Job Shop Material Control Based on the Principles of Quick Response Manufacturing

Today cutting-edge companies will capitalize on time as a key driver of competitive advantage. Although the Paired-cell Overlapping Loops of Cards with Authorization (POLCA) of Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) is universally adopted as a material control mechanism in the shop floor, this paper is exploring its other principle. The newly thought approach, Utilization Based (UB) system is driving a whole new ways of controlling material flow in the production with the emphasis on operate the factory at optimum machine utilization. A simulation study was conducted to compare the POLCA and UB system. The deterministic metrics such as Manufacturing Critical-path Time (MCT), Throughputs (TP), Work in Progress (WIP) show that UB system is a viable alternative especially in the job shop environment with process layout. However, this method involves subcontracting in order to maximize output and minimize waiting time. The simulation study fulfilled the objectives of evaluating two different systems using the same set of inputs. The related performance measures prove the UB approach is as feasible as POLCA adopted in the job shop environment with some outperforming results

Asymbiotic germination of Borneo endemic orchid vanda hastifera

Orchid seeds are tiny, extremely light and often referred as "dust seeds". The seeds produced in vast numbers and contain very small nutrient reserves (Arditti and Abd Karim, 2000). Seeds may germinate in nature but will not grow unless infected by mycorrhizal fungus, which supplies the young plants with all the sugars and nutrients they need until the plants are old enough to produce food on their own (Rajkumar et al., 2008). In spite of huge number of seeds produce, only few seeds germinated in nature. In natural conditions, the life cycle of orchid is very long, it takes them approximately 4 to 10 years to bloom and produce seeds and this bring the difficulties for wild orchids to re-establish their position in natural habitats (Arditti, 1967). Therefore the application of plant tissue culture technique is proved to be the most efficient approach to conserve orchid species. In the present study, Vanda hastifera was selected because of the distribution of this Borneo endemic orchid has been depleted from its natural habitat because of the deforestation activities towards urban and agriculture development. This orchid was originally found mainly in Mt. Kinabalu and Tambunan district of Sabah (Chan et al., 1994). The flower of V. hastifera is white-cream with brown spots and it has a sweet scented which remain flowered throughout the year. The purpose of this study is to optimize the best medium for in vitro seed germination by determine the effect of basal media, complex additives and carbon sources for nurturing the conservation efforts of this valuable native orchid

Relationships of maternal folate and vitamin B12 status during pregnancy with perinatal depression: The GUSTO study

Journal of Psychiatric Research551110 - 116JPYRAGUSTO (Growing up towards Healthy Outcomes)GUSTO (Growing up towards Healthy Outcomes)GUSTO (Growing up towards Healthy Outcomes