Business Process: Automation And Optimization Considerations In Hardwood Lumber Manufacturing

Historically, the hardwood lumber natural resource industry has been portrayed as a relatively low-tech industry.Most hardwood sawmills do not adequately consider the potential benefits of information systems enabledapplications and solutions to enhance overall yield and efficiency. However, as computer-based technology isimplemented across the entire manufacturing process, advanced optimization and automation could improveoverall yield value to seventy percent or more (if properly applied). The primary purpose of this experiment is toevaluate the major benefits of using optimization and automation in the scanning carriage manufacturingcomponent of sawmill production, including maximized efficiency and yield recovery. In addition, a significantimpact comes by minimizing the wood waste, as well as by maximizing wood conversion efficiency in themanufacturing process, benefitting the environment. By maximizing efficiency while minimizing waste, the lumberindustry can reduce its consumption of natural resources further aiding in the environmental resource gap as well

Talking On Your Cell Phone and Ethical Responsibility: How Many Children Died for Your Battery?

Ethics has been an increasingly important topic in business and many issues stem from this broad subject.Especially when companies cross borders to conduct business, the lines for what is ethical begin to blur whencosts and profits are concerned. Thus, many issues emerge when looking at environmental and socialresponsibility, such as environmental friendliness, local manufacturing, and child labor. These ethical issues havebrought about standards of conduct for businesses as consumers tend to react poorly when an ethical line hasbeen crossed. This study attempts to look at how one such issue, child labor, impacts the purchasing behaviorsof consumers for the cell phone industry. Coltan is a raw mineral that is used in many technologies, including thebatteries of cell phones and computers. This mineral is currently being mined using child labor in Africa,specifically the country of Congo. Unfortunately, this issue has not been publicized and cell phone companies arenot currently being held accountable for where the coltan for their cell phones is coming from. Thus, the purposeof this study is to expose this ethical dilemma and measure the potential effect on consumers within the cellphone industry

Password Selection by End Users from an eCommerce Site: An Empirical Study

Individuals generally have the responsibility of creating their own passwords on an e-commerce site. As users attempt to create a password that they can remember, they often create one that others can easily guess. This situation can also create another paradox, where the user cannot remember their password in their quest to create an unpredictable one. This paper examines what passwords were created by users on an e-commerce site, their gender, into what categories they appear, and how their choices could be identified through a software cracking program. This paper also addresses the security of users’ password choices in comparison to positive password actions suggested by security experts. The results of this study could assist both consumers and e-commerce sites in recognizing and recommending secure password choices and policies