The development of an innovative SME-focused toolset integrating carbon footprint calculation with lean manufacturing waste reduction techniques

This paper seeks to explore the role that SMEs can play in the drive to reduce UK greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in line with the recent European Union (EU) targets; a 30% reduction by 2020 and a 60% reduction by 2050 (DEFRA, 2007). In the UK 99% of all VAT registered companies are classified as SME’s and between them they account for 47% of the annual UK turnover (Directgov, 2007) As yet there are no legislative drivers for SMEs to reduce emissions however it is suggested that market forces may be a key driver for SMEs to begin reducing their GHG emissions

Comparing Carbon Footprint Methodologies for SMEs

Carbon footprints are useful and important tools in the fight against climate change, which are now being used widely by larger companies. These large corporations have recognised not only their use as an environmental tool but also their potential to attract customers and reduce costs. However, this is not yet the case for many smaller companies who still consider environmental assessment to be a burden which is too difficult and costly to undertake. In order to encourage small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to take more responsibility for their environmental impact, a carbon footprint tool needs to be developed specifically for them, which addresses their particular requirements, namely their lack of knowledge of environmental issues and their lack of time and money. There are currently two basic methodological approaches to produce the conversion factors required to convert quantitative values of material used into the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced by that material usage. One methodology is called lifecycle analysis (LCA) as it looks at all the steps individually throughout the lifecycle of a product and adds them together to form an overall picture. The other, called environmental input output analysis (EIO), uses economic purchase and sales data combined with sector emissions to derive conversion factors based on the amount of money spent within a different sector. This study compares both of these methodologies to determine which of them is most suitable to use in the development of a tool for SMEs. Two tools were created, one based upon each methodology. The most noticeable difference between these two tools was that whereas the LCA tool asked for information in terms of the quantity of a material used, the EIO tool asked for information about the amount of money spent within a sector

SME application of LCA-based carbon footprints

Following a brief introduction about the need for businesses to respond to climate change, this paper considers the development of the phrase ‘carbon footprint’. Widely used definitions are considered before the authors offer their own interpretation of how the term should be used. The paper focuses on the contribution small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) make to the economy and their level of influence in stimulating change within organisations. The experience of an outreach team from the Engineering Department of a UK university is used which draws on the experience of delivering regional economic growth projects funded principally through the European Regional Development Fund. Case studies are used including the development of bespoke carbon footprints for SMEs from an initiative delivered by the outreach team. Limitations of current carbon footprints are identified based on this higher education-industry knowledge exchange mechanism around three main themes of scope, the assessment method and conversion factors. Evidence and discussions are presented that conclude with the presentation of some solutions based on the work undertaken with SMEs and a discussion on the merits of the two principally used methodologies: life-cycle analysis and economic input–output assessment

EFFECTIVENESS OF NAVAL INTRODUCTORY FLIGHT EVALUATION (NIFE)

The naval aviation training pipeline was modified in 2020 so that the first training phase is now the Naval Introductory Flight Evaluation (NIFE). Designed to reduce attrition and improve performance in the next phase of flight training, Primary, NIFE replaces the previous initial training phases, Introductory Flight Screening and Aviation Pre-flight Indoctrination. This research conducts statistical analysis on data from over 4,500 students to assess NIFE’s effectiveness and verify whether it is reducing attrition and improving performance in Primary. The results indicate that NIFE largely accomplished its program goals. The Chief of Naval Air Training should retain NIFE in its current form. Further analyses into NIFE’s impacts should account for the potential training decay effects and time-varying confounding. Additionally, a future cost benefit analysis of NIFE will provide further context to the results of this study and help decision makers assess the value of the NIFE program.Ensign, United States NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Environmental Inequity: Economic Causes, Economic Solutions

The article examines one such shortcoming: namely, that existing research fails to account for the dynamic nature of the housing market. Analyzing data from the St. Louis metropolitan area, this study finds that economic factors--not siting discrimination--are behind many claims of environmental racism. This phenomenon suggests the need to develop public policies that fit the economic nature of the problem. In particular, a policy that compensates individuals living near industrial sites is the key to securing environmental justice

5G and Net Neutrality

Industry observers have raised the possibility that European network neutrality regulations may obstruct the deployment of 5G. To assess those claims, this Chapter describes the key technologies likely to be incorporated into 5G, including millimeter wave band radios, massive multiple input/multiple output (MIMO), ultra-densification, multiple radio access technologies (multi-RAT), and support for device-to-device (D2D) and machine-to-machine (M2M) connectivity. It then reviews the business models likely to be associated with 5G, including network management through biasing and blanking, an emphasis on business-to-business (B2B) communications, and network function virtualization/network slicing. It then lays out the network neutrality regulations created by the EU in 2015 as well as the nonbinding interpretive guidelines issued by the Body of Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communication (BEREC) in 2016 and assesses how they will be applied to 5G. Network neutrality’s impact on 5G will likely to be determined by the way that the exceptions for reasonable traffic management and specialised services are interpreted. A broad interpretation should accommodate network slicing and other new business models needed to support the deployment of 5G, while a narrow interpretation could restrict innovation and investment

“Safe” Annuity Retirement Products and a Possible US Retirement Crisis

This paper examines a looming possible crisis in many Americans’ retirement plans due to the proliferation of annuity products in their retirement investment portfolios. As defined benefit pension plans have almost completely disappeared as a means of retirement savings and have been replaced by defined contribution retirement plans over the last 40 to 50 years, a great number of private and public sector defined contribution retirement plans have become laden with insurance contracts called annuities. Of the remaining solid defined benefit plans many, through a process called Pension Risk Transfer are being converted to high-risk single entity annuities. Such products have been sold to employers and employees as “safe” and “guaranteed’ financial instruments that that are just as good as a defined retirement benefit plan backed by Federal PBGC (Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation) insurance. The results of the analysis in this paper calls this into question, and with so many of these annuities having ties to investments and loans related to risky assets, the authors find that many annuity products are exposed to systemic risk that could lead to a bust in the pensions of many retirees and soon-to-be retirees. The “Emperor has no Clothes” as the life insurance industry has poured billions of dollars into advertising, lobbying, commissions & trade articles with misinformation on annuities with everyone afraid to call out the obvious fiduciary problems. To invest in annuities one must look the other way at one of most basic investment principals -diversification, i.e., “do not put your eggs in one basket.” Excessive monopolistic profits through secret spread fees have remained hidden with no US Federal regulation or oversight. This paper shows the drawbacks, weaknesses, and pitfalls of annuities as investments for retirement plans as well as the injustices of such plans toward lower income workers

University-private sector partnerships:assessing long-term collaboration to deliver economic impact in the Northwest of England

Objectives Private and public sector working together for mutual benefit is nothing new and in the context of education, this has historically focussed on areas such as employability-related experiences for students, supply-chains for goods and services, and within higher education specifically, the growing need to demonstrate research impact. In this presentation, we explore the impact of private and public-sector working together to deliver regional economic growth through technology transfer. The objectives of this research stems from a twelve-year collaborative relationship between a higher education institute (HEI) and a private sector, technology value-added reseller (VAR). The authors assess and reflect on this activity, funded through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to help understand the inputs, processes and outcomes of that relationship. Approach / Methodology The approach undertaken was firstly to identify the ERDF-funded projects since 2002 that the VAR (Quadra Solutions Ltd) has been a part of, as a private sector partner, with the HEI (Lancaster University’s Engineering Department). This is defined as where there is a service level agreement in place and the provision of match-funding is committed-to in that contract. This differs from that of a sub-contractor where the relationship may be better defined as purchaser-supplier and emphasizes the collaborative nature of the relationship being explored. We subsequently identified the ‘interventions’ in which both the knowledge exchange team (Lancaster Product Development Unit) and Quadra Solutions Ltd had worked with a ‘beneficiary’ as part of those ERDF initiatives. Retaining confidential information, these interventions were aggregated and basic company information collected in terms of location, size (by turnover) and sector. Analysis was then undertaken on the results collected as a consequence of that intervention, based on the following economic key performance indicators (KPIs): businesses improving performance; safeguarding of jobs; and the creation of new jobs. Qualitative reflection was carried out to assess wider impacts of the relationship and the development of a model that articulates this way of working. We highlight both the benefits and drawbacks based on extensive experience of providing technology-transfer solutions to SMEs, part-funded by ERDF. Results The results show that 93 interventions have been undertaken between Lancaster University’s Engineering Department and Quadra Solutions Ltd, in-part funded by ERDF between 2003 and 2015, spanning seven major projects. All of these interventions supported technology transfer by the introduction of a new or enhanced design process within the beneficiary, using the Autodesk family of software. All beneficiaries receiving support were SMEs, complying with national and regional eligibility guidelines as defined by the funding body secretariat. Sectoral breakdown unsurprisingly shows that the vast majority were in the engineering/manufacturing sector, accounting for 94.6% of the total. Of those SMEs that were assisted, all received increased functionality via the introduction or improvement to design software than that previously being used, demonstrating clear technology transfer. Where data was obtained, this intervention led to the cumulative safeguarding of 102.1 jobs and the creation of 71 jobs. As noted elsewhere, there is considerable ambiguity in using figures that attempt to provide a unit cost per result, and whilst one can attempt to draw comparison with other initiatives in other areas, this can be problematic due to assumptions made. For the purposes of this investigation, we have benchmarked against ourselves and show that for all cumulative ERDF assistance provided by the Engineering Department, the average job created per intervention is 0.64 and the average job safeguarded is 0.91. For the technology transfer work carried out in partnership with Quadra Solutions Ltd, the figures are 0.76 and 1.10, respectively. More widely, there are other impacts from joint collaboration with private sector partners that have been created, for the HEI: • Clear access to the latest in engineering design functionality, informed by globally-operating OEMs spanning many sectors; • Provision of a match-funding contribution through the time of company representatives contributing towards the objectives of the project; • Sharing of a networks of users and manufactures in close proximity, with a ‘seal-of-approval’ for quality of work; • Local, regional, national and international market intelligence; • Formalisation in the pursuit of similar objectives; • Contribution to the state-of-the-art and hence vital commercial-sector input to other future programmes of business support. The benefits created by such a relationship for private sector partners include: • Promotion of joint-funding opportunities to potential beneficiaries generating in-house advocates, or ‘funding champions’; • Ability to join-up wider business-support allied to technology transfer, which may include time-bound financial incentives, training offers, subscriptions, hardware support and so on. • Increased knowledge and experience of public-funding processes, regulations and conditions; • Externally-visible partnerships with a world-ranked university. Arguably the most important benefits relate to the end-user, which in this case is the beneficiary. The following model outlines a typical journey taken by a beneficiary through the technology acquisition route of intervention. Additional benefits to the beneficiaries in these cases may include: • Increased ability to develop new products • Awareness of how new technology processes can be further exploited, such as through expansion, training, add-ons; • A route into higher education to explore other research and development opportunities that may exist beyond that of the intervention; Implications and Recommendations The authors fully accept that there are a number of issues with the data collected which include that our assessment methods: • Only take account of the reported results when/if engaged with the beneficiary. Some beneficiaries become reluctant to undertake evaluation after the assistance has been delivered. • It does not record the exact time input to each intervention made by either the HEI or the VAR. • The package of support (or agreed solution) has not been specified and will include some differences, in this case in software, including for example upgrades or new packages. Notwithstanding some of the limitations outlined above, we have been able to demonstrate that the work carried-out by the partnership of a private sector VAR and an HEI to support SMEs in technology transfer has clear, demonstrable impact, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Such a model can be applied to future initiatives that have technology transfer as a theme within business support. Areas for development / future research There are a number of important areas underpinned by this work that would be useful to explore further: • Sector transference, for example application in other disciplines requiring software, such as for example architecture, construction, chemicals, food and drink, creative. • Technology transference, for example application of using other technologies beyond software, such as for example, manufacturing hardware. • Longer-term assessment of the impact to beneficiaries of these interventions, which may include aspects related to innovation culture, new product development or increased capacity for R&D. • Exploration of opportunities that may be available beyond the intervention provided, by the HEI, such as access to graduates, and the ‘completion of the circle’

Preference Identification

An experimenter seeks to learn a subject's preference relation. The experimenter produces pairs of alternatives. For each pair, the subject is asked to choose. We argue that, in general, large but finite data do not give close approximations of the subject's preference, even when countably infinite many data points are enough to infer the preference perfectly. We then provide sufficient conditions on the set of alternatives, preferences, and sequences of pairs so that the observation of finitely many choices allows the experimenter to learn the subject's preference with arbitrary precision. The sufficient conditions are strong, but encompass many situations of interest. And while preferences are approximated, we show that it is harder to identify utility functions. We illustrate our results with several examples, including expected utility, and preferences in the Anscombe-Aumann model