The Importance of Processes in Reverse Logistics Essay

The Importance of Processes in Reverse Logistics - Essay Example least cost and highest efficiency). A reverse logistics operation is considerably different from forward logistics. It must establish convenient collection points to receive the used goods from the final customer or remove assets from the supply chain so that more efficient use of inventory / material overall can be achieved. It requires packaging and storage systems that will ensure that most of the value still remaining in the used good is not lost due to careless handling. It often requires the development of a transportation mode that is compatible with existing forward logistic system. Disposition can include returning assets into inventory pools or warehouses for storage, returning goods to the original manufacturer for reimbursement, selling goods on a secondary market, recycling assets, or a combination that will yield maximum value for the assets in question. Reverse logistics, simply put, comprise all activities associated with a product/service after the point of sale, the ultimate goal to optimize or make more efficient aftermarket activity thus saving money. However, easy as it may looks , the processes involved requires a large degree of considerations coupled with careful planning. Speed of retrieval is the primary measure of efficiency and ... Speed of retrieval is the primary measure of efficiency and the choice of the method of transportation is the primary determinant of speed. Unlike in the distribution system where deliveries are made to stationary locations, retrieval would often require door-to-door visits. This is especially a problem in hard to access areas where travel would be tedious and costly. A decision has to be made on what method would be efficient. It may require a combination of measures such as carriers (trucks) for aggregate acquisition and vans/ordinary passenger vehicle for unit acquisition. Now what was stated above is only the acquisition part. There is also the delivery of the warehoused materials to the processing site. Since transportation will now be in terms of aggregate terms, a carrier must be assigned. In all these process, there is the possibility of problems suddenly appearing. In some case, carriers may always experience breakdowns or may get lost from trying to find the retrieval point. This would generally lead to higher costs as maintenance and fuel expenditures become large. Transportation may be outsourced and these would generally necessitate an analysis of current market rates. Again, the efficiency of the carrier should be evaluated as they may prove to be too costly for hiring and ineffective for the planned process. Warehousing A logistician's main problem in warehousing Returned products is how to store them until a decision is made on what to do with them. The returned products will require space - that is a fact that every logistician should realize and the firm can not relegate the storage of returning products to others in a way they can when they are distributing new products. Additional space would mean additional cost of handling to the

Discuss Adorno's and the Frankfurt Sschools Concept that Celebrities Essay

Discuss Adorno's and the Frankfurt Sschools Concept that Celebrities Are One of the Means Through Twhich Capitalism Achieves it - Essay Example According to Boldrin and Levine (2002), â€Å"†¦countries are better off facilitating processes that are attractive to multinational companies and countries† (p. 212). Furthermore, the western culture has had the biggest influence on many other cultures in the world, to the angst or happiness of different people. The internet and the advent of computers have had a very big role to play in this spread of celebrity lifestyle. unlike in the past, with the click of the mouse, a fan can follow what their favorite celebrity is doing, what they eat, where they live and the minutest details of their lives. This, many people tend to imitate. This has led to many companies endorsing celebrities to market their products, banking on the fact that whatever the celebrities will be wearing, eating or be seen with will have the masses of their fans following suit, hence increase their sales. Needless to say, this does not come cheap, both to the endorsing companies and to the masses foll owing blindly. Social control is a phenomenon that is experienced by masses in the world, whether they are aware of it or not. It s described as the influence on individuals’ behaviors by institutions in the public through public opinion, social and religious organizations, use of force or violence, through appealing to people’s emotions and desires and also through use of leaders or celebrities in order to bring out certain reactions from the public in general. In the past, social control was a positive force that was meant to keep the fabric of society intact and keep evil and criminal activities at bay. However, with the media becoming more and more powerful, they have tapped into the idea of social control to influence people in order to gain monetary and other kinds of benefits, at the detriment of the whole society. This is seen through the influence caused by advertisements, TV and radio programs and wide coverage of celebrity lives, making masses desire the sam e kind and try to imitate this. Hui (2002) points out that â€Å"we found that, at least in the case of movies, the supply of creative work responded to economic incentives and consumer behavior† (p. 217.). The fact that the world has become largely capitalist is a factor that is stoking this flame. The result of this is mass deception, where the populations are made to believe that what they are seeing is the ideal of life and that they should strive to achieve these standards set by the media and celebrities. This is despite the fact that the lives celebrities live cost a fortune and cannot be achieved, at least in the short run, by most ordinary people. The result is that people have engaged in very destructive habits in order to buy into this deception. These habits include borrowing and using credit facilities beyond their means in order to get what the media has suggested, gambling, criminal activities, disregarding the old methods of working hard in order to achieve su ccess and instead depending too much on lotteries and wasting more money, amongst other socially deviant activities in order to feed their desires. According to The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception" Adorno and Horkheimer Frankfurt school, this is exactly what the media and the celebrity culture is using to deceive the masses. In their argument, Adorno and Horkhe

Artillery used by the NORTH During the Civil War (Gettysburg) Research Paper

Artillery used by the NORTH During the Civil War (Gettysburg) - Research Paper Example The general classification of Artillery was based on caliber and weight. The other factors considered include mobility, as well as the carriage form or mounting. Notably, "Field" artillery was regarded ordnance light, as well as mobile to help in maneuvering during battle. Numerous larger guns used by the North and South were locked permanently in fortifications. The defense in Washington alone had 98 mortars and 807 guns. Many of such fortification guns were never used in attacking the enemy via the entire war. Regarding the Northern armies, they were uniformly equipped with the 12-pounder Napoleon, 10- pounder, or 3-inch rifle parrots. Although the Northern were armed, their artillery batteries usually had a number of non-standard guns, and all every gun called for different ammunitions. The North had many advantages compared to the South in acquiring small arms. The advantages were the resultant of the fact that the Confederacy entirely relied on the smuggled imports following the advanced naval blockade. The North thus accessed different models from England and France as the Confederate army imported them. According to Allen, in the article Artillery, the organization of Artillery fell into two categories, the union and confederate. Batteries for the union artillery were often constituted of six guns used in three, sections, involving two guns. There were three sections; right, middle, and right sections. Battery for Confederate constituted of four guns. The four guns were of different types, and therefore, supply for the Confederate ammunition to artillery batteries became very difficult to implement. Each Confederate composed of almost sixty-eight men. A Field Artillery battery incorporated six guns at full strength. All guns were linked to a limber being pulled by horses; a caisson was also used to offer more support. There were two chests

Changes in Network Structure and Ownership of US Broadcast Television Essay

Changes in Network Structure and Ownership of US Broadcast Television - Essay Example Traditionally the US television industry was guided by the sheer ethical standards of good programming and content presentation. The networks adopted the basic principle of understanding the viewers as the owners of the air and had been providing them with programmes treating them as sovereigns.The United States Broadcast Television industry has undergone a tremendous change in the last few years due to various factors like shift in the viewers' media-consumption habits, technological advancements resulting in new digital products and reduction in the advertising revenue. Grabbing audience, holding on to them and to monetize on the audience have become tough jobs for the Broad Cast companies with the advent of Internet sites like YouTube that offer television programming including shows from NBC with little financial gain for the networks. Not only the net works but all the media companies are facing the brunt due to the uncertain future of the media business. Before the year 2006 te levision companies profited almost entirely from producing, distributing and selling TV content. Success in those areas meant higher profits and returns for the stakeholders. However this trend had changed with the intrusion of online stores and a variety of digital platforms with which the TV media had to compete. This paper makes a study as to how this state of affairs has necessitated changes in the network structure and ownership of US Broadcast Television industry.Traditionally the US television industry was guided by the sheer ethical standards of good programming and content presentation. The networks adopted the basic principle of understanding the viewers as the owners of the air and had been providing them with programmes treating them as sovereigns. Providing true entertainment was the sole business motto of the network companies. Principles of free enterprise system guided the network companies to broadcast programmes with values and commercial advertising formed a minor part of these entertainers. But with the advent of internet the situation stated drifting and the advertising revenues started declining "Faced with competition from an array of digital competitors, which produce content of their own and sometimes even carry network programming, TV companies have seen their revenues shrink, along with the confidence of traditional Wall Street investors". (Anne Becker 2007) The competition from the digital competitors was the major hurdle for the network companies to continue to survive healthily as this competition started eating up their advertising revenue. This echoed in the quality of the content and programming expertise of the network companies as even the larger ones had to resort to job cuts and were unable to retain real talents by paying hefty salaries and perks. 3.0 Effect of Reduction in Advertising Revenues on Network Companies: One of the major problems identified as leading to the reduction in the revenues to the net work companies is the reduction in the advertising revenues. As against the increase in the ad-spending for the internet was predicted to scale up to 13 percent in 2006 the network-TV advertising remained flat without any increase and newspaper advertising fell 3 percent according to a report by TNS Media Intelligence. Such drastic changes in the revenues had forced the major network companies to cut the jobs and thereby reduce the cost to increase the profitability. "NBCU announced its layoffs after its broadcast network dropped more than 15% in the adults 18-49 demographic over two consecutive seasons and the company saw its profit plummet 10% during third quarter 2006". (Anne Becker 2007) Similarly MTVN has also resorted to job cuts after the share price of its parent company Viacom fell over the past year. MTNV had removed all the staff from its two cable networks, giving their responsibil ities to other staffers at MTV and VH1. 4.0 Commercials and the Web sites: Another important factor which needs consideration in falling revenues of the network TV companies is the shift in the advertising sponsors resorting to internet media than the Television media. Alex Mindlin (2007)

Six Sigma at General Electric Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Six Sigma at General Electric - Essay Example Its goal is to ensure that there are no problems with any product or service that GE provides. This is done through quarterly customer surveys and daily manufacturing checks by internal engineers (Cohen, 1997).Since the 1980s, GE has sought improvement in business-performance and profitability through various programs (Hendericks and Kelbaugh, 1998). However, in 1995, Welch decided that those programs were not enough and directed the company to undertake Six Sigma as a corporate initiative. He said that it "is the only initiative he will introduce, but it will be introduced everywhere".The introduction of Six Sigma within GE was a dramatic culture change requiring impetus from the very top. Welch's personal leadership and direction was necessary and instrumental in the rollout of Six Sigma. When the employees tried to dismiss Six Sigma as the program of the month, Welch changed the business structure at a corporate level to underscore the importance of the goal. He implemented two no table strategic changes:The concept of Six Sigma at GE deals with measuring and improving how close the company comes in delivering on what it planned to do. Six Sigma provides a way for improving processes so that the company can more efficiently and predictably produce world-class products and services. There is a five-phased methodology applied by a Six Sigma team to tackle specific problems to reach Six Sigma levels (Paul, 1999). (We note that when Six Sigma was first launched at GE Aircraft Engines, a four-step methodology (MIAC) was followed. Recently, the Define phase has been added to recognize the importance of having a well-scoped project and to be in line with the current practices across GE): (1) Phase 1 - define (D). Who are the customers and what are their priorities A Six Sigma project team identifies a project suitable for Six Sigma efforts based on business objectives as well as customer needs and feedback. As part of the definition phase, the team identifies those attributes, called CTQs (critical to quality characteristics), that the customer considers to have the most impact on quality. (2) Phase 2 - measure (M). How is the process measured and how is it performing The team identifies the key internal processes that influence CTQs and measures the defects currently generated relative to those processes. (3) Phase 3 - analyze (A). What are the most important causes of defects The team discovers why defects are generated by identifying the key variables that are most likely to create process variation. (4) Phase 4 - improve (I). How do we remove the causes of the defects The team confirms the key variables and quantifies their effects on the CTQs. It also identifies the maximum acceptable ranges of the key variables and validates a system for measuring deviations of the variables. The team modifies the process to stay within the acceptable range. (5) Phase 5 - control (C). How can we maintain the improvements Tools are put in place to ensure that under the modified

Final Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Final - Research Paper Example how a human body was found burned to ashes inside a room without any apparent cause; and how the rest of the objects in the room remained relatively unaffected. Since then, this phenomenon has been introduced as a possibility. Stories on SHC have been enriched and regenerated due to cases of police officers arriving at scenes of fires where they were able to find half burned bodies which often left only the leg or foot unburned. These cases puzzled them, hence the perpetuation of the SHC phenomenon. Spontaneous human combustion is defined as the â€Å"alleged process of a human body catching fire as a result of heat generated by internal chemical or nuclear action† (Carroll â€Å"From Abracadabra to Zombies†). There have so far been no witnesses for this phenomenon but many stories have been generated about it. The earliest explanations for SHC have been based on an apparent visitation by God and this explanation may have a strong connection with Moses and the burning bush. However, more scientific explanations for SHC have now been presented for our consideration (BBC News â€Å"H2G2†). Author Charles Dickens has used SHC in one of his novels as a cause of death and this has further generated interest on its possibility. Dickens further claimed that he has known cases of SHC and he points out two main cases which have happened over a hundred years ago (Carroll â€Å"From Abracadabra to Zombies†). But non-believers claim that Dickens probably got his idea from the stories of Dupont in his book De Incendiis Corporis Humani Spontaneis. This book points out how a drunken German spontaneously ignited because of his intake of copious amounts of brandy. Immediately, faults in this theory were pointed out when non-believers point out that if drinking plenty of liquor would cause SHC, then there would have been many more reported incidents of the phenomenon. The proposal on alcoholic consumption has actually been debunked by scientists when they explained that

Blogs about Fashion designer's news and their brand Essay

Blogs about Fashion designer's news and their brand - Essay Example The paper "Blogs about Fashion designer's news and their brand" provides information about blogs in the fashion industry. The editor rightly observed that Lee McQueen could successfully integrate technology with that of the design and it was the differentiating factor which made him so successful in his regime. Lee, born in the year of 1970 at East End had his schooling Central State Martins. He had his professional training at Savile Row where he received the rare exposure of writing messages in the suits of The Prince of Wales. This talented designer had the great achievement of winning the prestigious award of ‘British Designer of the Year in 1997 (though jointly with John Galliano), 2001 and 2003. Lee, born in the year of 1970 at East End had his schooling Central State Martins. He had his professional training at Savile Row where he received the rare exposure of writing messages in the suits of The Prince of Wales. This talented designer had the great achievement of winnin g the prestigious award of ‘British Designer of the Year in 1997 (though jointly with John Galliano), 2001 and 2003. French designer Jean Paul Gaultier’s latest fashion campaign was a major hit. The cast for the campaign is highlighted which involves casting of plus-size model Crystal Renn for the campaign and as the face of the winter/autumn 2010-11. It is reported in The New York Magazine that Chinese model Ping Hue and Kelly Moreira are supposed to join the campaign with Crystal Renn. Also, it reports that Renn is to be part.