Modular strategies in cars and computers

Summary The focus of many European and American companies is currently on "modular" strategies in product design and production. A modular product has individual elements which are designed independently but function together as a seamless whole. In this article Mari Sako and Fiona Murray compare the experiences of the computer industry - where modularity was consumer led - with that of the automobile industry where the impetus for adoption has come from cost and complexity reduction. They discuss the strategic choice between integration and modularisation for original equipment manufacturers, note the changing role of suppliers, and conclude by describing recent research which highlights regional differences. The automobile industry has been the source of major strategic thinking throughout this century. Ford's moving assembly line, for example, first standardised work, while Taiichi Ohno's Toyota Production System and, more recently, lean production techniques were important managerial innovations. The design, manufacture and distribution of the automobile capture the key strategic challenges associated with a complex and technologically sophisticated product with the result that companies in other sectors have sought inspiration and lessons. Now the focus of many European and American manufacturers is on so-called modular strategies in product design and production. This article assesses the success of this new development and its value as a strategic weapon in the search for new sources of competitive advantage in manufacturing industries

Forecasting Sales

This chapter deals with forecasting sales (in units or money), where an explicit distinction is made between sales of durable goods (computers, cars, books) and sales of utilitarian products (SKU level in supermarkets). Invariably, sales forecasting amounts to a combination of statistical modeling and an expert’s touch. Models for durable goods sales are usually based on (variants of) the Bass model, while SKU sales forecasts are typically based on simple extrapolation methods. Forecast evaluation is not standard due to the interaction of model and expert.diffusion;SKU-level sales;durable goods;human judgment;sales forecasting

USE OF INTELLIGENT SOLUTIONS FOR URBAN DEVELOPMENT

The concept „smart planet” refers at intelligence which is being infused into the systems and processes and makes the world work better. We think that smarter means to infused intelligence into things which no one would recognize as computers: cars, appliances, roadways, even natural systems such as agriculture and waterways. To build a smart planet must to start from three main ideas: instrument the world’s systems, interconnect the world’s systems and make the world’s systems intelligent. This paper analysis where we can use the smart systems in our city and if these are a significant part of future locality development.smart solutions, smart planet, smart locality, urban development.

Visual Intelligence and the Terminator

What would it take to replicate the human visual system in synthetic hardware? What software models can we use to implement the mammalian visual system? The goal of our research is a neuromorphic vision system capable of categorizing, tracking and maintaining a visual memory of tens of targets. The application of such system is in smart phones, computers, robotics, autonomous cars, smart appliances, to name a few

Fully Integrated Smart BLDC Motor Driver

There is tendency for using lot of electromechanical drives instead of mechanical to create more automatic and convenient systems. This means increase of number of DC motors in different devices such as cars, air conditions, computers, household appliances, manufacture machines etc. All this motors have to be driven in different operation modes. Such parameters as rotation speed, current angle, torque, noise should be controlled. Fully integrated DC Motor driver is the cheapest and the most smart solution

Justice for Janitors: The Challenge of Organizing In Contract Services

[Excerpt] In 1988 Omar Vasconez, a commercial office janitor in New York City, earned $11.29-an-hour plus full benefits. In Atlanta, janitor Mary Jenkins was earning$3.40-an-hour with no benefits. While Mary could be fired at the drop of a hat, Omar had job security and would keep his job even if his employer, a janitorial contractor, lost the cleaning account at that building and was replaced by another contractor. Both worked for large, multinational service contractors with tens of thousands of employees in all major U.S. cities. Omar is a member of Local 32B-32J, Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Mary typifies the nonunion office cleaner. This tale of two cities reveals at a glance some basic features of service contracting. In service industries, labor markets are strongly segmented by geography: janitorial services don\u27t compete in international markets, like cars and computers do. At the same time, cutthroat competition among contractors amplifies the already sharp competition among unskilled labor within the local market. Omar\u27s total compensation is over four times that of Mary for one reason only: his union controls the local labor market

Fly-by-Wire Systems Enable Safer, More Efficient Flight

Using the ultra-reliable Apollo Guidance Computer that enabled the Apollo Moon missions, Dryden Flight Research Center engineers, in partnership with industry leaders such as Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Draper Laboratory, demonstrated that digital computers could be used to fly aircraft. Digital fly-by-wire systems have since been incorporated into large airliners, military jets, revolutionary new aircraft, and even cars and submarines

Editorial for special issue: Advances in sedentary behavior research and translation

Sedentary behaviour—essentially low energy sitting time in waking hours—has emerged as an important topic in public health over the past decade or so. Although Morris and colleagues [1] analysed health outcomes of active versus seated occupations over 60 years ago, it was not until studies of TV viewing in children in the 1980s [2] that researchers started to recognise “too much sitting” as a potentially important health behaviour. Even then the rapid rise in the study of sedentary behaviour was not so evident until the early 2000s [3]–[5]. Studies on screen viewing (TV and computers), sitting at work and school, and sitting in cars have all emerged over this period, as well as a general recognition that high levels of sitting may have detrimental effects on health, and possibly be independent of levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). In the past 10–15 years there has been an exponential increase in papers addressing sedentary behaviour from the perspective of sitting, noting that many exercise physiologists still use the word 'sedentary' incorrectly by referring to those not meeting a criterion level of “sufficient” physical activity

Positive and negative sides of technology

Nowadays, we cannot imagine our life without technology. 100 years ago people didn’t even hear about computers, cars and other electrical devices. But now we cannot live comfortably and easily without them. These different devices are necessary in our daily routine. Also, technology can solve problems of designing, inventing, building things such as products, houses, bridges and others. Technology affects us and the environment both positively and negatively. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/3369

Forecasting Sales

This chapter deals with forecasting sales (in units or money), where an explicit distinction is made between sales of durable goods (computers, cars, books) and sales of utilitarian products (SKU level in supermarkets). Invariably, sales forecasting amounts to a combination of statistical modeling and an expert’s touch. Models for durable goods sales are usually based on (variants of) the Bass model, while SKU sales forecasts are typically based on simple extrapolation methods. Forecast evaluation is not standard due to the interaction of model and expert