20,279 research outputs found
Business process re-engineering using a customised mapping model: a case study in a SME
Increasing customer expectations in terms of cost, quality and services, together with competition in global markets has placed a premium on effective internal business processes.
Companies are investing to streamline internal workflows, reduce costs and improve efficiency by re-engineering their business processes. Various mapping tools, such as Process Mapping and Value Stream Mapping, have been widely used as the vehicle for leveraging these improvements. However, in isolation any individual tool is often insufficient to achieve the desired results.
This article uses a case study approach to investigate a real business process re-engineering (BPR) project in a medium sized manufacturing and service company. Process improvement is carried out using a set of mapping tools that have been selected, simplified and combined for practice. It has been shown that human factors are also crucial to the success of a BPR project. The case study illustrates the success of BPR with real practical examples of what works.
Benefits include: increasing stock accuracy from 22% to above 95%; a reduction from about 40 reversed orders per month to zero, order fulfilment time reduced by 50%, and profitability
improved 3 times at the end of the project. Non-quantifiable benefits include the elimination of a need for corrective actions, employees are more motivated, and the business stream is flowing smoothly allowing other business processes perform efficiently without disturbance
Delineation of soil temperature regimes from HCMM data
The subsetting of HCMM data into ORSER format was completed for four dates using a modified SUBSET program. Large areas (approximately 2500 scan lines, 1680 elements) were selected to increase the occurrence of suitable control points for registration. Average daily temperatures (ADT) were calculated for each date. The MERGE program combined registered daytime temperature (DAY-IR) with nighttime temperature (NIGHT-IR) to form a separate two-channel data set. The SUBTRAN program averaged the DAY-IR and NIGHT-IR creating a third ADT channel. Registration equations for the four ADT data sets were generated. A one dimensional soil heat flow equation was modified to allow for mean annual soil temperature predictions using merged ADT data sets
Delineation of soil temperature regimes from HCMM data
Evaluation of LANDSAT and Heat Capacity Mapping Mission (HCMM) data as input into National Cooperative Soil Survey is discussed. Signature classification techniques were applied to 13 May 76 LANDSAT data. LANDSAT data was overlaid with HCMM data, revealing registration problems caused by a shortage of control points in LANDSAT data, and the WARP program developed to improve registration accuracy. Initial images for control point selection were produced using digital terrain elevation data. Statistical procedures for evaluating data classification and to describe spatial distribution of surface temperature and its correlation with soil surface conditions were investigated
Soil temperature investigations using satellite acquired thermal-infrared data in semi-arid regions
Thermal-infrared data from the Heat Capacity Mapping Mission satellite were used to map the spatial distribution of diurnal surface temperatures and to estimate mean annual soil temperatures (MAST) and annual surface temperature amplitudes (AMP) in semi-arid east central Utah. Diurnal data with minimal snow and cloud cover were selected for five dates throughout a yearly period and geometrically co-registered. Rubber-sheet stretching was aided by the WARP program which allowed preview of image transformations. Daytime maximum and nighttime minimum temperatures were averaged to generation average daily temperature (ADT) data set for each of the five dates. Five ADT values for each pixel were used to fit a sine curve describing the theoretical annual surface temperature response as defined by a solution of a one-dimensinal heat flow equation. Linearization of the equation produced estimates of MAST and AMP plus associated confidence statistics. MAST values were grouped into classes and displayed on a color video screen. Diurnal surface temperatures and MAST were primarily correlated with elevation
Delineation of soil temperature regimes from HCMM data
Supplementary data including photographs as well as topographic, geologic, and soil maps were obtained and evaluated for ground truth purposes and control point selection. A study area (approximately 450 by 450 pixels) was subset from LANDSAT scene No. 2477-17142. Geometric corrections and scaling were performed. Initial enhancement techniques were initiated to aid control point selection and soils interpretation. The SUBSET program was modified to read HCMM tapes and HCMM data were reformated so that they are compatible with the ORSER system. Initial NMAP products of geometrically corrected and scaled raw data tapes (unregistered) of the study were produced
Film thickness measurements on five fluid formulations by the mercury squeeze film capacitance technique
The thinning characteristics of five fluids were studied by measuring film thickness as a function of time. The mercury squeeze film capacitance technique was used. All tests were performed at room temperature. The synthetic hydrocarbon plus a nematic liquid crystal, N-(p-methoxybenzylidene)-p-butylaniline, thinned according to a Newtonian model and retained its bulk viscosity. The synthetic hydrocarbon plus a phosphonate antiwear additive and the synthetic hydrocarbon plus n-hexadecanol produced residual thick films. The synthetic hydrocarbon base fluids and the synthetic hydrocarbon plus a paraffinic resin displayed viscosity increases during thinning, but no residual films were formed
Manufacturing checkout of orbital operational stages Midterm report, period ending 24 Feb. 1965
Manufacturing checkout of orbital operational Saturn S-IVB stage and instrument unit for parking orbit operation
Measurement of the SOC State Specific Heat in ^4He
When a heat flux Q is applied downward through a sample of liquid 4He near the lambda transition, the helium self organizes such that the gradient in temperature matches the gravity induced gradient in Tlambda. All the helium in the sample is then at the same reduced temperature tSOC = ((T[sub SOC] - T[sub lambda])/T[sub lambda]) and the helium is said to be in the Self-Organized Critical (SOC) state. We have made preliminary measurements of the 4He SOC state specific heat, C[del]T(T(Q)). Despite having a cell height of 2.54 cm, our results show no difference between C[del]T and the zero-gravity 4He specific heat results of the Lambda Point Experiment (LPE) [J.A. Lipa et al., Phys. Rev. B, 68, 174518 (2003)] over the range 250 to 450 nK below the transition. There is no gravity rounding because the entire sample is at the same reduced temperature tSOC(Q). Closer to Tlambda the SOC specific heat falls slightly below LPE, reaching a maximum at approximately 50 nK below Tlambda, in agreement with theoretical predictions [R. Haussmann, Phys. Rev. B, 60, 12349 (1999)]
Asymptotic Exit Location Distributions in the Stochastic Exit Problem
Consider a two-dimensional continuous-time dynamical system, with an
attracting fixed point . If the deterministic dynamics are perturbed by
white noise (random perturbations) of strength , the system state
will eventually leave the domain of attraction of . We analyse the
case when, as , the exit location on the boundary
is increasingly concentrated near a saddle point of the
deterministic dynamics. We show that the asymptotic form of the exit location
distribution on is generically non-Gaussian and asymmetric,
and classify the possible limiting distributions. A key role is played by a
parameter , equal to the ratio of the stable
and unstable eigenvalues of the linearized deterministic flow at . If
then the exit location distribution is generically asymptotic as
to a Weibull distribution with shape parameter , on the
length scale near . If it is generically
asymptotic to a distribution on the length scale, whose
moments we compute. The asymmetry of the asymptotic exit location distribution
is attributable to the generic presence of a `classically forbidden' region: a
wedge-shaped subset of with as vertex, which is reached from ,
in the limit, only via `bent' (non-smooth) fluctuational paths
that first pass through the vicinity of . We deduce from the presence of
this forbidden region that the classical Eyring formula for the
small- exponential asymptotics of the mean first exit time is
generically inapplicable.Comment: This is a 72-page Postscript file, about 600K in length. Hardcopy
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WHEN PRINCIPLED REPRESENTATION TESTS ANTIDISCRIMINATION LAW
The decision in Stropnicky v. Nathanson completely disregarded the professional and personal considerations that drive the attorney’s decision whether or not to accept a case, focusing exclusively on societal concerns with eliminating discrimination. In doing so, it overlooked a long-lived deference accorded attorneys in the decision of whether to accept or decline a client’s case and the legitimate rationale underlying such deference. In deciding Stropnicky, a case of first impression in Massachusetts, the Commission entered a growing debate on whether lawyers and law firms are subject to public accommodation laws.This article addresses how the Stropnicky decision intrudes into the important discretion historically accorded lawyers in deciding whether to represent a client. Part I of this article presents a concise review of the professional responsibility rules that pertain to the attorney’s duties and prerogatives in the selection of a client. Part II proposes an analytical framework for assessing the internal and external factors which underlie such discretion as articulated by the professional responsibility rules. Part III focuses on the ways in which laudable antidiscrimination principles may collide with the professionalism concerns that accord discretion to attorneys in deciding whether or not to represent a prospective client. Part IV applies the analytical framework set forth earlier in the article to the facts in Stropnicky. Finally, the conclusion suggests how antidiscrimination principles can coexist with ethical and professional considerations that support discretionary client selection decision-making without compromising either principle
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