Development and fabrication of a solar cell junction processing system

Development of a pulsed electron beam subsystem, wafer transport system, and ion implanter are discussed. A junction processing system integration and cost analysis are reviewed. Maintenance of the electron beam processor and the experimental test unit of the non-mass analyzed ion implanter is reviewed

Association of Nonfinancial Performance Measures with the Financial Performance of a Lodging Chain

A test of nonfinancial measures used as part of a management-incentive program by a U.S.-based, full-service hotel chain found that improvements in the nonfinancial measures were followed shortly by increases in revenue and profit. The two nonfinancial measures are customer satisfaction as measured by guests’ comment card indications of likelihood to return and level of complaints. The lag between the nonfinancial measures and changes in revenue and operating profit was six months in this case. While the test applies directly to that one chain, the lesson is important to the rest of the hotel industry

Manufacturing Performance Reporting For Continuous Quality Improvement

Recently many plants have implemented the new manufacturing strategy of continuous quality improvement. The central hypothesis in this paper is that the implementation of a policy of continuous quality improvement results in a shift in the management control system. This article tests this hypothesis by examining the shop floor reporting policies of forty-two plants located in the United States. The paper documents that the extent of information concerning the current status of manufacturing, such as charts on defect rates or schedule compliance and productivity information, provided to workers on the shop floor is positively related to the implementation of continuous quality improvement programs

A Field Study of the Impact of a Performance-Based Incentive Plan

Much management accounting research focuses on design of incentive compensation contracts. A basic assumption in these contracts is that performance-based incentives improve employee performance. This paper reports on a field test of the multi-period incentive effects of a performance-based compensation plan on the sales of a retail establishment. Analysis of panel data for 15 retail outlets over 66 months indicates a sales increase when the plan is implemented, an effect that persists and increases over time. Sales gains are significantly lower in the peak selling season when more temporary workers are employed

Experimental investigations on forming limit diagram of ultra thin SS 304 steel : effect of circular grid size, sheet orientation, punch size and deformation speed

In the present work, SS 304 sheet of 200 μm thickness was used to experimentally evaluate the forming limit diagram (FLD). In this context, a sub-size limiting dome height (LDH) test setup was developed to deform rectangular specimens of different widths using a 30 mm hemispherical punch. Further, effect of various parameters such as change in circular grid size, stretching direction with respect to rolling direction of the sheet, punch size and deformation speed on limiting strains was investigated. It was observed that there was marginal change in limiting strains due to the change of punch diameter from 30 mm to 50 mm. The FLD0 level changed approximately 7.5% and 6.8% with the change in punch diameter and stretching direction respectively. It was also found that the FLD0 value increased by 15% with change in circular grid diameter from 2.5 mm to 2.0 mm. However, a negligible change in the limiting strains was noted when the grid diameter was further reduced to 1.0 mm. There was negligible change in the FLD0 level with increase in punch speed from 4 mm/min to 100 mm/min, but approximately 13% decrease was found when the punch speed was further increased to 400 mm/min. Moreover, the LDH, strain distribution and failure strains were also analyzed in context of formability

An Empirical Examination of the Impacts from Termination of a Performance-Based Incentive Plan

This paper reports on the financial impacts from the termination of a pay for performance plan for the salesforce at a retail establishment. Using monthly panel data spanning more than eight years for 15 outlets of a major retailer, this study documents that store-level sales and operating profits decrease after the incentive plan is terminated. Individual performance data are then investigated to help identify the role of effort and selection effects in explaining the documented decrease. The analysis of the individual employee sales data reveals that virtually all of the declining store level sales can be explained by selection effects

The Impact of Supervisory Monitoring On High-End Retail Sales Productivity

Based on a two-stage analysis of a panel of data on 12 outlets of a high-end retailer for 24 months, we investigate how the level of supervisory monitoring affects retail sales productivity. In the first stage, we use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to compute the relative productivity of retail outlets in using their labor and capital resources to generate store sales. In the second stage, we regress the logarithm of DEA scores on contextual variables to obtain consistent estimators of the impact of contextual variables on productivity (Banker and Natarajan in Operation Research 56:48-58, 2008). Contrary to agency theoretic prediction that supervisory monitoring leads to an increase in retail sales productivity, our empirical results indicate that the higher the level of supervisory monitoring, the lower is the retail sales productivity for high-end retail outlets

Performance measurement with multiple interrelated variables and threshold target levels:evidence from retail firms in the US

In this study, we developed a DEA-based performance measurement methodology that is consistent with performance assessment frameworks such as the Balanced Scorecard. The methodology developed in this paper takes into account the direct or inverse relationships that may exist among the dimensions of performance to construct appropriate production frontiers. The production frontiers we obtained are deemed appropriate as they consist solely of firms with desirable levels for all dimensions of performance. These levels should be at least equal to the critical values set by decision makers. The properties and advantages of our methodology against competing methodologies are presented through an application to a real-world case study from retail firms operating in the US. A comparative analysis between the new methodology and existing methodologies explains the failure of the existing approaches to define appropriate production frontiers when directly or inversely related dimensions of performance are present and to express the interrelationships between the dimensions of performance

Hordeum Vulgare Hull in the Design of Fast Disintegrating Tablets

In the present study, fast disintegrating tablets were designed with a view to enhance patient compliance. In this method, the hull of Hordeum vulgare, cross carmellose sodium, and sodium starch glycolate were used as superdisintegrants (4 and 6%), along with microcrystalline cellulose and mannitol, to enhance mouth feel. The prepared batches of tablets were evaluated for hardness, friability, drug content uniformity, wetting time, water absorption ratio and in vitro dispersion time. Based on the in vitro dispersion time, the formulations were tested for the in vitro drug release pattern. Tablets having H. vulgare hull showed the release profile comparable to those tablets having sodium starch glycolate and cross carmellose sodium