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The global water supply accounts for 7% of worldwide energy consumption. With the increasing energy tariffs, there is a growing need to reduce the energy consumption of water supply systems (WSS). Among the three primary areas for optimization in WSS, pump operation is the most critical one, representing 70% of the energy consumed in WSS. Despite several mathematical formulations and approaches for optimizing pump operation in WSS, there is a lack of comparative studies between them. Moreover, since each WSS system has unique physical characteristics, the performance and solutions generated by each formulation may vary. Therefore, this study aims to conduct a comparative analysis of three WSS optimization approaches, of which one was never implemented. These approaches are applied to two case studies with specific physical characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern marketplaces need constant adaption of firm offerings due to their urgency. In order to fully satisfy the needs and expectations of each partner (workers, consumers, and other stakeholders) and to preserve competitive value, the creation and continuous improvement of the quality would be necessary. The company where we perform our experiment will attempt to enhance customer satisfaction while raising the quality. A well-known FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) company in Indonesia is the consumer product business group PT XYZ. The cashew version of the chocolate pasta stick is one of the goods created by PT XYZ's Chocolate Division. There is a packaging step involved in the flow process of creating these chocolate paste sticks with cashews. During the product's packing, there is a difficulty. Finally, Six Sigma, a powerful approach, helps with cost cutting. Better products, more effective processes, and defect prevention lead to increased profitability and market share. This is accomplished using the Six Sigma submethodologies DMAIC and DMADV (Andersson et al., TQM Mag 18:282-296, 2006). The implementation of the six-sigma technique in a wider range of manufacturing activities is made possible by a case study that was presented. Researchers studying quality management, individuals working in the industrial sector, and anybody else interested in quality improvement should find this article informative. The findings of this study will improve the sigma level's worth and lessen business losses brought on by cases that involve both material and moral issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transportation and movement of waste results in extra locating time, materials, and people movement. The company selected produces 25 million tablets per day (9 billion annually). Their high demand results in higher inventory and product movement within manufacturing rooms and warehouses. The established objectives were to optimize the flow of warehouse production by at least 15% and increase operational efficiency also by at least 15%. After implementation, operational efficiency can increase by at least 35%, obtaining an investment return of 178%. Additionally, the objective to optimize the warehouse product flow by at least 15% after the implementations can be increased by at least 24%, obtaining a 3,990% return of investment. The implementations of creating a standard operating procedure, 5s + Visual Aids, train the personnel, maintenance of the forklift and layout analysis will take approximately 6 months to implement the recommended alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disruptive business environment such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent high volatility in commodity prices has changed the way businesses were conducted. The heavy equipment industry is one of many industries affected by such an environment, especially those who are related to the mining industry where the volatility of the commodity prices has a significant impact on their business performance. Alliances are commonly formed by heavy equipment distributors and their customers to create a mutual benefit to sustain their performance. Strategic alliances have attracted substantial attention from industry as well as academia as a way to stay competitive. They mostly focus on the partner-topartner alliances in serving their customers. Consumer behaviour has changed due to changes in the environment that make firms' strategic focus more on human-centric business approaches. This study looks at the roles of the partner-tocustomer alliances, innovation capability, and cost reduction toward customer loyalty and competitive advantage. Data was collected from 335 respondents from the firms that have entered into alliances. This study finds strategic alliances have the highest association with cost reduction, followed by their association with innovation capability. They enhance customer loyalty through innovation capability. Cost reduction is not a lever to develop customer loyalty in the partner-tocustomer relationship. The study also confirms that operational efficiencies are necessarily the source of competitive advantage, but strategic alliances are. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manufacturers in the USA are facing increasing pressure to offer products capable of competing with low-cost-country vendors, forcing them to continuously lower prices and shorten delivery times. Simultaneously, shop employees are discovering inefficiencies in released designs after they have already gone into production, leading to an inflated manufacturing cost, affecting the manufacturers' margins in every sale. This paper explores a viable solution to this problem by introducing the PROPER (Product Redesign, Optimization of Processes, and Effectiveness Review) Model, a new methodology created to simplify existing designs and lean-out the manufacturing processes. Unlike existing optimization methodologies, such as Lean or Six-sigma, which focus heavily on improving the manufacturing process only, the PROPER Model encompasses optimizations to any existing design, provides guidelines for multiple optimization approach to the manufacturing processes, and increases employees' ownership for quality verification with the goal of reducing cost and production lead-times. A practical application of this new model was implemented to Safety Relieve Valve components with the purpose of demonstrating that cost and lead-time reduction can be accomplished using the steps outlined by this methodology. The full implementation process is summarized and presented in this paper, including the outcome of cost reduction of up to 25% and an average lead-time decrease of 16%. The PROPER Model was initially developed to reduce cost and lead-time for Primary Pressure-Retaining Components in Safety Relief Valves, but it could be applied in other existing products and industries as a mean to identify and reduce waste on existing component designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-commerce not only deals online selling and buying but also plays a vital role on supply chain management. Apparel manufacturing organizations are suffering gigantic issues regarding receiving materials in a timely manner. Consequently, owners have to pay more on airing goods due to poor supply chain. The SCM is the spine of E-commerce, a very critical component of E-commerce. Supply chain efficiency means having the right product at the right place at the right time, can save money or reduce costs, and can enhance cash utilization. E-commerce plays a vital role on inventory management to keep the record electronically to avoid any information breach. In this paper, we have developed a database management system which would be centrally visualized by the partners of the apparel supply chain. Buyer can be able to place orders through this developed database system electronically which might save at least ordering cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Scientific Journal Systemy Wspomagania w Inzynierii Produkcji is the property of P.A. Nova S.A. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The subject of study is the intangible result of the interaction of the consumer, transferring the accounting and financial part of their business processes to the external environment and their host organization, providing accounting services. The purpose of the article is to consider the content and key characteristics of outsourcing of accounting services, problems and ways of further development in Russia in modern economic and legal conditions. When carrying out the work, the normative methodology was used, with the involvement of specific scientific factors and verified economic results, methods were used: observation, collection of facts, scientific abstractions, comparison. As a result, the authors studied the publications of Russian and foreign authors on the use of outsourcing, its impact on the quality of accounting processes; data characterizing the scale of the market of accounting services in Russia; sites of consulting companies that accept various types of accounting operations for outsourcing. The results are useful for researchers and practitioners working in the field of development of the market of accounting services, as well as decision makers in the field of optimization of business processes of companies in Russia. The novelty of the study is to identify promising areas and limitations of the development of accounting services in Russia in the digital economy and specialization of intellectual labor. As a result of the study of outsourcing of accounting services in Russia, the authors made the following conclusions. The growth in the volume, species composition and quality of services occurs when they are provided to non-state small and medium-sized businesses through the use of Internet technologies. Transfer of accounting functions of state-owned companies and all types of large structures on the basis of outsourcing, in modern conditions is impractical, not fully legitimate, and virtually absent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper highlights the necessity to implement a system for collection and storage of meteoric waters from the households in populated centers. For the proper functioning and operation of the sewerage system, the regional water - channel operator requires that the meteoric waters from each property should be solved separately. The solution adopted for meteoric waters consists in their use inside the household or their infiltration into the soil. The rainwater from the roofs of the buildings and from the yards will be collected, transported and stored in retention basins. Conventional clean water from the retention basin can be used for housekeeping needs (shower, toilet, laundry, etc.), watering the green spaces and sprinkling of indoor platforms. This solution has the effect of reducing the amount of drinking water from the public drinking water supply network, thus reducing the costs. To conserve groundwater resources and protect the environment, meteoric waters in the premises of buildings can be infiltrated into the soil ensuring in such way the natural water circuit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional control chart applications to monitor process shifts are not suitable for the situations where observations come from a non-normal or unknown distribution. In order to trace a small-shift quality deviation of a process a special quality control chart is required. We have developed an economic-statistical design of a new nonparametric exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) sign chart for improving the detection capabilities of process stability and tracing small-shift quality deviation. The contribution of our research is twofold: (1) an economic-statistical model of the nonparametric EWMA sign chart with a new economic production quantity (EPQ) design that enables to minimize the total cost of a small-shift quality deviations; (2) model of a dynamic adjusted selector of the crossover and mutation rate in GA's evolutions for the parameter optimization of EWMA sign chart design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manufacturing enterprises nowadays are operating in a more competitive environment due to various factors, such as fast-changing markets, more competitors, and more regulators. To remain competitive, they must find ways to increase their production efficiency. Decisions regarding process improvement must be made with sufficient supporting information. Material flow cost accounting (MFCA) has gained more attention due to the growing concern about the effects of the business's activities on environment. MFCA provides detailed information regarding production waste, which conventional management accounting fails to do. The MFCA helps to improve decision-making skills regarding waste-reduction activities to be more focused and accurate. The MFCA is relatively new since its first international standard (ISO14025) was published in 2011. Most of the research in MFCA has so far focused on the technical side of MFCA or on investigating cost structure; the use of MFCA to solve practical problems is very rare. This paper, therefore, presents a more complete picture of the implementation of MFCA, starting from data collection and MFCA calculation to waste-reduction activities. A case study of ceramics production was used to demonstrate the application of MFCA. The result of the case study confirms that MFCA is a practical tool that helps decision makers to make better decisions, which would lead to sustainable cost reduction in actual business environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Logistics and the supply chain performance is very important in the HAZMAT industry. The end customer of hazardous materials is a wide range of industries from aerospace, automotive, craftsmen, healthcare, food and beverage, pharma and energy. Effectiveness of logistics is crucial to the performance of the supply chain. Logistic costs in the chemical industry can be as high as 20% of the purchase costs due to the complexity and risks involved. Therefore, cost-effective supply chain decisions and policies are essential to a profitable business. The company under study is an industry leader in HAZMAT products, it produces and distributes them. The organization has three main business lines: wholesale, bulk and retail. The corporation has presence in more than 90 countries. The research will be focused on the operations in North America and in the bulk business line. The bulk business line consists in tanks installed in different spots (customers) across the country and based on product consumption and telemetry readings the tanks are refilled by trucks. The tanks inventory is managed by the vendor under a VMI supply agreement. The logistics process consists in the following: [1] Each tank has a telemetry system that records the tank levels every hour and this information is available online. [2] The logistics planner checks tank levels and decides which customers need refill and plans routes for the next day. [3] The first step in all trips is to refill the truck with product. [4] Then, the product is in route to the customers. On average a trip has 2-3 deliveries and last about 2 days on average. [5] The driver closes each delivery through an app and the amount delivered is sent to the ERP for invoicing. It is important to take advantage of the wide range of existing degrees of freedom due to the nature of a VMI system, since the company decides when to deliver to the customer based on the level of inventory in the tank, how much product to deliver and how to combine the different customers to generate the route plan. For this research, three main areas were explored: reorder point, fleet sizing and routing. Currently all delivery points are set on a standard reorder point without taking into account the lead time and demand for each customer. So, an inventory policy with continuous review is proposed. Second, the company hires a third-party carrier and is able to set the number of base and spot vehicles rented per month. All base units have a certain number of kilometers as a take-or-pay, spot units pay only the kilometers driven. As the second solution, we present a formula to estimate fleet size based on the forecasted demand, round trip time and tanker capacity. Finally, all routing plans are done manually by the logistic planners. So, a simulation was done using a routing optimization model to minimize the total travel cost for a month worth of deliveries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses research which investigated the weight optimisation by sensivity analysis to determine the potential for mass reduction of monopiles in offshore windfarms. Topics discussed include the sensitivity analysis on wall thickness distribution between tower and monopile, soil stiffness, damping ratio and structural layout and the obtainable weight savings on steel.

Enterprises worldwide are constantly looking for changes in the business environment and technological advancements that could help them become more competitive while protecting intellectual property. The value that people provide through the application of skills, know-how and expertise define the human capital: an organization's combined human capability for solving business problems and exploiting its intellectual property. As a part of intellectual capital, human capital is inherent in people and cannot be owned by an organization. Therefore, human capital can leave an organization not only when people are practically leaving but also when the management fails to provide a setting where know-how is transmitted to other members of the organization therefore not being lost when individuals leave an enterprise. Human capital also encompasses how effectively an organization uses its or especially another people's resources as measured by creativity and innovation. This is the context in which crowdsourcing is a very recent advancement involving a large number of people all over the world interacting with enterprises and therefore creating the opportunity to generate added value. Because so many people are involved, it is difficult to manage intellectual property in this context. However, crowdsourcing being a form of outsourcing, it has the potential to reduce an enterprises operational expenses and this paper has the goal of proving that an enterprise can make use of crowdsourcing platforms in order to reduce cost while preserving intellectual property. Our research uses the questionnaire method on the largest task crowdsourcing platform (Amazon Mechanical Turk) to identify the main categories of tasks that are currently crowdsourced and whether or not this new method of completing tasks can increase enterprise profitability by reducing operating expense for enterprises in California and Romania while minimizing exposure of intellectual property. While analysing the cost of human capital we found that the location of the enterprise can significantly influence the cost of a traditional full time employee. Therefore, we had to determine which states to base our analysis upon in order to make sure that the research is conclusive. We selected two states with a high discrepancy in terms of the cost of a minimum wage employee as well as reliable access to the Internet and a high human capital per person index. We've selected Romania and California, which have been assigned the same human capital per person index, and both have very reliable access to the Internet. After analysing the data collected through our research, we found that, once applying the suggested methodology to ensure a similar quality of work and also taking into consideration additional taxes associated with the cost of full time employees, it would be beneficial for enterprises in California to use crowdsourcing in order to reduce operational expense while enterprises in Romania might not be able to benefit from substantial operational expense reduction generated by engaging in this type of outsourcing activities. Crowdsourcing is a very fast moving and entrepreneurial field and it's expected to evolve and more platforms are expected to launch in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is consensual that Software as a Service (SaaS) has significant effects on enterprise costs and return on investment (ROI) in information technologies (IT) and information systems (IS). However, as a distribution model which is still relatively recent and a fraction of all IT invested, even if growing at a faster pace than traditional distribution models, the impact in Firm Performance is still an area of research which is very much under covered especially in the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) segment. Literature reviews to support research of SaaS applications impact in SMEs Firm Performance are unknown to the best of our knowledge and this review in selected publications is a starting point to fill this gap and looks at some of the cross-road subjects that might be combined to build on greater knowledge and research work on the subject, such as Firm Performance influenced by (not specified genre of) IT/IS adoption; Cloud Computing and Performance, and, Enterprise Systems Software and Firm Performance. It provides an updated bibliography of the most relevant publications about these subjects, published mainly during the period of 2001 to 2014, for the exception of a seminal article published in 1995. A total of 32 articles from 30 journals and 2 conferences are reviewed. The main focus of this paper is to shed the light on the areas that researchers should consider in the research of the impact of SaaS business applications adoption in SMEs Firm Performance, and which are the major variables that explain SaaS Value influence to these organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While it is a generally shared fact around the globe that funding for library promotion (and in most cases, libraries in general) be rendered as a preβing concern, the fact remains that this challenge is truer in developing countries such as the Philippines. Librarians in charge of promoting the library can either choose to fight--defend their "rights" for a slice of the budget pie, or take flight--just do away with library promotion altogether. However, results of a low-cost and sustainable marketing strategy employed by the Rizal Library of the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines prove that there is a third and better option. The marriage of new media tools (such as social networking sites), relationship marketing, and guerilla marketing proved to be an effective means to promote the library and its services. The strategy was deployed in 2011, and continues to prove its effectiveneβ to date. Statistics on use and following have been steadily increasing, and the library has never been more popular with its client base than ever before. This paper presents a case study of how very few financial resources were able to make waves of impact and even created a loyal following of users for the Rizal Library. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The described concepts for modern automotive interior parts are based on polypropylene (PP). These interior parts have a core of expanded polypropylene particle foam (EPP) and a decorative layer of a thermoplastic polyolefin elastomer (TPO) film. Compared with conventional solutions in the field of automotive interior parts, they are characterised mainly due to the avoidance of material mixtures so that they have better recycling properties and are significantly lighter in spite of comparable crash behaviour. Because of the optimized combination of positive component properties (specifically, the rigidity of the carrier, lower density combined with the better crash behaviour of the EPP foam core and good haptic and optical properties of the film), the multi-material system compensates the disadvantages of the individual components. In addition, the integration of all process steps into a new single-step manufacturing process combined with the elimination of an additional surface treatment means that the new ultra-light concept should lead to a significant reduction in the costs and cycle time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Conference Proceedings International Scientific & Professional Conference Contemporary Issues in Economy & Technology, CIET is the property of University of Split, Department of Professional Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Energy costs and environmental standards encouraged cement manufacturers world-wide to evaluate to what extent conventional fuels can be replaced by alternative fuels with processed waste materials. The decisive factors promoting the use of cement kilns for the utilization of wastes (alternative fuels) are: the high incineration temperature, the large area of the furnace, the significant length of the kiln and the alkaline environment inside the kiln. It may further, reduce pollution from cement industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semiconductor manufacturing is a highly complex value-adding process, which is facing an extreme cost pressure. Currently a manufacturing cost reduction of 15 % per year has to be achieved by increased equipment and fab productivity. One contribution for achieving a cost reduction in semiconductor manufacturing is to reduce the effort for defect density control operations. In this paper, the basic concept and the main functionality of a predictive sampling concept will be described. A comprehensive overview of results using real historical data from several Infineon IC manufacturing sites will be presented and discussed. The application of the developed predictive sampling strategy provides an optimized tool control or technology control and a reduced effort for defect density control operations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Traditionally, process tool sub-fab systems, for example vacuum pumps and gas abatement systems, are designed to reliably serve the most challenging semiconductor production manufacturing applications 24 hours a day and seven days a week. However, it is never the case that 100% of the wafer processing tools in any semiconductor fab are in use 100% of the time. Communicating the actual status of the associated process tool to the sub-fab systems, and providing a look-ahead indication of the planned production, can allow sub-fab systems to be put into a Green Mode idle state at times when the production equipment does not require maximum performance from the sub-fab systems. This Green Mode can potentially save 10 to 40% of the sub-fab systems' utility costs, depending on the facility operations. For vacuum and exhaust gas management systems, entering Green Mode results in reductions in electrical power, process nitrogen, process cooling water, and heat loading, along with decreases in effluent discharges to wastewater treatment plants. The savings realized from Green Mode operation are not only good for the environment, but they also result in a direct reduction in fab operating expenses. We report here initial data collected putting Green Mode concepts into practice at a GLOBALFOUNDRIES production wafer fab, using plasma etch tools as the lead vehicles. This project is a productive collaboration between sub-fab tool suppliers, semiconductor process tool manufacturers, and GLOBALFOUNDRIES. We show that the savings we expected to incur by implementing Green Mode are both real for the fab and good for the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Nickel-metal hydride batteries are in high volume commercial production for mass market portable applications due to an excellent cost to performance ratio, application to a versatile product mix and environmental acceptability. Ovonic Battery Company Inc. (OBC) a subsidiary of Energy Conversion Devices Inc. (ECD) has established the dominant position in Ni-MH batteries by establishing a fundamental patent portfolio, a network of licensees and business affiliates, and continued product improvement based upon its atomic engineering approach. The largest opportunities for Ni-MH market growth are portable power tools, EV, HEV and fuel cell electric vehicles. These applications benefit from improvements in specific energy, cycle life, high temperature performance, activation/formation, and in particular specific power. Advances in materials technology have enabled performance improvements in specific energy (100 Wh/kg), specific power (1000 W/kg), high temperature operation, charge retention, cycle life and voltage stability. While electrode configuration and packaging are important factors in cell design, at the core of next generation Ni-MH technology are the continuing fundamental improvements to the metal hydride and nickel hydroxide active materials. In this paper, advances in performance, applications and cost reduction are discussed with particular emphasis on the improved proprietary metal hydride and nickel hydroxide materials that make such advances possible [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In lieu of the company's current performance, the market condition, and the changing institutional norm on cost-saving HR activities such as layoffs, a firm desires to strategically justify layoffs to influence investors' perceived context of layoffs. Investigating how the good and bad performing companies justify mass layoffs differently before and after the financial crisis helps explain how organizations make tradeoffs between efficiency gains and legitimacy concerns to build, maintain, tarnish, and repair reputations. We also investigate whether the companies employed other alternative cost-saving HR practices such as wage cut, wage freeze, over time without pay, benefit cuts, and furloughs (unpaid leave) and compare how they justify them differently during the two periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]