvement programs. He not only gave the theory but also the practical ways by which QRM could be successfully applied and integrated in the operations of the company. QRM is basically an extension of Time based Competition (TBC), which was a strategy used by Japanese firms in the 1980s. TBCs philosophy is to use speed to gain competitive advantage. QRM is more particular as it is restricted to manufacturing firms only. QRM finds its first foray in history in 1993 with the foundation of the Center for Quick Response Manufacturing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  [2]  In 1995, Rajan Suri published the article Slaying the Beast which put forth some bad policies which were prevalent in manufacturing companies and also offered explanations for the same. This helped QRM gain a lot of recognition and importance.1 The positive response spurred Dr. Suri to continue working on this subject and this further led to his consulting businesses in implementing QRM and successfully applying the same in many companies. Since then, the Center for QRM has helped in applying QRM in nearly 180 companies resulting in reduced lead times and increased market shares.2 QRM Principles Its not necessary to work harder, faster and longer hours to complete job earlier. One can focus on finding new ways to complete a job that takes lower time. Most of the time a job spends in a queue instead of in process and traditional approach only look to reduce processing time (touch time) and in QRM focus is on lead-time (total elapsed time) and not just processing time. Out of total lead-time 34 days only 19.5 hours is a touch time so it makes sense that we should focus on whole 34 days. But generally organizations are not designed to focus on lead-time. Mainly because organizations dont recognize the cost of waiting they mainly focus on processing time like one need to reduce batch sizes to reduce waiting time but it will increase number of setups that will increase their processing time which is mostly opposing to company goals. So, Companies need to change their accounting systems and reward systems so that benefits of reduction in lead-time can be measured and rewarded appropriately. Table 1: Examples of Organizational Waste Due to Long Lead Times Expediting of hot jobs or late orders: Requires Systems, Air Freight, People, even Top Management time à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Production Meetings required to change and update priorities à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Overtime costs for trying to speed up late jobs à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Time spent by Sales, Planning, and other Departments to develop and update forecasts à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ WIP and Finished Goods holding costs, including space à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Obsolescence of parts made to forecast but not used à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Quality problems not detected till much later; lots of rework or scrap à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Opportunity for: Order changes or even cancellations Feature and scope creep Loss of sales to competition à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Sales time devoted to expediting and explaining delays to customer à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Complex systems required to manage the dynamic environment There is one major problem with cost based systems that hinders QRM implementation that is functional structure of an organization. Looking the figure one can see how organizations fell into vicious circle by delaying regular jobs because of hot jobs and then again increase in hot jobs due to insertion of safety time due to delay in regular jobs. This is also called response time spiral. And so the spiral grows. QRM focus on reducing system in time like we do in service industry but this will require substantial reorganization of most of the processes. Basically, we will end up with cellular organizations in shop floor and also in offices and each cell will focus on its customers. The POLCA material control system helps coordinate production across multiple cells. Also, new operating methods such as time slicing are described, to help cells share non-cell resources. This principle is hard to digest as we believe that we should utilize capacity to its maximum possible value. Any reduction in the same would mean losing out on productive opportunities, resulting in increasing costs. However, by keeping all the machines busy at tall times does not necessarily transform into higher output or higher productivity. We frequently encounter the problems of growing queues due to the presence of a few bottleneck machines and jobs spending a lot of time waiting for resources due to mismanagement. All this ultimately results in increasing the lead time of the jobs which culminates in the increase of the organizational costs, which have been enlisted in the previous table. In the long run, these costs actually prove to be greater than the opportunity costs of not utilizing the spare capacity. Hence, the spare capacity should be considered as a strategic investment that will pay for itself many times over in increased sales, higher quality, and lower total cost s. This is again a measure which is very hard to digest. We always measure the usefulness of any process through its efficiency and utilization. However, the problem with the traditional belief is not that efficiency is not an important measure, but that most measures of efficiency result in increased lead time which ultimately harms the organization. Large batches are used in a lot of companies in a bid to reduce the setup costs. However this very measure results in increasing the lead time which can culminate in the same problems as enlisted in the previous principle. There are numerous examples to show the scope of reduction of lead time in organizations, a prominent one being the case study in Becker (2001) which showed how lead time for a line of spare parts for the oil drilling industry dropped from 40 days to 5 days using reduction of lead time as the main performance measure in a manufacturing cell. QRM says that the quantities as calculated by EOQ are not appropriate and consistent with the goal of reducing lead time as EOQ doesnt consider many costs of large lots like expediting of late orders, overtime cost for trying to speed up late jobs, WIP holding costs including space. Also quality problems are detected much later than with small lots and the amount of rework and scrap generated is also much larger. At the same time, another important point which is missed in EOQ is the lack of responsiveness which occurs when the process is carried out with large lots. Large lots and planning for the same makes it difficult for the organization to respond quickly to change in customer needs. Nor can good lot sizes for QRM be predicted by the MRP system, since it assumes fixed queue times regardless of workload. Hence, in order to reduce the lead times throughout the organization, it is important for everyone in a manufacturing firm, and especially for senior managers, to understand the dynamics of factory operations. The senior managers need to have a broad outlook and decide on the policies of manufacturing and performance measures only after fully understanding the effects of capacity utilization, efficiency measures, and lot sizing policies on lead time. Figure 3. Traditional Versus QRM Views of Capacity and Lot Sizing Source: QRM and POLCA:A Winning Combination forManufacturing Enterprises in the 21st Century Rajan Suri The differences between the traditional and QRM views can be observed from the figure given above. Traditional performance measures of utilization and efficiency encourage managers to exploit their resources to the maximum possible value. Production is considered infeasible only when the capacity utilization exceeds their maximize resource utilization, and only think about their capacity limit as a boundary between feasible and infeasible production targets. Also the perception is that larger lot sizes lead to increase in efficiency. However, QRMs focus is solely on reducing lead time, and hence the impact of utilization and lot size on the same is studied. Higher utilization leads to increase in lead time, whereas lead time first decreases and then increases with increase in lot size. It is essential to consider all such manufacturing dynamics in order to come up with a process that minimizes the lead time and thereby costs. According to QRM on-time performance is an outcome not a performance measure. Because if on time is considered as performance measure departments will quote longer lead-time to match up with on-time delivery. Again this will result in Response time spiral and results in poor performance of organization. But with QRM, organization will focus on shortening lead-time as a performance measure. In QRM its called QRM Number (measure of lead time reduction). This will eliminates Response Time Spiral and performance of organization will improve. For example see Table 2. MRP systems are of great help in managing material supply and ordering but lead-time cannot be reduced using MRP. MRP should be used on high level planning and coordination not on cell level in a cellular structure implemented by QRM, whereas POLCO can be used to manage material between cells and inside cells. POLCO basically a hybrid of push and pull systems using benefits of both. This phenomena can be again seen as entering in Response Time Spiral in which if company buys in large batches this makes supplier to have longer lead time and company to order even larger batches. Internal and external incentives like discounts motivate ordering in large batches. The results this can be verified in John Deere where implementation of QRM with suppliers reduced cost and also improved quality with shorter lead-time and batches. Not only at the supply side, the small lot concept needs to be applied at the distribution end too. Normally it is the tendency of the sales force to get higher orders by offering quantity discounts. This will again lead to the spiral of increasing lot sizes, both during the process as well as on the procurement side, ultimately leading to lowering of delivery performance. By implementing QRM, a company can reduce its costs manifold which can then be passed on to the customers. There is a need to demonstrate to the customer that the company can deliver high quality at low prices even for small lots, which would be more beneficial both to the company as well as the customer. Thus, the idea of small lots percolates throughout the organization, from top to bottom, as well as throughout the supply chain, from supplier to customer. The traditional approach might result in local quality improvements in the respective departments. However, QRM is more concerned with the overall organization than just one department. The requirement is to cut the overall lead time for manufacturing as well as office operations for which Q-ROCs are more appropriate. Such Q-ROCs result in significant reduction of lead times for jobs such as cost estimating, quoting, and order processing. Closed-loop implies that the team would be self-sufficient in dealing with all the problems related to reducing lead time. This implies cutting across functional boundaries and changing the reporting structures to ensure the success of the process. Needless to say, this team needs to be given power in order to make the decisions as reducing lead time is the primary goal of the organization. The best example would be that of Ingersoll Cutting Tool Company, in Rockford, which reduced its engineering and order processing time for customized cutters fro m 10 days to half a day after implementing QRM principles. However, QRM should not be considered as an application of Reengineering as by using principles of system dynamics in the design of Q-ROCs, providing specific engineering and management principles for manufacturing organizations, plus by changing management principles and performance measures and adopting a company-wide approach, QRM goes much deeper than Reengineering. Charging more for speedy response is sustainable only in the short-term. In the long run, it is quality which differentiates a product from its competitors, and the same purpose is served by QRM. Searching for ways of squeezing time out uncovers quality problems and wasted efforts. Changing policies and adopting measures to rectify the same results in higher quality, lower WIP, less overhead, lower operating costs, and greater sales. The QRM Approach yields even better results than Lean Manufacturing as it ignores the wastes caused by long lead times. QRM takes the goal of waste reduction to the next level, creating an even leaner enterprise that will remain a formidable competitor for years to come. As we have seen in many quality improving methodologies like Six Sigma, House of Quality the most important factor in the success of these initiatives is their acceptance by all the members of the organization; and QRM is no different. Realigning of all employees, from the shop floor to the boardroom, from desk workers to senior managers, to the QRM principles is a pre-requisite for the success of QRM, and hence training gains significance. Normally, performance measurement is tied to the cost accounting system which is an impediment to the successful implementation of QRM. Performance measurement must be aligned with the principles of QRM if the company has to benefit from the same. In a nutshell, the following points can be summarized about Quick Response Manufacturing: It requires measurement and efforts to minimize the metric, Manufacturing Critical-path Time (MCT), which is defined as the typical amount of calendar time from when a customer creates an order, through the critical-path, until the first piece of that order is delivered to the customer. This can be measured using the QRM number. Some changes in the structure of the organization are necessary to ensure the success of QRM. It basically requires the strategy of the organization to change from cost-based to entirely time-based with full emphasis on lead time minimization. Functional to Cellular:  Cellular manufacturing is a pre-requisite of QRM as the cells yield greater flexibility in manufacturing Top-down Control to Team Ownership:  QRM requires the formation of closed-loop, cross-functional teams which need to be given complete power for monitoring the processes. Specialized Workers to a Cross-trained Workforce:  Since the success of the process requires reduction in lead times across all the departments, there is a need to provide proper training to the workers so that they can perform multiple tasks and have a broader outlook. Efficiency/Utilization Goals to Lead Time Reduction:  The evaluation parameters, performance measures have to shift from the traditional accounting measures to the goal of lead time reduction. The following steps need to be implemented in the organization so that QRM is a success: 1. Creating a QRM mindset: The most important part is to make people realise the advantages of QRM over the previous measures i.e. the wastes created due to long lead time which are even ignored in Lean Manufacturing. Thereafter, a high-level QRM Steering Committee needs to be formed to oversee the QRM efforts. Also, like Six Sigma,by providing QRM training, some employees can be made QRM champions who can then be entrusted with the responsibility of the projects on a daily basis. 2. Changing of organizational structure Cross-functional planning team are formed to study feasible projects to which QRM can be applied. This would require the management to indulge in a detailed analysis of various consideration like Manufacturing Critical PathTime, product volumes, needs relating to strategy and other factors. Thereafter, QRM cells are formed and training and cross-training is provided to the operators in these cells by an implementation team which consists of members in the new cell as well as planning team members. Measurement of MCT is done to monitor lead time 3. Including of system dynamics QRM requires going through the policies on utilization and efficiency in order to determine the proper loading of the cells. It also calls for making provisions for spare capacities and reduction in the batch sizes in order to reduce the lead time. 4. Enterprisewide expansion of QRM The process would typically begin with a single project. If the project is a success, its results need to be conveyed to all the members of the organization and more projects need to be undertaken based on QRM principles. QRM should not be restricted to the organization alone but should be extended through the entire supply chain. E.g. the suppliers should also be motivated to inculcate and apply the principles of QRM which would have mutual benefits for both parties POLCA: The Material Control System for QRM POLCO is Paired-cell Overlapping Loops of Cards. To implement this system the company need to create cells of the production process focusing on subsets for similar parts and then it processes a given customer order through differing cells depending on the needs of that order. High Level MRP is used to provide high level planning and coordination of materials from external suppliers and across these internal cells. But cells are managed individually. To explain POLCO we can take an example of a shop floor shown in below figure. Assume P1 focuses on color printing and P2 on black white printing after which we have three Formatting Cells, F1, F2 and F3, which convert the printed sheets into reports with the desired pages. After formatting comes binding operation, which include punching holes and notches, cutting the sheets, and bending, A1 to A4. Finally, all orders go to the Shipping Cell S1, where the packaged plates are placed in shipping containers and then loaded onto carts. The material control system used is POLCA where High Level MRP and a cellular organization is a prerequisite. In this case all Release times are created with the help of High Level MRP. But even after authorization of POLCO work will not begin until all conditions are met. POLCO cards are used to communicate and control the material movement between cells. As Figure shows the POLCA card flows for a particular order at any organization based on initial design. This orders routing takes it from P1 to F2, then to A4 for binding, and finally to S1 to be shipped. This order will therefore proceed through the POLCA card loops with the pairs P1/F2, F2/A4 and A4/S1, as shown in the figure. If cell P1 has a job authorized that is going to F3 next, then a P1/F3 card must be available at P1 in order for it to begin that job. If a P1/F3 card is not available, that means that there is a bottleneck at F3 and working on that job will only add to the work-in-process at F3. Instead, it would be better for P1 to put its resources into a job that is needed by another cell that is not backlogged. So the cell team at P1 skips the P1/F3 job for now, and looks at the next authorized job to see if a card is available for that job, and so on. Differences from KANBAN POLCO cards only control flow between cells not within POLCA cards are not product specific but they are specific to particular pair of cells. POLCO cards are used as capacity signal whereas Kanban is used as inventory signal. As return of POLCA card from a downstream cell signals that the cell has available capacity. Benefits yielded by POLCA: POLCA helps in managing short-term fluctuations in capacity and also assists in reducing congestion on the shop floor. If a POLCA card from a downstream cell is not available, it means that that cell or some other cell further downstream is backlogged with work. Hence it does not make sense allocating further work to that particular job, without replanning of resources, as this will only increase inventory in the system since somewhere downstream there is a lack of capacity to work on this job. A better alternative would be to use this cell for some other job during the time being. POLCA cards flow in longer loops which allows the production to respond to changes in demand or differences in the complexities of jobs. The additional jobs in the loop can act as a buffer to absorb variations in demand and product mix which makes it highly suitable to meet the needs of responsiveness. On the contrary, the pull system stresses on achieving constant takt times throughout the organization, ignoring the fact that a variety of products will require different manufacturing times. Benefits of Quick Response Manufacturing Product Leadership: The main objective of QRM is to minimize lead times. By implementing QRM, a company attains many beneficial and competitive advantages. Benefits of Quick Response Manufacturing Product Leadership: QRM enables a firm to have shorter time to market. Thus a firm can reach out to customers with the latest technology while competitors play catch-up. There are two ways of looking at it. The first is that a given point of time a firms product would be superior to that of its competitor. Another point of view is that since a firm has shorter lead time it can deliver technology that is openly available to the market much earlier. Thus, the firm can skim the market due to its superior product. This can be depicted on a time line as shown below. FIRM USING QRM FIRM NOT USING QRM 2007 2009 2010 FIRM USING QRM FIRM NOT USING QRM 2007 2009 2010 Lower working capital: Lower lead times permit companies to have lower raw material and finished goods inventory. As a result the working capital requirement is decreased. This places the firm in a better strategic position to utilise their resources and capital. Better position to increase market share: The lower lead times increase the firms responsiveness to opportunities in the environment. This increased responsiveness helps the firm attract customers and increase its market share. Increased inventory turns: Since the production system is triggered by demand, smaller batches are produced, inventory decreases, and the number of inventory turns increases. Many inefficient producers have substantial amounts of capital tied up in inventory; therefore, their inventory turns are low. Reducing the cost of quality by minimising rework Cellular manufacturing places more responsibility and accountability on specific production teams. This results in specialization which inherently increases the quality of the product. It is much easier to pinpoint defects since the problems are directly traceable to certain teams or members. This has a positive impact on the quality of products. Cost Reduction: QRM aims at finding opportunities to improve the existing process. This results in lower operating costs. Using QRM, companies are able to save, in some cases, up to 25% of total operating costs by solving problems before they happen. Increasing Long Term competitiveness QRM ultimately aims at enhancing the long term competitiveness of the team. The above mentioned benefits are only the stepping stones in the right direction. The enhanced competitiveness of the firm ensures that is objective of enhancing shareholder value is fulfilled. Issues of Quick Response Manufacturing Increased reliance on suppliers QRM requires a strong relationship with ones raw material suppliers and partners. To react to demand, a manufacturing firm must closely partner with suppliers that will quickly accommodate the firms production schedule. However, if the supplier cannot provide raw materials due to problems such as quality assurance/control, equipment repair or union labour, the manufacturing firm may not be able to meet customer requirements. This could result in stock outs and backorders. Change Management It can be very difficult to implement QRM in a manufacturing environment. QRM is a business enabling philosophy that works top-down and therefore, changes the roles and responsibilities of the employees. Traditional roles, from lower levels through upper management, are drastically modified and the corporate infrastructure is typically altered. Employees can be extremely apathetic to these changes, which is a barrier that could significantly hinder the implementation process and the success of QRM. To implement QRM, companies must have representation from all functions i.e line and support functions (production, planning, purchasing, engineering, manufacturing, quality, finance and human resources) to facilitate the implementation. All functional areas need to buy-in to QRM philosophy to successfully implement such a major change in the way the firm does business. What Differentiates QRM from Lean? First and foremost is the QRM mindset: the driver for all the principles and strategies in QRM is reduction of lead time. This time-based mindset results in many operating policies that are different from traditional ones. In contrast the driver in JIT/Lean is waste reduction. Although the business press has been talking about the importance of lead time reduction, or speed, for over a decade, we find that most companies still lack the knowledge and the tools to effectively reduce their lead times. Worse still, policies are in place that are lengthening, rather than shortening, lead times. QRM devotes a substantial amount of effort in educating management and workers on why these traditional policies result in long lead times, and in showing them the QRM principles that must be put in place instead. QRM is a companywide strategy. While the original implementation of JIT/Lean at Toyota may well have encompassed the whole company, most Western implementations of JIT/Lean have focused on manufacturing and materials management. In many cases, JIT/Lean has been interpreted even more narrowly as merely implementing a pull system with kanban cards. In contrast, QRM clarifies at the outset that it is a companywide strategy with implications far beyond the shop floor, and principles for other company areas, such as, office operations, are clearly presented as part of the QRM philosophy. QRM provides rational principles and tools for lead time reduction. QRM uses an understanding of system dynamics, and exploits this understanding to define the best structures and policies that will reduce lead times. QRM begins by educating employees and giving them insight into these system dynamics. This then helps justify, to management and workers, the need for changes in policies. State-of-the-art analysis tools such as the MPX software package incorporate this analysis of system dynamics and help to derive the specific changes needed and to quantify the benefits that would be achieved. For companies making a large variety of products with variable demand, as well as for companies making highly engineered products, the JIT/Lean strategy of pull is either wasteful or breaks down altogether. For such companies, QRM provides an alternative strategy called POLCA which combines the best features of push and pull without their drawbacks. While the JIT/Lean approach tries to eliminate variability, QRM recognizes that in certain markets responding to this variability may provide competitive advantage. Instead of eliminating variability, QRM creates an effective organization structure to cope with it and serve the market. QRM does this by exploiting its understanding of system dynamics. A specific example of the difference between JIT/Lean and QRM is the issue of delivery of material or components. On-time delivery is a cornerstone of JIT/Lean is implementation. And yet QRM understands of organizational dynamics shows that promoting on-time delivery results in dysfunctional dynamics with longer lead times and higher costs. QRM provides alternative metrics based on lead time reduction that promise greater improvement in the long run. The QRM approach extends to supply management as well, and is called time-based supply management (Ericksen, 2000). Companies such as John Deere are finding that, particularly for smaller suppliers, the time based mindset and QRM principles offer an effective approach to target improvements at the suppliers operation. In addition, rapid results can be achieved, with significant improvements in supplier deliveries and quality, and reduction in supplier cost and lead time (Golden, 1999; Ericksen, 2000; Nelson, 2000). To summarize, QRM pursues the relentless reduction of lead time all QRM principles stem from this singular driving concern. Instead of management announcing dozens of programs and acronyms, QRM enables management to present one unified message to the organization, and all policies follow from this one driving strategy. Examples of implementation of Quick Response Manufacturing: Trans-Coil Inc. The Milwaukee Company is a manufacturer of equipment that supports variable-speed electric drives. Problem: Trans-Coil Inc.s process sometimes dragged longer than couple of weeks they promised to the customers. Improving its record for production time and meeting deadlines was the only way not to risk losing business. Had Trans-Coil built large numbers of components in advance, ready for shipping, it would mean spending loads of money on raw materials, production and handling, without assurances of turnover of the warehoused products. The company would be stuck then with unused, obsolete components in situations when customers made even minor changes to their specifications. Solution: Having quick-response manufacturing, companies can minimize the time it takes for products to flow via their operations. It makes companies nimble, responsive, and lower costs. For changing operations, Trans-Coil commenced with its factory. Production workers were cross-trained to learn all jobs in the plant. That was a huge change from days when employees occasionally stepped out of their work areas. Trans-Coil employees are now separated into work cells which focus on smaller order sizes which includes custom work, with teams responsible for getting products out o

Case Study: Challenges to Healthy Ageing

Case Study: Challenges to Healthy Ageing Triumphs and Challenges in Healthy Aging Stacey Obispo Everyone has got a story. Your story along with everyone else’s’ develops as you advance through life. Research theorist have studied the stories of different people and have concluded that a persons’ story develops based on; their personal characteristics, the environment in which they live, time, relationships that they have, life transitions encountered and social change (Hutchinson, 2010). The life course perspective looks at how age, life transitions, relationships and social change has formed people’s lives from birth to death (Hutchinson). Encompassing one’s life course perspective is a path full of twists and turns followed by triumphs and challenges aging brings. In this issue of Healthy Aging, an interview with Crista Doe is shared with readers to show has her her life course perspective has developed thus far and how activity and disengagement theories in aging fair in explaining her level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with aging. Interview with Crista Doe Crista Doe is a 75 years old woman living in Lake Elsinore, CA. She is a widowed lesbian who lost her partner of 50 years 5 years ago. Currently, Crista lives by herself in a modest one story cottage style home. Crista retired at the age of 65 as a records administrator. She was employed by the State of California. She chose retirement at 65 so that she could be a fulltime caregiver for her ailing wife at the time. Now that Crista has reached her later years, she enjoys gardening and being a member of the Reptile Society. However, Crista’s physical disabilities have kept her from gardening as frequently as she would like and from being an active member (one that goes to road shows and schools educating the public about reptiles) of the Reptile Society. Crista does not relate to her younger and only surviving family member. She has little to no relationship with her nephew because she never had a good relationship with her nephew’s mother (her sister) growing up. As a result of her failing relationship with her sister she distanced herself from her and her nephew. Crista is the younger of two sisters. Her sisters were 15 and 16 years older than she, both have passed away. Historical change that impacted Crista’s life was WWII. Crista was born and raised in Germany during WWII. She never saw daylight until she was five years old because she and her family lived in underground bunkers and could only come out during nightfall. Her dad was a Nazi army sergeant in Germany. He did not want his position or role in the army but felt that he had no choice but to serve. Crista’s dad and family were Mormons but out of fear of death they never revealed their beliefs to officials. At the age of 5, frequent bombings from the allied forces during the day forced Crista to run out of her bunker. She vividly remembers an American pilot flying low and looking at her then firing. At the time she was able to get cover but debris flying from the air caused by the firing left her scathed. As a result from the attack; she received a back injury and partial hearing loss. Soon after the attack, her dad surrendered to allied forces and was executed. After the war ended, Crista entered into adolescence and along with her mom, and sisters left Germany to live in the U.S. Crista says she had little to no socialization when she lived in Germany. She felt that her socialization process began in her adolescence in the U.S. However she encountered problems at school with students and staff. When she entered High School she dropped out soon after because she was angry. She was angry about the way history books retold stories about the war and how others believed it without question. Crista said, â€Å"The books did not paint an accurate picture as to what happened in the war. I know it because I lived in it†. Crista had an unstable home life due to her mother’s inability to keep a job and support her financially. Crista ended up living with the older sister she got along with and began taking dance lessons to alleviate the pain from her back issues. During this time Crista was able to develop friendships with other dancers. Health challenges Crista has encountered includes spinal injury, a broken hip, and hearing loss. Crista states that her health challenges have been a combination of both environment and age. Her spinal injury has gotten worse and her hip although healed from its break 4 years ago still does not work like it used to. Crista says that her spine, hip, and overall health has deteriorated more since her wife died. As a result of her health issues Crista now gets around using two canes in the house and a walker when she’s out on the street. The last thing Crista anticipates in this stage of her life is death. She says she senses that her end is coming soon. Crista has not experienced any changes in her living arrangements over the last five years. She says she does not plan on making any either. Crista does admit that she has some problems keeping up with the housekeeping but says she’s fine and does not want anyone’s help. Crista says, â€Å"I should be able to do all the things around this house myself, I do not need anybody and I am keeping it that way.† Crista’s has negative feelings about getting older. She says her deteriorating health has taken her away from accomplishing the things that she wants to accomplish and from the things she enjoys. Crista says she feels sad and depressed a lot of her time. Crista believes that her life experiences in Germany have really contributed to her wisdom. She believes that her experiences in Germany taught her how to keep on living and survive. She feels that her life experiences with her wife of 50 years really contributed towards her gaining wisdom about love. Crista’s one piece of advice that she would like to share about aging, â€Å"Life is beautiful, but health has major effects on being able to enjoy that beauty†. Crista explains that aging is not bad. Rather, it is the complications that accompany it that make it difficult. Activity Theory and Crista Activity theory views older adults as being most satisfied if they are able to remain in their social roles (Whitbourne Whitbourne, 2014). Essentially under this theory, successful aging equals’ active aging and activity is shown through maintaining active roles in society (Whitbourne Whitbourne, 2014). This theory suggests that older adults should be given as many opportunities as possible to be engaged with work, family and community to encounter higher levels of life satisfaction (Whitbourne Whitbourne, 2014). Crista does not fit all the criteria for successful aging under activity theory because her social roles have lessened not from lack of desire but from lack of physical mobility and deaths of family members. Crista’s familial social roles are non –existent due to the deaths of her sisters, mother, and lack of communication with her estranged nephew. Crista’s social ties with work have been cut since retirement. On the other hand, Crista is successfully aging under activity theory profile because she has a part-time role in the Reptile Society and she is active with taking care of her home. Crista feels sad and depressed a lot of the time because she has lost some of her mobility and stamina for doing the things she once loved. Under activity theory it would be assumed that Crista has lost a major source of her identity due to losing her social roles such as work and family (Whitbourne Whitbourne, 2014). Her deteriorating health has prohibited her from reengaging in new work roles. She is not engaged socially with family since she lost her life partner and family. Activity theory explains her joy with staying connected with the Reptile Society and her feelings for being sad and depressed because of her lack of engagement in the roles of work and family. Disengagement Theory and Crista Disengagement theory states that normal and natural evolution of life causes older adults to purposefully loosen their social ties (Whitbourne Whitbourne, 2014). This type of natural detachment is not just inevitable but desirable (Whitbourne Whitbourne, 2014). The theory asserts that aging is accompanied by a mutual withdrawal process of the individual and society (Whitbourne Whitbourne, 2014). Crista did not purposefully loosen her social ties. Her physical disabilities have altered her ability to stay as socially active as she would like with the Reptile Society. Her personal social ties to family have been cut due to familial death and to assert that she has cut her nephew off due to her age would be an incorrect assertion because there was never a true social connection or relationship she had with him. Under the approach of disengagement theory retirement and isolation from family members are sought out for higher levels of being (Whitbourne Whitbourne, 2014). A lot of the time Crista is sad and depressed. Successful aging under disengagement theory states that Crista should be having a higher level of well-being due to disengagement. However considering her circumstances, she is not experiencing a higher level of well-being. Furthermore, disengagement theory does not explain Crista’s current engagement with community through participating as a part- time membe r with the Reptile society. Disengagement theory should add that older adults do still desire to be active yet it is their physical limitations and family related deaths that contribute towards the disengaging process. The disengagement process therefore is not sought out by the individual nor does it make them more content it’s a natural evolution that occurs due to life events. Conclusion There are triumphs and challenges that accompany aging. Crista’s story shows that throughout her life course, she has found both adversity and happiness and they have shaped her into the independent and head strong lady that she is today. As Crista has entered her later years her health and social ties have influenced and the impacted her feelings of satisfaction with life. Crista fits the criteria set for satisfaction/ dissatisfaction under activity theory. Conversely, disengagement theory does not explain her current level of being. Understanding the different theoretical perspectives mentioned in this article can help one make sense of their distinctive life journey and in some situations, it may be possible that this knowledge can be used to help improve ones’ present-day circumstances. References Hutchinson, E. D. (2010). A life course perspective. Retrieved from http://www.sagepub.com/hutchisonclc4e/study/chapter.htm Whitbourne, S.K., Whitbourne, S.B. (2014). Adult development and aging: Biopsychosocial perspectives (5th ed.) Hoboken, NJ Wiley.

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) Essay -- Informative Essay

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is the process of converting the ocean waters temperature difference at different depths into usable energy. From the solar heated upper depths of the ocean to the cooler depths below 2,000 feet a 40 degree temperature difference must be maintained to generate electricity. This is a relatively new and unheard of source of energy. Many people are not aware of the many benefits of OTEC and the impact it will have in the future as the use of fossil fuel conversion declines. Heightened environmental concerns in today's world makes OTEC an attractive alternative for energy conversion. The ocean offers a natural and renewable resource which will make it possible for converting energy this way to last for a very long, long time. OTEC is a very cost effective method of using the oceans waters for energy conversion but its use and benefits to society have been obscure to the general public. In the coming years OTEC will probably be at the forefront of ne w energy resources and a good understanding of it know will prove invaluable to power engineers of the future. How does Thermal Energy Conversion Work? OTEC is a form of solar power in that it uses the sun's energy to heat the upper depths of the oceans waters. Since the sun's energy cannot penetrate very deep depths (approximately 2000ft.) the temperature below these levels is much colder then those near the surface. Most of the solar energy is absorbed in the top layer (35 to 100 m) of water. This upper layer of warm water is very uniformed in temperature because wind and waves cause the water to circulate and mix. The temperature in this layer can reach close to 82Â ° F (28Â ° C ) from regions close the equator. Beyond this layer the temperature drops noticeably with the depth until 800 m to1000 m. At this depth the temperature is 40Â ° F (4.4Â ° C ). From here the temperature changes very gradually. The colder water at these great depths is the result of melting ice in the polar regions. The colder water has a higher density than the warmer water which causes two important events. First the higher density water will sink and displace the lighter, warm water. Secondly, the rotation of the earth forces the heavier cold water to move toward the equator. Because of this, the ocean provides a large reservoir of cold and warm water that can differ in temperature of 40Â ° to 45Â ° F ( 22Â ° to... ...implementation. The system is still in heavy research to bring these costs down and also to make improvements on the system. Although the full scale commercial size systems are not practical at this time, small scale experimental plant systems are being for further research. OTEC is expected to make an impact on the future. The Future of OTEC OTEC is a very exciting new way of energy conversion. People are skeptical about new and innovative ideas because of their unfamiliarity and lack ofknowledge about the idea. This holds true with OTEC. Many people are unaware of what OTEC is and the benefits that OTEC holds for the future of our Earth. Much more development and research must be made to make OTEC a large scale operation and to bring the cost to consumers down. This is only going to happen if people are made aware of OTEC and its many possibilities. OTEC has many environmental benefits and can produce the world s necessary energy needs for a very long time (it is after all a renewable energy source!). We are quite certain that in the upcoming years OTEC will become a much more publicized topic and greater research will come about to produce a fully sized commercial plant.

Comparing Winterbourne and Prufrock :: Daisy Miller, Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When creating his famous poem, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", T.S. Eliot was inspired by a character depicted in the novella known as Daisy Miller, written by Henry James. This character, Winterbourne, was intertwined and considered when creating the timid character of Prufrock. It is evident that both men share similar personalities and characteristics that link them together, both being prime examples of emptiness and despair told through theses writings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The central concern in Daisy Miller is of the "analogies and differences" between people. In this story, a young American man, Winterbourne, is confused and intrigued by the behavior of a young American woman, Daisy Miller. Winterbourne had wondered about all of the cold shoulders that had been turned towards her, and sometimes it annoyed him to suspect that she did not feel at all. He said to himself that she was too light and childish, too uncultivated and unreasoning. Then at other moments he believed that she carried about in her an elegant and perfectly observant consciousness from the impression she produced. He asked himself whether Daisy's defiance came from the consciousness of innocence or from her being, essentially, a young person of the "common" class. After getting to know Daisy, he was confused about getting to know his and her emotions. It is far evident that Winterbourne does not come to conclusions about people easily. He was very much influenced by the biases of his upbringing in culture, and he questioned them occasionally.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is about a timid and downcast man in search of meaning, of love, and in search of something to break from the dullness and superficiality which he feels his life to be. Eliot lets us into Prufrock's world for an evening, and traces his progression of emotion from timidity, and, ultimately, to despair of life. He searches for meaning and acceptance by the love of a woman, but falls miserably because of his lack of self-assurance. Prufrock is a man for whom, it seems, everything goes wrong, and for whom there are no happy allowances. The emptiness and shallowness of Prufrock's "universe" and of Prufrock himself are evident from the very beginning of the poem. He cannot find it in himself to tell the woman what he really feels, and when he tries to tell her, it comes out in a mess. At the end of the poem, he realizes that he has no big role in life.

Creon and Haemon Essay

How would you direct the confrontation between Creon and Haemon in order to achieve your chosen impact for your audience? The scene of confrontation between Creon and Haemon comes when Creon has sentenced Antigone, future bride of Haemon, to be shut up in the cave. I would want to show a contrast between the characters with costume, so that the audience would get a visual representation of their emotions. I would dress Creon in an extravagant red silken robe, with gold trimmings. This would highlight his status as King, and also the red could signify a bloodthirsty attitude, as Creon is revelling in Antigone’s fate. Contrastingly, Haemon would be wearing a simple black cotton robe, without any trimmings. This would show that he doesn’t care for superficial extravagance, and black is also a colour of mourning; this would symbolise Haemon’s feelings towards Antigone’s fate. In the opening of this scene, Creon greets Haemon pleasantly. I would direct Creon to grip Haemon’s right hand with both of his own hands, in a friendly, pleading handshake; this would show warmth for Haemon, which is what Creon wishes to express at this point. He would maintain eye contact and stand with legs shoulder-width apart He would speak in a soft tone, with a slow pace, medium pitch and a relatively low volume, again to give the impression of warmth. In the line ‘we are always comrades, and my love for you is unshaken’, I would direct the actor playing Creon to emphasise the words ‘always’ and ‘unshaken’, stressing these superlatives, in order to exaggerate the positive feelings, diplomatically Haemon’s response would be in kind, reciprocating the respect. He would accept the handshake, and keep eye contact. His vocal qualities would be as those of Haemon. He would say ‘I know I am your son, Father’, stressing the word ‘Father’ to show respect and also family love. During this exchange, they would both be very close physically, to show that they are, at this point, still emotionally close. The lighting would be a straw wash from above over the stage, of medium intensity: neutral. Creon would be next to a podium, centre-stage-left. Haemon would be centre stage, and the Chorus would be arranged in a semi-circle around them. During Creon’s following speech, I would want the audience to witness a change in Creon’s approach. The first noticeable change in attitude would be when he says ‘Don’t be taken in/ Boy. Don’t let any woman ensnare you. ‘ His tone would become harsher, and lower almost as if speaking in a whisper. He would also grasp Haemon on the word ‘Boy’, to show the audience that he wants to instil certain sexist values in Haemon, as it is a subject he feels passionately about. Furthermore, he would almost spit the work ‘woman’ and emphasise the word ‘ensnare’ to present acidity to the audience. He would say ‘Don’t be taken in, Boy’ without changing his tone or pace, simply increasing intensity, to show the audience how sincere he is. He would continue in this manner, speaking in harsh tones. The next change in Creon’s demeanour would come when he says ‘I will do it. And she must die’. Here, he would revert to speaking with authority, assertively. He would stress the modal verbs, ‘will’ and ‘must’ to show that he is completely fixed upon the idea, and is unwavering. This would show the audience his stubbornness. At this point, low-intensity, subtle red uplighting would have slowly faded in, to cast shadows upon Creon’s face to make him seem more imposing and venomous. It would be barely noticeable by the audience at this stage, as it would be slowly and subtly introduced. Creon would also step back and stand straight at this point, and pause after the line, to highlight its significance to the audience. He would have his hands calmly by his sides. Creon would continue to rant, his volume increasing, and the red uplighting becoming stronger, as the straw wash slowly faded and his hand gestures becoming increasingly evident and expansive. On the line ‘Anarchy, disobedience,’ he would be banging his fists on his podium in anger, to show the audience how passionately he feels about the subject. He would be nearly shouting at this point, and Haemon would recoil slightly, in fear and surprise at Creon’s outburst. Creon would next shift toward the end of his speech, and I would want my audience to see him bring back subtle persuasion, using the fact that he is Haemon’s father to his advantage: ‘Let it be by a man’s hand, eh son? / Not by a conspiracy of women! ‘. I would want him to go back to speaking in lower tones, almost at a stage-whisper level, as he wants to instil his own sexism, and apparent paranoia regarding women, into Haemon yet again. This repetition would show the audience just how sexist Creon is. I would therefore have the actor emphasise the words ‘man’ ‘son’, ‘conspiracy’ and ‘women’ to show this, and put one arm around Haemon. The red uplighting would also dim at this point, the straw wash becoming more prominent; this would visually represent the change in tone to the audience. Following the Chorus’ somewhat neutral response, Haemon would reply by at first speaking pleasantries: ‘It’s not for me to say you are wrong’ is quite self-deprecating and is complimentary to Creon. Haemon would therefore speak it in a soft tone, and would physically lower himself by bending knees and back slightly. His volume would be medium at this point, and he would make no hand gestures. The lighting would remain as a straw wash, all red gone at this point. Haemon would emphasise ‘me’ and ‘you’ to underline the fact he is making a direct comparison between himself and Creon. Haemon would change in approach right on the line ‘But I can sometimes hear people whisper’. The word ‘but’ here is a clear discursive marker in the text, indicating a change. Also, Haemon begins to discuss how ‘people’ see Antigone’s punishment as unjust. He would thus take a step back is if expecting an outburst from Creon, and emphasise words like ‘people’ and ‘whisper’ to show the audience that the character aims to dissociate himself from the views. He would become more pleading as the speech progresses, ‘let me beg you to have second thoughts’ and ‘I beg you Father’. This is again showing he accepts inferiority, but also makes clear to the audience that he is against his fathers actions. The metaphors regarding the failure of stubborn things would be spoken with a degree of accusation regarding Creon; Haemon would look at Creon when saying ‘inflexible’ and ‘refuses’ to indicate that there refer to Creon. At the end of the speech he says ‘Take good advice when it is offered. ‘ This is a direct question to Creon, and I would have Haemon on one knee, clasping Creon’s hand at this point, to show his desperation to the audience. In the ensuing stichomythia, I would instruct Creon to increase in volume, pace and raise his voice at the end of each sentence. Also, I would want him to spit phrases like ‘You’re a woman’s mouthpiece! ‘, whilst shaking his arms, palms clawed and facing up to show rage to the audience. Comparatively, I would instruct Haemon to remain calm, speaking in controlled tones and a steady volume throughout, making few hand gestures. Haemon would instead increase in cold contempt, by sharpening the sound of his vowels at the ends of sentences, and speaking in a low tone, and emphasising certain words. He would emphasise the word ‘demented’, but without raising the volume of his voice a great deal. Also, at the end, when Haemon says ‘†¦ this disgusting spectacle/ In company with a madman, are welcome to it’, I would want him to speak this calmly; without varying his pace. He would say this emphasising ‘disgusting spectacle’ and ‘madman’ by raising pitch and volume a little. This would show the audience that he feels contempt toward Creon, but is above just shouting. Creon, on the other hand, would be virtually screaming ‘Bring her out, the bitch’, emphasising the word ‘bitch’ by stressing the harsh vowel sound, and gesturing wildly towards the side entrance, as if indicating from where she should be brought. This would show the audience that Creon has lost his composure, and has lost control of his rage. The lighting would be red uplighting again on Creon only, to cast shadows across his face, whilst a blue gel, to mix with the straw wash, would be coming in from above. Overall, this should all contribute into presenting Haemon into an emotionally controlled, stable character, whereas Creon would appear as quite the opposite; unreasonable, stubborn and emotionally volatile. The objective would be to present the characters as such, to encourage the audience to sympathise with Haemon, even empathise with him; ideally, the audience too would feel frustrated and contemptuous towards Creon.