Investigation into current industrial practices relating to product lifecycle management in a multi-national manufacturing company

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems have gained growing acceptance for managing all information relating to products throughout their full lifecycle, from idea conceptualisation through operations to servicing and disposal. This paper, through an in-depth exploratory study into a leading power generation manufacturing organisation, presents current PLM issues experienced by manufacturing companies, exploring three separate topics: 1) PLM, 2) Knowledge Management and Lessons Learnt and 3) Product Servicing and Maintenance. Following a review of published literature, results of the investigation are presented, analysing the responses of 17 employees interviewed. With respect to Product Development, it was found that information traceability is time consuming and change management requests take too long to complete. Results relating to knowledge management indicate that the Company operates a ‘who you know’ culture, but do aim to capture lessons learned on the manufacturing shop floor and assembly lines. Therefore, a prototype design is proposed to integrate the capturing of lessons learnt within the existing PLM system

SEED QUALITY OF SELECTED VEGETABLE SPECIES ON THE POLISH MARKET

In the years 2001-2003 the seed quality of 108 samples of white head cabbage, garden carrot, red beet, onion, cucumber, tomato, radish, lettuce, common bean and garden pea were checked. They came from 3 Polish seed companies and 1 foreign one operating on the Polish market. It was found out that 22.2% of the examined seed samples did not meet the standards concerning germination capacity. The worst were seeds of lettuce and head cabbage. Their samples did not meet the germination capacity standards in 55.5% and 41.7%, respectively. The best quality was found for seeds of red beet and cucumbers - all their tested samples met the germination capacity standards. The highest number of samples, which did not meet the standards, came from the company number 2, the smallest - from the company number 4. All tested seed samples met the purity standards

Nasiennictwo roślin ozdobnych w Polsce

W ostatnich latach obserwuje się duże zmiany w nasiennictwie roślin ozdobnych w Polsce. Od roku 1989, gdy powstał wolny rynek na nasiona, produkcja nasion rolniczych i ogrodniczych (w tym kwiatów) zmniejszyła się. Wiele dużych jednostek państwowych, firm ze szklarniami i miejskich kombinatów szklarniowych, które dotąd zawsze kupowały nasiona kwiatów, upadło. Jednocześnie prywatni ogrodnicy mają dziś szerszy dostęp do nasion roślin ozdobnych z importu. Ponadto, na rynku pokazały się duże firmy zagraniczne z ofertą szerokiego asortymentu kwiatów. Dla nasion oferują one nowe, hermetyczne torebki obniżając w nich wagę nasion. Powstanie na rynku supermarketów i centrów ogrodniczych wymusiło nowe działania marketingowe. Zwiększył się import nasion kwiatów pomimo, że pojemność rynku amatorskiego, szacowana na 80-100 milionów torebek rocznie, stale się zmniejsza. Wiele firm nasiennych, które kiedyś sprzedawały tylko nasiona warzyw, ostatnio wzbogaciło swoje oferty o nasiona kwiatów. Dodatkowo, nasiona polskich odmian roślin ozdobnych rozmnażane za granicą weszły na nasz rynek. Prywatyzacja polskich firm nasiennych, choć idzie wolno, będzie w końcu miała wpływ na strategię produkcji, ulepszanie i handel nasionami kwiatów. Polskie normy jakościowe dla nasion kwiatów wymagają uaktualnienia, gdyż dziś mają jedynie charakter minimalny. W nadchodzących latach, spodziewane jest dalsze zwiększenie konkurencji na rynku nasion kwiatów. Reprodukcja nasion kwiatów i ich import do Polski zwiększą się. Pojemność polskiego rynku ustabilizuje się na poziomie 70-75 milionów małych torebek rocznie (razem z warzywami). Na rynku pokażą się ulepszone, skalibrowane, otoczkowane i inkrustowane nasiona. Hodowla nowych odmian, bez subwencji ze strony państwa, ograniczy się do tylko kilku polskich firm.In last years, large changes in ornamental plant seed sector in Poland were observed. Since 1989, when a free seed market was created, the production of agricultural and horticultural seeds (including flower seeds) has decreased. Many large state units, greenhouse enterprises and municipal greenery companies, which used to always buy flower seeds, collapsed. At the same time private gardeners have today a wider access to imported ornamental plant seeds. Moreover, large foreign companies appeared up on the market with a wide assortment of their offer of flower species. Today they offer today new, hermetic bags for seeds, lowering seed weights in them. Development of supermarkets and garden centers of the market forced new marketing activities. The import of flower seeds increased despite the fact that the amateurs market capacity, estimated for 80-100 million small bags per year, has been constantly lowering. Many seed companies, which used to sell only vegetable seeds, enriched their offers by flower seeds lately. In addition, the seeds of Polish ornamental plant cultivars multiplied abroad entered the market. The privatization of the Polish seed companies, although going slowly, will eventually affect the seed production strategy, enhancement and trade of flowers seeds. Polish seed quality standards for flower need updating, because today they are only a minimal character. In the forthcoming years, further increase in the competition on the flower seed market can be expected. The seeds reproduction abroad and their import to Poland will increase. The market capacity in Poland will stabilize at the level of 70-75 min small bags per year (together with vegetables). The enhanced, graded, pelleted and incrusted seeds will show up on the market. The breeding of new cultivars, without subsidization and the state help, will limit it to only a few Polish companies

INDEXES OF TOLERANCE OF TOMATO (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) SEEDS FOR GERMINATION AT LOW TEMPERATURES

Sixteen tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) cultivars from Poland and China were tested on their seed tolerance to germinate at low temperatures: 15 degree and 10 degree. Their responses were evaluated based on 4 characters: germination energy, germination capacity, maximum germination and fresh weight of 100 normal seedlings, calculated then into 6 different indexes. All of proposed indexes include the optimal temperature of germination (20 degree). There is a possibility to use the suggested indexes to evaluate seed tolerance of various tomato cultivars to germinate at low temperatures. The tested low temperatures decreased the germination energy of the seeds of the tested tomato cultivars. Three cultivars were found with a satisfactory germination at 15 degree, but at 10 degree the germination of all tested cultivars was poor. The biggest tolerances of seeds to germinate at 15 degree was found for the cultivars: 'Kibic', 'Maliniak' and 'Etna F1', the smallest - for the cultivars: 'Bai Guo Qiang Feng' and 'Sheng Li 919'. The biggest tolerances of seeds to germinate at 10 degree was found for the cultivars: 'Batory F1' and 'Korsarz', whereas the smallest - for the cultivars: 'Etna F1', 'Poranek', 'Maliniak', 'Kora', 'Bursztyn', 'Sheng Li 919', 'Ju Huang 83-3' and 'Bai Guo Qiang Feng'