Earnings Per Share Versus Cash Flow Per Share as Predictor of Dividend; Evidence from Non Financial Sector of Pakistan

This research study has compared the relative predictive power of earnings and cash flow in order to find out the best predictor of dividend. This study has used panel data techniques and the data has been collected from the balance sheet analysis of 104 KSE-100 index non-financial companies. This study has employed a linear mixed effect model approach to investigate the main problem. The two models (earnings based model and cash flow based model) have been compared by using log likelihood estimator and Akaiki information criteria (AIC). The results have shown that cash flow per share is a better predictor of dividend than earnings per share in term of log likelihood estimator and Akaiki information criteria (AIC). The results have also concluded that both earnings per share and cash flow per share have a significant relationship with dividend. The study also finds out that all the control variables including firm’s size (SIZE), leverage ratio (LR), market to book value (MBV) and liquidity ratio (LIQ) have a significant relationship with dividend. Keywords: Earning per share (EPS), Cash flow per share (CFPS), Dividend, Linear mixed effect model, Log likelihood estimator, Akaiki information Criteria (AIC) and KSE-100 inde

Strengthening SMEs through Rapid Prototyping to Meet Future Challenges - Why & How?

In the current scenario of the global economic crisis, market uncertainty, layoffs, shrinkage in market size are some common issues which the business is facing and at the same time looking for some way outs. This situation demands the reconfiguration of existing theories, models or frameworks so that innovative solutions can be developed to ease the situation. Technology like Rapid Prototyping have the potential to meet certain future challenges, but there is a dire need to blend the technology and strategy together to end up with a viable solution, unfortunately there is no one and simple solution, but joint efforts by different stakeholders is the need of time. A recent trend is the globalization of the production operations in which the manufacturing is done basically in the developing countries largely through SMEs but the question is that are these small to medium entrepreneurs ready to take the challenge of the fast changing requirements and is it possible to meet these challenges without building the capacity of the these small companies? This paper take a closer look of the SMEs by giving an in depth analysis of the inherent problems and challenges such companies are facing and how the technology like RP can assist them to come out of this situation. The paper also highlights the role of the stakeholders including both government and non government organisations including universities and provides valuable recommendations for the capacity building of these small to medium companies, which will not only boost the local economies but will also facilitate the international production & operations management in a better and most effective way

Sustainable manufacturing for Indonesian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): the case of remanufactured alternators

Achieving sustainability is a great challenge for most of the Indonesian manufacturingsmall- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Remanufacturing has been considered tobe a key strategy to attain sustainable manufacturing by maximising the use of oldcomponents and minimising landfill size and energy usage. However, SMEs, which areundoubtedly the engine of the Indonesian manufacturing industry, do not haveadequate experience, skill, resource, technology and financial support in theremanufacturing area. This paper proposes a new concept for sustainablemanufacturing assessment framework through remanufacturing strategies inIndonesian SMEs. In this sustainable manufacturing assessment framework, the existingremanufactured products are assessed using sustainable manufacturing criterion (e.g.reliability, life cycle cost, employment opportunity and greenhouse gases). Thisframework identifies improvement opportunities, including eco-efficiency, cleanerproduction and green technology to make existing remanufactured productstechnically, economically, environmentally and socially sustainable. The sustainability ofremanufactured alternators produced by Indonesian SMEs has been assessed tovalidate the aforementioned sustainable manufacturing assessment framework

A review of major centrifugal pump failure modes with application to the water supply and sewerage industries

Centrifugal pumps are one of the world?s most widely used type of pump, having an extensiverange of applications, from food processing to water or sewage transportation. Problems that arisewithin these machines decrease the flow of the fluid within the pipelines, thus interrupting theproduction and transport of the fluid to its destination within the process. This may lead to other partsof the process system slowing down or behaving undesirably. As a result, it is imperative that thesepumps be correctly monitored, diagnosed, maintained or replaced prior to the pump failing catastrophically to reduce downtime, material cost, and labour costs. This paper reviews the major faultmodes that are found in centrifugal pumps, especially those in the water and sewage industry. Attentionis given to the nature of the faults, symptoms shown within the pump that could be utilised for specificfault detection and diagnosis, and any mechanical corrective procedures that exist to help alleviate theproblem. In addition, this paper contains a comparison and critique of previously published work thathas attempted to diagnose the fault modes of centrifugal pumps

Low cost remote data acquisition system

Remote data acquisition (RDAQ) is required in a number of vibration and noise measurement settings. Specialised systems exist for RDAQ, however they require significant investment to set up. This paper describes a low cost method of RDAQ which utilises a laptop computer, data acquisition system and a USB internet dongle. The system described in this paper would allow a professional vibration/noise measurement specialist to modify their existing data acquisition system for remote use with minimal cost. The system was tested both in an industrial and an academic setting for verification

A knowledge based decision support system for tool changeover in CNCs

This paper describes an application of an adaptive planning system for automatic tool changers in flexible manufacturing systems. The conventional models of predictive control usually cannot adapt to a real time dynamic environment. The proposed adaptive control model is capable of self adjusting to changing environments. The algorithm is based on a decision logic, which is constructed by breaking up knowledge and converting them into mathematical form in order to cover all possible conditions that can exist during the implementation phase. Expert thoughts and knowledge from decision logic are stored in the decision tree, which consists of circular nodes, arcs and decision nodes. The suggested system is capable of accepting further rules, new nodes and branches to the tree when additional attributes are needed. This whole knowledge is encoded in the form of production rules and each rule represents a small chunk of knowledge relating to the given domain of tool replacement. A number of related rules collectively respond to highly useful conclusions.The system uses VP Expert development shell, contains an inference engine and, a user interface. The originality of the proposed strategy lies in that a knowledge-based expert system is developed to identify and analyze the current conditions and then readjust the output that reflects the real-time environment. Compared with the various classical models, the approach can synthesize and analyze as many variables as possible to adequately and reliably identify the real-time conditions. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and practicality of this tool-change planning and control strategy

Putative second hit rare genetic variants in families with seemingly GBA-associated Parkinson's disease

Rare variants in the beta-glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA1) are common genetic risk factors for alpha synucleinopathy, which often manifests clinically as GBA-associated Parkinson's disease (GBA-PD). Clinically, GBA-PD closely mimics idiopathic PD, but it may present at a younger age and often aggregates in families. Most carriers of GBA variants are, however, asymptomatic. Moreover, symptomatic PD patients without GBA variant have been reported in families with seemingly GBA-PD. These observations obscure the link between GBA variants and PD pathogenesis and point towards a role for unidentified additional genetic and/or environmental risk factors or second hits in GBA-PD. In this study, we explored whether rare genetic variants may be additional risk factors for PD in two families segregating the PD-associated GBA1 variants c.115+1G>A (ClinVar ID: 93445) and p.L444P (ClinVar ID: 4288). Our analysis identified rare genetic variants of the HSP70 co-chaperone DnaJ homolog subfamily B member 6 (DNAJB6) and lysosomal protein prosaposin (PSAP) as additional factors possibly influencing PD risk in the two families. In comparison to the wild-type proteins, variant DNAJB6 and PSAP proteins show altered functions in the context of cellular alpha-synuclein homeostasis when expressed in reporter cells. Furthermore, the segregation pattern of the rare variants in the genes encoding DNAJB6 and PSAP indicated a possible association with PD in the respective families. The occurrence of second hits or additional PD cosegregating rare variants has important implications for genetic counseling in PD families with GBA1 variant carriers and for the selection of PD patients for GBA targeted treatments

Assessing The Reliability Of System Modules Used In Multiple Lifecycles

This paper presents a reliability assessment model for maintenance and reliability engineers to determine the reusability potential of system modules based on their operating lives and, the pre-determined lifecycle of the parent product. In the first phase, the paper considers the time-to-failure of system modules to determine their overall operating life under normal operating conditions. Then, it determines the maximum number of lifecycles of the modules under consideration, which is a function of the modules total functional life and the product lifecycle. The functional potential of the modules is then discussed with reference to the probability of their failure. The study employs Weibull analysis for carrying out this analysis. The methodology was validated by using lifecycle data from a consumer product. The findings show that some of the components/modules of the product have a remarkable amount of residual life, which can be utilized by reusing these components in the next generation of the product. The results demonstrate the effectiveness and practicality of this multiple-use strategy. The study provides more perspectives to future research in the field of reliability, and decision-making on maintenance management and value recovery through multiple uses of system modules

Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) in the Oil and Gas Industry: An Overview of Methods and Techniques

On and offshore development projects in the oil and gas industry are predominantly capital-intensive investments, with the potential for serious financial and environmental consequences should a catastrophic failure occur. Therefore, an efficient as well as effective maintenance management approach is essential to the continuation of production in a safe and reliable manner. This paper explores the existing literature on the development and applications of CBM in the oil and gas industry. The recent literature reinforces the fact that the role of CBM is critical to the smooth, uninterrupted, efficient and safe running of oil and gas facilities. The complex and integrated nature of the oil and gas facilities require specific and carefully prepared CBM programs with real-time condition monitoring data recording, analysis, and decision making to facilitate an accurate understanding of the essential maintenance intervals. This in turn can promote optimised utilization of plant equipment with higher levels of certainty and safety

A Framework For The Adoption Of Rapid Prototyping For SMES: From Strategic To Operational

Rapidly changing global markets, unprecedented increase in product flexibility requirements and shorter product life cycles require more efficient technologies that can help reduce the time to market, which is considered to be a crucial factor to survive in today’s highly volatile market conditions. Rapid prototyping technology (RPT) has the potential to make remarkable reductions in the product development time. However, its fast development pace combined with increasing complexity and variety has made the task of RPT selection difficult as well as challenging, resulting in low diffusion particularly at SME level. This paper systematically presents (i) Low RP adoption issues and challenges (ii) Importance of SMEs and the challenges they are facing to highlight the magnitude of the problem (iii) Previous work in the area of technology selection and adoption and finally offers an adoption framework which is exclusive for the adoption of RP technology by considering the manufacturing, operational, technology and cost drivers for a perfect technology fit into the business