Operation Managements in Nokia Company

Introduction Operation management refers to a field of management that oversees, designs and redesigns organizational operations in productions of goods and/services (Bicheno Elliot 1997). The field has the responsibilities of ensuring that organization operations are efficient in reference to the resources needed to meet customers’ requirements (Matthew Tan 2009).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Operation Managements in Nokia Company specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is concerned with management of the processes that transform or converts the inputs to outputs such as the conversion of raw materials, labor, and energy to goods and services (Bicheno Elliot 2009). The field ensures that an organization maximizes its profits while undergoing the minimum cost of production possible (Bicheno Elliot 2009). In operation management, both long and short-term business strategies begin with high-level departm ents. They â€Å"are based on careful and sound projection of demand for the product or service (Shim Siegel 1999 p2).† Operating strategies and plans start with derivation of short-term and long-term procedures in production that transform later into purchasing plans (Shim Siegel 1999). All this plans and strategies should focus on maximizing the profits and minimizing the cost of production. During formulation of the plans and strategies, the decision-makers should concentrate on the issues that focus on competitive advantage, as this will give the organization the advantage to maximizing its profits (Sheik 2003). An organization thus focuses on its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, the threats associated with its production, markets, and the finances generated (Sheik 2003). An organization must therefore focus and evaluate its decision-making tools and methodologies in order to generate plans and strategies that will enhance its achievement of the goals (Garg Venkit akrishnan 2003). In operation management, the decisions made on the order winners and qualifiers affect an organization. This paper focuses on the order winners and qualifiers of Nokia Company, evaluation of means of delivery, improvement and the potential implications of the improved orders and qualifiers. Orders Winners and Qualifiers Nokia Company deals with the production of mobile phones and their parts. In the recent years, the industry of mobile phone and their parts production has relatively grown thus increasing the competition in the market. The company has therefore focused on evaluating its order winners and qualifiers.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The company gears towards achieving a competitive advantage over its competitors while minimizing its cost, maximizing its flexibility and maximizing the profits (Slack 1999). Order winners refer to those character istics that give Nokia products a competitive advantage over its competitors’ products. Order winners refer to the characteristics that persuade a customer to buy Nokia phones or parts over those of other mobile phone production companies. The order winners focus on the price or cost, quality, flexibility, product design, image, delivery reliability and speed, and after-service market (Barney 1991). On the other hand, order qualifiers refer to the aspects of competitiveness that Nokia operations management has over a particular level that customers consider (Barney 1986). Qualifiers thus give Nokia Company a name depending with the level of their performance over what the costumers consider. Similarly, Nokia Company order winning factors implicitly define its operations contributions (Barney 1991). Increase in the performance of the order winning factors increases the chances for more business while the converse results to reduced amount of business (Khanna 2007). The paper w ill focus on five order winners and qualifiers used by Nokia Company. Customer service: Nokia Company customer service provides a real time services to its customers. They handle all the customers’ queries and needs with immediate response. The company customer service gives the customers the first priority. They emphasize on treating their customers fairly as the customers are their main concern (Ake Hakan 1997). They fully understand that customers are of great importance to their company and without them, they cannot operate. The company emphasizes on honesty and treats the customers’ information with confidentiality (Ake Hakan1997). They further have a well-established database system that helps them to store their customers’ data that help them to revisit the customers’ information to clarify whether the answer they responded to the customers was right.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Operation Managements in Nokia Company s pecifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The company customer service further believes on the minimizing the cost of their operation by ensuring that complains and queries from their customers are minimal by offering high quality services and easily understood instructions (Ake Hakan 1997). Quality: For Nokia Company to ensure it has a competitive advantage; it concentrates on the production of high quality products (Hill 2000). Nokia Company products are competitive in the market due to their high quality. They give a wide range of products that are of high quality that persuade many customers to purchase them. Further, most of their products have the qualities that the customers seek when purchasing their mobile phones. The Nokia Company also concentrates on the quality of these features to ensure that they have a competitive advantage over the competitors’ features. For instance, regarding their mobile phones with a camera and an in ternet connection, the Nokia Company concentrates on improving the quality of the camera and the speed of internet connections. In addition, in terms of durability, Nokia products last longer than their competitors’ products. They produce mobile phones and parts that give their customers’ service for a long time. Further, their products are mainly default free and give a 100% tolerance to faults. Delivery speed: This refers to the time taken for the Nokia Company to respond and deliver the orders once placed (Hill 2000). Since Nokia Company uses the made-to-stock products operations strategy that allows them to produce their products in bulk through maintenance of an inventory record of the finished products, they are able to give response to orders in the right time (Khanna 2007). However, even though the company has the products ready, they give respect to the customers’ orders and they cannot deliver them so earlier than the customer expects (Khanna 2007). Ab ility of the company to make deliveries at the right time gives the company a competitive advantage over their competitors.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Furthermore, due to their effective customer care service, the company is able to receive the order placements in the shortest time possible. The company through their technologically improved operations allows the customers to place orders online that ensures that orders are received as soon as possible. They further encourage communication on the issues related to orders to ensure that they are meeting the customers’ needs. The company also ensures that their delivery is reliable. The company does this by ensuring that it has the maximum number of days that the delivery should take. Further, they ensure that the means of delivery that they use are reliable and cannot cause delay in the delivery of the products to the customers (Hill 2005). This gives the customers the confidence with the company that result in more business opportunities. Flexibility: Flexibility refers to the ability of the company to change easily from the production of one item to a substitution product, easily customize an output to meet a certain customer specification or requirements and the ability of the company to change its production to meet the customer demands (Hill 2005). In substitution production, Nokia Company ensures that they produce a variety of products that can substitute each other. They ensure that every product they introduce to the market has its substitution. This helps the company to have a competitive advantage as their customers always have a substitution from the company rather than purchasing substitute products from other companies. In terms of customizing the output to meet the customers’ requirement, Nokia Company similarly ensures it has a vast range of products that the customers can choose. They ensure that they have more than five products that have almost the same features but different shapes, image, color and model. This gives the customers the right to choose their favorite depending on their taste. In reference to meeting the market d emand, Nokia Company has been and is able to respond to the market changes. The company is able to produce in bulk during high demand and in less bulk during low demands. Price and cost: Nokia Company concentrates on reduction of cost of production. The company ensures that there is elimination of waste materials, labor, and facilities (Barney 1986). The reduction of production cost helps the company to offer better prices for their products. However, Nokia products are more expensive than most of its competitor’s products but the customers consider them genuine when they consider the quality of the products. In addition, the company produces in bulk that gives the company the advantage of economy of scales (Garg Venkitakrishnan 2003). This further helps the company in offering better prices to its customers. Improvement of the Order Winners and Qualifiers As mentioned earlier, the order winners and qualifiers highly predict the business of an organization. Similarly, in Nok ia Company the order winners and qualifiers predict the market and the business. The company has therefore embarked on the improvement of its order winners and qualifiers in order to have a better competitive advantage and withstand the rising competition from other upcoming competitors. In customer service, the company has started on projects to improve their customer management. The company in their research has realized that their customer service turn-around time is not as minimal as the company may opt to achieve (Barney 1991). To solve this problem, the company is working on improvement of the customers’ service by updating their database capacity, increasing the number of customer service agents and use of reliable means of communication. On the quality of the products, the company has focused on improvement of the features of the products and durability. The company looks forward to production that will meet all the customers’ needs through update of the featur es. The company focuses on the production of mobile phones that will give its customers the ability to perform all the tasks that a computer can perform. In addition, the company seeks to ensure that durability of these products is high to win confidence of the customers. The company further concentrates on simplifying its products usability to ensure that they match all market needs (Hill 2000). This is through making their products instructions precise and easy to understand that will assist all their products users. In delivery time, the company objective is to make the customers more satisfied with the company deliveries. The company has stressed on its operation strategy and is keen in the production in bulky prior to the placement of the orders to ensure they respond to the orders immediately. The company has recommended improvement of the inventory technology that will help it in bulky production. In addition, the company seeks to ensure in future that there is no even a sing le delay in the delivery of the products to customers. The effort of the company is to ensure that customers are satisfied with the delivery of the products to the market (Slack 1999). This also involves the reliability of the channels used in the delivery of the products to customers. In flexibility, though the company has been able to adapt to the changes in the market, the company objective is to produce more substitute products and introduce them to the market. This will give the customers a variety to choose from that will ensure the company ability to sustain its customers. This will further ensure that Nokia Company is able to compete with other mobile phone production companies that produce products that would substitute their products. In addition, the company is looking forward to the improvement of the methods used to collect customer requirements rather than only depending on their customer service. This aims at achieving a more elaborate customer requirement through mar ket researches that will help them to focus on the customer needs (Barney 1986). This will strengthen the company and customer relationship as the customers will have a feeling of a company that cares for their needs. After the collection of this data, the company will concentrate on transforming the customers’ requirements into products. In pricing, the company’s objective is to offer prices that match the customer ability. To respond to their normally more expensive prices, the company has concentrated on reduction of production cost and production in bulk. The reduction on production cost will consequently lower the products price in the market (Barney 1991). In addition, the company has focused on introduction of more products with different pricing in the market. The price differences will help customers to purchase the products that best suit their ability. Potential Implications of Improved Order Winner/Qualifiers Order winners and qualifiers affect the performa nce of the business. An improvement in the order winners and qualifiers will have an improvement in the business performance. The improvement of Nokia order winners and qualifiers similarly will have an impact on the organization supply chains. Supply chain refers to the channels and processes used in transferring products from the producer to the customers (Rangaraj 2009). This may include the people, activities, organization, resources, and activities involved in transferring the products from the producer to customers (Rangaraj 2009). An improvement in the order winners and qualifiers results to an increase in the number of customers, which consequently affects the chain supply. The increase in customers means that the supply chains must be able to meet the customer demand (Seuring 2003). This causes an increase in the supply chains, the level of their profit margins increases and their management becomes more complicated as they work towards meeting the customer demands. They th erefore work on sustaining the delivery of products in the market through improvement in the management and operations. The improvement in order winner and qualifiers further affects the supply chains in the sense that the supply chain has to improve to meet the needs of the market. The improvements in supply chain must address the strategic supply chain, supply chain planning, logistics, management of product lifecycle, applications of enterprise chain supply, procurement and asset management meant to match the changes in order winners and qualifiers (Seuring 2003). The failure to have a well-planned improvement in the supply chains management will consequently affect the delivery of products to the customers. Conversely, lack of improvement in order winners and qualifiers has impacts on supply chains. Lack of improvement in order winners and qualifiers means less business for the Nokia company products. It consequently affects the supply chains, as the market opportunities are few . This causes collapse of some of the chains, failure in management due to lack of resources, shift of the market to the competitors and poor profits margins due to lack of market for the Nokia company products (Rangaraj 2009). Conclusion In any organization, operation management is very crucial. The decisions made by the managers and the people in this field or department might affect the operations of a whole organization positively or negatively. The department is concerned with the production, the conversion of the labor, materials, and energy into finished products. In addition, the department is concerned with the minimization of production cost and the maximization of profits and flexibility. The department focuses on decisions for improving the order winners and qualifiers that really affect the performance of the business. The failure of the decision, plans, and strategies made by this department means the failure of an organization. It is therefore important for every orga nization to hire competent personnel to run the department. Evaluation and validation of decision-making tools related to this department is of great important before the application. References Ake, H Hakan, Y 1997, The firm’s and its customers’ views on order-winning criteria, International Journal of Operations and Production Management vol. 17, no. 10, pp. 1006–1019. Barney, J 1986, Organizational culture: Can it be a source of sustained competitive advantage? Academy of Management Review 11: pp. 656–65. Barney, J 1991, Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage. Journal of Management 17: 99–120. Bicheno, J. Elliot, B 1997, Operations management: An active learning approach. Blackwell Publishers Inc, Malden, USA. Garg, V Venkitakrishnan, N 2003, Enterprise resource planning: Concepts and practice, Prentice-Hall of India Private limited, New Delhi. Hill, T 2000, Manufacturing strategy: Text and cases. 3rd ed, Irwin McGraw-Hill, Boston . Hill, T 2005, Operations management strategic context and managerial analysis, Second Edition, Palgrav, USA. Khanna, R 2007, Production and operation management, PHI Learning Private Limited, New Delhi. Matthew, R Tan, K 2009, Operations strategy in action: A guide to the theory and practice of implementation, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham. Rangaraj, N 2009, Supply chain management for competitive advantage, McGraw-Hill Companies Inc, New York. Seuring, S 2003, Strategy and organization in supply chains, Physica-Verlag Heidelberg, New York. Sheik, K, 2003, Manufacturing resource planning (MRP II): With introduction to ERP, SCM, and CRM, McGraw-Hill companies Inc, New York. Shim, J Siegel, J 1999, Operations management, Barron’s Educational Series, Inc, New York. Slack, N 1999, The Blackwell encyclopedic dictionary of operations management, Blackwell publishing Inc, Malden. This report on Operation Managements in Nokia Company was written and submitted by user Barbara Berry to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Definition and Examples of Irish English

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A Study On Cumene Plant Engineering Essay

A Study On Cumene Plant Engineering Essay The system considered for study, simulation and optimization is a cumene production plant. The process described by Peterson and Schmidt is taken as base for simulating the system. The process description of Turton et al. (2003) provides relevant and valuable data required for the simulation of the process. Raw materials fed to the plant are benzene and propylene (may contain propane as an impurity) in which benzene is in excess. Various unit operations and processes are required to be taken care of which are described in some detail below. The major units in the process plant are the reactor section and the separator section. 1.2 RELEVANCE Isopropyl benzene popularly known as cumene is the principal chemical used in the production of phenol and its co-product acetone on an industrial scale. It is also the starting material in the production of acetophenone, methyl styrene, diisopropyl benzene and dicumyl peroxide. Minor uses of cumene include as a thinner for paints, enamels, and lacquers; as a constituent of some petroleum-based solvents, such as naphtha; in gasoline blending diesel fuel, and high-octane aviation fuel. It is also a good solvent for fats and resins and has been suggested as a replacement for benzene in many of its industrial applications. Around 98% of cumene is used to produce phenol and its co-product acetone. However, the requirement of cumene is largely dependent on the use of phenol’s derivatives which have resulted in increasing requirement rates for cumene. The largest phenol derivative is bisphenol-A (BPA) which supplies the polycarbonate (PC) sector. PC resins are consumed in automotive applications in place of traditional materials such as glass and metals. Glazing and sheet uses, such as architectural, security and glazing outlets, are also important PC applications. The third largest use for PC is optical media such as compact discs (CDs) and digital versatile discs (DVDs). Another phenol derivative is caprolactam which is used mainly to make nylon 6. It is mainly the resin sector of the nylon market that is seeing growth. [Schmidt, 2005] Cumene is produced by the alkylation of benzene with propylene over an acid catalyst like aluminium chloride, boron trifluoride, phosphoric acid, hydrogen fluoride, supported phosphoric acid (SPA) etc. The usage of the above catalysts poses a lot of problems like product quality, lower catalyst activity, environmental hazard, catalyst non-regenerability etc and has been replaced by zeolites in most of the processes. In the present work the cumene production plant is simulated using ASPEN PLUS  ® and the sizes, the temperature and other relevant parameters are obtained by optimization. MATLAB ®, MS Excel and Origin Pro 8.0 are used to plot graphs in the following simulation from which an optimum value is estimated. The optimized values obtained can provide a lot of insight before actual plant commissioning is done. 1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT Considering the importance of the present process, work was undertaken to design and simulate the cumene production process using ASPEN PLUS  ® software. The objectives of the present project are following. To design a zeolite catalyst based cumene production process and study the sensitivity analysis. To optimize the contents of the flow sheet for minimization of loss of material along with a greater production of cumene and low requirement of energy. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 CONVENTIONAL PROCESS Cumene is produced by the alkylation of benzene with propylene over an acid catalyst. Catalysts like aluminium chloride, boron trifluoride, hydrogen fluoride and solid phosphoric acid (SPA) are normally used. Over the years these catalysts have given way to zeolite based catalysts. There are some inherent problems associated with the conventional acid catalysts. Disadvantages of using solid phosphoric acid (SPA) Process Lower activity Catalyst non-regenerability Unloading of spent catalyst from reactor difficult Relative high selectivity to hexyl benzene Significant yield of DIPB Disadvantages of using Aluminium chloride as catalyst High corrosion Environmental hazard Washing step for catalyst removal. 2.2 CURRENT INDUSTRIAL PROCESS Cumene is an important chemical in the present industrial world and its uses are steadily increasing. The process followed for the production of cumene is the catalytic alkylation of benzene with propylene and now a days zeolite based catalysts are used in place of the normal acid based catalysts due to added advantages. Cumene production process has been greatly studied and the reaction mechanism and the reaction kinetics have been specified by many researchers. Both experimental as well as computer based simulation and optimization studies have been carried out by various researchers. The significant works of various researchers which have been helpful in my project are described in brief below. The Q-Max â„ ¢ process converts a mixture of benzene and propylene to high quality cumene using a regenerable zeolite catalyst. The Q-Max â„ ¢ process is characterized by a exceptionally high yield, better product quality, less solid waste, decrease in investment and operating costs and a corrosion free environment. The Q-Max â„ ¢ process developed by UOP uses QZ-2000/ QZ-2001 catalyst which is a variant of ß zeolite. [Schmidt, 2005] 2.2.1 PROCESS DESCRIPTION The Q-MAXâ„ ¢ process provides a very good cumene yield and quality. The QZ-2000 zeolite based catalyst used in the Q-MAXâ„ ¢ process operates with a low flow rate of benzene and hence investment and utility costs are reduced greatly. QZ-2000 is non-corrosive and regenerable, avoiding the significant maintenance and catalyst disposal problems associated with SPA and AlCl3 systems. Compared to other zeolite based cumene technologies, the Q-MAXâ„ ¢ process provides better tolerance of feedstock impurities, the highest cumene product quality and excellent stability. The Q-MAXâ„ ¢ process flow scheme is shown in fig 2.1 above. The alkylation reactor is divided into four catalytic beds present in a single reactor shell. The fresh benzene feed is passed through the upper-mid section of the depropanizer column to remove excess water and then sent to the alkylation reactor. The recycle benzene to the alkylation and transalkylation reactors is a drawn from the benzene column. This mixture of fresh and recycle benzene is charged through the alkylation reactor. The fresh propylene feed is split between the catalyst beds and is fully consumed in each bed. An excess of benzene helps in avoiding poly alkylation and minimizing olefin oligomerization. Because the reaction is exothermic in nature, the temperature rise in the alkylation reactor is controlled by recycling a portion of the reactor effluent to the reactor inlet to act as a heat sink. The inlet temperature of each downstream bed is further reduced to the same temperature as the first bed inlet by injecting a portion of cooled reactor effluent between the beds. Effluent from the alkylation reactor flows to the depropanizer column which removes the propane that entered with the propylene feed along with excess water. The bottoms stream of the depropanizer column goes to the benzene column where excess benzene is collected overhead and recycled. The benzene column bottoms stream goes to the cumene column where the cumene product is recovered overhead. The cumene column bottoms stream, predominantly diisopropylbenzene (DIPB), goes to the DIPB column. If the propylene feed contains excessive butylenes, or if the benzene feed contains excessive toluene, butylbenzenes and/or cumene are distilled out and purged from the overhead section of the DIPB column. The DIPB stream leaves the column by way of the side draw and is recycled back to the transalkylation reactor. The DIPB column bottoms consist of heavy aromatic by-products, which are normally blended into fuel oil. Steam or ho t oil provides the heat for the product fractionation section. The recycle DIPB from the overhead of the DIPB column combines with a portion of the recycle benzene and is charged downflow through the transalkylation reactor. In the transalkylation reactor, DIPB and benzene are converted to more cumene. The effluent from the transalkylation reactor is then sent to the benzene column. The new QZ-2001 catalyst is utilized in the alkylation reactor while the original QZ-2000 catalyst remains in the transalkylation reactor. Expected catalyst cycle length is 2–4 years, and the catalyst should last for at least three cycles with proper care. At the end of each cycle, the catalyst is typically regenerated ex situ via a simple carbon burn by a certified regeneration contractor. However, the unit can also be designed for in situ regeneration. The Q-Maxâ„ ¢ process typically produces near equilibrium levels of cumene (between 85 and 95 mol %) and DIPB (between 5 and 15 mol %). The DI PB is separated from the cumene and is reacted with recycle benzene at optimal conditions for transalkylation to produce additional cumene. [Schmidt, 2005], [Peterson and Schmidt, 2002] 2.2.2 REACTION MECHANISM AND KINETICS The following reaction mechanisms are proposed for the alkylation of benzene to cumene process. The major reactions taking place are alkylation and trans-alkylation. The other reactions involved include isomerisation and dis-proportionation. The reaction mechanism as well as the reaction kinetics may vary depending on the catalyst used. The reaction can proceed by with or without carbonium ion intermediate. [Ding and Fu, 2005] The rates of reaction data was obtained for different catalysts from the work done by various researchers. The kinetic data and the reaction conditions specified by Turton et al (2003) for a particular catalyst have been used in the present work. The reaction kinetic data is shown below Propylene + benzene à   cumene K = 2.8 Ãâ€" 107 E (kJ/kmol) 104174 Rate=kcpcb Propylene + cumene à   p-diisoproyl benzene K = 2.32 Ãâ€" 109 E (kJ/kmol) 146742 Rate=kcpcc (The unit for rates is kmol s-1 m-3) [Turton et al, 2003] Trans-alkylation reaction K= 6.52 Ãâ€" 10-3 exp (27240/RT) The equilibrium data for trans-alkylation reaction is obtained for modified zeolite beta catalyst, YSBH-01. [Lei et al, 2007] From various works on cumene production mechanism the overall reaction can be assumed to consist of the following stages. Alkylation Isomerisation Transalkylation Dis-proportionation 2.3 PROPERTIES OF CUMENE Description: Colorless liquid with a sharp, penetrating aromatic or gas-like odour [Budavari, 1989; Cavender, 1994] Boiling Point: 152.4 °C [Lide, 1995] Melting Point: -96.0 °C [Lide, 1995] Density: 0.8618 g/cm3 at 20 °C [Lide, 1995] Refractive Index: 1.4915 at 20 °C [Schulz et al., 1993]; 1.489 at 25 °C [Lewis, 1993] Solubility: Insoluble in water; miscible in acetone, benzene, and ethanol [Lide, 1995] Flash Point: 39 °C, closed cup [Budavari, 1989] Reactivity: Combustible [Lewis, 1993], not compatible with oxidizers, nitric acid and sulphuric acid. 2.4 PROCESS DESIGN BASICS Process design is a very important aspect before any project implementation as a proper design during the initial stages can save costs to a great extent. The cost involved in designing a project is very less compared to the construction cost and it can be greatly helpful in maximizing profits of the plant as well as providing a safe environment. The plot shown in Fig. 2.2 gives a brief idea of how proper plant design can cut costs to a great extent. The following points need to be taken care for a proper process design. Raw material cost reduction. Selectivity of reaction is increased by proper use of catalysts. Increasing selectivity can reduce separation and recycle costs. Capital-cost reduction. Better flow sheeting can reduce capital costs effectively Energy use reduction. Pinch point analysis is used for energy saving. Increased process flexibility. Process plant should be able to handle a range of feed compositions. Increased process safety. Nonlinear analysis can be done to make the process safer. Increased attention to quality. Reduction of by products and the effective use of process control equipment can lead to process safety. Better environmental performance. Minimization of harmful wastes to the environment. The order in which designing should be done follows a systematic procedure as shown in Fig 2.4. A process simulation diagram is drawn from the process flow diagram. The chemical components are specified. The chemical component properties are generally available in a standard data base. The input streams are specified. Thermodynamic modelling is done. Series of simulations are run for convergence of a particular variable. Sensitivity analysis which consists of varying the sampled variables as a function of the manipulated variables is normally done. The major parts of a cumene production plant are reactor system, separation system and they are optimized. CHAPTER 3 DESIGN: PROCEDURE, RESULT DISCUSSION This chapter is divided into two main parts as (i) Reactor and (ii) Separator. The reactor design involves design of equilibrium based reactor as well as kinetic based reactor. The separator system involves the design of flash tank and distillation column. As the product purity is increased by increasing the working cost of the reactor, the separation cost decreases and vice versa. The sequence of computation followed is shown in Fig. 3.1. 3.1 REACTOR DESIGN Reactor is the heart of a chemical process plant. Design of a reactor requires data from thermodynamics, chemical kinetics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, mass transfer and economics. A properly designed reactor can minimize the production of unwanted products and hence reduce the purification costs. The alkylation and trans-alkylation reactors are the main reactors in a cumene production plant and they need to be designed for optimum use of material and energy. In all the optimization work done Douglas Doctrine (the costs of raw materials and products are usually much larger than the costs of energy or capital in a typical chemical process. Therefore the process must be designed (investing capital and paying for energy) so as to not waste feed stocks or lose products (particularly in the form of undesirable products) is followed. [Luyben, 2010] Kinetic model can be considered if accurate kinetic data is available. But a plant involves industrial reactors that are very complex and hence a proper combination of stoichiometric and kinetic reactor needs to be used. Kinetic model can determine the production rate where as stoichiometric model can describe the formation of by products and impurities necessary for the design of separators. Equilbrium based reactors like RGIBBS in ASPEN PLUS ® can give a realistic idea about the maximum achievable performance. They work accurately for fast reactions. The RGIBBS reactor predicts the equilibrium concentration by Gibbs free energy minimization. [Dimian, 2003] Generally in reactor design an equilibrium model is prepared and then the kinetic model. The following reaction mechanism was proposed by various researchers for alkylation of benzene by cumene. 3.1.1 REACTIONS CONSIDERED FOR MODELING Alkylation propylene + benzene à   cumene (1) propylene + cumene à   p-diisoproyl benzene (2) Isomerisation p-diisopropyl benzene à   m-diisopropyl benzene (3) Trans-alkylation p-diisopropyl benzene + benzene à   2 cumene (4) m-diisopropyl benzene + benzene à   2 cumene (5) Disproportination 2 cumene à   p-diisopropyl benzene + benzene (6) 2 cumene à   m-diisopropyl benzene + benzene (7) 3.1.2 REACTOR DESIGN PROCEDURE IN ASPEN PLUS The feed is a mixture of benzene and propylene such that benzene is in excess. In general propylene is not available in the pure form and has some amount of propane as inert. The separation cost of propane is high and hence normally propane is not removed from the propylene feed into the reactor. A high conversion of propylene is desired and the unreacted propylene can be flashed off along with the inert propane. RGIBBS reactor works by Gibbs free energy minimization. Alkylation and trans-alkylation reactors need not be modelled separately as they can be combined into one equilibrium reactor. The reactant, products as well as the intermediates as seen from the reaction mechanisms are specified into the component list. SYSOP0 or Ideal property table is used. A temperature range of 300 to 400 degree Celsius is specified and a proper temperature chosen. Pressure of 25 atm is chosen from previous industrial research work. [Luyben, 2010] 3.1.3 EQUILIBRIUM STUDIES The equilibrium is affected by the temperature as well as the benzene/propylene mole ratio. The alkylation and transalkylation reaction is usually carried out at atmospheric pressure. Therefore, the effect of pressure on the equilibrium was not considered in the present study. Seven reactor models are available in ASPEN PLUS. The equilibrium based RGIBBS reactor is used to find the product composition at which the Gibbs free energy of the product is minimum. The restricted chemical equilibrium approach is used and the reactions mentioned above are specified. The temperature approach for an individual reaction is used. The feed stream mole flow is set as 1 kmol / hr and the feed stream consists of benzene, propylene and propane (inert mixed with the propylene stream). Amount of inert in feed is kept fixed. The reactor temperature is set to 3500C and the reactor pressure is set to 25 atm. (a) The selectivity of cumene and conversion of propylene (limiting reagent) is studied by varying the benzene/propylene mole ratio in the feed keeping the amount of inert fixed. The effect of temperature variation (300–4000C) on the selectivity and the conversion is also studied. (b) Again, the variation in the selectivity of m-DIPB and p-DIPB with temperature and b enzene/propylene mole ratio in the feed is studied. The conversion and selectivity were calculated using equations 8 to 11. %Selectivity of cumene = Fcumeneproduct /(Fpropylenefeed-Fpropyleneprod) ´100% (8) %Conversion of propylene = (Fpropylenefeed-Fpropyleneprod)/Fpropylenefeed  ´ 100 % (9) %Selectivity of m-DIPB = Fmdipbproduct/(Fpropylenefeed-Fpropyleneprod)  ´100% (10) %Selectivity of p-DIPB = Fpdipbproduct/(Fpropylenefeed-Fpropyleneprod)  ´ 100% (11) Where Fcumeneproduct = molar flow rate of cumene in product Fpropylenefeed = molar flow rate of propylene in feed Fpropyleneprod = molar flow rate of propylene in product Fmdipbproduct = molar flow rate of m-DIPB in product Fpdipbproduct = molar flow rate of p-DIPB in product RSTOIC reactor model was used to find the standard heat of reaction for different reactions 1 to 6 mentioned above. The standard heats of reaction have been tabulated in Table 3.1.1. The heat of reaction for isomerisation was found to be zero as expected. The all other reactions were found to be exothermic except trans-alkylation reactions as observed from the table. Table 3.1.1 Standard Heats of Reaction Reaction Number Standard Heat of Reaction (Kcal/Kg mol) 1 -23.670 2 -24.321 3 0 4 0.649 5 0.649 6 -0.325 7 -0.324 Effect of temperature and benzene/propylene mole ratio. The effect of temperature and benzene/propylene mole ratio on equilibrium conversion of propylene and selectivity of products, cumene, m-DIPB, and p-DIPB is shown in Fig. 3.1.1. The conversion of propylene was found to increase with increase in benzene/propylene mole ratio for a fixed temperature as observed from the Fig. 3.1.1(a). This is because of reduced proportion of propylene in feed. However, variation of conversion of propylene was found to be negligibly small above the benzene/propylene mole ratio in feed of 3. The conversion of propylene was found to decrease with increase in temperature for a fixed benzene/propylene mole ratio as observed from the Fig. 3.1.1(a). This is because of the fact that overall heat of reactions is exothermic as shown in Table 3.1.1. The selectivity of cumene was found to increase with increase in benzene/propylene mole ratio at a fixed temperature as the polyalkylation reactions are reduced because of excess amount of benzene present in the feed (Fig. 3.1.1(b)). Again, with increase in temperature, the selectivity of cumene increases for a fixed benzene/propylene mole ratio as transalkylation reactions (endothermic, Table 3.1.1) are dominant at high temperature. The distribution of m-DIPB and p-DIPB is shown in Fig. 3.1.1 (c). From the figure it was observed that selectivity of m-DIPB is significantly higher than p-DIPB. This is because of the fact that m-DIPB is thermally more stable compared to p-DIPB. Therefore, p-DIPB formed in alkylation reaction isomerises to more stable meta isomer. Effect of inert on equilibrium. The propylene stream used in alkylation process is usually obtained by pyrolysis of petroleum fractions that contains small amount of propane as impurity. Propane need not be removed from the propylene stream as it acts as an inert and does not take part in the reaction. Presence of inert has very slight effect on the conversion as well as selectivity as shown in Fig.3.1.2. The conversion of propylene decreases slightly with higher volume percent of inert in feed and increases slightly with the same. 3.1.4 KINETICS BASED REACTOR MODEL Kinetics based rate data was obtained from the work of various researches and is mentioned above. A RPLUG model is used in ASPEN PLUS to model the reactor. The design model specified in the book by Turton et al (2003) is used. The reactions occur in the vapour phase in the presence of a solid catalyst (assumed to have 0.5 void fraction and a 2000 kg/m3 solid density). The reactor is run at high pressure (25 bar) since the moles of reactants are more than the moles of product (Le Chatelier’s principle). A temperature of 360 degree C and a benzene/Propylene mole ratio of 6 is used. A flow rate of 330 kmol/hr is used for the simulation. The kinetic model generated few errors such as RPLUG exited because integration failed. index = (-1) probable cause is incorrect kinetics. check rate-constant parameters and molar volume calculations. 3.1.5 PRODUCT OUTPUT FROM REACTOR Assuming the RGIBBS model for the initial calculations for distillation columns can give a good idea about the distillation process in a cumene plant. RGIBBS model with an input feed rate of 100 kmol/hr and benzene: propylene feed ratio of 6:1 with an inert concentration of 5% in propylene stream, temp. of 360 degree C and a pressure of 25 bar is used. The flow rates obtained at the product side are noted.The non condensable components in the product side i.e. propylene and propane are removed in flash tank. These components have fuel value only as they cannot be completely purified. So the reaction conditions should be so adjusted that the propylene in feed is totally converted to the product. The concentration of non-condensable components from reactor is given in Table 3.1.2. This data is used for further designing. Table 3.1.2 Mole flow rate of components from reactor Component Mole Flow kmol/hr Benzene 72.85 Cumene 10.31 m-DIPB 1.77 p-DIPB 0.47 TOTAL 85.4 3.2 PREDICTING VLE CHARACTERISTICS Reactors and separators can be considered as the back bone of any chemical process plant. The cost optimization of any plant depends largely on the reactors and the distillation columns. The basis of distillation is phase equilibrium that may be VLE (Vapour liquid equilibrium) and LLE (Liquid liquid equilibrium). Before designing any distillation equipment the VLE characteristics need to be studied as they give a fair amount of idea about the ease of distillation. The Txy diagram or temperature versus liquid composition (x) and vapour composition (y) are plotted. A fat curve generally shows that the liquids in a mixture can be easily separated. The boiling point data of the three major components in the distillation column is shown in Fig. 3.2.1 below. Table 3.2.1 Boiling point of components Component Boiling point in degree Celsius Benzene 80.2 Cumene 152.4 DIPB 209.8 The product stream from a condenser tank is sent to a distillation column. RADFRAC model is used. In the industrial process three distillation columns are used i.e benzene column, followed by cumene column and DIPB column.The RADFRAC model is a rigorous model for various multistage liquid vapour fractionation operations and hence is used for the simulation Before going in for the design of the distillation column the VLE diagrams need to be considered. The industrial processes currently followed show that in the 1st column benzene and cumene need to be primarily separated and in the 2nd column cumene and DIPB need to be separated. The NRTL (non random two liquid) physical property package is used used to plot the vapour liquid equilibrium T-XY for Benzene-cumene and Cumene-DIPB systems. The VLE plots are shown in Fig 3.2.1 to 3.2.3 for different systems. It can be inferred from plots Fig. 3.2.1 to 3.2.3 that separation would be easy and a distillation column with fewer trays and a smaller reflux ratio can be used. Azeotrope is not formed. Flash distillation should be tried as separation is easier. 3.3 FLASH DISTILLATION TANK DESIGN Distillation is tried using flash tank as the cost of operation is very low. FLASH2 model is selected. SYSOP0 property method is selected, which works by ideal or Roult’s law. Pressure of the flash tank is set as 1 bar. The input flow rate is same as mentioned in Table 3.1.2. The minimum boiling point in the mixture is that of benzene at 80.2 degree C at 1 atm and hence a temperature of 85 to 97.5 is considered for flashing. The mole fractions of benzene and cumene in the bottom and top products are found out at various flashing temperatures and plotted in Fig. 3.3.1. Assuming a product purity of 95% benzene in the top product the flashing temperature is identified to be 92.5 degree C. The flow rates from the flashing tank is shown in Table 3.3.1. Table 3.3.1 Concentration of products from the flash tank 92.5 degree C Benzene Cumene m-DIPB p-DIPB BOTTOM Product 18.951865 7.89384963 1.68473832 0.45287993 TOP product 5.39E+01 2.41615031 0.08526167 0.01712006 The flow rates of Table 3.3.1 act as a feed to the benzene column. 3.4 BENZENE DISTILLATION COLUMN DESIGN 3.4.1 DESIGN PROCEDURE RADFRAC-1 is selected for designing the Benzene distillation column. SYSOP0 property method is selected and the flow rates from Table 3.3.1 are used. The pressure is kept fixed at 1.75 bar and the temperature is kept fixed at 90 degree Celsius. These two variables are obtained from the experimental data specified by Turton et al (2003). These temperature and pressure data have been used in the work by Luyben (2010). The variables that can be optimized are reflux ratio, number of feed trays, feed tray location and distillate rate. In the initial assumption the distillate rate is kept at half the value of the feed rate. A total condenser is used in the process and an equilibrium based approach is used. 3.4.2 REFLUX RATIO OPTIMIZATION The number of trays (including boiler and condenser as a tray) is kept fixed at any value say 15. The feed tray is varied keeping the number of trays fixed. Now for each different ratio of number of trays to feed tray a series of reflux ratio starting from 0.1 is considered. The process is run and the mole fraction of benzene in the top product as well as the reboiler heat load data are used and a graph is plotted as shown in Fig 3.4.1. Reflux ratio is optimized by the variable mole fraction of benzene in the top product. An optimum reflux ratio value of about 0.5 is identified from Fig 3.4.1. At higher values of feed tray location (close to reboiler) lesser reflux ratio is required. Note that condenser is considered as the first stage and the rebolier as the last. 3.4.3 FEED TRAY LOCATION OPTIMIZATION The reflux ratio is kept fixed at 0.5 and the number of trays is kept fixed at 15. The position of the feed tray is varied and its affect on the reboiler heat load and the mole fraction of benze

Development of the American Experience, Thomas Jefferson

This passage is found on page 136, left column, fourth paragraph. This passage is used by Thomas Jefferson to argue on the necessity of establishing a government to replace the old structure of governance erected and maintained by the British crown. The passage establishes the basis for the dissolution of the American people’s â€Å"political bands†(Jefferson 136) and affiliation with Great Britain by stating that although changes in the government should never be taken lightly, it is unfortunate that many people are likely to prefer and even tolerate the wrongdoings and evil deeds promoted in the existing system for the sake of familiarity.In general, people are afraid of the disruption brought about by systemic changes because they are afraid of uncertainty. However, they have to realize that it is their right to initiate changes in terms of government when there is enough reason to do so, such as wanton abuse of power of leaders or corrupt practices or â€Å"wheneve r any form of government becomes destructive† or poses a hindrance to the achievement of human rights to â€Å"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.† (Jefferson 136)Jefferson observes that the prevailing conditions under the governance of the â€Å"present king of Great Britain† points to such circumstance of â€Å"injuries and usurpations† (Jefferson 137) which have severely impeded the political and social life of the American people. Clearly, Jefferson uses this line of argument to convince the people of the morality of self-governance and of declaring independence vis-a-vis the state of being enslaved and virtually dependent on the British for political, social, and economic sustenance.By acknowledging the doubts and difficulties that surround the decision to break the ties with the long time British ruler, Jefferson and his followers wanted to arouse a sense of righteous anger in the face of the historical abuses committed by the king and his g overnment. For instance, he reminds his audience of how the British king has â€Å"plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, & destroyed the lives of our people.† (138)In effect, Jefferson encourages his audience to rise up against the tyrannical form of government imposed by a foreign ruler through the systematic use of violence and violation of human rights. In bringing up the general hesitance of the populace, Jefferson mocks and prods them into recognizing the validity of separation and of establishing their own government as a last resort in the face of the continued refusal of the British king to petitions for redress.(139)It is evident from Jefferson’s â€Å"The Declaration of Independence† that the need to form an independent government is made inevitable in order to protect the inherent rights of the American people from another government which is exploitative and tyrannical. Undoubtedly, it is through this concept of tyranny in governan ce that societies are able to form their own distinct ideas of what a government or the state of social relations should be like.Thomas Jefferson would later expound on the meaning of tyranny through religious bigotry and intolerance when he proposes the passage of an act to establish religious freedom as a human right. (141) The necessity of enacting legislation to prevent religious tyranny, which presupposes the superiority of a single religion over others and promotes the propagation of religion through coercion and imposition of religious ideas and opinions over others, shows that the government functions as a regulatory mechanism for guaranteeing human rights, including ensuring that one’s human right does not deprive another of his or her rights.Thomas Paine argues, for instance, thatâ€Å"government, even in its best state, is a necessary evil† (133) to demonstrate that government only becomes a social necessity when the members of society have become too corrup ted and too selfish so that they must be forced to acknowledge and perform their obligations toward others in order to experience peace and security, or when the people experience misery because of the intrusion of the government of another people.In many ways, both Jefferson and Paine’s conception of the role and relevance of the government as a social institution bears resemblance to the concepts explored by Rosseau in his thesis on the Social Contract, wherein he traces the historical roots of the birth of societies and governments, and describes the ideal relationship between the government and the people or the sovereign. Like Rosseau, Jefferson and Paine condemns the impulse towards tyranny that promotes the clash between the minority and majority interest, as represented by the tendency of the few to promote their selfish interests at the expense of others.This is exemplified in Jefferson and Paine’s account of the American experience under British rule, wherein both authors find the American people fully justified in announcing separation and in establishing â€Å"a government of our own† as â€Å"our natural right. † (Paine 135) Rosseau’s influence on the conception of nationalism on American thinkers such as Jefferson and Paine is also evident in the concepts of territory and the boundaries of private and social property that the authors use to justify the call to revolt against British colonization.This is clearly stipulated in the reasons that Jefferson and Paine enumerates, wherein they invoke the inherent human right to self-determination. (Ibid) Indeed, Jefferson’s argument on the right of the people to â€Å"alter or to abolish† a government based on its inability to protect the rights of the citizens and when it becomes an impediment towards the realization of full human development was made at a time when people lacked the confidence to believe that they were capable of governing themselves.How ever, Jefferson’s concept of the right of the people to a government that fully reflects and represents their collective interests and aspirations continues to resound to this day, when new forms of tyranny and new forms of oppression persists, oftentimes under the cloak of democracy or for the pursuit of human security.It is not a stretch of the mind to note the persistence of social problems such as intolerance and discrimination based on religion, gender, or social status, or the continued poverty experienced not only by the American people more so by the rest of the world, that effectively prevents the full realization of human rights and potentials that Jefferson and Paine have so boldly championed, and on which the democratic ideals of American society were built on.

Fosdick Case Study Essay

1.How should Fosdick respond to the immediate situation? Fosdick should respond to the immediate situation by contacting Robert Easter letting him known the situation and asking how he would like to handle the situation. 2.What controls, of the types discussed in this chapter, might have been used by Red Spot Markets to reduce or eliminate the problems discussed in the case? Red Spot can have the products to continuously move through the process to reduce or eliminate the problems discussed in this case. If the packages are continuously moving through the process the package will not be sitting and the employees chances will be lessen for theft. 3.What longer-range steps should Fosdick take to control the operations of the Providence distribution center? Fosdick should try revamping the inventory control process by changing the process so the packages can continuously move in and out. He should also restructure the employee shifts and lunch schedules so there will be continuous operations throughout the day. 4.What longer-range steps should Fosdick take to improve the Providence distribution center’s productivity? Long Range Steps: †¢Implement a reward system that will provide the employees with a bonus (financial or time) to push more packages through the system †¢ Implement modern technology to gage and monitor employee performance by utilizing handheld devices †¢Replacing current employees 5.What longer-range steps can Fosdick take to reduce the distribution center’s high rate of shrinkage? Reduce shrinkage †¢Provide employees with a safe and secure way to report employee theft where they are able to remain anonymous. †¢Placing a severe penalty program in place for theft or even attempted theft †¢RFID tags †¢Placing items up high that must remain in the warehouse overnight and locking the forklifts making the merchandise not easily accessible for pilfering. †¢Placing seals on the merchandise and having each handler inspect the seal and document the status of the seal as it passes through each handler. 6.Assume that Fosdick decides that the practice of free lunches from the opened cases of goods must be stopped. Develop and present the arguments he should give in a meeting with the union shop steward. I have noticed the employees are opening some of the boxes and taking items to make their lunch. I do not believe this is in the best interest of the company and it is considered pilfering. I assume these employees have been doing this for quite some time since when I stumbled upon what they were doing, the remark I received was â€Å"this was a non-contract fringe benefit†. This should not be the case since this is a loss in inventory within the company. I believe there are other ways to compensate employees and this is not one of the ways. 7.(This is a continuation of Question 6.) Assume, instead, that you are the union shop steward. Develop and present your argument that the free lunches represent a long- standing employee benefit enjoyed by the distribution center’s employees and that management’s attempt to stop them is a breach of an unwritten contract and will be resisted. Mr. Fosdick, we understand your sincere concern for company productivity and success; however, we are unable to do anything about your request at this time. We allow our employees to free lunches on the company as it represents long term employee benefits and stopping them will be a breach of an unwritten contract and will be resisted. This is one of the small things we allow to occur as it leads to happy employees and good productivity. 8.Much of the situation described in the case seems to evolve around the personality of T. D. Bigelow. How should he be treated? Why? T.D Bigelow should be handled according to company policy. He should understand his role and operate in his role toward company success. This should be done as an example to the other employees since they are watching and will follow what they believe one person is allowed to do.

Enigma Machine essays

Enigma Machine essays The German Light Cruiser Magdaboard ran around the Baltic sea, the Russians that were in that area captured the ship and found in it the German Navy Secret code book. The British used it to decode German Navel messages, so that they would know what the Germans were going to do next. When the war was over the British told the world that they had found the Germans code book, which made the Germans realize that code books were not a good way of getting such important messages around. So they decided that In Berlin man made an encoding machine available on the market, named the Enigma Variations. You press a letter on the keyboard and a different letter is typed. Each time you press that letter the letter that comes out changes. It has so many approximately 3(10114) different variations. The Polish had the insight that the codes could be deciphered by mathematicians. Bartramp photographed the keys to break Enigmas codes, and sold them to the Polish. The Germans later added two more roters, and they found out that they needed help, so they brought a bunch of really smart people together to see if any of them could find a way to break the codes. One man found a way to build a machine that would take the encoded message and come up with every possible out come for it. And all they would need to do is look through them and find out the one that makes sense. All the mathematicians couldnt break it, and this was the only way that they found that was possible! "The work of Enigma required enormous concentration and at least eighty intercepts collected on the same day, using the same setting on the German cipher devices" [Kozaczuk]. This machine looks alot like a typewriter, but it has an extra panel built into the lid. Twenty-six circular glass windows in the panel, were the keys which had the letters of the alphabet on them, just like the ...

The Calcutta Chromosome Science Fiction and Technology essays

The Calcutta Chromosome Science Fiction and Technology essays This novel was written by a social anthropologist, Amitav Ghosh, who is also a skilled literary craftsman when it comes to the precision and clarity of his narrative style. So, knowing his anthropological background and expertise, a reader goes into a book with a little different sense of anticipation; science will surely be a prominent part of the books theme. And also, I am enjoying reading the novel and observing the two types of cultures Western and Eastern cultures and how each of those cultures views and responds to technology and science. The plot is made very interesting in a diverse way, because there are characters whose cultural backgrounds are very different from the places and cultures that they are living in; for example, far from his real cultural place of residence is Antar, an Egyptian (Eastern culture), who resides in Manhattan (western culture). His job is to research artifacts (from many cultures) through the medium of cyberspace, which is a kind of other-worldly technology culture that allows individuals of all cultures to interact digitally, but never to actually speak verbally to one another, see one another, or pass judgment other than through the written word. Meanwhile, keeping to a diversity of east-west cultural contrasts, Ghosh stumbles across the image on his computer screen of an Indian whose name is Murugan, who is presumed to have disappeared in 1995, and was considered an obsessive researcher in regard to the life and scientific achievements of a Britisher named Ronald Ross, known as Sir Ronald Ross, since he was given that title by the Queen of England after winning the Nobel Prize for science. Murugan, according to a review in the Christian Science Monitor (Rosenberg, 1998), was an engaging character an obsessive verging on madness, but also a raconteur with a delicious instinct for lifes absurdities in general and colonial hypocrisy in particular."...

Critically review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Critically review - Essay Example Moreover, their access to recent and new technology is limited. In many occasions only the elites of particular under-developed countries have access to technological. The rest of the country is confined to living in of abject poverty by living lives without the vital necessities like purified water, proper shelter and clothing (James, 2001:148). Therefore, if the developing nations would exploit the advantages offered by information technology (IT) by being integrated in the global economy, they would also be conversant with the many characteristics together with the resulting impulses they would propagate. This is because IT alters the way global competition is carried out and locational behavior of the multinational corporations. Since competition is a continuous technological revolution, it requires new principles and concepts that are beyond those offered by traditional national comparative advantage. As a result, the information industry has led to technological transformations and growth of the whole economies. In addition, competition is characterized by fast technological changes, intense global competition, and uncertainties. Consequently, these characteristics need that; you know the anticipation of the core capabilities, continuous technological learning, exact timing of entry into the market, and finally developing of the supporting institutions (James: 2001:148-9) According to James (2001:149-150) the pattern of globalization in the Third world countries has shown that it has led to the deterioration of foreign trade. This is because the overall ratio of trade to GDP n the past decade has been on the rise for the developing countries.. The Third World countries that are seeking to enter the global market now have already been left behind. The huge amounts of cash flow and general capital are required to establish a true presence in the global market; as a result many Third World nations have not yet generated the necessary capital and domestic con ditions so as to be strong competitors in the current world of neoliberal trade. Moreover, globalization is partly due to the factors that are unrelated changes in technology and IT in particular. As result, the most important of these factors is the liberal approach to both international trade and foreign investment that adopted in many countries, both developed as well as the developing. Developing nations have not been able to fully reap the potential benefits that are available through globalization. As a result this has left them much less subjected to the downsides of globalization like sweatshops and pollution According to Craig, David and Porter (2004:45-7) assert that international trade levels have been depending on costs of transport but also on the communication costs between the sellers and the buyers in the different countries In fact, the two distinct mechanisms through which globalization is being driven by a reduction in costs of communication. The more obvious mech anism is that because of the technologies like the digital switching, fax machines and Internet. Therefore, information about the already traded goods can be passed on between the countries more cheaply than it was hitherto possible. This manifests among other ways, the growth of electronic commerce between various businesses, digital goods delivery and the retail sale of

A Subsidiary Company in a European Union Country Essay

A Subsidiary Company in a European Union Country - Essay Example But currently, the industry has become multinational with a giant turnover. The clothing industry is among the most competitive and also most profitable ventures. It provides employment opportunities directly and indirectly to millions of people worldwide. Currently, in the United Kingdom some of the leading clothing companies include Aquascutum, Aston Bourne, Austin Reed, Barbour, Bertie.co.uk, Elvi, Dorothy Perkins, Monsoon, I Love Cashmere, Next, and countless others. The competitive environment in this industry is very high because of the enormous number of clothing companies in the market. Clothing companies have various challenges they experience which include increased expenses for operating costs and raw material. When the global economy weakens, it affects the clothing industry majorly because people tend to not purchase new clothes. The effects have been seen whereby some industry players do fallout during these periods. But when the economy strengthens the industry also improves. Rapid fashion and trend changes and changing customer preferences can also pose a significant challenge to the industry. Next, a clothing company in United Kingdom headquarters in England, designs, manufactures and supplies clothing, footwear, and home accessories. It has over 700 stores spread across the globe. Next boasts 200 stores in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. Other 597 stores are found in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Next was founded in the year 1964. It has approximately 54,507 employees (2013). In the year 2013, the company recorded a profit of  £508.6 million. Next plc’s business strategies include developing and upgrading Next products, improving the company’s financial strength by promoting secure financing structure and increasing the number of online sales globally.