Book Review on Poor Economics

BOOK REVIEW POOR ECONOMICS: A RADICAL RETHINKING OF THE WAY TO FIGHT GLOBAL POVERTY By: Abhijit V Banerjee & Esther Duflo POOR ECONOMICS argues that so much of anti-poverty policy has failed over the years because of an inadequate understanding of poverty. The battle against poverty can be won, but it will take patience, careful thinking and a willingness to learn from evidence. Banerjee and Duflo are practical visionaries whose meticulous workoffers transformative potential for poor people anywhere, and is a vital guide to policy makers, philanthropists, activists and anyone else who cares about building a world without poverty.CHAPTER 1: THINK AGAIN, AGAIN Poverty and development can sometimes feel like overwhelming issues – the scale is daunting, the problems grand. Ideology drives a lot of policies, and even the most well-intentioned ideas can get bogged down by ignorance of ground-level realities and inertia at the level of the implementer. In fact, we call these the â₠¬Å"three I’s† – ideology, ignorance, inertia – the three main reasons policies may not work and aid is not always effective.But there’s no reason to lose hope. Incremental, real change can be made. Sometimes the change seems small, but by identifying real world success stories, facing up to real world failures, and understanding why the poor make the choices they make, we can find the right levers to push to free the poor of the hidden traps that keep them behind. CHAPTER 2: A BILLION HUNGRY PEOPLE? Jeffrey Sachs, an advisor to the United Nations and director of Columbia University's Earth Institute, is one such expert.In books and countless speeches and television appearances, he has argued that poor countries are poor because they are hot, infertile, malaria-infested, and often landlocked; these factors, however, make it hard for them to be productive without an initial large investment to help them deal with such endemic problems. But they cannot pay for the investments precisely because they are poor — they are in what economists call a â€Å"poverty trap. † Until something is done about these problems, neither free markets nor democracy will do very much for them.The basic idea of a nutrition-based poverty trap is that there exists a critical level of nutrition, above or below which dynamic forces push people either further down into poverty and hunger or further up into better-paying jobs and higher-calorie diets. These virtuous or vicious cycles can also last over generations: early childhood under-nutrition can have long-term effects on adult success. Maternal health impacts in  utero  development. And it’s not just quantity of food – quality counts, too. Micronutrients like iodine and iron can have direct impacts on health and economic outcomes.But if nutrition is so important, why don’t people spend every available extra cent on more calories? From the look of our eighteen-count ry dataset, people spent their money on food†¦ and festivals, funerals, weddings, televisions, DVD players, medical emergencies, alcohol, tobacco and, well, better-tasting food. CHAPTER 3: Low-Hanging Fruit for Better (Global) Health? Every year, nine million children under five die from preventable diseases such as diarrhea and malaria. Often, the treatments for these diseases are cheap, safe, and readily available.So why don't people pick these ‘low-hanging fruit'? Why don’t mothers vaccinate their children? Why don’t families use bednets, or buy chlorinated water? And why do they spend such large amounts of money on ineffective cure instead? There are a number of possible explanations. These can include unreliable health service delivery, price sensitivity, a lack of information or trust, time-inconsistent behavior and the simple fact that the poor may not be able to tackle big, chronic illnesses. None of these reasons explains everything in isolation.But understanding what stops the immediate spread of our ‘low-hanging fruit’ – bednets, de-worming medication, vaccines, chlorinated water – is an important step in improving global health, and may finally help to eliminate health-based poverty traps. CHAPTER 4: TOP OF THE CLASS Over the past few decades, children have flocked into the schools, but schools seem to have delivered very little: teachers and students are often absent, and learning levels are very low. Why is this happening? Is it a supply issue, where the government needs to provide children with better schools, better textbooks, better teachers and better facilities?Or is it demand, where parents would lobby for quality education if and only if there were real benefits? There seems to be a problem with both. For example, parents expect both too much and too little from the schools: government jobs for those who graduate from secondary school, and nothing for the rest. Teachers seem focused on te aching small elite, and undervalue the regular students. These expectations affect behavior and generate real world waste. But the good news is that these expectations and these real world outcomes can be changed CHAPTER 5: Pak Sudarno's Big FamilyMost policy makers consider population policy to be a central part of any development program. And yet, unexpectedly, it seems that access to contraception may not be the determining factor in the poor's fertility decisions. So how can policy makers influence population? Instead of contraception, other aspects like social norms, family dynamics, and above all, economic considerations, seem to play a key role, not only in how many children people choose to have, but how they will treat them. Discrimination against women and girls remain a central fact of the life for many poor families.Going inside the â€Å"black box† of familial decision-making – that is, understanding how and why decisions are made the way they are – is essential to predicting the real impact of any social policy aimed at influencing population. CHAPTER 6: BAREFOOT HEDGEFUND MANAGERS The poor face a huge amount of risk – a friend of ours from the world of high finance once noted that they're like hedge fund managers. These risks can come from health shocks – like an accident – or agricultural shocks – like a drought – or any other number of unexpected crises.Often, the poor just don't have the means to weather these shocks, and so they get pushed into poverty traps. The steps they take to protect themselves form these risks are insufficient and often costly: they choose less profitable and less risky crop, they spread themselves too thin across a great number of activities; they exchange favors with neighbors. Yet all this doesn't always even cover large shocks. CHAPTER 7: MICROFINANCE The fact that banks are often unwilling to lend to the poor, coupled with the extremely high interest rates m oneylenders charge, was a call to action for the founders of microfinance.Enforcing credit contracts involves collecting extensive information about the borrower to ensure repayment. The high cost of gathering this information makes neighborhood moneylenders the easiest source of credit. Microfinance institutions rely on their ability to keep a close check on the customer, in part by involving other borrowers who happen to know the customer: This was a recipe for enormous success, there are more than 200 million microfinance borrowers today. Many MFIs were unwilling to evaluate whether their lending programs were helping the poor.The MFIs were financially sustainable and borrowers kept coming back, which the MFIs saw as proof enough. When an Indian MFI, Spandana, was rigorously evaluated, there was clear evidence that microfinance was working. People in Spandana neighborhoods were more likely to have started a business and made large purchases. However, there were no detectable impa cts on women's empowerment, spending on education or health, or in the probability that kids would be enrolled in private schools. One of the limits of microfinance is its inflexible structure and focus on â€Å"zero default. It may not be an effective borrowing channel for entrepreneurs who are willing to take risks and will go on to set up a large business. More established businesses do not find it that much easier to get credit. In particular, they run the risk of being too large for the traditional moneylenders and microfinance agencies, but too small for the banks. We need to see the equivalent of the microfinance revolution for small and medium firms; figured out how to do it profitably on a large scale is the next big challenge for finance in developing countries. CHAPTER 8: SAVING BRICK BY BRICKJust as with lending, banks have not found a good way to adapt their services to the poor. The administrative costs associated with managing small accounts are too high. Instead, th e poor find unusual and ingenious ways to save. They buying durable goods like jewelry or new bricks for their house. Many form savings â€Å"clubs† such as the popular rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs) in Africa. However, the fact that the poor have to adopt complicated and costly alternative strategies to save means that saving is harder than if they had a bank account: access to a saving accounts increases profits and consumption.With new technology and innovations like M-PESA in Kenya which allows cell phone users to send money with their phone, microsavings might become the next microfinance revolution. However, not all barriers to savings are externally imposed. The poor, like anyone else, easily give in to the temptation to spend money in the present rather than save it for the future. They have difficulty, for example, saving enough over a short season to buy fertilizer; but a program to help them buy it early increased fertilizer use. The poor may be more subject to temptations than the rich because the items they dream of may be further from their reach.Poor people who feel that they have opportunities have strong reasons to cut down on â€Å"frivolous† spending and invest in the future. Those who feel that they have nothing to lose, in contrast, save less: hope matters! CHAPTER 9: RELUCTANT ENTREPRENEURS Many expect that the poor will find successful business opportunities. They haven't been given a chance, so their ideas are fresher: MFIs have many examples of successful clients, like a garbage collector turned recycling empress! The sheer number of business owners among the poor is impressive. When tiny grants were made to small businesses in Sri Lanka, their profits increased rapidly.However, while many of the poor operate businesses, most of these businesses are tiny. The businesses of the poor tend to have few if any employees and very limited assets. The businesses run by the poor are also generally unprofitable, which may well explain why giving them a loan to start a new business does not lead to a drastic improvement in their welfare. Many businesses suffer from the â€Å"empty shelf† problem: a space a created for a shop, but no inventory fills the shelves. Even a small investment in more inventory will have large marginal returns, but once the shelves are full, the business has no further scope to grow.Despite initial large returns to small investments, many small businesses hit at point at which a substantial capital investment is needed in order to continue growing. However, few people are willing to give such large loans to the poor. Because of this trap, the poor may not invest as much (both money but also emotions and intellectual energy) into their businesses because they know that their business will always remain too small to make real money. Often, the enterprises of the poor seem more a way to buy a job when more conventional employment opportunities are not available t han a reflection of a particular entrepreneurial urge.One of the most common dreams of the poor is that their children become government workers – a stable, though not always an exciting job. A sense of stability may be necessary for people to be able to take the long view. People who don’t envision substantial improvements to their future quality of life may stop trying and end up staying where they are. Creating good jobs could go a long way in increasing the stability of the lives of the poor, which will, in turn give the poor the opportunity and the urge to invest in their children and save more.There are more than a billion people who survive off of the earnings of their own farm or business. We must be impressed by their resilience. But these small businesses will probably not pave the way for a massive exit from poverty. CHAPTER 10: POLICIES, POLITICS Even the most well-intended and well-thought-out policies may not have an impact if they are not implemented pro perly. Corruption, or the simple dereliction of duty, creates massive inefficiencies. Many people believe that until political institutions are fixed, countries cannot really develop. There may be no natural process to completely eliminate bad institutions.Institutional change from the outside is probably an illusion. But it is not clear that things will eventually fix themselves. However, fighting corruption appears to be possible to some extent even without fixing the larger institutions. Relatively straightforward interventions, such as threatening audits or publicizing corruption results have shown impressive success. Often, small changes make important differences. In Brazil, switching to a pictorial ballot enfranchised a large number of poor and less educated adults. The politicians they elected were more likely to target their policies to the poor.In China, even imperfect elections led to policies that were more favorable to the poor. In India, when quotas for women on villag e councils in India were enacted, women leaders invested in public goods preferred by women. Policies are not completely determined by politics. Good policies (sometimes) happen in bad political environments. For example, Suharto built tens of thousands of schools in Indonesia. And bad policies happen in good environments, because what the government is trying to do is hard: generally, the government tries to convince people to do something they would not like to do, like wearing a helmet on a motorcycle!The opportunities for corruption are rife. Bad policies are often a product of the three I's: ideology, ignorance, inertia. For example, nurses in India, whose job description is so overwhelming that they have decided that they cannot possibly do it, and instead do nothing. Careful understanding of constraints can lead to policies and institutions that are better designed, and less likely to be perverted by corruption. Changes will be incremental, but they will sustain and build on themselves, and perhaps even improve the political process.

Microeconomics of Customer Relationships

Reading: Microeconomics of Customer Relationships ? Reading: Microeconomics of Customer Relationships The follow is a critique and review of the reading of Microeconomic of Customer Relationships by Fred Reichheld. I will review the article and evaluate Mr. Reachheld. I will also apply economic theories into why and how I came to my conclusions. Overview on the Reading Microeconomic of Customer Relationships by Fred Reichheld is based on a simple survey based customer-relationship metric known as â€Å"net-promoter score†, or NPS.The NPS divides customers into three categories based on the simple question, â€Å"How likely is it that you would recommend us to a friend or colleague? † (Reichheld, 2006, pg. 73) Customers at the high end are labeled promoters, because of their likelihood of loyalty and positive word-of-mouth promotion. The low end of the spectrum is the opposite of the promoter and labeled a detractor. By quantifying the value the customers have the compan y can then devise action plans to solve problems, or expatiate growth. Evaluation of the AuthorFred Reichheld was very good at relating NPS in a practical and evaluative way. What I found most interesting in his analysis of NPS was the customer grid (Figure 1). Figure 1. Customer Grid. From Fred Reichheld’s Microeconomics of Customer Relationships. (2006, pg. 76) Reichheld came to the conclusion that the upper right was the top long-term priority. I completely agree with this conclusion. He then put the upper right and the lower right as the next highest priority. He does make some good points, such as bad word-of-mouth and high profits that could pick up ship and move on elsewhere.I, however, would put a higher priority in the upper middle section as long as this is a large corporation. A small business may very well need to stamp out the issues of the unsatisfied because they can’t afford the risk of losing base. In a large corporation, volume is huge and needs to be satisfied. If you can find a way to get the middle column to the right, your NPS would rise. Conversely, if you don’t satisfy the middle, or large volume customers, they could move to the left causing havoc. Netflix recently made a bold move of raising it’s prices 60% and split it’s services into two separate entities.This angered that middle column of subscribers that used Netflix, but didn’t have strong opinions toward it. Netflix’s stock prices have plummeted 26 percent this year(Randall, 2011). Netflix was counting on customer loyalty to prevail over the increase in prices, but instead had a huge backlash. An example of a company that focuses on the right and the middle of their NPS is Apple. Apple has created a company with an almost cult like following. Apple’s NPS is 79% with only 2% detractors based on a 2008 survey by Satmetrix (Schofield, 2008).Apple has been genius at getting customers to the upper right section of the customer g rid. It developed products to appeal to the masses. Criticism toward Apple has been their lack of Adobe flash integrated into their iphones(Chen, 2008). This causes anger to the left sections of customer who want flash enabled devices. Apple could easily try to appease this group and enable Flash, but because it views it as an unstable platform, it refuses to use it. Apple isn’t as concerned about the haters as it is about those loyal to Apple, or those who are on the fence.Recent commercials have depicted Apple as more stable and fun to used than PCs, in an attempt to grab at that market with no brand loyalty. Economic Theories I do realize my examples for my disagreement with Reichheld on priority placed on the NPS is not for all market conditions and companies. There are many factors that can sway priority away from where focus was previously. The Netflix example, for instance, was based on a company who thought it had somewhat of a monopoly, yet after it made it’s decision to raise prices realized costumers left for other options such as Hulu plus and Blockbuster’s DVD by mail service.Netflix is now forced to have its main focus on the left and pacify those who were angered. There is also supply and demand to consider. When there is a high demand for a product and a limited supply, a higher priority needs to be set on the upper right because holding a high percentage of the market share when supply is low will keep customers when or if the supply is increased and you will need customer loyalty when new competitors are able to enter due to a lower cost of entry. ConclusionFred Reichheld wrote an excellent article breaking down NPS and applying it to business. I had a slight disagreement over his priority placement mainly because it is flexible to the situation and I would focus on the masses rather and a select few. The article was well written and very practical with easy to understand data. References Chen, B. (2008, November 17). Why apple won’t allow adobe flash on iphone. Retrieved from http://www. wired. com/gadgetlab/2008/11/adobe-flash-on/ Randall, D. 2011, September 19). Nflx tumbles on qwikster announcement; are netflix's best days behind it?. Retrieved from http://www. huffingtonpost. com/2011/09/19/nflx-netflix-stock-qwikster_n_970879. html Reichheld, F. (2006). The microeconomics of customer relationships. MITSloan Management Review, 47(2), 73-78. Schofield, M. (2008, April 10). Satmetrix benchmarks net promoter scores in four key industry sectors. Retrieved from http://www. reuters. com/article/2008/04/10/idUS191482 10-Apr-2008 BW20080410

Backgrounder to Deputy Minister

This pilot project was launched on January 7, 2007. Taking into consideration the relentless criticism in important newspapers, magazines and TV channels, about the alarming increase in the drug demand level among both male and female high school students, a Committee was appointed by the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry to initiate the modalities of Awareness Campaign with the active co-operation of School Managements.The Ministry, instead of taking direct responsibility for implementation of the project, created a special fund with an initial contribution $ 50,000 for contingent grants and selected two NGOs for implementation of the project. The issue presented before the NGOs was simple and direct. â€Å"Can the Awareness Campaigns deliver tangible results in the area of drug demand reduction? † The problem and the scenario: This is the first of its kind familiarization program conducted for the benefit of the representatives of the NGOs.The objective is to train the traianers from the point of view of this Awareness Campaign. The NGOs selected have the experience and expertise of working among the drug addicts, for over a decade. Five representatives from each NGO attended the session, one of them was the Chief Coordinator, and the rest were field level personnel. The guideline /handouts specially drafted by the Implementation Committee constituted by the Ministry for the training course were given to them. There are twenty four High schools in the District â€Å"A† selected for the program.Each NGO was allotted 12 Schools. The above initiative was in response to the directions of the Cabinet to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. This time-bound program is directed to be completed within a period of three months. The Deputy Minister of the Department was asked to personally monitor the program and present the report within the time stipulated. The strong reason for associating NGOs is: By experience it is observed that drug demand reduction is mainly a socio-spiritual initiative.The typical government approach bogged down to procedures, did not deliver the results in the past. a) Making the Deputy Minister take direct responsibility of this important social issue: According to the inputs before the Cabinet, the situation relating to the drug scenario in the schools has been alarming. Very inconvenient questions were raised in the Parliament about Government’s lethargy in not properly addressing the issue. The need for a sense of destination and direction to the combustible school-going generation in this age group was felt by the members of the Parliament.On a careful study of the scenario, the following reasons were cited by a Committee specially constituted by the Ministry to send the report to the Cabinet. What are the reasons for such moral collapse of the youngsters at the formative stage of their life? Five major issues were cited: a) Economic prosperity. The children get more than requir ed pocket money. The reasons and sources for children having more cash than is necessary for their normal needs however could not be ascertained. The students were not willing to share this information with the counseling team.b) The friendship-net of the drug-addicts is fast expanding. The teachers are afraid to take strong action against the students lest they will be charged under the various provisions of the Child Abuse Act. c) The same was the issue with the parents. In a few cases the children had initiated legal action against the parents under the above Act. d) With the divorce rate touching 55%, every second family was a broken family. Denied of love in the house and in the absence of a happy social interaction with the immediate family members, children looked out for other sources of enjoyment.e) The peer-pressure of the senior students was too much to resist. In some cases, the senior students did not hesitate to take recourse to coercive methods to drag the unwilling f riends to the drug joints. Deputy Minister’s accountability: â€Å"Deputy ministers are accountable to their Ministers, and to the Prime Minister through the Clerk of the Privy Council. (4) Deputy ministers are also accountable to the Public Service Commission and the Treasury Board for authorities directly delegated or assigned to them relating to financial and human resource management.(5) One of the Deputy Minister’s fundamental responsibilities is to support the Minister’s accountability to Parliament. Deputy Ministers and other departmental officials appear before parliamentary committees on behalf of their minister by answering questions and providing information, but they explain rather than defend or debate policies. Public servants do not have a public voice, or identity, distinct from their minister; they are anonymous. †(The Accountability†¦. ) The Deputy Minister has the dual responsibility in implementing the program.Even though the init ial grant of $50,000 was made available by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (the Deputy Minister’s own Ministry), further grants totaling to $ 5,000,000, for the broad implementation of the project all over the State were due shortly from the Finance Ministry, to be disbursed in two monthly installments. â€Å"As noted earlier, Deputy Ministers are assigned specific powers directly or through the Treasury Board under certain provisions of key acts of public administration without reference to their Minister.Specifically, the Financial Administration Act confers directly on Deputy Minister’s responsibility for the prudent management of resources allocated to their department, in compliance with certain Treasury Board policies, regulations, standards, and periodic audits. Responsibility relating to personnel management, including appointment, employer-employee relations, and the organization of the department, are assigned to deputy ministers directly by a number of acts†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Review of†¦)Therefore, the Deputy Ministers have multiple accountabilities. To their Minister and the various Statutory Commissions constituted by the Government for controlling. But the Minister of the Department is the immediate and legal boss and he is answerable to the Minister, as for the general Management of the Department. The Deputy Minister needs to control and ensure that appropriate systems, management processes and instruments are maintained properly so that the performance monitoring goes on smoothly.The role of the Internal audit system for inspection and evaluation is very important and the surprise element of deployment of the staff designated for the purpose helps for a neat and clean administration. Irregularities and malpractices in the disbursement of financial allocations/grants need to be reported to the Deputy Minister well in time, for timely action. In the present case†¦. The Awareness Campaign conducted by the two N GOs had salutary effect on the students. Stunning facts came to the light that about 45-50% of the girl students, smoked, took alcohol and drugs. The percentage among the boys was about 70%.Mostly it was peer pressure, and as found during the Campaign, secret drug joints functioned in the vicinity of the educational institutions. Some peddlers visited the students at conspicuous places nearby on fixed days of the week. But the contents of the Awareness Campaign, lectures on the harmful effects of drugs, practical demonstration through slides/video/audio etc. had desired effects on majority of the students. Many openly declared that they were quite ignorant about the drastically damaging effects on health, by intoxication. Some students volunteered to attend counseling classes at the offices of the NGOs on regular basis.Such awareness campaigns have created highly positive effects on the impressionist minds of the youth. The above observations will place the Deputy Minister in a stro ng position to recommend to the Finance Minister for release of the intended grant of $ 5,000,000 for conduction of such Awareness Campaigns as a matter of policy, all over the State. For one round of Awareness Campaign consisting of two lectures on two altenative dates, expenses devolved are $ 1000, per day. An ad-hoc department is created in the Ministry by transferring suitable senior personnel on deputation basis and junior staff by fresh appointment.A skeleton Section has been formed to look after the immediate administrative needs. The priority of this Ministry is to build up diligent cadres who have a high sense of responsibility in relation to ethical morality. To involve in Awareness Campaigns related to drug demand reduction, one needs to develop missionary zeal. One needs to have a vision, not the legal government-employee relationship only. By saving one individual from deep drug addiction, an entire generation is rehabilitated. Conclusion: Can the Awareness Campaigns de liver tangible results in the area of drug demand reduction?The answer is in the positive. In view of the social conditions obtaining today, when the children are not assured the love they desire and deserve from the parents, due to reasons mentioned above, the School seems to be the place where they can get life-building exercises and lessons. Some of the reformed students have volunteered to actively participate and don the role of reformers, for the benefit of children in other schools. This is a highly positive development. It is now proved beyond doubt that holistic approach to cure drug addicts gives permanent results and the chances of relapse are minimal.So, the intended policy of the Government to associate NGOs that have the socio-spiritual approach, seems to be sound and adoption of this system is throughy recommended. ————— References Cited: Article: The Accountability of Deputy Ministers before Parliament (PRB-05-48E). www. parl. gc. c a/information/library/PRBpubs/prb0548-e. htm – 29k Article: Review of the Responsibilities and Accountabilities of Ministers †¦ This is the general accountability of deputy ministers to the Treasury Board†¦ www. tbs-sct. gc. ca/report/rev-exa/ar-er04_e. asp – 21k

The Process of Market Segmentation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Process of Market Segmentation - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the business environment is highly competitive in the 21st century, as thousands of firms have emerged offering services and products to consumers. Some firms attract their customers through cost-effectiveness or price differentiation, while others aim to grasp their market through providing a unique product/service. While the strategies of firms may differ, the target group that firms are aiming to attract may be similar. All firms must ensure that the product/service that they are offering is different from their competitors in some aspect. In this era, there is no such thing as a standardized product which is suitable for use by all people. Hence, no firm seeks to target the whole market at large and it is highly difficult to target a large potential market with the same product and the same marketing strategies. No products except maybe staple foods such as fruits, vegetables, bread, butter, and other important dietary supplements are aimed at targeting the whole population of consumers and are standardized products. All other products or services are differentiated and conformed to the needs and wants of various target groups. Differentiation refers to adapting the characteristics and marketing of your product/service to fulfill the needs and wants of a particular target market. In order to select the target market for product/ service, a firm must indulge in the process of market segmentation.... This prevents duplication of resources and enables the business to directly target the segment that is more likely to be interested in their product/service offering rather than wasting time and resources upon targeting a massive market that may not be interested in the product/service at all (Yankelovich, 1964, pg. 75-77). Market segmentation allows the business to see the characteristics of its potential customers so that it can create its products according to their needs. For example, after segmenting the market according to the variables of age and gender, a certain cosmetics company found that the most potential lied within the segment of females aged 18-25. This would enable them to customize their products in order to suit the needs of this segment more adequately (Anthanpolusso, 1999, pp. 56-58). Moreover, once markets are segmented, different segments can be made differing offers according to their needs. There may be some segments which may be willing to pay a higher price while others may be price sensitive. Identifying the segments that would be willing to pay a higher price would enable the business to increase its profits. In the same manner, providing the price sensitive segments with initiatives to buy the product might increase the sales and result in more profits for the business (Barnett, 1965, pp. 45-47). Segmenting also allows more opportunities for growth as the same segments can be targeted in different manners. The various customer segments can be given incentives according to the offerings made to them previously. Such schemes include loyalty cards, bonus cards, and other factors. Market Segmentation allows the firm to target the most profitable market segments rather than focusing on less attractive markets. Moreover, it may also allow

International Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 4

International Business - Essay Example The airline grew at a faster rate through the acquisition of new planes and expanded route offerings that were made more appealing through such initiatives as frequent flyer program and business class seats. Despite the rise in the number of passengers, Ryanair continued to make losses due to the fact that it offered low fares though it was not a low-cost airline. As competition soared in the airline industry, the competing airlines, Ryanair was forced to lower their prices even further and eliminating the costly routes and increasing presence in the profitable routes. Through flying to regional airports that have lower costs of landing and faster turnaround times, Ryanair started attaining profitability through offering cheap flights across Europe. The cheap flights were obtainable through the elimination of free meals during flights that led the company to improve their profitability in successive years. In 1997, Ryanair put on offer an IPO that managed to raise it a lot of capital that made it easier for it to acquire other aircraft thus increasing its fleet. In the year 2000, Ryanair started making its bookings online that made it increase the number of passengers that it transferred across destinations. ... Amidst intermittent performances in the year 2009, Ryanair made other strategic changes aimed at reducing costs such as elimination of check-ins in favour of baggage drops that returned it to profitability (Ryanair. n.d). With time, the company has been able to make several strides as regards profitability albeit with numerous challenges and obstacles. Currently, Ryanair is the most favoured airline in the world with bases in forty one airports operating across twenty six countries with over two hundred aircraft transporting about 80 million passengers in the year 2010/2011. As at the moment, it prides itself as having the cheapest air ticket as compared to its competitors namely easy Jet and Aer Lingus and this has contributed to its profits to grow by an average of 25% that totals about 503 million Euros. Market Entry Strategies adopted by Ryanair Ryanair embarked on adopting certain market entry strategies aimed at positioning itself as the leading low-cost flight in Europe throug h continuous improvement of its services and route offerings. Therefore its main objective was to offer low fares that can translate to increased flow of passengers that is aimed at containing the costs as well as reducing the costs of operation. Through offering low fares, Ryanair was able to stimulate demand that may be derived from those that are aimed at those that are conscious of the fares they pay or those who may opt for alternative modes of travel. To achieve this, it offers its tickets through travel on a one-way basis thus minimizing requirements that may be pegged on the basis of stay requirements. Ryanair sets fares or travel costs on the basis of demand requirements of specific flights and in reference to

The Causes, Risk Factors Occurrence of Rheumatoid Arthritis in United Research Paper

The Causes, Risk Factors Occurrence of Rheumatoid Arthritis in United States - Research Paper Example   Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease. It is generally seen that the joints become swollen and there is severe pain that is experienced by the patients. Researchers have found that RA causes the immune system of a person to attack their joints. In RA, the autoimmune response can lead to permanent, painful changes in the joints. This disease is an autoimmune defect and it causes healthy cells to be attacked, releasing enzymes that attack surrounding tissues. One of these structures is the synovium in the joint. It becomes inflamed and causes swelling and pain. Researches have found that RA affects women three times more often than men. Typically, it affects the small joints first, including the joints of the hands and feet. More than one joint usually is affected, and symptoms often appear bilaterally.   Arthritis is a serious problem that is faced by many around the world and it is estimated that about 50 million adults in the United States have r eported the doctors to have some form of arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, lupus, or fibromyalgia. Another estimation suggests that the problem of arthritis is so chronic that one in every five adults in the US report having doctor-diagnosed arthritis. There are also projections that suggest that by the year 2030, 67 million Americans will have doctor-diagnosed arthritis at the age of 18 or older and those that are below the age of 18 an estimated 294,000 children will have some form of arthritis or rheumatic condition. In other words, approximately 1 in every 250 children will suffer from this chronic disease all through there life. This points out that arthritis is not just the disease of the elderly, but it is a serious problem among children also. The figures in Florida according to this survey say that 3,903,200 children below the age group of 18 years are having arthritis (Sacks et al. 2007). In a recent survey, it was estimated that about 1.5 million adults had rheumatoi d arthritis in 2007 (CDC, 2010). According to another estimate in Florida, 27% of adults belonging to the age of 18 years and above have arthritis, and the percentage amplifies with age. Additionally, among this population of self-reported doctor-diagnosed arthritis and estimated 46% of them are not able to do any activity due to their arthritis, 17% of them reported that they are not able have good social participation, 28% suffer from severe joint pain, the working population (34%) have various other limitations due to their arthritis (CDC, 2011). Even though the exact causes are indefinite, RA is thought to be the result problems in once own immune system. In other words, the self-defense system of the human body attacks the healthy cells in the body and these results in RA and other autoimmune diseases. Researchers suggest that there is no age restriction for the initiation of RA and is linked with weariness and extended stiffness after rest.  Ã‚  

Home work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Home work - Essay Example aty incorporated more enforcement provisions, there would be lower environmental degradation and environmental clean up would never be a burden to the citizens. Zapatista National Liberation Army’s point of opposing NAFTA and free trade was grounded on the concept of â€Å"Land and Liberty†. That is, the rebellion was ecologically motivated. The revolt region, Chiapas, had three distinct ecological zones, threatened by industrialization. With NAFTA, the indigenous people would be affected because of increased tariffs, which the Zapatistas viewed as a death warrant for the native people. The US government pays farmers not to produce portraying the program as environmental protection initiative. However, the program substituted price support programs fro farmers and is clearly a form of income support initiative. This practice should continue as long as there is enough food supply to the US citizens and farmers are actually willing to give up farming. The fourth agricultural revolution might focus on growing food in areas of close proximity to the market to reduce the impact of emission through burning fossil fuels during transportation of farm produce to markets. It is likely to entail utilitarian urban ecology with green roof tops. In early periods, natives of LDCs were ferried to Europe and America, depleting LDCS, especially Africa, of its workforce and pumping slaves in their own systems for development purposes. Also, global economic policies are in such a way that they favor developed nations while they oppress LDCs. However, LDCs are also to be held responsible for their underdevelopment for numerous reasons. First, LDCs are characterized by poor leadership that lacks accountability. Second, LDCs population growth is far much above the rate of economic growth, putting a lot of strain on available resources. Third, LDCs are characterized by political instability, which is an enemy to development progress. Rapid population growth reduces development

Advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing Essay

Advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing - Essay Example Various functions of the business can be outsourced. The function which are most popular in outsourcing are IT functions, customer care, human resource, financial functions, marketing function etc. Nike the famous sports accessories company had outsourced the work of manufacturing shoes to countries like India and China as this will reduce the cost is an example of outsourcing. Off shoring is also a type of outsourcing. When a company outsources its work to other companies which are situated in different countries is known as off shoring. The main off shoring companies are Price Waterhouse Coopers, HSBC, TCS, Wipro, IBM, Capgemini, Genpact etc. the various type of outsourcing are business process outsourcing, knowledge process outsourcing, finance and accounting outsourcing, legal process outsourcing, human resource process outsourcing etc. Outsourcing has resulted in increase in the number of employment. The process of outsourcing mainly consists of four stages they are 1) identifyi ng whether outsourcing is required by the company 2) identifying and selecting the activities which can be outsourced 3) developing the contract 4) delegating the authority to the service provider so that the working can be smooth. The contract contains mainly three things they are the price at which the service will be provided, the legal terms and condition and the service level agreement. Outsourcing can be done by function, region and industry. 2. Growing Importance of Outsourcing With every passing day outsourcing is becoming popular. As per a study conducted by Capgemini more than 70% of executives think that in today’s competitive world outsourcing is important for survival. About 70% executives feel that savings made by outsourcing can be used for growth and 60% feel that flexibility can be achieved through outsourcing. Companies in manufacturing sectors prefer outsourcing more than the companies in service sector. The decisions of outsourcing are taken after assessin g the profitability and companies, ability to grow. Companies who do outsourcing can invest their savings for future growth and innovation. Thus these companies are in better position than the companies who do not do outsourcing as they can save less than the former ones (Brady, 2011). Outsourcing helps the company not only to save money but also to achieve expert service. The firms who do the outsourced work have the human resource who are specialised to do that particular work. In this way the company can utilise expert skill that to without making any capital investment. Thus through outsourcing companies achieve reduction in cost as well as quality service. This is the main reason of growing popularity of outsourcing. Outsourcing is becoming a major business activity which has the potential of becoming an industry. In figure 1 we can see the growth of outsourcing in different sectors. As per the figure about 61% of outsourcing is done in software development, 58% in website and e- commerce, 55% in hosted application, 53% in disaster recovery service and 32% in data centre operations. The use of outsourcing has been increased most in software development organisations. There is almost 14% increase in outsourcing in website and e-commerce sector. The second largest increase in outsourcing is in hosted applications sector. In help desk activities there is no decrease in outsourcing. Thus one can find that every sector is involved in outsourcing. The activities outsourced ranges from

Trend and Data Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Trend and Data Analysis - Essay Example For understanding of any event or data, trends play an important and in this assignment we try to focus our attention of understanding and comprehending the information provided by the tables, facts and figures which are spread over long period of time. In the following situation we take a set of data that can be viewed over a period of time like ten years. Being a Language Arts teacher the set of data which is of particular interest is any set of data or information regarding discipline or other variants of discipline. Discipline happens to be an important aspect in judging any person and this aspect becomes of paramount importance when the scenario of schools is being looked into. If we look at data presented to us by National Center of Education Statistics we can gather some important information which can help us analyze this important aspect of public schools in United States. To understand the trends in more detailed manner we have to look the set of information in three different phases. The phases deal around the period of 1996-97, 2000 and 2003-2005. Thus such a long period of data sets could give us in-depth view of the whole situation of discipline in schools of United States. If we look at the scenario of public schools in 1996-1997 we can see that almost half of the public schools present in the country reported a minimum of one crime incident taking place in school premises. Another thing is that the trend of student absenteeism and physical conflicts among students continued to grow in upward trend if we compare the years of 1991 and 1996 signifying the fact that student indiscipline was growing among public school communities of the country. This can be bolstered by the fact that nearly sixty percent of the public schools which include both elementary and secondary schools reported the incidents of crime, violence and indiscipline. One trend we can notice by looking at the facts of levels of indiscipline and violence in these schools is that escalation pattern of the discipline problems to higher levels leading to situations like violence. It can be attributed by the fact that schools which actually reported discipline problems were facing a likelihood of experiencing quite a lot of incidents of violence and thus were more likely to have experienced incidents of crime when compared to those schools with less serious discipline problems. Another trend to be considered in the area of discipline is to view the argument from the public high schools and public elementary school's perspective (DeVoe, 2005). In this case the trends from the past decade has shown that the heads of the school regard at least one of the many discipline issues as serious in their schools so as to make sure that proper suitable action need to be taken place. This can attributed by the fact that almost forty percent of the high school principals repor ted a minimum of one serious discipline problem in their schools when compared to middle and elementary schools which reported around eighteen and eight percent respectively. Another trend which made impact in the public schools is increase of student bullying. As per the data of indicator of school crime, safety and discipline statistics, nearly thirty percent of the public schools reported weekly student bullying (Kauffman, 2002). Interesting analysis which crops up after

Poem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 5

Poem - Essay Example Collins â€Å"Introduction to Poetry,† consist of seven stanzas. Collins opens the first stanza with the line, â€Å"I ask them to take a poem.† This sentence contains three objects: â€Å"I† – the writer or speaker, â€Å"them† – the listeners and â€Å"poem.† The poet urges to â€Å"take† the poem as an object and not just scan or read it. By comparing â€Å"poem† as an object, Collins uses the metaphor as the figurative language. Once â€Å"poem† is considered as an object; then it can be compared to any other objects. That is why one can notice abundant use of metaphor for â€Å"poem† throughout this work. In the second line, the speaker asks, â€Å"and hold it up to the light† instead of asking to read it. However, when this line is coupled with the third line, â€Å"like a color slide† everything becomes apparent. Collins uses figurative language simile - the object â€Å"poem† is a color slide. Of course, projection of a color slide has to be done using light. The poet creates a strong imagery in the first stanza that says one can see all seven colors of the rainbow in the poem if one knows how to hold it to the light and see it. The second stanza consists of one line; Collins electrifies the reader with intrigue, â€Å"or press an ear against its hive.† He uses the metaphor and compares â€Å"poem† to a honey-drippy hive that produces a buzzing sound as well as conveys both danger and anticipation. The third stanza, â€Å"I say drop a mouse into a poem, and watch him probe his way out† compares â€Å"poem† to a â€Å"labyrinth.† The preposition â€Å"into† instead of â€Å"onto† makes the stanza rigid defining â€Å"poem† as a three-dimensional object. Through this metaphor, the poet states that one has to understand the labyrinth of the poem to get out of it. In the fourth stanza, Collins uses double metaphors; compares the â€Å"poem† to a three-dimensional room and content of

The role of the IMF in helping poor and debt-troubled countries Case Study - 5

The role of the IMF in helping poor and debt-troubled countries - Case Study Example International Monetary Fund is financial institution that amasses its funds through contributions from countries using quota systems. These resources are however, availed to developing countries to boost their economic growth, reduce poverty, reduce unemployment, and provide enabling environment for political stability. Poor and debt-troubled countries need financial support and International Monetary Fund plays instrumental role in ensuring availability of favorable exchange rates and money that is used to improve infrastructure, boost education, and run day-to-day activities of the government. Despite the help, International Monetary Fund levies high charges on countries, which borrow money thus rendering them slaves of the developed countries because they cannot pay the debts within the agreed time. Poor countries continue being poor because the International Monetary Fund regulates the policies that govern the rates and value of money ( Copelovitch, 2010). Financial assistance from IMF is advanced to countries facing financial problems for instances, balance of payment deficit, and unfavorable terms of trade. In this regard, actual and potential countries in financial difficulties are assisted. Actual borrowers are countries, which need financial support to run their routine activities and this includes states that have borrowed money at one instance. Potential borrowers are countries that are vulnerable for instance, under civil war, gained independence, and facing economic recession. Furthermore, borrowing countries have to be member states of IMF and have to abide by the rules and regulations laid down by the organization. The countries have to be aware of the penalties and processes to be followed before receiving funding. Abiding by the strategies, visions, and missions of the organization aids in reducing default rate. On the other hand, the projects and programs which the money is borrowed for must be

High School Education Essay Example for Free

High School Education Essay Education has been the proposed priority of the different countries all over the world in an effort to develop the social abilities of the children who will be taking over the country in the future and will be leading it to another way of growth. High school is viewed to be an important time for the students especially as it is a transition between the time of elementary learning and into specialized learning (Armstrong, 1998). Moreover, it is also situated during the development years of the adolescent which may factor to their presence of mind while developing for their future needs. In this regard, it is important to determine the overall direction/objectives of High School in this generation and to determine ways on how these objectives can be implemented and achieved. Today, the main objective of High School also known as secondary school is to provide educational program that enhances full potentials of the students in terns of academics and social aspects. In addition, the educational institution today must be able to establish a more comprehensive and efficient High School or secondary school. It has been said that High school is the time wherein the students themselves are finding their cognitive skills developing and thus are also developing their behaviors appropriately, is also then the time where teachers must focus on tackling these factors equally and comprehensively; as such, the authors acknowledge that high schools must prepare their students for specializing and further studies in different universities. Social competence must also be assessed as the teachers must be able to gauge the abilities of their students and thus from that must then be able to construct their goals for the end of the school year that will include the knowledge that the students have gained, the development of their views, as well as their own goals further than the end of their years in their high school Today, high schools are determined to provide a variety of learning methods to reach all students needs. Recognizing that in the past, instruction has often been geared to a hypothetical average student rather than to individual students with different backgrounds, attitudes, needs, interests, and abilities, new ways of learning are being created. These ranges from options for students within the school itself, to community involvement, and even to visiting or living in other countries. In order to meet these objectives innovative projects and programs are designed to reach students who have become frustrated and uninvolved in the work of the conventional high school. Options are intended to make learning more interesting, realistic, and meaningful to students. New ways of approaching the academic disciplines, more personal relationships with students, and imaginative learning activities are being invented example of ingenuity in creating many types of options within one school. Aside from that, High School today is now trying to integrate their educational program with information communication technology. It is noted that innovative Information Technology (IT) applications can provide advantages such as: students experienced greater independence and responsibility for their own work and progress; students are more capable of beating deadlines; and fostered students’ ongoing reflection about their work: either by redrafting and/or reviewing it, and especially by comparing it with assessment criteria with the aim of improving their overall standards. Similarly positive, Goodison (2002) said that even if in terms children’s awareness most students are not aware if ICT made them more productive in any way and that some pupils see the complexity of software applications as barriers to task completion, ICT contributes to the promotion of learning independently.

What Really Is Actor Network Theory Philosophy Essay

What Really Is Actor Network Theory Philosophy Essay In the 1990s there was a war going on in science, or maybe a few wars the so called Science Wars. From one side there were the postmodernists (better known as post-structuralists), on the other side there were the natural scientists. The war started, or better, culminated with an article, that was really a hoax, published in the journal Social Text, one of the most notorious postmodernist journals. The article/hoax entitled Transgressing the boundaries: Towards a transformative hermeneutics of quantum gravity was written by the physicist Alan Sokal (1996), and its purpose was to show to the world how stupid and meaningless was/is the postmodernist endeavor in the studies of science. The whole article was made up just by meaningless phrases that sounded postmodern (see Sokal 2008 the entire Part I). After the revelation of the hoax Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont wrote a book entitled Fashionable Nonsense. Postmodern Intellectuals Abuse of Science  [1]   (1998) in which they bombed the whole French post-structuralist scene, and a little bit more. In a nutshell, they showed that most of the French post-structuralists and other close-to-post-structuralism philosophers hadnt had really a clue about science, and that most of their theories come out of ignorance of the fields they were/ are writing about. One of the fashionable guys attacked in Fashionable Nonsense was Bruno Latour (92-99, 124-133  [2]  ), the major representative of Actor-Network Theory (from now on: ANT). He was attacked mainly for pushing extreme social constructivism in social sciences and sciences all together. Basically, Latour supported the thesis that there arent scientific facts but just the social construction of scientific facts as was a fashion of the strong program in the sociology of science  [3]  . Hor instance, he used, no more no less, Einsteins theory of relativity to explain how scientific knowledge is socially constructed, but it seems he didnt really understand Einsteins theory. Latour has lately (2004) changed a little bit his mind about the extreme constructivist positions, maybe because he has seen that his positions really helped not sociology but the political and religious conservative and far right in pushing their ideas about creationism, global warming and similar issues. He even asked himself [w]as [he] wrong to participate in the invention of this field known as science studies? Is it enough to say that we did not really mean what we said? Why does it burn my tongue to say that global warming is a fact whether you like it or not? Why cant I simply say that the argument is closed of for good? (2004:227). This retreat isnt that new. As Gross and Levitt  [4]  noted (1998:59), Latour is aways ready to recast and, in effect, retract what he previously said. In other contexts he will, with an apparently straight face, admit that there is a natural universe out there and that scientific theories are shaped by it in important ways. Simultaneously, he will censure rigorously the dogmatics of strict cultural constructivism. Just as he pictures (literally) the mind-set of science as a Janus-faced dualist, he too is constantly springing from one side of a dichotomy to the other. Bruno Latour, even though he, as we have seen, did repent for the consequences that his and other strong program theorists work provoked, in 2005 wrote an introductory book on ANT: Reassembling the Social. An Introduction to Actor-Network Theory. In that book he tried to explain again the whole ANT story, but not that well, in my opinion  [5]  . In the following lines Ill try to explain, more or less, what ANT is or should be, not just based on the mentioned book, but also on various articles on ANT that can be retrieved on the Internet and other books and journals. ANT seems to be a particular or distinctive approach to social theory and research which has its origins in the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS), mostly developed by Michel Callon, Bruno Latour and John Law. In the last twenty years ANT has been used as a tool for research in fields such as organizational analysis (for ex. Cochoy 2009), informatics (for ex. McInerney 2009), health studies (for ex. Dent 2003), geography (for ex. Smith 2003), sociology, anthropology, feminist studies and economics (for ex. Jones 2008). Already the title of the theory is very problematic. Bruno Latour states in his book (2005:9) that [] the historical name is actor-network-theory, a name that is so awkward, so confusing, so meaningless that it deserves to be kept. Every part of the ANT is questionable. Its not really about actors in a classic sociological sense, the network part is misleading (see Latour 1998) because it doesnt refer to the concept of network as in Social Network Analysis or electronic networks  [6]  , and it is not really a theory in the classic sense, it can be reckoned as a set of theories which have similar characteristics. As a matter of fact, he admits that he was ready to drop this label for more elaborate ones like sociology of translation, actant-rhyzome ontology, sociology of innovation, and so on []. (2005:9). How then we can recognize a theory that belongs to the ANT family? Latour puts forward three tests in order to do that (2005:10-11): One of them is the precise role granted to nonhumans. They have to be actors [] and not simply the hapless bearers of symbolic projection. [] [A]ny study that gives non-humans a type of agency that is more open than the traditional natural causality but more efficient than the symbolic one can be part of [ANT] corpus, even though some authors would not wish to be associated in any way with this approach.(10). Another test is to check which direction the explanation is going in. [] If the social remains stable and is used to explain a state of affairs, its not ANT. (10) A third and more difficult test would be to check whether a study aims at reassembling the social or still insists on dispersion and deconstruction. [] Dispersion, destruction, and reconstruction are not the goals to be achieved [as in postmodern theories,] but what needs to be overcome. Its much more important to check what are the new institutions, procedures, and concepts able to collect and reconnect the social []. (11). We can see that Latour is very vague, and it seems he wants to be like that. In short we can say that in ANT humans, nonhumans and language are all on the same level. They all together form a network of actors that form the world. He uses and criticizes very often the concept social, many times as opposed to the concept associations. Social is for him a concept that many sociologists use as a name for a material the society is made of (2005:1), or some glue of society. But thats wrong, because there isnt something social, there are associations between heterogeneous elements (2005:5). Thus, social, for ANT, is the name of a type of momentary association which is characterized by the way it gathers together into new shapes. (2005:65). In my opinion this is not that groundbreaking. Well, the association of humans and nonhumans might be a little bit strange (or Im too positivist and backwarded), but the idea of not using concepts as social forces and similar black magic (or as Latour wo uld call, as we shell see, black boxes) terms is present in sociology much longer than ANT. For example we can check Howard S. Becker (2007) where he explains the errors of using vague concepts as social forces, etc So, interactionists (try to) explain already very well what people do and how they create everyday life, without going into exotic theories that are not that clear even to their main representatives. ANT is considered sometimes a method and sometimes a theory. [A]nti-essentialism informs both the conceptual frame used for interpretation and guides the processes through which networks are examined. (Ritzer 2004:2). There are three methodological principles in ANT: agnosticism. We should abandon any a priori assumptions of the nature of networks, causal conditions, or the accuracy of actants accounts (Ritzer 2004:2). There should be impartiality from our side. This principle reminds us about Grounded Theory methodology with the added value of impartiality towards objects that are not humans. generalized symmetry. Everybody in a network is the same: computers and programmers, clerks and computer networks Basically we should dissect everything free association. there shouldnt be any distinction between natural and social phenomena. The ANT methodology is usually ethnographic. To be precise they often use the case study method. They use to spend time like anthropologists, but not in forests, and other places typical for anthropological research, but in laboratories with scientists. ANT scholars also study inscriptions, a phrase which refers to all texts and communications in all media (Garson 2008). Let us see which are the central concepts of ANT. I will use secondary analyses of ANT by Felix Stalder and David Garson. Here are the main concepts: Actors: entities that do things (Latour, 1992a, p. 241, as cited in Stalder 1998), no matter whether they are humans or any kind of nonhumans. Some authors use actors for humans and actants for other parts/ system elements of the network (Garson 2008)  [7]  . The distinction between humans and non-humans, embodied or disembodied skills, impersonation or machination, are less interesting than the complete chain along which competences and actions are distributed. (Latour, 1992a, p.243, as cited in Stalder 1998) [] An actor is an actant endowed with a character. (Akrich, Latour, 1992, p.259 as cited by Stalder). In Ritzer (2004:1) we can find that [t]he volitional actor for ANT, termed actant, is any agent, collective or individual, that can associate or disassociate with other agents. Actants enter into networked associations, which in turn define them, name them, and provide them with substance, action, intention, and subjectivity. In other words, actants are considered foundationally indeterminate, with no a priori substance or essence, and it is via the networks in which they associate that actants derive their nature. Network: the network is defined as a group of unspecified relationships among entities of which the nature itself is undetermined. (Callon, 1993, p.263 as cited in Stalder 1998). The inclusive character of this definition becomes more evident when contrasted with one of the conventional sociological definitions of network where a social network consists of a finite set or sets of actors and the relation or relations defined on them (Wasserman, Faust, 1994, p.20 as cited in Stalder). An actor-network is not restricted to social actors, not even to actors in the theorys broader sense. There is no structural difference between large and small actors, between a major institution or a single individual or even a thing as mundane as a door opener (Latour, 1992 as cited by Stalder 1998). Black Box: simply put, a black box contains a sealed network of people and things. But lets see what ANTers say: A black box contains that which no longer needs to be considered, those things whose contents have become a matter of indifference. (Callon, Latour, 1981 p.285 as cited in Stalder 1998). A black box, therefore, is any setting that, no matter how complex it is or how contested its history has been, is now so stable and certain that it can be treated as a fact where only the input and output counts. (Stalder 1998). For example, all the concepts in sociology as social forces, etc are black boxes. Cars are black boxes because we can drive them even though we dont know how are they built. The more it costs to reopen a black box, the more it will be stable. Its not just a matter of the black box, but also of the environment in which it is settled (well, everything is in the network). At the end of the day it seems that ANT became a black box too, because it became a fixed center or obligatory point of passage by the mid-1990s (Ritzer 2004:3). Other important concepts are: Punctualisation: a concept that means that the whole actor-network is greater than the sum of its constituent parts. As networks build, synergistic capabilities are enabled; as networks fall apart, de-punctualisation refers to the collapse of networked capabilities as individual components struggle to pursue their individual goals separately. (Garson 2008). Tokens: are the quasi-objects created through the synergy of network punctualisation. (Garson 2008). The constant creation of tokens reifies a network, when they stop being reproduced the network breaks down, or, there is de-punctualization. Translation: is the process of forming a network. This process occurs in the four following moments or steps (Garson 2008): Problematisation: defines the problem and the set of relevant actors who become indispensable Interessement: primary actor(s) recruit other actors to assume roles in the network, roles which recognize the centrality of the primary actors own role Enrolment: roles are defined and actors formally accept and take on these roles Mobilisation: primary actors assume a spokesperson role for passive network actors (agents) and seek to mobilize them to action. Translation is really a negotiation among human actors and representatives of material actants. Stories: The complex process of translation which forms a network also occasions some actors to emerge as spokespersons, articulating the views and wishes of other silent actors in the network. Negotiation in the translation process is marked by: Obligatory points of passage (OPP): they are critical network channels often designed by the primary actor to ensure that communication must pass through his or her domain. In this way the actor becomes functionally indispensable to the network Cooptation: it is a subprocess by which actants seek to have their individual objectives become agreed to by other actants as part of defining network objectives. Actors advance favored goals and solutions, then recruit other actors to be allies in the process of forming commitments to emerging networks. (Garson 2008). Translation model of power: it is a term for viewing power as a relation emerging bottom-up rather than imposed top-down. Those who hold power in principle may not hold power in practice as the latter requires the ability to define, create, and stabilize networks of actors motivated to work in conjunction to accomplish a task. That is, power is seen as a consequence of convincing, enrolling, and other network-building activities. (Garson 2008). This concept reminds a lot the foucaultian concept of microphysics of power. Black-boxing: it is a subprocess by which the network becomes more simple by treating subnetworks as single elements in an actor-network Irreversibility: is achieved by an actor-network when it is no longer possible to return to an earlier network state or to alternatives present prior to the network Network instability. Actor-networks are in a continual state of becoming, including possible dissolution. Networks demand continual maintenance or order In my opinion all the concepts are vague, probably intentionally. I really wonder if the whole theory and its concepts could have been explained in a more simple way, and I wonder why is it always like that in post-structuralism (I know, this is an ad hominem mistake)? ANT was often criticized for being managerialist, for emphasizing Nietzschean mastery, as Machiavellian, for colonizing the other, for being antihumanist, and for representing the powerful. (Ritzer 2004:3). I would add that the founders of ANT write pretty much in an elitist and unclear way. It sounds more like poetry or showing off with strange PoMo-style phrases difficult to understand. I got used to that with Baudrillard, Lyotard, etc But what can we do with it in everyday life? We cannot stop natural scientists to laugh about ANT mumbojumbo for sure. I would say that ANT as a research methodology brings nothing new, or nothing newer than the good old methodology of case study, the grounded theory methodology (Glaser/Strauss 2008) or ethnomethodology on which ANT is partially based. As an explanation for what is really going on it is still a safe bet to stick with interactionist theories from one side, and on the other side, we should use more explanatory theories based on strict field research and model building. For that is handy the analytical sociology approach developed, among others, by Peter Hedstroem (see Hedstroem 2005). With the analytical sociology approach we could finally develop more core knowledge which is feeble in sociology (see Cole 1994) but nevertheless it exists (see Collins 1989) and leave the research frontier to a few artists. Analytical sociology seeks to explain complex social processes by carefuly dissecting them and then bringing into focus their most important costituent components. [] It is an approach that seeks precise, abstract, realistic and action-based explanations for various social phenomena. (Hedstroem 2005:1). So, in the analytical approach we have to explain social phenomena, not just describe it as most grand social theories do. We have to dissect the social phenomena to its smallest parts and then abstract the most important parts and build a model. In doing that we must be precise and clear. If it is not perfectly clear what a given theory or theorist is trying to say, how can we then possibly understand and assess the potential merits of the theory being proposed ? (Hedstroem 2005:3-4), asks Peter Hedstroem, and as an example of unclear theory he takes a French (who else could he take?!) sociologist Pierre Bourdieu and his definition of habitus (2005:4). I agree with Hedstrom that social theories should be based on the construction of models, or explaining social mechanisms, and a social mechanism is a constellation of entities and activities that are linked to one another in such a way that they regularly bring about a particular type of outcome (Hedstroem 2005:10). To conclude, I think that ANT is maybe an approach that could have a major success in the future when there will come the time people will understand French philosophy much better  [8]  , until then I propose to stick with more positivist approaches that can actually really explain why things happen.

Design For Manufacturing And Assembly

Design For Manufacturing And Assembly A design process that focuses on meeting customer requirements meanwhile balancing the important aspects such as cost, quality and performance is Dfma. DFMA is an abbreviation for Design for manufacturing and assembly. It a software comprised of various principles or methods when used properly will improve the ability of design to be easily manufactured and assembled thereby decreasing the costs. This system can be divided into three major sections. The first is the raw material. Choosing the right material is the foundation of a good design. Second is the machines and processes used to work the raw material. The right process is essential for creating finished parts that will meet your design requirements. Third is the assembly of the product. It is during the assembly of the finished product that provides the greatest opportunity to apply DFMA principles. The proper use of DFMA principles will allow one to design a quality product. DFMA follows an exacting design review method It identifies the following features: -Optimal part design of the product. -Material choice. -Assembly and fabrication operations to produce an efficient and cost effective product It reveals that initial ideas may not be the most efficient in all the cases. It is a structured catalyst methodology used to analyze a design and generate ideas for further improvement. DFMA encourages concurrent engineering during product design so that product qualities exist in with both the designers and other members of the production team. It is a communication tool for the team. It is a bench marking tool. It defines the design and manufacturing capabilities of self and competitor It provides a non-threatening way to get people talking about a design without feeling like others are encroaching on their territory Einstein said â€Å" the best design is the simplest one that works â€Å". DFMA provides the cheapest way to that goal. Customer requirements and product specifications are useful for guiding the concept phase of product development. But during the later stages product design teams often have difficulty linking needs and specifications to the specific design issues. Due to this, many product design and development teams practice ‘Design for X (DFX) methodologies .The most common of these methodologies is Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA), which is an engineering philosophy used generally by design and manufacturing engineers that promotes simplifying parts and product designs to reduce production costs. Other (DFX) methodologies are DFD Design for Disassembly DFEMC Design for Electro Magnetic Compatibility DFR Design for Recycling DFE Design for the Environment DFS Design for Safety DFT Design for Test DESIGN FOR MANUFACTURE: Design for manufacturing software follows a simple rule which states one can improve the efficiency of a product by minimizing the number of parts that have to be assembled so the cost of the product is efficient and easy to manufacture. This manufacturing approach is different from the traditional approach where a huge project is broken down in smaller parts (steps) and then these steps are assigned to various departments. These departments then work independently most of the time. The traditional approach enhances the specialization and functional job focus of the product devolpment. But the main drawback with the traditional approach is the market time plus various difficulties that arise in the manufacturing process. While designing a product lots of parameters have to be kept in mind ot of which that most important one which manufactures ask is can we build the product now that they have the product designed. A way to design a particular product is to make sure that the product maintenance is less, its reliable, time factor, its simple. Maintenance of a particular product shold be less or else it could cost a huge amount for maintenance. Reliability of a product is also a key factor because if the product fails consistently it makes little sense and thereby its a huge money waste to the organization. Speed is the another key factor in designing, if it take too long to make the product then it will have more and more competitors. Competitors control the market by releasing their product faster than fellow counterparts. Using few parts also increase the simplicity and saves money as well, more parts for a product increases the rate of complexity which can lead to malfunctioning of a product. The simpler the product is the fewer are its problems. Over the wall syndrome process was used before the use of DFMA process. Over the wall syndrome is a process where if an idea was generated in a company it would first have to be approved by the president of the company. It would then go then go to the manger of the process deign to be devolved into a product. If any problems would arise it would then be asked to redesign and then brought into the notice of the manager. The resolved problem would then be sent to the engineers where the work would continue where they left from. This process was a huge time consuming process because everyone is not situated in the same location and it would also take a lots of time to solve the problems. The total process sometimes could take year or more. The concept of design for manufacture was used to break these barriers and thereby reducing the time spent on designing the products. DESIGN FOR MANUCTURING has some advantages and disadvantages just like any other software. Firstly dfma tools dont take into consideration many manufacturing capabilities or tolerance. DFM has many computer based tools which nearly complete the design but when we analyze the design finally there are number of barriers which prevent substantial modification of the design.DFM uses too many tools which can increase the manufacturing costs of a product, its also gives very little feedback upon which to base the design modifications. One advantage with DFM it suggests the optimal assembly and the degree of automation. DFM can produce higher products yields through manufacturing. It also increases the performance and the predictability of the product yields.DFM analysis helps us to compare various materials and manufacturing process for the parts of the components. There is an increase in the performance and the cycle time is reduced enormously. DESIGN FOR ASSEMBLY SOFTWARE Design for assembly can be defined as a analysis for improving the product design for a simplified and low cast assembly. Design for assembly main aim is to simplify the product so that the cost of assembly is reduced. By applying dfa we can also improve quality, reliability in the production equipment and the part inventory. G. boothroyd was the person who promoted the usage of DFA in the industry. The practice of dfma is a relatively recent development, but many companies have been following this process form a long time. For example, a company called general electric published its own internal manufacturing handbook as a set of guidelines for its engineers to follow. These guidelines had the same set of principle of DFA without actually distinguishing it from the rest of the product development process. Assembly methods can be divided into three different groups Manual assembly Automatic assembly Robotic assembly In manual assembly the work is mainly done manually parts are transferred from one work bench to another. Worker use different types of hand tools. This is one of the most flexible and the adaptable of the assembly methods methods. Automatic assembly follows a process where it consists of a custom built machine that assembles one and only a specific kind of a product. In this assembly large amount of investment is needed and as the production increases the total manufacturing costs decreases. These types of assembly can be only beneficial when a product is produced in bulk. Robotic assembly in this the assembly we use robotic systems. The robotic systems can take the form of a single robot or a multi station robot. Robotic assembly also involves huge capital costs. In robotic assembly the robots are normally controlled by computers, one company can have huge flexibility on different types of products in robot assembly Assembly methods are chosen by a company keeping two important parameters in mind ie time and costs. Relative costs of different assembly methods by type and production volume. Design for Assembly Vincent Chan and Filippo A. Salustri http://deed.ryerson.ca/~fil/t/dfmdfa.html Design for assembly is an experimental way to identify the unnecessary parts in a product and to determine its assembly time and costs. DFA is a software which gives the design engineers more tools to analyse various design concepts and therby creating innovative products with few and simpler parts. Using DFA software helps engineers to assess the costs of each part and then modify the product through part reduction concepts. The outcome of a DFA based design is a much well designed product with fewer parts which is both efficient and also easy to assemble. The benefits of a DFA based design are reduced part costs, improved quality and reliability, and shorter development cycles. DESIGN FOR ENVIORMENT: Design for environment is an idea of implementing various environmental friendly aspects to create a product. Design for environment helps a company to minimize the waste and also decrease the pollution thereby saving some money which can be used for other processes. Design for environment helps engineers at various stages of the manufacturing process. While selecting a manufacturing process for a product an engineer should also keep in mind various aspects such as amount of energy used, amount of energy released, process should be non toxic. These are all the various aspects an engineer also has to keep in mind other than manufacturing and assembly of the product. Dfma 2009 gives the design engineers an extra option in which they could conduct a environmental assessment during the concept stage. The analysis helps the designers to select a suitable material from the DFMA library that they prefer to use. Then the software reveals the various proportions of those materials in a particular product. It also estimates various other proportions like reuse, recycle, end of life destinations and landfill. All these measure help the company meet the requirements set up by ROHS. DESIGN FOR RECYCLING: Design for recycling en-cooperates methods such as recycling and recyclability of products to obtain recyclable products. Recycling is a process where a product or a raw material is recovered from waste stream and is reused as a raw material in the manufacturing process of a new product. When a part is recycled it does not affect or change the properties or the price of a particular product. Design for recyclability helps a manufacturing process to reduce the environmental impact of a material and by following design for recyclability large number of parts can be reused this thereby decrease the cost for raw material and thus decreasing the overall costs for manufacturing a product. DESIGN FOR SAFETY: Many companies use safety standards purely as guidelines. Although some safety equipments are costly the future savings make up for the cost invested. Safety production also helps the company in producing more. Safety also improves the morale of the worker which helps in the increase of production. The main aspects or the principles on which DFMA focus are: Raw materials Minimize the number of parts Minimize the number of fasteners Standardize Avoid difficult components Use modular subassemblies Use multifunctional parts Minimize reorientation Use self-locating features Avoid special tooling/test equipment Eliminate Interfaces Minimize operations process steps Part Interchangeability Design Tolerances to Meet Process Capability Determine Capabilities of each Process Step Design for Ease of Part Orientation for Assembly Eliminate Multiple Solder and Cleaning Steps Eliminate Adjustments DFMA Raw materials: Choosing the best raw material for the design is the first step in designing a world class product. There are many factors that need to be considered when choosing the best material for a design. At first the material must have the correct mechanical and chemical properties to meet the design criteria. Secondly when possible one should choose a standard material that is readily available. Using special materials may increase purchase price and lengthen deliveries. Third use near net parts whenever possible. The raw materials profile should be as close to finished parts as possible to reduce processing. DFMA Minimize the number of parts: Minimizing the number of parts directly affects the final cost of the product. By minimizing the number of parts Product quality, flexibility and reliability of the product is increased. The fewer parts a product has the fewer chances of misalignment. DFMA Minimize the number of fasteners: Fasteners increase the complexity of a particular product, thereby increasing its weight and cost. Dfma main aim is to eliminate the fasteners and include self aligning features into a part. If fasteners are needed in a part then its better off using self tapping screws DFMA standardize: Standardization is a phenomenon which requires increase in communication between different design teams working on a complex product. The more standard products an engineer uses for manufacturing of a product the less number of tools are required and it gradually decreases the cost for production. The best method is to create a list of various standard parts available for each project. In order to smooth the progress of the standard parts, the design and manufacturing team should make the most of the different resources such as trade magazines, various vender catalogs and various part manuals. DFMA modular sub-assemblies: With the help of modular designs, the identification of problems becomes easier by reducing the number of parts. Maintenance and serviceability of a product also increases by using modular assemblies. By designing parts as independent modules times for disassembly are reduced thereby decreasing the overall repair time. DFMA Using stack assemblies: Stack assembly is stacking up the components of an assembly from bottom to top. The main purpose of using stack assemblies is it requires less reorientation of parts which leads to speeding up the assembly process, which thereby decreases the cost for assembly. DFMA self locating features: The use of Self aligning parts speeds up the assembly process. Self aligning parts dont need any kind of adjustment or re-orientation. The more the self aligning parts present in a product assembly the much easier it is for an assembly worker to assemble the product. Different types of self aligning parts are washers, ball bearings, roller bearings. DFMA simplifies and optimizes the manufacturing process : Minimization of manufacturing process reduces the direct and overhead costs. While designing a production process a designers main aim should be on various factors like Smooth flowing of materials. Using various processes than can easily be controlled. Separating different operation (like manual and automated ) DFMA Eliminate Interfaces: Eliminating of interfaces is an important phenomenon while assembling of a product. The amount of interfaces increases the cost of an assembly. Each interface present on the part increases the time for assembly as it requires double the amount of information. DFMA Part Interchangeability: Interchangeability is a phenomenon where similar parts are used for manufacturing of a product that can be interchanged. This phenomenon reduces the number of parts used for an assembly which leads to a decrease in assembly time and costs. While using interchangeability left and right handed parts should be avoided because they create confusion which directly leads to increase in time. DFMA Design Tolerances to Meet Process Capability: Tolerances are such parameters of a part which tend to complicate the design. If a tight tolerance has been specified for a particular part, other process such as inspection or fixturing has to be done. Which gradually increase the overall cost of a product and also time is wasted. They fore a designer during the design process should understand the manufacturing and suppler capacity while specifying different tolerance to make sure that tight tolerances are necessary DFMA Minimizes parts for interconnections: Interconnected parts are flexible parts which are used to connect two parts in an assembly. Interconnected parts are prone to get damaged when compared to other parts. When harnesses are used in an assembly of a product always ensures that we are using distinctive connectors for a simple reason to avoid the connectors being misaligned DFMA Determines Capabilities of each Process Step: Process capability can be defined as an ability of an process to produce within a suitable specification. When the correct process capabilities of a particular deign are determined, it also helps the design team by giving them some valuable information from which they could choose a simple technology and a simple sequence. Which directly decreases the costs for assembly and gradually the time for production is also decreased. Eliminate multiple solder and cleaning steps: The more processes one uses in manufacturing of a product the more are its risks, costs and potential for delays. Production engineers use DFMA to minimize the processing technologies used in the manufacturing process. The more the number of technologies the greater are the chances for various errors and part malfunction. Eliminating adjustments: Minor adjustments only affects the look of the product, but it does not affect the functionally of the product whereas the major adjustments have a major affect on the functioning process of the product. Adjustments are normally complicated process which involves huge costs. Elimination adjustments could also include replacement of parts in the assembly. WHY DFMA Dfma can be used as the basis for engineering studies and thereby provide a guidance for the design team to simplify the existing product, reduce its manufacturing and assembly costs. It can also be used as a benchmarking tool to study competitors and to quantify manufacturing and the difficulties that arise during assemblies One can also use Dfma as it â€Å"should-cost† tool to help validate design concepts, provide cost predictions, and to negotiate suppliers bids and contracts. The main purpose to use dfma is Dfma also helps us to keep various aspects in mind during the manufacturing and assembling a product. Materials Is material that we are going to use available in standard stock configuration. Is material well-suited with the most desirable manufacturing process. Is the material available from reliable sources. Do material prices fluctuate widely over time. Are special alloys and exotic materials used only for environmental or functional demands. Product Assembly Are tolerance dimensions realistic. Is marking and stenciling defined and visible. Are assembly notes complete and definitive. Is internal wiring layout critical? If so, is the location and routing specified? Is harness development required? If so, can the harness be fabricated outside the unit and installed as a subassembly. Does the design lend itself to automated assembly. Are component parts accessible for assembly. Can testing be performed without disassembling the unit. Are standard connectors and assembly hardware used. Are circuit cards, if used, designed to plug in. Has the assembly been analyzed to meet electrical, thermal, vibration, and shock Specifications. Can printed circuit flex cable or moulded ribbon be used in place of hard wiring. Can plastic tie-wraps be used in place of lacing or spot ties. HOW DFMA Designers do not enter a new design situation as newcomers or novices. Through education and practice they have acquired a vast repertoire of design solutions, which they will carry over the design task at hand (PASMAN, 2003).All these experiences are due to the result of several situation mistakes, improvement opportunities or just real good new ideas acquired due to development and research on design area. A good engineer must know what happens in his factory in a detail level that can permit an assembly to be done and an injected part to be extracted and also must know were the assembled parts are and the injected material should be in the correct geometry. These means two different conflicting conditions. The designer cannot stay in his area ignoring what is happening around and the designer must know his tasks perfectly to justify his work position. The question remains, is it possible to be in simultaneously in the factory and in the design office? FERREIRA and TOLEDO (2002) say so and suggested how using the technique of Design for Manufacture and Assembly is possible to â€Å"hear the voice of the production line† and been virtually near to the information. BUSS et al. (2001) agreed with this point of view, saying that the DFMA allows bring to the project area the considerations related to the assembly and manufacturability of the product. Finally FAGADE and KAZMER (1998) defended that the most significant advantage of DFMA is the encouragement of the teamwork between project and production, improving the reliability of the final product and generating the possibility of cost/time to deliver reductions due decreasing in the parts number and/or more productive parts that can accelerate processes. WHAT TO HAVE DFMA: First of all we need to understand the project with DFMA techniques. For this is important to define the product conception as a task of multiple responsibility, from the conceptual sketch to the packed assembly delivered there are many operations and actions that need to be considered. Thus in accordance with the key points the total chain of the process is to be defined in an clear form from one (process) to another to provide or receive services/pre-processes Also is essential to let all teams warned that the project is designed for manufacture and assembly and this means that all attention is focused in a development for that condition and this means that the manufacture must be heard all time. To achieve all this, there should be efficient communication, efficient information, translation of data is the basic requirements on a DFMA driven development. WHEN DFMA: Whats the correct time to carry on a Dfma driven project? CAPUCHO et al. (1997) adopted after observe the behaviour of multidisciplinary teams that the local rework caused by an activity with adverse results is much smaller then a global restructuring of a project also, a global reproject may be impossible due costs (according to HARTLEY and OKAMOTO (1992)) the inclusion of a change in a running project is more expansive as more is close to the project end or due other factors as time and market expectations. So, once the projects main activities are defined the doing them is a good option irrespective of their order of development. Mistakes, adverse results and budget can less compromise the project running timetable. Which technology: According to BOOTHROYD (2001) the rising sophistication in the use of moulded injection plastics. Injection moulding is an important tool to win the battle of reduces parts to save costs and creates an elegant design. Based on the literature present and other articles researched by the groups of teams on plastic injection acquired by work and development in other lines (refrigerators and washing machines), where plastics are used in a very large scale,It was decided to try a solution using injection of thermoplastics. This was a risky decision. First of all the temperature limitations on a plastic material are more severe than in a metal limits also include the possibility of deformations, flowing and resistance downgrade. After that, a running and deployed solution give some comfort to the project designers and all of other teams: the new idea was offering a possibility of assembly improvement and a bundled possibility of fail, this means that for some parts of the workgroup the manufacturability advantages were not good enough to release the change in short words that was to develop a substitute part to improve a good working assembly to give some help to line and to reduce costs, with a low, but existent, possibility of further problem. Case studies of companies that used DFMA software Product: Motorcycles Company: Harley Davidson General goals: Identify the total costs (make design, material, process) and by making some substitutions to have an impact on cost. Improve the overall cost predictability of the product to meet the desired revenue and costs targets Method: Engineers of Harley and the suppliers team up and the cad models of each part are loaded into the dfma software. Dfma software generates cost information that gives rise to various discusiions on cost, labour rate , process materials etc. A motorcycle frame was designed which was to cut down the costs by 70 dollars . before the manufacturing of the new frame Harley Davidson analysed various departments in DFMA like material cost , operating efficiency, plant cost. The software predicted that the current frame costs within 0.5%. Frame of Harley Davidson motorcycle Then the new frame was analysed in DFMA software, the company found out that the new frame would cost 7 dollars more than the old frame (not dollars 70 less as they had anticipated). Harley Davidson was glad to discover this before they went into production and they researched various other areas for cost savings, before the bike was launched. Product: Microwave Company: whirlpool General goals : To reduce the costs inside the plant Generate a good slim design. Simplify or eliminate assembly processes. Method: Teams were developed which consisted of all types of engineers (mechanical, electrical, technicians, air ventilation designers. The teams closely observed all the video tapes of the assembly line of the current microwave to spot the different weak or awkward operations. Teams structured a bill of materials and saw how the product was assembled or in what order it would assemble before crating a prototype of the model. Engineers used DFMA and prepared a performance matrix in which they could evaluate the easiest and the awkward assembly operations. In the original design, the worker had to turn the chassis over to install the door spring, and then turn it back over to do the rest of the operation. With the help of dfma the engineers can to a conclusion to have the spring in the front of the oven, so that there was no need to turn the chassis to install the spring. With the help of DFMA analysis whirlpool had the following results. 29% part reduction was achieved . 106 parts for the new oven, versus 150, this was more than expected. Many of the reduced parts were fasteners, cutting assembly time 26% Standardized cabling across product lines, creating immediate assembly and part savings Payback time was 6 months Product: Gourmet coffeemaker Goals: High standards of coffe tate Uniform coffe saturation Temperature control Weight of the design is less Efficient design for best retail price. Company Access group is one of the leading distributor and manufactures of a comprehensive range of durable products, which include water treatment and air filtration systems and most importantly an award winning coffee maker. Which we are going to discuss in this case study. Two years ago access business group wanted to design an high end coffee maker to support their own line of water filters and gourmet coffees. According to access business group their main was to build a coffee maker which is stream lined and an efficient machine and they achieved their objectives with the help of design for manufacture and assembly software. Using DFMA analysis: The major aim of DFMA analysis was to determine the minimum number of parts for this design. With the help of DFMA the design engineers could reposition the motor much closer to the power and a bit higher on the machine. This phenomenon was achieved due to the reduction in the number of parts. Most companies now a days gives higher priority to the look of a product, designers of gourmet decided to replace the existing motor with a new sleek and a less power motor thereby saving the costs. Manufacturing of the coffe maker using DFMA involves three stage Bill of materials Middle product development Fine tuning of the design Design for assembly consists of an index Colum which shows the results or the rating of the design. As the time taken for assembly, costs for the assembly and when the parts are consolidated or omitted the index number rises. The table present below indicates how DFMA software helped kahve coffee maker to reduce the part count, cost and assembly time. Kahve coffee maker DFMA Round 1 DFMA Round 2 DFMA Round 3