Nutrition Information

1. Nutrition.Gov is a US Federal Government placement that presents the up-to-the-minute and excellent pabulumal data. The information provided on the website quite a little be economic consumption by both professional and the general frequent to gain reliable, valid, new and precise knowledge regarding the latest findings in forage and nutrition, physical fitness, diet, well-informed eating and provender safety. The data provided on the website is evidence-based and hence is highly recommended for use by the general usual who want to develop whole food habits, reduce the chances of exploitation nutrition-related illnesses and reduce obesity and malnutrition.The nutritional data provided is detail to various age-groups such infants, children, adolescents, adults, women and elders. The topics be classified according to the audience-level (such as professionals, parents, teachers, children, researchers, etc), subtopics or the age group. All information provided on the N utrition.gov is thoroughly referenced and can be validated. The authors name or the authority of microbe along with the credential is provided on the website.Data most physical fitness and food supplements are also provided. The website also presents useful, updated and trustworthy links which could help the exploiter to demoralise more information if they are interested. The website also provides contact information about(predicate) the owner of the website (such as name, contact address, telephone and fax numbers, and email address) which endures the user to get their doubts clarified. The website also posts the latest new in the field of food and nutrition in an attractive manner.2. The British Nutrition Foundation is a British-based charity transcription that provides the latest scientific data for educational purposes for the public (in the UK and Europe). The website does not promote the products or the services of a particular organization and hence is recommended for use by the general public. The website presents the latest news, research findings, healthy nutrition and diet, recipes, health and physical fitness. The website distributes evidence-based information for use by the public and the professionals, and hence is recommended for use.This evidence-based data is obtained by the British Nutritional Foundation by research conducted with universities, academic organizations, research institutes, NGOs, and Governmental organizations. The information presented on the British National Foundation website is current, valid, precise and verifiable, and details of the authority of source are also presented. The website also provides a search box to permit the user to search for straight information, quickly.3. The American Dietetics Association (ADA) is the Largest Nutrition Organization in the US that has more than 65, 000 members who are nutritional professionals. These members are make an effort to interpret the latest data and finding of pro fessional findings of nutrition into results that can be applied by the public and utilized for developing a healthier living. Nutritional experts belonging to several Universities and organizations based in the US are members of the ADA.MoreNutritionThe website is recommended because it provides the latest findings which can be utilized because the information available on the Website is accurate, valid, current and precise. THE ADA conducts a lot of professional research and publishes these findings which the public could access in its website. roughly of the aims of the organization include bringing about healthy body saddle of children and reducing the incidences of obesity and malnutrition through research and education. The website is user-friendly as a search engine is present on the homepage which can be employ to search for precise data.The search engine enables to the user to obtain accurate data rapidly. Professional data is also available for members and professionals . The ADA gives a lot of concern to child health and nutrition, food safety, food technology, geriatric health and nutrition, obesity and reforms in the field of health and nutrition. The organization had invested about US$ 270, 000 for conducting professional research and education for the benefit of the public. 

Gender Inequality in Education Essay

sex variation is the unjust behaviour or insights of nation on the basis of sex. In regards to gentility, we can then say, sexual activity variety in culture is the discrimination of individuals based on gender in prepares. When talking close this gender inequality it is kinda obvious that the superstars macrocosm discriminated be the female persons. pedagogics is a funda manpowertal right, which should non be certified to a certain gender, every human being, male or female has a right to training. No matter the form of inequality it is shitty for an prudence and well-being. The impact is more severe if when it is viewed from the perspective of gender and take down more detrimental when the resources allocated atomic number 18 unfair against women. A society that its ranked organisation have a habit of placing men in pick making positions and women demoted to economic work that seeks limited work and does non piss them the satisfactory resources of means of support is a society that is put in danger. (Ijaiya & I.O.Balogun)This issue of gender inequality in education is further more prominent in slight developed countries, plus Nigeria where quite a number of readings have shown that under the backings of religion and tradition the men discriminate against women hence divesting them access to skills and education for workful activities. (Ijaiya & I.O.Balogun) In general education is well-defined as a long biography progression by which a persons progress is smoothened so that he can be beneficial to his society and to himself.From this definition, my business sector here is the western education because it the most grievous form of education in the world which is more prominent and its achievement, regard little of what level one has attained is seen to be very significant to the development of an economy, since it allows the great unwashed live up to new tasks and to assess and adjust to new jobs. sex inequality in educa tion affects a lot of things in countries, it affects economic growth as it brings down the level of human resources because when just about of the population that could have contri merelyed to somethings are not educated, they do not amount to much in the society. in that location has been a lot of concerns with women when it comes to education and it is not a new thing. narrative of sex Inequality in EducationFor some time now, in that location has been a change in gender success all through education in the late 1980s underachievement by girls was common girls were less likely than boys to gain one or more A-levels and likewise not likely to go on to advanced education. In the 1990s there was a quick reversal girls started doing better than boys. In the year 2006 10% more females were gaining more A-levels than males. This gender diversion has been viewed from a social perspective. ( sexual activity and educational Attainment, 2014) In the 1990s gender discrimination w as still evident in the society though women were attaining greater success throughout work and education. The Education Reform Act of 1998 (important piece of education in Wales, Northern Island and England) which brought racewaywork helped girls as they tend to be generally more organised and mission about the how their work looks than the males.Feminists consider that the purpose of education ought to be to benefit and payoff disadvantaged women. In a feminists view this is not wrong as what that is what they seek. The 1998 Education Reform Act indicates clearly that women are to be disposed(p) more chance to attain education. Some girls were interviewed in the 1970s and others were interviewed in the 1990s, it was found that main concern had changed, it had changed from marriage and love in the 1970s to moves and jobs in 1990s. From this it is quite obvious there has been an growing in career ambitions. Two things could have influenced this, contemporary socialisation from media and parents or achievement from course works. (Gender and Educational Attainment, 2014)A conceptual IssueWellbeing and Gender Inequality, harmonise to the World Bank a key determinant of wellbeing in a country is the presence of a stable economy and its growth. Inequality is frequently referred to as lack of equivalence. One of the concerns of gender inequality when it comes to education is that it could pointer to a whole great deal of violence against women, which ability make it hard for them to talk about issues of power. If this inequality is such that leads women into having microscopic access to education as well as limited skills for high-voltage employment, it will have an effect on them when it comes to poverty of the present and also of that of the next generation. An illiterate woman with restricted access to income cannot take care of her children in regard to nutrition and health and a woman with so much work and has no regular access to income might use their daughters labour for survival which might end up depriving them of a chance to gain education. (Sheehan, 2012)EffectsIt is also observed that gender inequality in education whitethorn weaken development goals. It may avert increase in child mortality and fertility and the increase of education on the next generation. There is absolutely no distrust that education has a main impact on economic growth, as the more educated people in a society, the better the economy of that society. Studies have conventionally used years spent in study as a variable to measure education. There is a square proof that quality of education is more essential than the quantity of education. Gender inequality in education influences education indirectly, through dissimilar ways such as by dropping the fertility rate, growing manners span of population and social unity. Gender inequality has a invalidating impact on the outcome of education, which will also have a negative impact on the economys growth. These can authorize in so many ways. Girls who are schooling in a school where there is high inequality might end up believing there will inequality in the society, which might immobilise their opportunity for success in life.These would lead to come in their mathematical process in school. Gender inequality does not only manifest itself in education but also in other areas, like, politics, education etcetera (Sheehan, 2012) While numbers of children not in school has dropped, and number of girls not in school has declined from 58% to 54% in 2010, in some countries there has been limited progress in children getting into schools, many which are girls, and girls from poor households continue being one of the groups at jeopardy of neer attending school. In 2006 in Pakistan, 60% of children not in school were girls while only 12% of poor Hausa girls in Nigeria went to school. The odds of getting to school are not in favour of girls from poor households. Girls enumerati on in Yemen is vividly much lesser than boys and the same case goes for Pakistan when  attending is the case analysed. (Engendering Empowerment Education and Equality , 2010)It is seen also that gender is not regarded as a serious issue compared to poverty, some officials in the conspiracy African Education Department said Gender is not a primary issue to them because they deal more with poverty, whether one is male or female poverty is still poverty, they get to deal with hunger and that does not discriminate. From what they can see, gender is not an issue. Poverty is an issue also but to think it is more important that gender inequality in education is totally wrong, from what I have said earlier, the more educated people the lesser the chances of poverty, so, a way to tackle poverty is to tackle gender inequality in education first.Another South African is disquieted that focusing on gender will distract from the poorest needs, saying that there is a risk involved with havi ng too much emphasis on gender issues, saying that it is an issue that would be taken well in resourced areas rather than areas with the majority being the poor. (Engendering Empowerment Education and Equality , 2010) In conclusion, what this paper is saying is, Gender Inequality in Education is an current issue that is declining but not going away anytime soon. It is a worry that comes with its own problems, meaning it affects economic growth and development. A way to decrease the number of inequality is to educate people especially those in the pastoral areas that the girl childs education is just as important as the males child. Every individual male or female should not be discriminated on the basis of anything talk less of education, education is key. Say NO to Gender equality in Education. kit and caboodle CitedEngendering Empowerment Education and Equality . (2010). United Nations Girls Education Initiative , (pp. 15-25). Dakar. Gender and Educational Attainment. (2014). R etrieved from History Learning Site http//www.historylearningsite.co.uk/gender_education_attainment.htm Ijaiya, T. G., & I.O.Balogun. (n.d.). Estimating the Impact of Gender Inequality in Education on the well-being of women in Nigeria. Kolhapur Serials Publications. Sheehan, K. (2012). Does Gender Inequality in Education Affect Educational Outcomes? Connecticut.

How does the poet use language to create a vivid portrayal of love?

First experience was written by John Clare (1793-1864) about his true chouse for a adult female called Mary Joyce, who was from an upper class family, differing from his background from lower class. plain out though Mary Joyce was the love of his life, he married another woman and had a family with her. In later years, his obsession led to him being admitted in to an asylum. During his term there, he had been said to think he was Lord Bryon (Mary Joyces real(a) husband). She was the daughter of a wealthy farmer who did not approve of him.His chimerical love for her drove him to insanity. The poem talks about the first time he laid his eye upon her. In the essay, I will dispute how the poet uses language to create a dramatic portrayal of his love. The first stanza is safe of terms with vibrant connotations. The poet uses this to create a jovial atmosphere and befriend the reviewer determine his emotions at that time. The very first line informs the reader that love had neve r struck him before that day that he adage her. The name struck denotes that it was something unexpected and impulsive.He links her apricot to a radiant flower, use the words sweet and bloomed. The word bloomed may also imply that when he saw her, his world brightened and he felt alive. And it stole my heart away complete entails that upon move his eyes on her, she had his utmost attention. The last four lines of this stanza indicate that he perceived her as goddess this because his face off-key a deadly pale it depicts how anxious she made him. Clare claims his legs refused to walk away this symbolises the trance he was in and how hypnotic her beauty was to him. And when she looked what could I ail? alludes that when she looked his way, he was left field breathless.My life and all seemed turned to clay this line conveys how to him, everything else in his world came to a stop in that moment. Although, it is merely the first verse, it expresses quite eloquently how he felt. This concludes that what Clare felt upon their first meeting, was something he had never experienced before and the clammy, bewilderment he felt left him breath taken and yearning for her.He truly believed that it was love at first sight and he could not rest because he didnt bring in her. I think that he became a bit too fixated with his love for her and couldnt let go. This affected his health and wellbeing, eventually leading him to lose his mentality. In my opinion, it may have been love at first, but, thereafter, it became lust where he upright longed for her. If he truly loved her, he would have been happy for her even if it meant without him.

Lost Property Essay

IntroductionYes, relationships are fragile but non permanently so and they are not meet a gathering of individuals. Scope address unconditional family representations of Tamblings past family life and Michaels bear family, address current situation with Michaels absence, not eight-fold issues, organism the root of tension and closing coming together cosmos the result that Michael and Mr Tambling had planned and all had hoped for. Para 1 address substantiative family representations of Tamblings past family life and Michaels own family, Para 2 address current situation with Michaels absence, not multiple issues, being the root of tension, not multiple issues, dysfunctional behaviour. Para 3 final coming together being the result that Michael and Mr Tambling had planned and all had hoped for. codaFamily life is documented, questioned and applauded in many Australian stories and James Moloneys lost Property is one such tale. It may be argued that the Tambling family, upon which the novel is based, is a gathering of individuals held together by fragile relationships. Contrarily however, one may conclude that the family turmoil within the novel is a temporary state. Following, the positive representations of family life, Michaels temporary exile and the familys ultimate reconciliation auditionament be explored to prove that the relationships within the family make them more than a group of individuals. The Tambling family has a solid past and has built ideals within the Tambling children to create honorable family networks. We are provided a picture of a productive family life initially good schools, house close to Sydney. tantalise tells us he has just about everything I want (p 47).More than the material though, the family invests in the family whole dinners together at the table, lifts from parents to above-board activities and support at school. pull the leg of and his father destiny a neck of music, share easy banter and have self-ex planatory habits of drives together. Josh recalls idyllic beach outings before that bottle of rum(p 64) when Mrs Tambling treasured to stop the sun going down. Life was good. Michael perpetuates these ideals in his own life with Kelly care, commitment and love are obvious. All the time though, we smelling a perpetual pull of Michael back to his family of origin. The Tambling siblings have a slopped bond, there is genuine family values, traditions and history so strong that it can be re-created by Michael in his own home-life all evidence to limn that the issues that arise, the arguments that occur are not exemplary of their standard life, but a reaction to the fact that their tight family unit is disunited. Michaels absence sits standardized a seeping wound upon the family psyche. All the family relationships are put to a lower place strain by Michaels behaviour and departure Michael and Mr Tambling, Mr and Mrs Tambling, Josh and his father, Josh and his mother in particular. Mr Tambling sending Michael away has put a wedge between him and his wife, her need to know of his safety causing great strain. Joshs unhappiness, his feeling of being lost, having no identity could be paralleled with Michaels absence Josh begins to feel more connected when he begins his explosive charge to Mackay, a quest to return the prodigal son. When we consider the events leading to Michaels leaving the drinking, behaviour, his age, one could consider whether Mr Tambling made a sacrifice in insisting Michael leavea calculated decision for the sake of the symmetry of the family. He makes another calculated decision when he discovers where Michael is to not hear him out, to not tell the remainder of the family.One could argue that these calculations were made not due to fragile relationships within the family but because of a deep love and the ultimate hope that the family will be reunited in good time. Family crisis is not unusual but working through crisis is a true test of family strength. In Michaels case time was required to heal his wounds, peradventure growth as a person, finding his own identity, falling in love, made it possible for him to understand his father, forgive and accept him. The fragility is a consequence of Michaels absence, the turmoil that preceded his departure and The unending need for the family to be reconciled, from all sides, invites readers to anticipate a family reunion, not a continuation of fragility.

New Hire Communication Essay

The purpose of this message is to let others agnise about the union culture, process and procedures, as well as general information on the accompany for new hires. The general audience for the message will be consumers, competitors, perspective and new employees. Channels of communication will include pamphlets, a company website, email to current customers, employment agencies, and also a memo to new employees. The message to our audience will start as transp arnt as an explanation of our companys culture. We want the audience to know that we argon customer focused with a friendly atmosphere where customers everlastingly feel welcome and excited to visit. We are employee owned with a low gear turnover rate and we promote from within the company. We have a focal point in training program where those who express quest in heed can learn e truly job we have in the company. Our company is a metal recycling company whose process is buying metals, excluding scarce metals, proce ssing the metals, and the final product will be sold to bigger recycling companies for a profit.We take in that the metals are in the cleanest form to denounce for the largest amount of profit. This process can include shredding of material, crushing of cars, removing plastics and trash, sorting of several(predicate) metals, and packaging of materials to ship out. The process does not just include a buyer and a processer. It also includes managers to oversee the cleaning process, employees to package material, a cashier to pay customers, and office workers to perform everyday office functions. In stage to keep costs at a minimum, there are as few employees as possible, but enough that employees do not get overwhelmed. Procedures are explained in detail when an employee starts the job. The line of communication is very open. We have an open door policy to ensure that employees are back up to give their input on how procedures can be changed in order to make the work more product ive and make both customers and employees satisfied. Our way does not stay in an office all day, rather they are in the yard and warehouse running machinery, cleaning material themselves, and notwithstanding unloading customers.They are always involved with the workload of the day to ensure that employees feel that management is involved and working just hard as other employees. As stated earlier, our company is employee owned which gives us a large advantage when it comes to benefits. We offer to all full condemnation employees most of the greatest benefits you will find in any company in Tulsa. Not only do we offer health and dental insurance, salaried vacation, personal time off, and 401k, we also have an employee stock ownership program and profit sharing. We are self-insured with our health insurance and offer our own aesculapian clinic with zero co-pays. You are 100 % vested in your 401k when you sign up and we tot half of what you contribute, up to 6%.Our company h as been in business for 70 plus years and we continue to grow. It is only in your best interest to be employed by a company who has withstood a deplorable economy and continues to prosper. Our customers have been coming to us for generations and will continue to be this way for decades to come. We have the culture and mission to withstand the test of time and we hope you love us as much as we do.

Drexler’s World Famous Bar-B-Que

Drexlers BBQ is a family restaurant that is locate on the third base Ward Houston, TX. This restaurant is being open for many years, and its worthy a family tradition. Generation after generation the business remain at service, even after being rename, or close for expansion and build a new modern restaurant people on the vicinity chill out talking about it. The restaurant is specialized with the secrets of the old family recipes exclusively only on the food preparation but the most consequential on the secrets of the family set.The way the family visualize the business is non how many they lot is based on how the sell, emphasized quality including affection and appreciation for the guest and friends. In some way it appears that are not very malleable with the operations hours, but is just because they want to make for sure to face to the fraternity the thing that the community sends to them. They are very graceful to still have a business standing and they care abou t the community that makes it possible. When it s to business decision we have to remember that costumer give us our reputation and the chance to remain in business, so at certain point we depend of them.This is very crucial in this family knobbed on a family business with moral and values. What role do values play in how Drexlers Bar-B-Que interacts with its neighbors and customers? Values play a horrendous role with its neighbors and customers. Consumers tend to look at the total value and in the case of Drexlers the customers receive excellent care. Mrs. Scott constantly is checking with customers to make sure they are receiving superb service. Customers want organizations to be responsive to their needs, give the topper price and product and be prompt with services.Drexlers also gives rump to the community, which is a very important piece to being an good organization. You must give back to your environment. The restaurant believes in supporting the community in giving back to the surrounding African American community I believe that since this restaurant is very a family oriented business located near the Third Ward, which is an economically disadvantaged neighborhood they want to move on to citizens that there is hope, you just have to work hard for it. Is Drexlers an effective organization? Why? I guess you would say the restaurant owners did not forget where they came from and wants to help others who are poverty stricken have a chance to experience things/events that could not be experienced without the help of sponsorship. Drexlers is an effective organization. They value their customers provide superior service and a prominent product. Drexlers also adapts to the outside environment. They expanded their restaurant in social club to accommodate the growing client base. Apply the systems model to illustrate how Drexlers Bar-B-Que operates with its environment.According to the textbook, systems theory is when an organization takes resources (in puts) from the larger system (the environment), processes the resources and returns them in a changed form (output) Beginning with the inputs- the organization will input their values and supplies, which they thence process in order to generate a successful. Output &8212 their grand food. Their product is a result of the values the organization and its employees hold. The output results in generating revenue, which then goes back into the environment in the form of attracting consumers to the area, sponsor a local softball team and a Boy Scout troop.

Introduction nokia Essay

The company that we choose from the list is Nokia. Over the past 150 years, Nokia has evolved from a riverside paper mill in southwestern Finland to a spheric tele communication theory leader connecting over 1. 3 billion people. During that time, theyve made rubber boots and auto tires. Theyve generated electricity. Theyve even manufactured TVs. Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications and entropy technology corporation that is headquartered in Espoo, Finland. Its principal products are nomadic telephones and portable IT devices.It also offers Internet services including applications, games, music, media and messaging, and free-of-charge digital map information and navigation services through its wholly owned subsidiary Navteq. Nokia owns a company named Nokia Solutions and Networks, which provides telecommunications network equipment and services. As of 2012, Nokia employs 101,982 people across 120 countries, conducts sales in more than 150 countries, and rep orts annual revenues of around 30 billion.By the fourth quarter of 2012, it was the worlds second-largest liquid phone master in terms of unit sales (after Samsung), with a global marketplace section of 18. 0%. Now, Nokia only has a 3% market share in smartphones. They lost 40% of their revenue in mobile phones in Q2 2013. Nokia is a public limited-liability company listed on the Helsinki Stock alternate and New York Stock Exchange. It is the worlds 274th-largest company measured by 2013 revenues according to the Fortune Global 500. Nokia was the worlds largest vendor of mobile phones from 1998 to 2012.However, over the past five years its market share declined as a result of the growing use of touchscreen smartphones from other vendorsprincipally the iPhone, by Apple, and devices running on Android, an operating system created by Google. The corporations share price fell from a high of US$40 in late 2007 to under US$2 in mid-2012. In a bid to recover, Nokia announced a strateg ic givenership with Microsoft in February 2011, leading to the replacement of Symbian with Microsofts Windows Phone operating system in all Nokia smartphones.Following the replacement of the Symbian system, Nokias smartphone sales figures, which had previously increased, collapsed dramatically. From the commencement of 2011 until 2013, Nokia fell from its position as the worlds largest smartphone vendor to involve the status of tenth largest. On 2 September 2013, Microsoft announced its draped to purchase Nokias mobile phone business unit as part of an overall deal totaling 5. 44 billion (US$7. 17 billion). Stephen Elop, Nokias former CEO, and several other executives will join Microsoft as part of the deal.

Analysis of Should College Athletes Get Paid Essay

The indite of the essay Should College Athletes Get Paid? wrote a high-priced work touching on a very controversial base that has been in question for years yet no closer to get solved. His style is effective with the use of analogies and corresponding Pope John capital of Minnesota II recanting his stance on women in the priesthood or Kathie Lees child seamstresses keeps the readers amused. The use of these analogies also puts into perspective how important the subject of the author is.Another eristical point the author uses is direct quotation from the family of the athletes gnarled like Payton Mannings father, Archie. He uses Archie as an eyewitness to the facts with his experiences and what he has seen external of locker rooms after the games. Wulf also utilizes data and figures from good sources like the NCAA committee and the Notre Dame-NBC deal for the broadcast of five footb entirely seasons. What surprises me is that the author for all of his use of facts and direct quotations, he has no information from the players involved themselves.For an argumentative essay to be effective, both perspectives have to be properly represented. even so though there were facts from broadcasting networks and credible sources the side I was looking for for was from the coaches themselves who gain from the big business that college athletes make. The work does make you want to side with the exploited youths who work hard to attain their degree while suffer pressures from academic stress.

Gaps model of service quality Essay

The scissures Model of proceedsQualityChapter2-12 The Customer spread head cattle ranch 5 The supplier bed covers perturbation 1 The Listening Gap not knowing what customers predict Gap 2 The Design and Standards Gap not having the right utility designs and standards Gap 3 The slaying Gap not delivering to usefulness standards Gap 4 The Communication Gap not twinned exploit to promises put It All Together Closing the GapsMcGraw-Hill/IrwinCopyright 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.Objectives for Chapter 2The Gaps Model of proceeds Quality2-2 Introduce a mannequin, called the gaps model of servicequality, which is used to organize this textbook. Demonstrate that the gaps model is a useful framework for understanding service quality in an organization. Demonstrate that the most diminutive service quality gap to close is the customer gap, the difference in the midst ofcustomer expectations and perceptions. Show that quad gaps that occur in companies, which we call provider gaps, ar responsible for the customer gap. Identify the factors responsible for each of the four provider gaps.2-3The Customer GapGap 5 severalise Factors ledeto the Customer GapCustomerGapGap 52-4CustomerExpectations supplier Gap 1 non knowing what customers expect Provider Gap 2 Not selecting the right service designs and standards Provider Gap 3 Not delivering to service standards Provider Gap 4 Not matching performance to promisesCustomerPerceptions2-5Gaps Model of service of process Quality Customer Gap 5 difference between customer expectations andperceptions Provider Gap 1 (Knowledge Gap) not knowing what customers expect Provider Gap 2 (Service Design & adenine Standards Gap) not having the right service designs and standards Provider Gap 3 (Service Performance Gap) not delivering to service standards Provider Gap 4 (Communication Gap) not matching performance to promises2-6Provider Gap 1CUSTOMERExpectedServicePerceivedServiceCOM PANYGap 1The Listening GapCompanyPerceptions ofConsumerExpectations2-7Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap 12-8Provider Gap 2CUSTOMERCOMPANYCustomer-DrivenService Designs andStandardsGap 2 The Design and StandardsGapCompanyPerceptions ofConsumerExpectations2-9Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap 22-10Provider Gap 3CUSTOMERCOMPANYService DeliveryGap 3The Performance GapCustomer-DrivenService Designs andStandards2-11Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap 32-12Provider Gap 4CUSTOMERCOMPANYGap 4 The CommunicationGap internationalService DeliveryCommunicationsto Customers2-13Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap 42-14Gaps Model of Service Quality5Gap 4Gap 3Gap 1Gap 22-15ship canal to Use Gap Analysis Overall Strategic Assessment How are we doing overall in meeting orexceeding customer expectations? How are we doing overall in closing the fourcompany gaps? Which gaps represent our strengths and whereare our weaknesses?2-16Ways to Use Gap Analysis Specific Service executing Who is the customer? What is the service? Are we consistently meeting/exceedingcustomer expectations with this service? If not, where are the gaps and what changes areneeded? (Examine gaps 1-4 for this particularservice.)

Morality of Homosexuality According to Rachels

The ethics and honourableity of humanity and homo awakenual make a motions have been debated and questioned by many groups of people apply several moral approaches to argue their point. It seems that the group of people who be more or less against quirkiness be religious groups, specifically Christians. Homosexuality however is non morally ruin and many arguments will be presented to refute the claims by those who do regard that homosexuality is unethical and morally wrong.The approaches that is used the most to argue that homosexuality and the acts that are involved are morally wrong which is used most by Christians is the Theory of internal Law. Now there are triad main points to this theory and the first point is that it is believed that everything in nature has a purpose (Rachels &038 Rachels, 2012). Aristotle, who is very well known and respected stated that if everyone believes that nature makes objects for a specific purpose, and that this believe is correct, thusly, nature makes things for the sake of man.Christians believe that matinee idol created things in nature for a specific plan and so if that specific plan potty non be carried come on, and so it should non be done and therefore is morally wrong. To assort this part of the Theory of infixed Law to thoughts about homosexuality, one of the main arguments against homosexual acts is that it is affected. Christians believe the act of homosexual sex is wrong because it does not end in the issue of life, which according to them are the main purposes of sex, to create life.This argument is easily refuted however. When using the evolutionary sense of the term unnatural, which is how most Christians use it in their arguments, they represent that homosexuality is morally wrong because it involves the unnatural use of dust separate. It is believed by some, that because God had created genitals and the act of sex for procreation, and homosexual sex can not end in procreation, th at those individuals engaging in those acts are using their body parts for something it they were not intended for. Therefore, what they are doing is wrong.However, there are many couples that are sterile, who will never have the opportunity to procreate, and but as long as the sex is heterosexual, Christians do not chafe them. The Roman Catholic church who does not agree with the use of have a bun in the oven control, still allows couples to have sex if they are infertile or during gestation (Mappes, Zembaty &038 DeGrazia, 2012). Therefore the Catholic church can claim that if the body parts are not being used for the purpose of procreation then it is unnatural and immoral otherwise they would be contradicting their own practices.Besides, as pointed out in the book by Mappes, Zembaty &038 DeGrazia (2012), we have multiple purposes for our organs and body parts. Just because we use our mouths to not only breath, consume nutrients and communicate, but in addition to chew gum and lick stamps, does not mean that those acts are immoral. flat though our moths were not originally intended to chew gum or lick stamps, does not mean that those acts are unethical. Besides, it is also recognized by Christians that a abet purpose of heterosexual sex is to bond and connect with your partner and to express love.Homosexuals use their genitals during sexual acts for those same reasons as well. So, it stands to show that Homosexuality and Homosexual sex are not immoral and unethical due to the unnatural use of their sex organs. A second part to the Theory of Natural Law is the belief that all things unnatural are bad and that what is and what ought to be should be the same or else it is morally wrong. The example that Rachels &038 Rachels (2012) gives is that Beneficence is morally right. That we should always act in the high hat interest of others because we care.If we do not care and therefore are not working in the best interest of others, then were are not being be neficent and that is morally wrong. Those who do not care and do not practice beneficence are often regarded as wrong. For example, these such individuals may be diagnoses with a mental illness called antisocial temperament disorder because those who do not care, couldnt possibly be well. It is believed that these individuals ways of thinking are wrong and therefore should be fixed. So, because society believes that people ought to be beneficent and therefore if they are not, then their actions are morally wrong.Rachels &038 Rachels (2012) then points out that sex produces babies, that is fact. But does it then ensue that sex ought to produces babies? not necessarily. Those who have genetic mutations that could produce offspring with those same genetic mutations or diseases could be said ought not to have babies because it would perpetuate pain and suffering. Should it follow then those individuals ought not to have sex at all? It is not considered morally wrong for those with g enetic illness to have sex, but it mayhap thought to be morally wrong for them to produce a child.So, what is and what ought to be are different. In regards to Homosexuality, some believe that those individuals ought not to have sex because it is not an innate desire and therefore is unnatural. And as stated beforehand that in which is unnatural ought not to occur according to the Theory of Natural Law. It is argued that References Rachels, J. , &038 Rachels, S. (2012). The elements of moral philosophy. clean York, NY McGraw-Hill. Mappes, T. A. , Zembaty, J. S. , &038 DeGrazia, D. (2012). Social Ethics Morality and Social Policy. New York, NY McGraw-Hill.

Impact of Peers and School in Middle Childhood Essay

Middle childhood is a floor in growth where the members age between six and twelve years. Sigmund Freud defines this as the latency present where aggressive and sexual urges be introverted. Others theorists have highlighted this stage as very crucial in the development of personality, cognitive skills, inter-personal relationships and motivation. Furthermore, it is at this growth stage that peers and school have great impacts, either commanding or negative, to the individual. Schools do promote the childrens competence and self-esteem since they are enthusiastic to learn and work.This enthusiasm plays a great role since it acts as a motivating factor. Due to their development in competence in social and interpersonal relationships as aforesaid, they also undergo an experience in peer orientation. If they interact with the best peers, they create a strong pes for future adult rapports that will be healthy. The diverse relationships may run short to increased violence in schools , drug use, depression and eating disorders that negatively affect the students in the upper elementary education (Blume & Zembar, 2007).In schools, the children also learn and develop interests in other co-curricular activities such as sports, arts and music. However, as they grow, the necessary skills for achieving success in academics tend to baffle more sophisticated. Those who overcome these challenges end up being academic conquerors just those who are overwhelmed perform poorly in the subsequent years. Ones family at this growth stage also plays an important role curiously in socialization. The parents, for instance, have the responsibility to make negotiation with the socialization agents on behalf of the child.This kind of socialization that is family-based is directly linked with the childs deviance, either in the current life or in the future. It may stretch to the child indulging in alcoholism, aggression or delinquency. However, through several(a) reinforcement and disciplinary methodologies, the parents teach their middle-aged children on the behaviors to adopt and those to leave off from (Collins, 1984). Academically, parents motivate their children to be performers. This influences them to embrace reading and more often than not, implore them to come out directly from school.

Group

How meaning will be break ined Pronunciation features to be highlighted shroud the gender gap at work. -To change to a Job that is non traditionally done by someone of your gender or sex. Ignore the prejudice To take no notice of unreasonable opinions against you Sexism. When someone is treated foully because of their sex or gender. The equalize Opportunities Commission. A government agency that fghts sexism and prejudice in the workplace. pipe fitter A person whose Job is to fix water pipes, baths, toilets, etc. Noun give voice Noun collocation Noun CCQSWhat do we call it when we change to a Job which is not traditional for someone of your sex or gender? ccqs When someone has an unfair opinion of you because of your race, sex or background, what do we call that? Prejudice Whats some other word we use when we want to say that we dont take notice of something? To not pay attention to something or someone? Ignore. What do we call it someone is treated unfairly or badly bec ause of their sex? Sexism Prompts Does anyone know who the Equal Opportunities Commission is? Its a government agency that fghts sexism and prejudice in the workplace. scene and CCQs What is this person doing?What is this person called? /krosacendagp/ weak form in Ida/ Isekslzlm/ /plAma/ Timing/ Int When? Who? What? Stage Aim Why? Procedure How? 5 mins -ros ss come before In To set the context for the lesson For learners to practice mouth T gives pitiable talk virtually Jobs she has done in the past T instructs students solution these questions about these Jobs. Handout activity 1 Ss work, T monitors Peer check T instructs Check with your partners, discuss and explain your answers with each other. OCFB via nomination To enter lexis students may chance difficult in the listening text Cross the gender gap t work. create via CCQS Elicited Vis ccqs Sexism The Equal Opportunities Commission Prompts Elicited via photo 3 mins TOS Gist Reading For students to get an overall intel lectual of the text by practicing reading for gist Handout first article. T instructs Read this article quickly and answer the question Does anything surprise you about this article? Peer check Quickly compare and discuss with your partners OCFB via nomination. 10 mins Reading for specific information For the students to practice reading for specific enlarge Task a Split class in half base A (Pink) Read about Jenny.GROUP B (Blue) Read about Alex. T instructs Answer these questions about your person. Ss work, T monitors. T instructs GROUP A find someone in GROUP B, compare your answers. Read your partners text. Answer see at the back. 12 mins Communicative Follow Up For students to practice speaking in response to the text. T asks What do you think? Write questions on WB. Answer these questions and discuss in groups of threes. One student leads the discussion, another student prepare to summarize what the group said for the class. Ss discuss,

Member of the Wedding

The Member of The Wedding, Carson McCullers Main Characters ?? Frankie Addams is a twelve yr old(a) who in the middle of a sexual and emotional awakening. She feels totally discriminate and disconnected from the service gentlemans gentleman all rough her. She isnt a extremity of either clique or group, because of this she becomes obsessed with the fact that she is going to be a member of her brother Jarvis wedding. Frankie puts all her hopes in dreams into this one event and plans to make. nexus with another group of spate, and to disconnect herself from being lonely again.Getting away from puerility is a hard task for her and she has trouble with it, she tries to make changes on the out-of-door to get a better low but that is a fail. Her biggest exertion is getting over some(a)things that relate to being a female mature like getting her menstruation cycle and sex, Frankie is extremely ignorant when it comes to these two subjects. My first impression of Frankie is that someone needs to teach her how to grow up. reach ?? Frankie Addams is a 12 year old living in the American south in 1944. Summary ??Frankie Addams is a young 12 year old living in the American South, the book is or so her chief(prenominal) frustration with feeling like she doesnt belong as a member in any group and that shes disconnected from the world all around her. She is the daughter of a jeweler and a mom who died during child birth. She spends close of her time being obsessed with her brothers wedding. Frankie tries to find unity with other people and this causes major conflict in the story. When Frankie tries to grow up and become obscure of the adult world she notices that there is some stuff she doesnt like about the adult world.One major thing she didnt like is that married couples only hold two people which makes her not apart of her dream of being a threesome with Jarvis and Janice. Bernice helped Frankie understand what she needed to know about the adult world and some of the struggles of being an adult. My favorite passage was Bernice tells of a couple she knows in which a woman fell in love with a man who later had a sex change. that was my favorite because it was so funny. My first impression was to laugh. Conclusion ?? I liked the ending of the story because it kind of gave some insight on how Frankie matured a little, I wouldnt change the end.

Different Types of Database management systems Essay

A entropybase is a collection of tag downs. Database management remainss atomic number 18 designed as the means of managing altogether the temperaments. Database Management is a softw be system that uses a standard method and trial queries with some of them designed for the oversight and proper(ip) control of databases. Types of Database Management SystemsThere are four structural types of database management systems * hierarchal databases. * Network databases. * Relational databases. * Object-oriented databasesHierarchical Databases (DBMS) In the Hierarchical Database Model we book to shape about the databases. It is very fast and simple. In a hierarchic database, participates contain discipline about there groups of parent/ shaver relationships, just bid as a maneuver expression. The structure implies that a record brush aside have also a repeating information. In this structure Data follows a series of records, It is a set of field values attached to it. It col lects all in all records together as a record type. These record types are the uniform of tables in the relational model, and with the individual records being the equivalent of rows. To create links betwixt these record types, the graded model uses these type Relationships.vantage Hierarchical database can be accessed and updated cursorily because in this model structure is same as a tree and the relationships amongst records are defined in advance. This gambol is a two-edged. Disadvantage This type of database structure is that from each one pincer in the tree may have only matchless parent, and relationships or linkages between children are not permitted, even if they make sense from a logical standpoint. Hierarchical databases are so in their design. it can adding a sensitive field or record requires that the ideal database be redefined.Network Database A interlocking databases are mainly used on a large digital computers. It much(prenominal) connections can be m ade between different types of data, mesh databases are considered more efficiency It contains limitations must be considered when we have to use this kind of database. It is Similar to the ranked databases, network databases .Network databases are connatural to hierarchical databases by also having a hierarchical structure. A network database looks more like a cobweb or link network of records. In network databases, children are called members and parents are called occupier. The difference between each child or member can have more than one parent.The encomium of the network data model homogeneous with the esteem of the hierarchical data model. any(prenominal) data were more naturally simulate with more than one parent per child. The network model authorized the modeling of many-to-many relationships in data.The network model is very similar to the hierarchical model really. Actually the hierarchical model is a subset of the network model. However, sort of of using a sin gle-parent tree hierarchy, the network model uses set theory to stick out a tree-like hierarchy with the exception that child tables were allowed to have more than one parent. It supports many-to-many relationships.

Postponement

succession lag St receive ingy Materials Management dismiss Term Project (Term IV) Date fifteenth September 2009 Submitted To Submitted By Prof. Vivek Kumar Namrata Agarwal(81031) Prof. Kaushik Paul Neha Gupta(81034) t satis brokery of contents Chapter 14 Introduction4 1. 1 What is Postp cardinalment? 4 1. 2 A ad hoc example5 1. 3 deferral in operation7 Chapter 29 literary harvest-feastions Review9 Chapter 314 When is cargo t single agglomerate Appropriate? 14 3. 1 The Postponement/Speculation (P/S) hyaloplasm14 3. 2 cor answer &038 Benefits of Postponement15 3. 2. 1 More novelty15 3. 2. 2 pedigree simplification18 3. 2. 3 weaken imagine accuracy19 . 2. 4 Inventory be simplification20 3. 2. 5 Logistics exist reduction22 3. 2. 6 Improved node assistance with stand aims22 3. 2. 7 Increased harvest-feast breeding appeal23 3. 2. 8 Increased manufacturing telephone23 Chapter 424 Case Studies24 4. 1 auto Manufacturing GM24 4. 2 Aircraft Manufacturing Embrae r26 4. 3 clinical Equipments Dade Behring29 4. 4 S manners Goods Manufacturing Reebok32 4. 5 Xilinx34 Chapter 536 Conclusion36 Chapter 638 Future of clasp38 6. 1 Services and grasp38 References40 Chapter 1 Introduction e rattling behind the past 2 decades, logarithmistics activities pro ache net profited alteration magnitude st prisegical importance for most companies. quick- icy be of harvestingion fetch change magnitude, con centreer contracts take a shit hold draw a lot than complex and atomic human activity 18 harder to c solely, whatsoever(prenominal) in succession and place. engine room is rapidly ever-changing and intersection tear blue tone rounds meet conciseened while take on range has amplificationd. promptly oft epochs than ever, companies argon faced with the ch allenge of producing an increasingly rangy classification of harvests in a antiphonary manner while keeping reals and p atomic f atomic enumerate 18 18ntage to a minimum. These issues repre consecrate signifi lavt challenges for companies producing and food marting in a flesh of planetary commercialises.not only does engage qualify from domain to country, to a greater extent everywhere crossroads subscribe to be altered for diametrical markets in precondition of differences in spoken communication, culture and topical anaesthetic anesthetic warnings. Increasingly, companies argon using a scheme cognise as clench or the great unwashed customization to alter node profit and chthonianstate the stakes associated with making diametric cross centerings in various countries. This paper pres supplants a frame track d birth for judgement holdup and how it stick out be posture oned. Also, with the holder of prosperous case studies potential nest egg as hale challenges in death penalty will be elevatedlighted. . 1 What is Postponement? The term hold refers to delayed ratiocination-making rough a carre quadruplet. It is beneficial to delay warhead to crop- unique(predicate) characteristics as late as achiev satisfactory in instal to avoid a mis comp atomic figure of speech 18 in the midst of shapes and off the beaten track(predicate)m animal on turn over. The distance of delay is unique(predicate) to a subject entirely the crude strategic motivation is to gain weaken nurture slightly client get hold of by retaining to customize a harvesting for a particular market or client. At the signify of holdup a stepized module or plan starts to acquire client or market particular characteristics. get wind 1-1 cross-files the spectrum of opport nameing blockies for cargo hold that ext re master(prenominal)ders from procurance to scattering. The point of deferral gutter pass on as early as the physical body phase angle and as late as box and dispersion. Postponement at the manufacturing compass point has arguably the most potential for address ne st egg in carry list ascrib adequate to luck pooling. other points of una wish fountainheadiation chamberpot lapse in the lying, labeling, publicity, or distri neverthe slight(prenominal)ion phases. almost keep roll in the hay nonethe slight pop off after the point of bargain in the version of work adjureings. pic manakin 1-1 Possible points of several(prenominal)(predicate)iation in the publish cooking stove Postponement en opens auspicateers to give better predictions close residual cross panache implore over get wind since the standard module is built-to- bode and the destroyed crop is built to a better forecast or dismantle built-to- influence. Lee and Whang 20 observe that shorter the magazine horizon over which predictions ar book, the much accurate the forecast. The emoluments atomic number 18 better terminus proceeds forecasts and the capability to respond proper(ip) a commission to admit signals by keeping dim-witted(a) greats in size up a containing net fiction or customization.Postponement prodigalityively ca-cas opportwholeies to cut back document be out-of-pocket to risk pooling beca feign use of goods ar kept in rough-cut or component make up and fire be utilize to assemble more than than than than one type of concluded goods. The fiscal delimitate of an un name and addressed good is less(prenominal)(prenominal) because it is non move to enough a finished product and lacks the added jimmy gained in last-place forum. 1. 2 A specific example Consider a putting green case of keep involving a betting food restaurant. Burger King started a burn with the collapse it your port marketing doggerel as a way of denote the protect of getting a customized prep ar fastThis schema ensured the node that all(prenominal) collection would be make severally at the magazine of purchase not taken from a batch of pre-made products. In a restaurant, ingredients ar legitimat e in aggregate because it is not known what the lowest client grazes will be. Ingredients that be super C to all prep ars, worry exclusivelyt joint and lettuce, argon dictateed ensn be on a fondness forecast of gross r regular(a)ue for all(prenominal)(prenominal) type of sandwich. Having a bun and lettuce fake and waiting for final reconcile is the course of study for the sandwich. The rest of the ingredients, homogeneous exalted mal low-toned, meat, and pickles, be components that are specific to from each one end product.If more of one type of sandwich is orderinged or less of an divergent, the total number of buns is not affected by this deviation in take, however, the mensuration of cheese would be. It is much less namely to trade out a piece of cheese and use the programme for another(prenominal) order than to throw out an entire sandwich. At Burger King, parentage is managed at the aggregate take aim. thither are quadruple choices of meat a nd triplet un alike(p) types of bun. In access to buns and meat, in that location is the choice of cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, pickles and onion.In total Burger King female genital organ flummox 768 polar sandwiches as constitute in carry over 1. 1. They know that it is embodyly to try and predict singular customers preferences so they aggregate orders into common political political programs which consist of a bun, patty (chicken, beef, fish, or veggie) and lettuce, reducing the options from 768 to 128. at once common components are paired together in a platform, the number of options centres dramatically because admixture is jibed by multiplying the number of options together. Once the platform is specified by a customer the rest of the sandwich is made-to-order. Component Number of Options Patty 4 Buns 3 Cheese 2 Bacon 2 Lettuce 2 Tomato 2 Onion 2 Pickle 2 nitty-gritty Combinations 768 Table 1. 1 organise options at Burger KingThis example illu strates how cargo deck by means of platform number and stocking several(prenominal) components instead of finished goods is able to diminish the risk associated with producing a panoptic transition of products. This imagination hindquarters be apply to more than just food. Examples of products which mess profit from wait take con lender appliances, automobiles, apparel, and even carpenters planes. These products clear one or more of the quest characteristics exalted degree of forecast un genuinety, modularity, and superior scrutinise carrying be. 1. 3 Postponement in operation Operational delay arouse be applied in one of ii ways manufacturing and aggregation waiting and logistic deferment.Manufacturing and fiction grip involves the engineering of a product as a module or platform which erect take on several distinguishable features thitherby increasing the compliance of end products. The point of hold female genitals occur as early as the be af ter phase. The intermediate product is straind in blood and awaits customization. The assess added through with(predicate) assembly or manufacturing may be performed at a ending facility or at a warehouse just earlier shipping. Manufacturing and assembly waiting involve finalitys made while the product is in confinement. Engineers attempt to jut a product as a module or platform which back tooth swallow up antithetical attachments or features in order to transform the style and or bring out-up the ghost to increase product form.This concept was referred to as a vanilla extract box by Swaminathan and Tayur 42 because the generic wine wine platform is one without any customized value and is and so the common denominator among a family of unalike products. logistical clasp takes into account all other types of clutch involving logistical decisions like furtherance, labeling, and scattering. publicity and labeling postponement handed-downly applies to small consumer goods products like razors, batteries, compact disks, film, and snack foods. Large re bobers like Wal-Mart and Target choose antithetic figures of computer package piece of grounds to project their customer rent and shelf situation capacity and to differentiate commodity products. Gillette is intumesce known for their furtherance postponement trading operations.In 1996, Gillette contumacious to outsource the packaging of their wellness and beauty stages to Sonoco. Bulk quantities of products are sent to Sonoco to await final packaging. Once orders are recoverd captivate packaging configurations are assembled and shipped to re trailers. Manufacturers spend a significant amount of capital and labor trying to forgather the variance in charter for different configurations for their retailers. However, companies like Gillette, that steering on their core competency, innovating and manufacturing razors and razor blades, push the risk onto their packaging su pplier. Sonoco shines the risk of forecasting for the different retailers which allows Gillette to produce to an aggregate forecast.The do goods for Gillette include a reduction in order fulfillment fourth dimension from sestet weeks to one, a 15 per centumage decrease in packaging store, a 10 portion improvement in record accuracy, and a 15 shareage reduction in packaging make up. Not only does this economise Gillette from mismatching demand and configurations, it allows them to focus on engineering, end, and manufacturing of bran- newly products instead of packaging. Gillette avoided kit and caboodle expansion, has a focused factory workforce and is winning favor with retailers by existence so responsive. Another example of logistical postponement is the postponement of decisions made about the product during its scattering make pass conviction (from finished product to customer slant). Whirlpool, a general producer of household appliances, provides a goo d example. customers of Whirlpool include retailers like Sears and Home Depot.Holding inventory of spacious appliances much(prenominal)(prenominal) as refrigerators and washing machines at local stores is tollly because of the spicy product value and the space taken up in a back retentiveness room. For this reason Whirlpool will send finished goods to a primordial distribution cracker and ship directly to the home(a) once a customer order is placed. This method saves the retailer in inventory personify and resists surplus transportation represent by bypassing the retailer. In addition, it reduces the risk that is implicit in(p) in sending a sanctified number of products to respective(prenominal) stores and having to transship orders in the midst of retailers. Chapter 2 Literature Review Sources date the whim of postponement as remote back as the 1920s and the first use of postponement as a manufacturing outline as early as the 1950s.Early mention of postponeme nt suggested that exist due to risk and un receivedty were a duty of compartmentalisation and that an cost-effective room of producing a product is to postpone changes in form and identity to the latest point in the marketing go and postpone changes in inventory fix to the latest point in cartridge holder. In 1965, Louis Bucklin accepted that midget had been done in the area of postponement despite its ugly potential for cost savings. He be total cost as the sum of inventory prop cost and address cost, twain of which are a function of rescue prison term. He argued that a wondering(a) inventory will step up at each point in a distribution channel whenever its costs are less than the net savings to some(prenominal) buyer and seller from postponement.In other words, postponement is not cost effectuateive when there is sufficient learning about demand to produce finished goods in mountain and store them in inventory. For some products it makes sense to postpone the finis outgrowth by introducing a finishing cost and increasing the deli real prison term because the product is not readily acquirable from stock. Zinn and Bowersox 50 classified postponement into quin straightforward types labeling, packaging, assembly, manufacturing, and time. Labeling postponement assumes that products are standardized until they receive a label distinguishing them by brand. package postponement is opera hat suited for products in which variation is determined by package size.Paint, chemicals, medicine, razors, and numerous another(prenominal) food items sold in majority are good candidates for packaging postponement. forum postponement is applied to products in which alteration is ground on enhancive features like cars, iPods, jerseys, and printers. Hewlett-Packard (HP) provides an excellent example of assembly postponement. Printers designed for different globular markets are inherently the same product draw off for country specific force out supplement modules, tycoon cord plugs, and counsel manuals. HP makes two types of printers in Vancouver a US recitation and a generic version that is customized once it reaches a distribution center in Europe, Asia, or the Pacific establish on country specific orders. superstar benefit is decreased transportation cost because printers are shipped in bulk and are considered vanilla until they receive the value-added accessories like speech manual and occasion release. Manufacturing postponement occurs when course are shipped to the finishing center from more than one supplier. It has the greatest potential for cost savings in inventory because the value of the product increases through the addition of each successive component. Manufacturing postponement usually results in spunkyer(prenominal) work costs. The increase is due to the capital cost of transmutationing machinery betwixt different types of compartmentalization and shipping them to different finishing fa cilities.Time postponement occurs when finished products are shipped to centralized warehouses walking(prenominal) to the customer than the manufacturing situation. The motivation is to increase customer helping levels by decreasing customer escape time and to respond promptly to orders by placing inventories closer to the customer without committing to an individual order. Postponement Type strengthly Interested Firms Labeling some(prenominal) brand names soaring unit value products eminent product gross barters fluctuations Packaging Variability in package size High unit value products High product sales fluctuations Assembly Selling products with several versions High stack incurred by packaging High unit value products High product sales fluctuations Manufacturing High proportion of ubiquitous material High unit value products High product sales fluctuations Time High unit value products Large number of distribution warehouses Tabl e 2. 1 Potential Utilization of Postponements The final outcome of their interrogation is a framework which serves to assist managers in determine what type of postponement is silk hat for a given over product or come forth chemical ambit structure. Table 2. 1 shows a list of the postponement types and the firms which would benefit from implementing each type of postponement.Swaminathan and Lee 42 go encourage and identify the factors which influence the costs and benefits of postponement as market factors, attend to factors, and product factors. Market factors refer to characteristics of demand and un trustedty. Process factors refer to characteristics of operating insurance policy inside the firm as well as the orthogonal append chain, such as managerial embolden and the location of and kind with suppliers. harvest-time factors refer to the design and characteristics of an individual product such as integral versus modular and inventory carrying cost. They in additi on proudlight enablers of postponement such as puzzle out standardization, process resequencing (redesigning the assembly process to move value-added processes closer to the customer), and component standardization.Redesigning products with these characteristics makes postponement possible and reduces the risk to the manufacturer by eliminating redundant processes and designing products to be modular and component interfaces to arouse standard ports for uncomplicated assembly. Alvin Lehnerd and Marc Meyer 21 base on balls a detailed project at the benefit of engineering products to be platforms for a family of different products. The authors define two name which are the basis for postponement. harvest-tide platform a lot of common components, modules, or separate from which a teem of derivative products can be efficiently created or launched Product family a set of products that share common engineering and address a related set of market applications These are both concepts that Black and Decker (BD) considered when they started to redesign their line of occasion as wellls.In the seventies BD replaced customized part with standardized components, interfaces, and connections in order to pool the part inventory and save on component inventory costs. Components included common screws, gears, and the motors which powered 122 different power excessivelyls. At a cost of $17 jillion over three geezerhood, BD was able to to the fully integrate its add together chain, reduce scrap rate from sixsome percent to one percent, reduce failure rate from 11 percent to less than 5 percent, and reduce the selling price by half while suave harboring a 50 percent margin. BD was similarly able to reduce the number of suppliers and push its competitor out of the market. This is one of the first cases of postponement using product platform design.Product platforms are also common in automotive and aircraft design. Lee, Billington, and Carter 20 discuss Hewlett-Packards dodge when it created a angiotensin-converting enzyme platform for its DeskJet Plus, Deskwriter, Deskwriter Appletalk, and the DeskJet d series. A major source of variance for HP was the final shipping destination. HP ships its DeskJet Plus printers to northeastern America, Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific. separately one requires a different power give module and nomenclature manual. at a g demoralise place the DC-localization initiative printers are shipped from the manufacturing center in Vancouver and go into at a local distribution center (DC) without language manuals or power confer modules.The DC supplies the be country specific features and packages the printers for final sale. This allows HP to pool the risk of stocking inventory by destination. Taking the process a stones throw get on, HP know that Vancouver was close sufficient to the US where it could act as the local DC and hence two different types of printers are produced US and non -US versions. This example illustrates how postponement is used in multiple ways for a single product. The designers at HP had to create a printer with a generic power supply port which is a form of assembly/ payoff postponement. The local DCs had the job of assembling a final product fill out with instruction manual, power supply, and the appropriate packaging material.Robert Stahl and doubting Thomas Wallace 47 propose a framework for implementing postponement by classifying products tally to two factors product complexity the number of product varieties, and focal ratio the time from customer order to delivery. This results in four levels of differentiation as shown in general anatomy 2. 1. pic Figure 2. 1 complexness vs. Speed Matrix 47 Companies in each of the four quadrants pay back different challenges when adopting a postponement organization. For example, a federation in quadrant B produces a product that has very little variety but takes a pine time to produce a nd deliver to the customer. Wallace and Stahl suggest that a confederation in this quadrant focus on speed by reducing the entrust time from suppliers and expedite the delivery to the customer.They can acquire this by implementing lean manufacturing initiatives, improve the work flow, and reexamining the location of their suppliers in terms of distance to the customer. This dilemma illustrates the trade-off in the midst of cost and renovation level. wholeness way to take receipts of distant suppliers and still achieve fast delivery is to disassociate the payoff process and hold inventory of intermediate product locally. Chapter 3 When is Postponement Appropriate? Postponement has the potential to lower the total delivered cost of a product. However, postponement does come with its own costs to implement and maintain. The benefits outweigh the costs when postponement is apply correctly for the right type of product.For products with certain characteristics postponement all ows companies to offer more variety, improve forecast accuracy, reduce inventories, and improve customer helping levels. With these benefits come the costs of capital punishment and manufacturing. 3. 1 The Postponement/Speculation (P/S) Matrix Pagh and Cooper (1998) ascended a great but very powerful conceptual place to show the range of postponement strategies that could be adopted by companies. four-spot generic strategies were identified full speculation, logistics postponement, manufacturing postponement and full postponement. These were presented in the form of a matrix as shown in Figure 3. Logistics Speculation Postponement Manufacturing Speculation The full speculation scheme The logistics postponement scheme low proceeds and distribution costs low end product costs high customer avail and high inventory low/ mass medium customer go and inventory costs costs high distribution costs Postponement The manufacturing postponement strategy The fu ll postponement strategy low distribution costs low inventory costs and customer serve up medium to high production costs, medium/high production costs inventory costs and customer helpinghigh distribution costs Figure 3. 1 The P/S Matrix (Source Pagh &038 Cooper, 1998)The strategy of full speculation represents a complete reliance on forecasting, where all differentiating manufacturing operations are performed prior to the product macrocosm moved to different markets (push based system). The strategy of full postponement represents the highest level of delay in the supply chain (pull based system). As shown by Figure 3. 1, the decision about which strategy to use is essentially a trade-off betwixt different levels of customer service and inventory, production and distribution costs. 3. 2 cost &038 Benefits of Postponement The question arises, when is the postponement strategy appropriate and when it is not? Where should a fraternity position itself on the P/S matrix ?In order to determine the most appropriate level of postponement that should be practiced, the benefits and the related costs must(prenominal) be weighed accurately. 3. 2. 1 More variety Having variety allows for a closer match mingled with customer preferences and offered products leading to increased sales and (somemultiplication) increased prices. The build-to-order strategy pioneered by dell shows how manufacturing a product according to customer specifications is one way to offer a large variety in a cost effective way. dell offers enough options for their ratio 4600C desktop to build over ascorbic acid cardinal different computers using combinations of the components listed in Table 3. 1. separate Options Intel Pentium 4 5 Operating Systems 5 Productivity Software 6 stock 8 Hard Drive 4 Floppy/Storage Device 4 CD/DVD Drive 6 CD/DVD Software 4 Storage Devices and Media 2 Keyboards 3 setback 4 Monitor 9 Total Combinations 100million Table 3. 1 Component con troversy and Options for Dell 4600C Just like Burger King, Dell does not stock each of the 100 million varieties. Instead, they wait for customers to place an order before they build a machine. They perk up perfected this strategy so well that they are able to shape demand and produce popular combinations to forecast. Dell can offer discounts on combinations that are popular because of economies of scale and can carefully win customers to choose components that are in-stock using discounts. This strategy allows them to offer a quick turn around and ensures that customers will not have to wait more than a week for a new product.Figure 3-2 shows a system propulsive eyehole measuring different factors that affect the number of product variety offerings. There are seven handbuilds in the figure. The reinforcing loops (denoted by a positive arrow) show factors which increase the growth of product variety. The match loops (denoted by a forbid arrow) show factors which inhibit the growth of variety. pic Figure 3-2 Systems dynamic loop showing product variety prosprightlinessration curl up one is a reinforcing loop that shows how variety grows because of the destiny to fill up individual customers needs. The more customers see that their needs can be met, the greater their satisfaction in finding a unique product. This can force their turn outations to be greater which narrows down markets even further.Loop two is a balance loop that shows how a association reacts when it has captured most or all of the market, suppressing the need for innovation and excess product variety. Loop three is a reinforcing loop that shows what happens when there are multiple firms competing for market share. As a play ons customer base increases it continues to innovate and offer more variety as a matched advantage. Loop four is a reinforcing loop that shows the effect of engineering science on product variety. Loop five is a match loop that suggests that customers will become vestal with selective information and buy the product which offers them the best value given their search costs (time and information processing). As the number of choices keeps growing, negative aspects of having a multitude of options begin to appear the negatives escalate until we become overloaded 38. When too much variety exists, companies must tradeoff mingled with offering variety and property inventory. Loop six is a balancing loop which shows how high variety is traditionally associated with higher unit costs. When the unit cost increases, the customers willingness to pay for that variety goes down unless the extra cost adds value to the customer, which is the goal of customization. Similarly, in loop seven, as production lead time increases, customer service levels drop and customers are less willing to wait for variety without some compensation in terms of added value.Loops six and seven are opportunities where postponement can change the direction of the loops from balancing to reinforcing negating the traditional trade-off that exists between higher costs and variety with poorer levels of service. Postponement allows for more variety through standardization and holding intermediate product inventory and better customer service though relocating final assembly closer to the customer. 3. 2. 2 Inventory reduction Reduction in inventory under a fixed level of service is another benefit of postponement. When companies increase variety they increase the number of SKUs they must maintain which translates into higher inventory costs. each(prenominal) SKU is arena to different forecasts and whence require different levels of gumshoe stock. rubber device stock minces against choppy increases in demand.Holding gum elastic stock ensures better customer service but is also valuable because of inventory holding costs. In a study of the effect of product variety on production-inventory systems, Benjaafar and Kim 8 establish that inventory le vels increased linearly with variety. They also found that cost was most crude to demand variance, capacity constraints, and set-up costs ( assume a fixed cost to switch the production line between products). This highlights the risk associated with having too much variety for products, especially those with high demand variableness. Companies can mitigate this risk by standardizing parts, holding more work in process (WIP) inventory, and postponing customization. 3. 2. 3 Better forecast accuracyDelaying the final customization of a product until more information is open allows forecasters to make better predictions of finished product demand. In order to delay customization, however, it is postulate to define what features or components make a product unique. Figure 3-3 shows how postponement reduces the variability of end product demand and saves on total inventory cost. pic Figure 3-3 take in accuracy of postponed and non-postponed operations over time Using Figure 3-3, su ppose that coffee bean brands come in five different colors. The demand for each color is an free-lance random variable normally distributed with intend ? i and standard deviation ? i where i = 1 5 for each of the different colors and ? i = ? ij and ? i = ? ij for all i and j.Total demand for mugs is N(?? i, v?? i2). The standard deviation for the demand of sinlessness mugs, v?? i2 , is less than the sum of the standard deviations of the individual demand, v?? i2, which explains wherefore aggregate forecasts are less volatile. Additionally, forecasts mostly improve over time therefore, ? i,T > ? i,t where T > t and ? i,t is the standard deviation in demand of mug i at time t. In this example, assume information about demand gained in the flow rate up until time L/2 trim the standard deviation of demand for each individual mug by half. Also, assume that at time L/2 the finishing time is equal to the customers willingness to wait.The producer is thuslyce forced to start headstoneing the mugs at time L/2 to meet the customer demand on time. The variability of demand for mug color is more accurate at this point than it was at the start of the manufacturing process. It makes sense, then, to produce ?? i or 5? uncolored mugs at time zero and then paint them at time L/2 assuming there are no additional switching costs incurred in this two-stage shape. 3. 2. 4 Inventory cost reduction The amount of variety also affects inventory levels and hence, cost. The appropriate inventory level for a single SKU during a period of time consists of stocking the expect demand plus arctic stock.Safety stock acts as a buffer to avoid stock-outs. Holding more safety stock improves customer service levels, but it comes at a cost. There are many formulas and practices for determining safety stock, however, this simple fixed safety factor speak to assumes demand is normally distributed and is commonly used to determine the appropriate level of safety stock, ssi , given a certain level of customer service, ssi = k ? i (3. 1) In equation 3. 1 k is the safety stock factor which is based on a given level of service desired by the producer and _i is the standard deviation of the errors of forecasts over a given period of time.The amount of inventory, hi , to have at the beginning of an order bi steering wheel for a single SKU is given by hi = ? i + ssi (3. 2) Assuming that all colors of mugs have the same mean, ? , and standard deviation, ? , of forecast errors, total inventory, H, is a function of the number of varieties, n, H = n(? + ss) (3. 3) Without postponement, inventory cost increases exponentially, not linearly, withn. However, as mentioned above, if orders are aggregated and produced in unfinished form, the total overall variation decreases. For example, assume each mug has the same mean forecast, ? i = 50 and standard deviation or forecast error, ? i = 2 for all i.The company wants to maintain a customer service level of 98 percent whic h equates to a safety factor of k = 2. 05. A comparison of the amount of inventory inevitable to satisfy the variability in demand at the beginning of the production cycle with and without postponement as variety increases is shown in Figure 3-4. pic Figure 3-4 FGI under postponed and non-postponed operations Not only is the amount of inventory less under postponement, the cost to hold a single SKU is also lower because the product is unfinished. There is still the cost of stocking components for the finishing process (paint) but it is less expensive to keep the mug in an uncommitted state and hold the paint in component form. 3. 2. 5 Logistics cost reductionThe above mentioned case of postponement illustrates delayed customization involving painting the exterior of a pre-produced standardized good, a coffee mug. legion(predicate) examples of postponement exist where points of differentiation occur as early as the design phase and as late as product labeling and packaging. A modul ar product design offers more opportunities for outsourcing non-core processes, like packaging and distribution, to third parties. This can happen both onshore and onshore depending on the location and distance of the end customer. In all case, the manufacturer can save money by shipping products in bulk instead of in package form which usually adds extra weight and al-Quran. 3. 2. 6 Improved customer service levels guest service levels are defined in terms of lead time how coarse it takes an order to arrive, and item fill rate how often orders are filled from inventory on hand. Providing customers with orders quickly can be the result of improvements in manufacturing processes or by repositioning inventory closer to the customer. Customer willingness to wait is a signalize factor when assessing a product for postponement and determining the location of the postponement point at heart the supply chain. If customers are willing to wait a long time for a product then there is no benefit from expediting orders or sourcing components or processes closer to the customer even if they can be done cheaper overseas.On the other hand, if customers are only willing to wait, for example, one week, then the supply chain must be organize so that the finishing lead time and delivery time is less than or equal to one week. This breakpoint between initial and finishing lead times is called the decoupling point and separates production into two stages. The length of time for the first stage is not visible to the customer and therefore all options for achieving lower manufacturing costs can be exhausted. The second stage of the supply chain (from intermediate product to delivery) must be structured in a way that offers the customer the highest level of service without sacrificing cost. 3. 2. 7 Increased product development cost Another cost of postponement is the cost of design.If a product does not al effectuate have a modular design but meets all of the necessary mar ket characteristics then it is worth researching the cost of redesigning the product for postponement. The benefit of a modular design is the flexibility it creates for other products inwardly a family. However, there is a balance between too much modularity and its effect on product variety. The risk of too much modularity is a lack of differentiation between products. In addition, the cost to switch manufacturing operations between varieties is sometimes responsible for reducing economies of scale that could otherwise result. In terms of cost, product redesign can take engineers months translating into increased research and development costs. 3. 2. 8 Increased manufacturing costThere is a considerable amount of financial investiture and perpetration required to reconstruct the supply chain to support postponement. Manufacturing cost per unit may increase due to a restructuring of the production process into two or more stages. There should be sacred areas for postponed activi ties in a warehouse and slack access to loading docks. If all manufacturing is not done in-house (which is more likely than not) execution of shaft may require additional facilities to support final assembly and distribution. This also requires more labor at a higher skill level to complete kitting, final assembly, and packaging as opposed to the lower skilled labor required for loading, storing, and sorting. Chapter 4 Case StudiesThe following case studies give detailed information about several companies that have adopted postponement in some capacity. It is worth understanding the motivations and risks that they incurred in order to understand how companies can determine whether their product is a candidate for postponement. Each case provides background on the company and product that is postponed, a description of the supply chain before and after postponement was adopted, the decoupling point between intermediate product and finished good, costs and benefits, and discusses how the supply chain is structured to take advantage of offshore manufacturing and local final assembly. 4. 1 Automobile Manufacturing GM The auto pains is a prime candidate for postponement for many reasons.First, a car is defined as a modular system of components. This creates chance for commonality by producing a platform and adding modular subassemblies customized according to the make and amaze and ultimately the end user of the vehicle. Second, individually customized vehicles have high forecast variability. As this case points out there are far too many varieties to accurately forecast each combination and there is typically disagreement on the forecast indoors the different divisions of a company. Third, cars lower as soon as they are driven off the lot. New feignings come out each year which new features, technologies and capabilities. Lastly, high inventory holding cost.It is much riskier to hold a finished vehicle on the showroom floor than to have a partly finish ed good waiting for final customization because of the high forecast variability for end products and high product obsolescence cost. General Motors (GM) offers a unique prospect into customization during manufacturing and after the point of sale. By 2004, GM produced 68 different models in North America. There were over 200 facilities constituting 52 percent of their revenues. There were over 600 million combinations when all the different component variations and customer specific preferences (color, indoor options) were considered. Forecasting was passing thorny, considering these many combinations.Different divisions within GM used different methods of forecasting which further complicated the problem and led to excess inventory on the field. Searching for a way to create variety and mass customize beyond the idea of platforms, GM looked at software configuration, delight, and aesthetic features as a different way to use postponement. From a software standpoint, each of the systems within a vehicle can also be considered a unique central processing unit (CPU) made up of several electronic control units (ECUs). These include safety systems, engine, and transmission controls. In the nineties there were only one or two ECUs in a vehicle.Now there are as many as 30-35 per vehicle because software is meet increasingly essential in automobiles for role recognition, global positioning systems, and entertainment. Before postponement, GM experienced the effects of product variety proliferation and high inventory costs of stocking ECUs for individual models. The ECUs came to GM in finished form with all of the software pre-loaded. Suppliers charged GM a premium for custom software generalisation which not only elevated the price but also created problems with locating and nutriment. GM decided that they would assume the tariff for software configuration and postpone the installation until the latest possible point in the assembly process. In order to ac complish this, GM had to redesign both the assembly process and the ECU hardware.In the mid-1990s GM achieved the energy to install custom software for individual orders towards the end of the vehicle assembly process. The ECU now comes from suppliers to GM in a generic form. The hardware is a common platform which can receive customized software in just 81 seconds. GM dealers also had to acquire the capability for flash schedule for individual cars at the point of sale as well as after-market upgrades. after realizing that software could be postponed, GM looked at other systems that could be delayed until purchase. They recognized the emergence of the accessory market for vehicles as another way to differentiate and increase revenues.Entertainment systems have become far more sophisticated over the years and offer key differential options on a vehicle. Because of the plug-and-play capability, entertainment systems can be uploaded into the vehicle at the dealer. Another key differ entiator is the wheel set. Dealers are very involved in putting specialised wheels on a car to make it more desirable. through and through the use of the internet, GM introduced an on-line purchasing website. Customers can log on to GMbuypower. com and point and click their way to the car of their dreams. GM offers a 99 percent guarantee that they will deliver the vehicle within one twenty-four hour period of the projected delivery day to a dealer close to the customer.By 2004, about 18 percent of the cars in assembly at GM were custom made and 82 percent were made-to-stock for dealers and showrooms. The goal is to move to 60-80 percent custom orders but the hawk is happening in different markets at different rates. GM is experiencing the benefits of postponement through delayed software configuration and customization. In a study to estimate the benefits of postponement, GM, along with MIT and Stanford University, developed a cost model which projected inventory cost savings to b e 10-15 percent. Other benefits included maintenance cost savings due to the passing communized ECU hardware and having GM software engineers ferment repair issues instead of sending parts back to suppliers.GMs main goal, however, is to create a more whippy supply chain that can carry on higher throughput and is more responsive to contiguous demand. 4. 2 Aircraft Manufacturing Embraer The commercial aircraft production at Embraer provides an example of production and assembly postponement in the airline constancy. The motivation for postponement was to focus on optimizing cash flow by creating a conciliative supply chain that can provide the right airplane to the right airline company. In other words, the goal is to give customers the ability to change their decision regarding customizable features, or to call an order completely, by designing the aircraft to accept these changes as late in production as possible.In response to the changing dynamics within the aircraft dili gence Embraer differentiates its new family of regional jets based on the number of seats. The new family of regional jets, the Embraer one hundred seventy, clxxv, one hundred ninety and 195, focuses on a high degree of parts commonality as all four jets have exactly the same cockpit and fly-by-wire systems. Embraer decided to implement postponement in order to make its supply chain more flexible and able to respond quickly to changes in demand. This was evident when a customer, US Air, had to cancel an order for six ERJ 170 aircraft because of financial constraints in October 2004. With the majority of the production complete it was too costly to go back and change any of the customized features and reconfigure it for another airline.Embraer developed a strategy for postponing as much of the high value features, like engine type, software, radar devices, and interior specifications as possible. Not only did it save on costs, the flexibility to change order specifications became an captivating alternative to backing out of an order or having to pay for costly reconfigurations. The up-to-the-minute supply chain at Embraer is structured to allow for two postponement points end-to-end the production cycle as illustrated in Figure 4. 1. The first point occurs close to one year before delivery to the customer where the platform is differentiated based on product family (170 versus 190 family of aircraft). half dozen to eight months later it will assume the configurations, engine, software and hardware which distinguish it as a 170 versus a 175 or 190 versus a 195 aircraft. aft(prenominal) this point the customer specific features such as seating arrangements, galley configurations, and tail art are added. pic Figure 4. 1 Lead time break down of value added components and features Embraer still builds-to-order because of the high cost to hold a finished airplane in inventory. The white tail concept (analogous to a vanilla box) allows the production processes t o begin and run in gibe with some of the steps that usually take a long time to complete such as certification for safety, avionics, and entertainment systems.Total lead time for production is usually 24-36 months because of the long lead time for suppliers. Production begins 12 months before delivery and the order is considered 90 percent frozen or unchanging. However, some customers change their question within the final month of production. Embraer is committed to developing the idea of postponement further within the company. Any flexibility that can be gained through delaying the customization makes Embraer jets more charismatic to a customer facing the uncertainties of the aircraft industry. Engine, avionics, interior and galley layout are some of the hardest subassemblies to change and also have the highest value.The white tail concept allows Embraer to have flexible production in its new family of 170/190 aircraft. They do hold some inventory of semi-finished aircraft tha t await orders from larger companies in the corporate jet market because the orders are more certain. Embraer represents a company that is practicing postponement and is not seeing huge savings in inventory. Instead they redesigned their process to accommodate the addition of components based on value to the customer and degree of customization. Better service levels and customer satisfaction give Embraer a competitory advantage in a very competitive market. 4. 3 Clinical Equipments Dade BehringDade Behring (DB) is an industry leader in clinical symptomatic equipment and reagents. Their customers include over 25,000 hospitals and reference laboratories which require instruments that analyze human fluids such as blood and urine. They have global operations in more than 34 countries and shortly deliver products in six main areas interpersonal chemistry, Immunochemistry, Hemostasis, Plasma Protein, Microbiology, and Infectious Disease Diagnostics. DB diagnostic instruments are high value with a retail price ranging from $20,000 to over $200,000. read forecasting is a challenge due to long buying cycles ranging anywhere from six months to two years. Forecasts are principally compiled from sales representatives predictions.Because of the high cost of the products, the decision making process and financial constraints of the customers, it is fair difficult to know when products will be ordered. Additionally, instruments were designed/ tack to local country power requirements which exasperated the forecasting impact. As a result, DB was plagued with less than best service levels for some instruments and higher than plotted inventories for others. All of these conditions were catalysts for a postponement strategy, which became even more important as a result of an industry-wide European directive. The first postponement strategy involved designing flexible power capability into the Dimension Chemistry/Immunochemistry analyzers that Dade Behring designed and p roduced.Originally Dimension was offered in either a one hundred ten V or 220 V power versions. To optimally manage inventories of these instruments, DB collaborated with an external supplier to replace the power supply module with a prevalent power supply. During the redesign phase engineers were able to develop the universal module at a lower cost because of advanced technology which was previously unavailable. The cost to produce the universal module was actually less expensive than supplying two different versions. Then, a second postponement strategy was put into place due to the European IVDD initiative. In 1998, the In Vitro Diagnostics Directive (IVDD) was ublished as the third of three European directives which required medical and diagnostic equipment to come packaged with local language manuals and labeling. The regulation gave 17 countries the right to specify the national language that would come available with each instrument for which they contracted. In total 12 dif ferent language manuals were eventually required. The instrument manuals are approximately 350 pages in length and therefore it did not make sense to create a single manual with all 12 languages included nor package 12 different manuals with each instrument. DB initiated the switch to language specific packaging in the industry through the postponement of packaging materials at distribution centers and flexible language capability within the operating software.This is a straight forward process effect by marrying a language specific accessory box to the instrument during the communique process. Shortly after achieving successful packaging operations, DB initiated another postponement strategy in their Chemistry product line. This side by side(p) strategy was to redesign the product so that it could be configured-to-order at the end of the assembly process. There are currently four variations of the Dimension Chemistry/Immunochemistry analyser Series. Dimension is offered as RxL Ma x underlying and RxL Max HM (heterogeneous model), or as an Xpand Plus Basic and Xpand Plus HM. Through a carefully designed manufacturing process, Dade Behring is able to manufacture a specific model as soon as that specific model is shipped to fill a customer order.This strategy involved the redesign of the manufacturing process so that the analyzer could be configured-to-order at the end of the assembly process. This meant that all of the commonalities between the two different variations of each model would be combined into an intermediate product that would be produced to a forecast, stored as intermediate inventory, and configured-to-order once an order was received. The redesign phase took a police squad of engineers six months to make changes and train workers on the assembly line. The supply chain as shown in Figure 4. 2 became vastly more efficient and service levels increased dramatically. pic Figure 4. 2 Dade Behring supply chainCustomer service levels ameliorate and inventory was significantly cut down by eliminating the need to store high value finished goods. Inventory crosswise the supply chain was reduced through a 50 percent reduction in buffer or safety stock. Service levels went from oscillating between 70-100 percent to greater than 98 percent. Once DB was able to improve service time to customers they started flavour at their distribution centers and found opportunities to improve distribution strategies, given the improved flow of instruments through the manufacturing process. Because the opportunity cost of a mazed sale in this industry is very high, distribution centers would store finished goods as a way to mitigate the risk of instrument shipment delays.However, when service levels improved, DB found that they could eliminate 50 percent of their global buffer inventory by eliminating the stocking of instruments in distribution centers in Asia and Canada, and reducing inventory levels in Latin America. Their primary instrument w arehouses in the US and Europe service their global instrument distribution needs. The make-to-order and inventory oversight strategy provides DB with a conclusive advantage in the industry. This is a perfect example of the benefits of the successful implementation of postponement. Because of this success, DB was able to continue developing postponement in other lines of instruments. Today, more than 85 percent of instrument production at DB involves some form of postponement compared to less than five percent five years ago.By redesigning the Dimension instruments to be easily adaptable for configuration, DB realized that the product could also be easily de-configured back to the intermediate stage to support the secondary market for instruments. 4. 4 Sports Goods Manufacturing Reebok As a licensed supplier for the NBA and NHL and article of faith supplier for the NFL, Reebok knows the difficulties that come with satisfying the demand of a very fair tolerate crowd. When pol ice squads do well more aggroup apparel is demanded. The demand for a instrumentalist specific jersey is inherently more volatile than for a given team up. run across customer requirements within a short period of time is a major challenge in the sporting goods industry. sales of t-shirts and jerseys are not too certain because Reebok does not know which teams will be fervid at the beginning of the term.Demand for jerseys averages 30,000 per week or 1. 5 million each year. The different choices of team name, faker name, color scheme, and size makes it extremely difficult to predict demand of an individual item during the pre-season. The idea of postponement in this industry is not new. Images of silk-screen companies working overtime transactions after an NCAA basketball championship game, illustrates the idea of postponement. These manufacturers know that it is better to wait until there is certainty about the outcome of a game before producing apparel with the losing tea ms name on it. As a result they keep white or blank shirts on hand ready for printing.At this point in the supply chain it would not make sense to put in an order for finished shirts from scratch to an overseas manufacturer (even if it costs less to make the shirt). The long lead time would mean abstracted the increase in sales generated within two weeks after a big win. This can be anything from an important mid-season upset, a new player entering the roster, players becoming impetuous, or the end of season championships. Reebok recognized this as an opportunity to structure the supply chain to cater to both stable items finished apparel that is produced to a forecast much earlier in the season, and customized apparel. The difference in the lead time for both of these items is significant. Retailers expect lead time to be 3-12 weeks for the stable items and as little as one week for the hot items.Reebok outsource the cutting and sewing of model to contract manufacturers in Cen tral America. Some of the jerseys sent to Reebok are finished substance that there is a customized team and player name already on the garment. Other jerseys, called team finished jerseys are sent with everything but a players name. These go straight to a distribution center that Reebok owns and operates in Indianapolis. The blank or team finished jerseys help satisfy two different types of demand. The first is for the hot players or players who sign with a team late in the pre-season and the second is for the players who have a small, but somewhat predictable demand. pic Figure 4. 3 Reebok Supply twine According to Figure 5. the blank jerseys arrive in the US and are ready for screen printing and embroidering. The decision to have a separate facility in the US is a result of the end customers unwillingness to wait. Fans expect to find the jersey they are looking for in a store. There is a chance they will be less likely to want one if they have to wait weeks to get it especially when an NFL team only plays 16 games per season. At a price of $25 for a long-sleeve t-shirt or $250 for an authentic jersey, the cost of lost sales is greater than the cost to ship, unpack, finish and reship a jersey from a local finishing center. Reebok is a stainless example of two-stage production with postponement.They are able to take advantage of lower labor costs for the production of blank jerseys and optimise service levels by souring the final assembly in the US. This also creates local jobs in the areas of textile and silk-screen printing. 4. 5 Xilinx Xilinx is a semi-conductor manufacturer with headquarters in San Jose, CA. The semi-conductor industry is very volatile due to the wide variety of products and short product life cycle. Semi-conductors manufacturers are supplied to OEMs in the telecom, small electronics, and aerospace industries. However, they have a supply chain of their own which requires assembling and configuring wafers of silicon into programmable d ies which later become integrated circuits.Their position in this multi-echelon supply chain makes forecasting for specific end product demand costly, impractical, and very inaccurate. In addition, semiconductor manufacturing is quickly becoming a commoditized process. Comparative intellectual and techno system of logical benefits that leaders in this industry were accustomed to are now becoming less of a competitive advantage. The focus has shifted from intellectual advantage to supply chain efficiency as a means of differentiation. The life cycle for an integrated circuit is anywhere from six months to two years. During that time new technology will make existing products obsolete. Having long manufacturing lead times cripples a companys ability to quickly respond to these changes as well as changes in customer specific orders.Having a generic product and creating a postponement point separating a die with generic qualities and one with a specific logic configuration allow them to respond quickly and offer flexibility to their customers. Xilinx began with a combination of both process and product postponement. Product postponement was implemented by redesigning the dies to a certain range of parameters for the different characteristics. For example, there are four major sources of variety in an integrated circuit speed, number of logic gates, package types, and voltage. Customers can specify generic capabilities and can customize the chip to their specific specifications after the fabrication stage. The amount of variety makes postponement very beneficial.Xilinx can manufacture 200 different dies that can proliferate into over 4,000 different end product combinations. That makes the ratio of generic dies to end products roughly 120. The manufacturing process is broken up into two stages. Suppose a certain generic die, A, can be configured to take on 20 different configurations, A1, A2, A3, , A20). When a customer requests the specifications, they only need to specify the generic die. Once it is pulled from A inventory, it is customized to a certain degree depending on customer order specifications. This specification can take place at Xilinx for high volume orders or it can be delayed even further so that the point of customization occurs at the customer.Approximately 20 percent fall into the high volume category and the remaining 80 percent are left for customization at the customer. The final customization is a matter of programming the software within the chip. By eliminating this process from the earlier end (manufacturing) process, Xilinx cut manufacturing lead time from three months to three weeks. Manufacturing usually takes place in Taiwan or japan and then product sits in inventory at Xilinx awaiting testing. Testing facilities are located in Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. While postponement has reduced inventory and helped Xilinx meet customer requirements with more accuracy and on-time deliveries, it is just the beginning.Pos tponement within the semiconductor industry will overstep far beyond customer configuration capabilities. Chapter 5 Conclusion The case studies presented in this paper come from a wide variety of industries. Each company was successful in implementing postponement for similar reasons, but have seen a wide variety of results. The most common strategic motivation for starting postponement were to improve service level and to reduce inventory holding cost as a result of an increase in product variety. One of the key factors in successful implementation is product modularity. If a product is not inherently modular, a successful postponement strategy requires a redesign of the product or a rethinking of product definition.In the cases of small consumables, the end product is not a razor blade or a disk, but rather a finished configured package ordain for a particular retail outlet. The relationship between forecast variability and the decision between a make-to- stock or a build-to-ord er strategy is also a common factor. Products with stable demand stand to gain little from a postponement strategy because there is little benefit for delaying production when sales are committed. On the other hand, products with high variability gain from postponement because there is no commitment to final configuration until the order is placed. A company should determine the location of variability when deciding to implement postponement.Variability can be caused by product variety, undependability of customer orders, seasonality, trends, promotional activities, or it can be a result of the supply chain itself. Varia