One page reflection on the learning outcomes Coursework

One page reflection on the learning outcomes - Coursework Example The fin geometry has significant impact on the performance of a car radiator. There are four major geometric flow configurations for radiators. The geometry of the fin determines the amount of heat lost from the car engine to the atmosphere and hence determines the performance of a car radiator. Car radiator normally uses crossflow two-stream geometry. The heat transfer performance of a radiator can be determined by calculating the number of Nusselts. The value of Nusselt number increases with increase in as the Reynolds number. The performance of the heat exchanger increases with increase in the number of Nusselts. As such, the number of Nusselts is directly proportional to the performance of the heat exchanger. This assignment is makes an invaluable contribution to the UniSA graduate qualities by equipping the graduates with essential knowledge for manufacturing radiators, particularly car radiators and developing innovative ideas to improve the radiator, which is one of the most crucial components of the car

HR Audit Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

HR Audit Report - Essay Example 994), â€Å"Although traditional sources of competitive advantage such as the natural resources, technology, economies of scale and so forth create value, the resource based argument is that these resources are increasingly easy to imitate, especially in comparison to a complex social structure such as an employment system. Hence, human resource strategies may be an especially important source of sustained competitive advantage†. The mission of the organization is to â€Å"provide quality bakery products at competitive prices†. The quality consciousness in reflected in the policies of the management in the production, marketing and customer service. But on the other hand the management should also try to evolve new methods to evaluate the cost of various operations more stringent. The assurance of quality should not be increasing the cost and this will tend to push the prices up and high prices will not help the bakery to achieve its mission. The vision of the bakery is â€Å"To be a leading bakery in major cities of the country†. The vision of J Co is not clear and it is very ambiguous in its definition of the exact terms. This kind of vision statement will not help in aligning the organization to wards achievement of goals. Based on the mission and vision, the management of the company has formulated the objectives. The annual objective of J Co bakery is to increase the sales by 10% in the year 2008. To achieve the target growth first an analysis of the planning activities and organizing activities is necessary. The audit of the plans show that J Co has planning done extensively for increasing the sales. But it is lagging behind in its lack of planning in the area of projection of resources required to achieve the sales. The plans do not allocate budget effectively for each retail outlet but only a general allotment of money on a whole. Hence, the personnel in each outlet do not have a clear picture about the allotment of money to carryout their operations and

The Secret by Petrarch Essay Example for Free

The Secret by Petrarch Essay During the Middle Ages, European thinkers began to examine the world of humanistic thought.   While this way of thinking was not new and humanism was pondered by ancient thinkers thousands of years earlier, the thing that made this line of thought so unique in Europe during this time was the strong influence of the Church.   Thinkers like the Italian Francesco Petrarch and borrowed many philosophical elements from the Church and classical humanism, trying to synthesize the City of God with the City of the World.    However, because of their rejection of the synthesis between these two worlds, the Church did their best to ensure that such acceptance of humanistic thought had no place in Church doctrine, and Petrarch was caught between his deep love of faith and his passion for reason. Despite his love of God and his desire to live a life ruled by adherence to reason, Petrarch must seemingly choose between the two and sacrifice his free will for his religious faith, but he instead chooses to attempt to synthesize them; Petrarch’s basic teachings in â€Å"The Secret† seek to reflect that a synthesis between faith and reason is possible and both the City of God and the City of the World knowable, reflecting an emerging line of humanistic thought of his age that increasingly caused tension between the thinkers of the time and the Church.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Petrarch was a renowned fourteenth-century poet and scholar, and his contributions to European culture could end with these accomplishments.   What he contributed to the world of Christian humanism would also go onto inspire generations that followed and lead to the Renaissance.   In his â€Å"Secret Book† Petrarch brings up the classical argument that God gave humans the intellectual potential to figure out the world for themselves. Because of their ability to understand the world through philosophy and reason, Petrarch’s beliefs conflicted with the Church doctrine that human intelligence and capability is limited by God’s will.   Much like the thinkers Marcus Aurelius of Ancient Rome and St. Augustine, Petrarch’s â€Å"Secret Book† sought to explore his faith and his knowledge as it relates to the City of God and the City of the World. Borrowing the spirit of St. Augustine, and with truth as his guide, Petrarch created dialogues that examined his relationship with the worlds of God and man.   The book begins with Petrarch introducing the extent of his spiritual and humanist struggles and how they relate to the afterlife: â€Å"Often have I wondered with much curiosity as to our coming into this world and what will follow our departure† (Petrarch).   The information that he cannot know torments him and he relays his questioning in the form of a dialogue between he and St. Augustine. Petrarch is unhappy and St. Augustine suggests his unhappiness may be caused by his acceptance of the City of the World and his neglect for the City of God.   St. Augustine recalls the words of classical philosopher Cicero: â€Å"They could look at nothing with their mind, but judged everything by the sight of their eyes; yet a man of any greatness of understanding is known by his detaching his thought from objects of sense, and his meditations from the ordinary track in which others move† (Petrarch). Petrarch experienced this detaching as a man of greatness of understanding, and the parallel between his time and thought with the ancient philosopher help show that human intelligence and reason continued to evolve.   The dilemma comes in trying to figure out whether this knowledge is attained by man himself or given by God, and whether the material world and the senses are as valuable as the promise of an afterworld. One of the main problems that Petrarch experiences in his â€Å"Secret Book† is the place of free will within faith.   Augustine reminds Petrarch that he chooses free will even with his faith: â€Å"No man can become or can be unhappy unless he so chooses† (Petrarch).   Petrarch comes to realize that it his choice for things in the City of the World, including his love for women and material things, and the only thing that makes these bad is that they prevent him from knowing the eternal City of God. To both Augustine and Petrarch, reason did not necessarily need to erode faith in God, but could go a long way in reinforcing it and in essence proving it correct.   His equal love for both and his desire to retain them as significant aspects of his life were keys to understanding his position in his writing.   In his book, Petrarch sought to synthesize his worldly thoughts and action with those of his faith, and his humanistic views were largely frowned upon by the Church, though they were nothing more than a precursor for the thought that would come to dominate Europe. The basic teachings of Petrarch not only borrow from Christian and humanistic thought from the past, but attempt to show that God granted men the ability to reason and free will to be pursued if they so choose.   While man may pursue with passion the many elements of being free, including worldly pleasures outside of faith, they run the risk of alienating themselves from God’s world, which was portrayed by the Church as the only singular dictator of human action.   By stating humans have free will within the confines of religious faith was an extremely controversial and revolutionary line of thinking for his Petrarch’s time, and reflected the growing tension within society. Though the Church’s power was fully realized and would not be relinquished, many people would use Petrarch’s arguments about free will to help liberate them from the often oppressive doctrines of the Church, while still managing to retain the love of God and their religious faith.   Prior to Petrarch’s work, this concept of synthesizing faith with reason was not only frowned upon by church leaders, but almost unheard of in a highly Christianized world. As the lone authority on matters of faith, morality, and will, the Church would continue to fight against any and all lines of thought that remotely challenged the sovereignty of its rule over the citizenry of Europe, but the growing humanism after the Black Death made many men like Petrarch question humanity’s place and purpose in the universe. Because of the legacy of the Church and the importance of religious thinking, there was really only one place such thought could begin from, and religious scholasticism was the foundation for all thought that would eventually supplant it, much like the line of thought espoused by Petrarch.   While Petrarch was seen as challenging the authority of the Church, and even the authority of God as the lone dictator of human freedom, he was also stating that the free will humans enjoyed was granted by the very same God. Petrarch was a devout Christians that also contributed greatly to the growth of humanism.   His personal dilemmas were centered around his beliefs that the City of the World must be known as much as the City of God, and his love for each was too strong to deny one for the other.   While too much knowledge of the City of the World could lead people to avoid learning about the City of God, it was also important to understand the world and the people in it as a way of understanding God’s truth.   Petrarch was also alive during a strange time of great tension, where the Church was largely corrupt and in turmoil, Europe was emerging from the Dark Ages, and the growing humanism was slowly changing the ideas of all people. Petrarch believed in the goodness and potential of people, and had faith in man’s ability to understand the world, which is all he sought to do.   The rejection by the Church of the synthesis of the City of the World and that of God is related to its fear that people will not follow its doctrines, and is nothing more than the last gasps of a power structure that could not hold a monopoly over the will and the faith of men and women across Europe. For men like Petrarch, humans can have a relationship with God and learn his truths by using their own reason and intellect.   The rejection of the synthesis of the two cities is nothing more than an attempt by the Church to keep control over the masses of people.   But, with the help and inspiration of men like Petrarch, people would eventually realize the benefit and power of their own free will and seek to understand the City of God and the City of the World alike. Works Cited: Petrarch, Francesco. â€Å"Petrarch’s Secret.†Ã‚   Francesco Petrarch – Father of Humanism.   Trans. William H. Draper. 1911. 7 Mar 2008. http://petrarch.petersadlon.com/secretum.html.

Success and Failure of Project Methods at Heathrow

Success and Failure of Project Methods at Heathrow This report is prepared to analyze the success and failure of the project methods and its process. For this purpose the project of Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport is discussed. The Barry Leonard, 2009 explained about project management that it is a process of planning; organizing, allocating and controlling different resources to provide improved result of organizational project. It involves different set of activities to apply techniques and tools for achieving the targets of the project. The projects are carried out with the consideration of different factors which may be time or budget. The starting and ending time of project is always decided before its implication; which provide a benefit to produce successful results. The project manager carries out the planning and executing activities of the projects. It has to face many challenges regarding the organizational project. The achievement of project goals; completion of project on time; or utilization of input for obtaining expected output can be major challenges for it. The scope or cost can also become hurdles for meeting targets. The main responsibilities are assigned to project manger to fulfill the demands of clients. The Terminal 5 is a terminal at Heathrow Airport in London. It is having a structure to stand freely in air and considered a largest building for its standing. It is designed to cover about 35 million passengers each year. The glass and steel is used to build up it structure. Its design was offered in 1989, the United Kingdom passed its planning in 2001. The Queen Elizabeth II made its opening in mid of March 2008, and then its operations started at end of March 2008. PROJECT LIFE CYCLE There are five main phases of the Project Life Cycle, which provide a proper sequence to initiate or end up the project. It defines first that why there is a need to take a start of project, then problem relating to it, then the planning, controlling or monitoring processes take place to complete it. There can be many factors which create complexity to meet the basic objectives of the project; they may be related to the team performance, budget or size of project. There are mainly five phases of project life cycle, which are defining, planning, organizing, controlling, and completing. By following these different five phases, the project of Terminal 5 is analyzed here. Initiating or defining In this phase, the goals of objectives are defined with the combination of its scope. The list of its objectives is prepared to point out the involvement of the key factors for it. Then the statement of problem is provided to state the expected output by allocating the resources. All of the risks and assumptions are defined in this phase. The risks and uncertainties in mega projects provide a chance to implicate innovated techniques. The project manager is also appointed in this phase; which later on formulate a team after considering their abilities or experience according to the requirement of project. The main tools which are utilized in this phase are plans for business and framework of project (Kim, 2003). The Terminal 5 Heathrow is the greatest project of the Europe. Its main objective is to extend the range of airport for meeting the volume of its customers from 67 million passengers per year to the 95 million passengers. It is having a purpose to build up a strong structure of glass and steel with the combination of high security and safety to people. For this mega project, the BBA was assumed to select to apply their standard practices; utilize the capital appropriately and use technical competencies to avoid risks. It was targeted to connect the Terminal 5 with the other existing terminals. The risks estimated for the projects were quality of structure; safety for passengers; integrating the systems and working under budget. Its scope was to build up 270,000m ² terminal; two satellite buildings and 87 meter control tower for functioning in Heathrow. Planning Another phase is planning which is consisted of identification of different related activities of project. It also includes a task to estimate the time and cost; review the sequence of activities; and highlighting the critical actions. The specific criteria for achieving the project goals; and completing the task are specified in it. The most important process of writing the proposal is also performed in this phase. The planning phase of Terminal 5 project was started on 1986 and went up to 2001, when it was finalized that construction should be started now. By BAA, the project director was appointed at main board for handling and reporting from planning to controlling phase. The BAA selected appropriate set of tools for planning the project. It created an example to build up or construct the largest infrastructure within its defined capital and time. According to Flyvbjerg et al., 2003, its estimated investment was  £4.3 billion and time for its completion was expected year of 2008 for phase 1 and 2011 for phase 2. It was estimated to start it on 2002. It was planned very effectively to give a scope for complete the projects under estimated time and cost. Its planning phase started from 1986 and went up to the September, 2002. Organizing The Mishra (2006) described about third phase, that it is related to organizing activities, tasks or team of project. The basic needs are specified; the project manager and team are recruited under it. The work packages are also defined in it. The main task of organizing the team; and identifying the stakeholders are also performed under this phase. For Terminal 5 project, the BAA, private investment, HM Government was sponsored and Richard Rogers Partnership was appointed as Lead Architect. The advanced strategies were used by BAA and its different suppliers for organizing this mega project. The project manager Andrew Wolstenholme, had experience of dealing unexpected situations and risks while completing the Glaxco (GSK) project; he utilized all those methodologies and helped to provide his exceptional skills for T5 project. According to the Norman Haste, first project director of T5, there should be high investment on design for achieving successful completion. However, the design ing and the organizing phase started at 1989 and went up to around 2004. In the opinion of Andrew (2009) Single Model Environment (SME) was used for digitally designing; and integrating to the construction phase. Controlling This is an important phase of the project life cycle; because it is assured that all of the operations are performing under a control management. It is also known as execution phase because all of the plans are executed in it. The control tools are defined and status report of the tasks is prepared in it. The Harold (2009) demonstrated that during it, the plans and schedules are reviewed, and order may change according to the requirements. It may be considered as constructing phase for the T5. For Terminal 5, different designs were developed to bring in a real position. Its construction phase was divided into two phases: one was formation of building and infrastructure which started at 2001 and went up to 2008; other was connecting the systems and equipping the building which took time from 2006 to 2008. Its control tower was manufactured in 12 meter high sections to avoid the disturbance of aircrafts operations. It was built up by Richard Rogers Partnership. The control tower of  £50 million provided 360 degree cone to view which become the most technological controller in 2006 when started for functioning. In 2004, its first segment of single wave roof was placed on it, and then on 2005, sixth and last was on its position. The total weight of this roof was 26,000 tons which created its superstructure. Its high way design allowed passing away the cranes for constructing the other operations in airport. The staff of Terminal 5 was appointed by the BBA in 2008. The rail station was built up in it with six platforms; two of them were designed for London Underground Piccadilly Line extension; two for Heathrow Express extension; and other two were for connecting to west in future. The change order required in this project was to have some advancement in its road infrastructure. There was a need to have Airside Road tunnel (ART), which constructed in 2005. The Spur road from M25 was built by Balfour Beatty in 2008. To control the pollution and drainage the storm water outfall tunnel (SWOT) was arranged. It consisted of one bore tunnel which is having length of 4.1km. It was to recycle the wasted water by BAA. The automated people mover (APM) played their role to create a track transit system which provided facility of transformation between main terminal and satellite building. For providing benefit of transferring passengers and luggage, personal rapid transit (PRT) system of  £25 million was applied in July, 2009. Closure In last phase project manager should assure about the completion of project. It consists of different steps which are forming the agreements in documents forms; acquiring acceptance of clients; arrange deliverable in final form; comparing deliverable products with estimated; and allocating project resources. It also involves a step of informing about completing project to upper management (Michael, 2002). The allocation of different resources in this project enabled Terminal 5 to take about 30 million and Heathrow to take 90 million passengers a year. On Sep, 2006; two major transport milestones arrived on T5 when the project was completed about 85 percent. In 2007, the staff was trained and system was checked to provide deliverables. Around 40 million person hours were used for construction program since 2002. At T5 the availability of six cars was provided in start; and sixteen provided in 2008. The project was completed very successfully and its construction safety was on merit. In 2006, there were no reports regarding accidental situation of around 7000 work force. The official opening was held on 14th March, 2008; and it opened for passengers on 27th March 2008. IDENTIFICATION OF SUCCESS AND FAILURE Some of the successes and failures are discussed below: SUCCESS There were many chances of high risks and uncertainties in this project; but many advanced strategies were utilized to avoid them. Its main success is completion of project on time estimated for it. It was a great challenge for the project manager to arrange or allocate the resources with consideration of time. The budget programs were designed with most effective techniques and the cost plans were delivered very successfully. There were perfect tunnel bores and designs; the technical and mechanical activities were performed with deep consideration; structure was prepared with modern approaches. The Mott MacDonald performed their assigned task very efficiently while working on road tunnel. The designing; construction; and fabrication were much enhanced. The SME (Single Model Environment) proved to be very beneficial for these operations. The most innovative application helped to have stability in its operations. The quality level of providing the facilities to passengers was a great return on the high investment on the mega project; the shareholders achieved a great reward in it. There was a complete safety provision for the local inhabitant; passengers; and environment. The partnership with different parties was very successful which helped to remove the constraints. The exceptional plans were developed which helped to built up a control tower for serving all Heathrow. The integration was very strong to meet the projects goals. There were proper risk and control management to avoid failures in project. There were enhanced system of privacy; the finger prints were taken while crossing security gates which protect against illegal actions. There were strong IT systems for achieving success. FAILURE There were fewer failure regarding staff training, baggage handling and massive IT spread out. The main failure was the unfamiliarity of staff of BA which created many disruptions. Eventually, this problem was sorted out by BAA and BA later on. Initially, the baggage system not worked properly, the BA was blamed for it to not have sufficient staff. According to the BBC, there were many problems faced by the terminal staff for car parking in garages. There were high investment in the IT; there were 180 IT suppliers and 163 systems, about 9000 devices; 2100 PCs and a great mess of cables spread inside. According to British Airways CIO Paul, it is a smaller town filled with telecommunication system interrupting to build T5. CONCLUSION The mega projects always hold a risk of failure, however, the Terminal 5 Heathrow project was much successful and its phases were processed in proper sequence. The project management structure was very strong which helped to utilize the planning; managing and controlling methods effectively for completing the project. REFERENCES Andrew Devies, 2009, From Iconic Design To Lost Luggage: Innovation At Heathrow Terminal 5 Barry Leonard, 2009, GAO Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide, pg. 140-145. Flyvbjerg et al, 2003, mega projects and risk: an anatomy of ambition, Cambridge, Cambridge university press. Harold Kerzner, 2009, Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. Pg. 418-450. Kim Heldman, 2003, Project management jumpstart, pg. 18-25. Michael Greer, 2002, The project managers partner: a step-by-step guide to project management, pg. 23-69. R.C. Mishra, R C Mishra Tarun Soota, 2006, Modern Project Management, pg. 22-60.

Growing-Up Explored in Banana Yoshimoto’s Kitchen Essay -- Yoshimoto K

Growing-Up Explored in Banana Yoshimoto’s Kitchen The first time I read Kitchen, I knew I was experiencing something very special. Not since my initial reading of Catcher in the Rye have I witnessed such a perceptive look at the joys and pains of growing up. These coming-of-age novels capture our attention with plots that, while twisting and turning in creative, off-beat ways, remain believable. The writers of these novels tell us their stories with a subtle style more exciting than that of textbooks and assigned reading, a style not unlike a good one-sided conversation. Finally, within this great style of writing, the authors infuse honest insights, often humorous and sometimes poignant, which do not carry a lecturing or authoritative tone. Banana Yoshimoto, as translated by Megan Backus, incorporates these three elements of a successful coming-of-age novel into Kitchen skillfully. The result is magnificent. To keep a young person interested, an author must weave an interesting story. Kitchen is fascinating because the premise of the story is original: A Japanese twenty-something's grandmother dies and is taken in by an employee of her grandmother's favorite flower shop and his transvestite mother. Along the course of the story, the heroine discovers a passion for cooking, the young man dreams a dream with the heroine, and a crazy admirer kills the transvestite mother. In the end, the heroine and the young man realize their love for each other, without even having shared a passionate kiss. Such a plot is interesting to the average teenager who craves the out-of-the-ordinary; she wants escape. Kitchen certainly provides something different, but it does so in a familiar way. When the heroine Mikage finds out that Yuichi's m... ...xperiencing life. When I read Kitchen, I sympathized with Mikage's loss of her grandmother. Until now, I still do not truly know how such a loss feels. So, in some ways, to read a coming-of-age novel is an identification with what you have experienced and a preparation for that which has yet to come. Some may argue that Kitchen is interesting simply because it is written by a foreigner. Without speaking Japanese and reading the original material, we may not know how close the translation is. I argue that it doesn't matter. No matter from where you have come or how far in life you have gotten, after spending a little time in the Kitchen, you will have learned without feeling you have been taught. In the world of those who are still growing up, that is the best way to learn. Work Cited Yoshimoto, Banana. Kitchen. Trans. Megan Backus. NY: Washington Square, 1988.

The Influence of Jazz Around the World Essay -- Music

Jazz music originated in the late 1800s in the southern area of the United States. Its’ specific birthplace is New Orleans, Louisiana. It was the first genre of music to adopt other genres of music and blend them together. When the topic of music is brought up, many artists often refer to New Orleans as being the Melting Pot of Sound. Genres that were adopted by jazz are opera, folk music, blues, a variety of church music, ragtime, and African drumming. All of those sounds merged together and became the face of jazz. â€Å"There is a tremendous variety in jazz; the music is rhythmic, has a forward momentum called "swing," and employs "bent" or "blue" notes† (Armstrong). My main argument is that jazz music has influenced other genres as well as cultures and artists around the world. Jazz music is formed within improvisation and other aspects of black music such as blues and ragtime to make a particular form of music (scholastic.com). In jazz, musicians often play whatever comes to mind on the spot, or they playback a specific melody or chord sequence. Before there was jazz, there was blues. It is an African American derived genre of music that displayed the pain of the lost and injustice and gave expression of relieving a broken heart and facing down adversity. The blues included hymns, work songs, and field hollers. Although this may not sound like it could be jazz, it very well is. Blues is actually the foundation of jazz as well as the prime source of rhythm and blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and country music. Even today it is still evolving and widely played. Jazz music started placing long melodic sounds between the established beat quite regularly. This technique, called syncopation, gives the music... ...Interwar Paris† (1940). Print. â€Å"Social Movements, Music, and Race† Princeton Press. http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s9210.pdf Peretti, Burton. â€Å"Creation of Jazz: Music, Race, and Culture in Urban America.† Board Trustee of the University of Illinois 1992. . "About Louis Armstrong." PBS. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr 2012. . Armstrong, Louis. Swing That Music. 1995. Print. Mackin, Laurence. "'Jazz is the great grandfather of hip hop'." (2011): n. page. Web. 21 Apr. 2012.. "Hip Hop's Jazz Roots." n. page. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. . "Jazz- Music Of Puerto Rico." n. page. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. .

Simul8 in Supply Chain

[pic] PLYMOUTH BUSINESS SCHOOL COURSEWORK COVERSHEET GROUP WORK NAMES and NUMBERS of students in the group (2 Students): 1. El-Iraki, Youssef (10448517) 2. Badr, Noureldin (10445226) MODULE CODE: MBM5204 MODULE NAME: Logistics, Supply Chains, Systems and Methods Lecturer: Professor Dongping Song DEADLINE : 11th February 2013 WORD COUNT: 1,657 By submitting this piece of assessment the group confirms that all the work is thoroughly and adequately acknowledge and referenced, and has been completed in accordance with the University and Programme Regulations.Table of Contents 1. 0 Introduction3 2. 0 Current Simulation Model3 2. 1 Clock Options3 2. 2 The warm-up period3 2. 3 Results collection period4 2. 4 The number of trials used4 2. 5 Results analysis4 3. 0Pooling Resources5 3. 1 The impact of pooling resources5 3. 2 Comparison between initial model and pooled model6 4. 0Usefulness of Simulation Model in Business Context6 4. 1 Simulation and decision making6 4. 2 Researcher Recommendat ion8 5. 0 Bibliography9 6. 0 Appendices:11 1. 0 IntroductionSimulation is one of the three quantitative analysis solutions and it is essential in logistics decision making (Ghiani, et al. , 2004). Simulation model can answer what if questions in existing system as for this case, the business needs to know and evaluate performance if two warehouses and four drivers can be pooled to compare the results and the influence of the supply chain performance, in order to give an optimal supply-production-distribution system decisions. The researchers used SIMUL8 program to run the simulations and draw the predictable models needed. . 0 Current Simulation Model 2. 1 Clock Options The business is working daily from Monday till Friday by which the shifts are starting from 9:00 till 17:00 (8 hours/day), and the time is set up in hours to monitor the start time and the length of each day. 2. 2 The warm-up period The warm-up period is crucial when building up simulation for manufacturing models, b ecause there is no work-in-progress in such industries at the beginning of the process (Concannon et al. , 2007).Robinson (2007) stated that there are various methods to determine warm-up period in the simulation model such as the model of run-in for a warm-up period until it reaches a steady state and then the data are deleted and the model of a realistic initial condition at the start of the run. The first model was taking into consideration when determining the warm-up period and has shown that the warm-up period is 280 hours. It is worth adding a 20% to the normal warm-up period as a safety margin (SIMUL8, 2013).The table below shows the exact warm-up period after running and monitoring the simulation model. Figure (1): Warm-up period [pic] 2. 3 Results collection period The result collection period is usually chosen to reflect an appropriate operating period. In this model the period set to 1600 hours = 40 weeks. The researchers decided to choose 40 weeks as statistically n ? 3 0, it is important to use large sample size to be more accurate and it is necessary to produce results among variables that are totally different (Freeman, et al. , 2010). 2. 4 The number of trials usedAfter running the simulation model, it was important to generate the results required to help the company analyse the output data accurately. The more trials used, the more accurate the results will be. Approximately 3000 trials for both initial and pooling models are conducted to give sufficient accurate results needed for the company. 2. 5 Results analysis Appendix (2) illustrates the results that conducted after running the simulation of model 1. The average time in system is 110 hours due to many reasons in the supply chain which affects production plan that lead to poor delivery performance.Although the main objective of any manufacturer is to decrease lead-time in order to satisfy customer and achieve better delivery performance. Driver’s performances are 91% and they are considered as an important resource to deliver finished goods to end customers at the right time. The waiting percentage of the available vehicles is set to be 2% which cannot be considered as a factor that hinder the efficiency of customer delivery. However, the working percentage of vehicles can be enormous factor that affect customer delivery.As shown in appendix (2), vehicles are only operating at a 79% of its total working ability. Since the warehouses hold finished goods and is considered to be an inventory, therefore it is crucial to minimise the capacity of the warehouses to achieve greater financial success. Appendix (2) shows that the average queue size of both warehouses is nearly 16 units whereas the maximum capacity of the warehouses is 50 units, thus the capacity of the warehouses are efficiently used. Average queue time of the available warehouses is another factor that must be taken in the prior considerations.An average of 34 hours is spent to deliver orders from w arehouses to customers and this can be nearly 30% of the whole time spent in system. The rule of thumb declares that once the goods are manufactured, it must be delivered as quickly as possible to reduce storage costs and to satisfy customers. Pooling Resources 3. 1 The impact of pooling resources Pooling resources is a possible method to improve service performance without adding any other resources. Pooling help to reduce the variability of data collection, however pooling of customers adds variability to the system and no efficiency will be gained (Vanberkel et al. 2010). Furthermore, it helps to reduce the average queue time in system for the products; it is optimal to schedule the shortest job first and to give priority to short jobs (Downey, n. d. ). Thus, it can reduce inventory holding period and costs. This method used in the model is called FIFO (first-in first-out). 3. 2 Comparison between initial model and pooled model 1- There are dramatic changes after pooling warehous es, the queuing time dropped from 34 hours to 15 hours while queue size decreased from16 units to 15 units.As a result the average time in system declined from 110 hours to 88 hours, thus it can lead to better customer service, saving storage costs and save time as well. 2- After pooling the drivers, it has influenced the waiting times of the vehicles to increase slightly from 2% to 2. 4%. While driver’s utilisation has improved significantly to rise from 91% to 93%, therefore drivers after pooling can respond quickly and flexibly to customers. Usefulness of Simulation Model in Business Context 4. 1 Simulation and decision makingThe simulation model can help the real-world companies to provide efficient production and distribution systems as stated by Tunali et al. (2011). SIMUL8 has become the preferred tool as it brings solutions for production planning and scheduling to thousands of engineers that have complex supply chains and distribution systems such as Chrysler, GM, Fo rd etc. (SIMUL8, 2013). SIMUL8 is easy to use and support numerous critical decisions making every year because it enables to create accurate and flexible output more rapidly.Moreover, it helps bridging the ERP gap by creating new and feasible production plans (Concannon et al. , 2003). Analysis and assessment of business processes; development of what if scenarios and export to implementation platforms, such as workflow management and ERP systems are the key advantages of simulation modelling, because it enables the integration of these functions easily and more accurately (Verma et al. , n. d. ). As a result, decision making can be easily overtaken and this is the reason why thousands of companies use simulation modelling to optimise their supply-production-distribution systems.Chrysler saved $5 Million by using Simul8 software which helped them to identify the best performance and bottleneck lines, thus it assisted them to slow it down. Simul8 also reduced the manpower on these a ssembly lines which have saved $ 600,000 per year as labour costs. On the other hand, the researchers could not identify the best performance and bottleneck lines because it needs Simul8 professional software which is used in real world companies and the need of historical data is crucial to be more realistic when identifying the bottlenecks in the supply-production-distribution systems (Simul8, 2013).The researchers used Simul8 education software in this case and they found out after pooling warehouses and drivers, significant results are achieved such as reducing inventory (from 16. 7 units to 15. 5 units) and the time of finished goods spent in the warehouse was also decreased significantly (34. 5 hours to 15. 9 hours). As a result, the lead-time dropped from 110 hours to 88 hours. Furthermore, driver’s utilisation increased from 91. 1% to 93. 6% after pooling the resources (drivers).Thus, the business could react more responsively to customers and achieve enormous financi al success because of their drivers’ flexibility (Velverde et al. , 2000). According to McLean and Leong, simulation models can help manufacturing and operational departments to determine which new technologies need to be used, organise labour shifts and materials management required for each production stage and modelling of supplier relationships (McLean and Leong, 2001). Table (1): Usefulness of Simulation Model Usefulness of the Simulation Model | |Business Context |Current Simulation Model | |Support the operation of supply chain through â€Å"what-if† |A trial of approximately 3,000 runs were conducted to compare the available | |manufacturing model |results | |Perform capacity planning analysis |Available capacities for warehouses in the initial model were set to 50 each, but | | |it was planned to pool both warehouses together to have a capacity of 100 which | | |delivers enormous results.Maximum batches for trucks and availability% of drivers| | |were set which helped for planning the distribution process of the model | |Establish the required resources for production and material |Determine and manage the required raw materials needed for assembling the product | |handling |(How many raw materials needed from each supplier) it can also be set on which | | |statistical distribution used to supply these values materials as the simulation | | |runs | |Ability to evaluate overall firm performance |Every stage of the production and distribution process are evaluated such as | | |working%, waiting%, utilisation of drivers, queue sizes, queue times, etc. As a | | |result, this can elp evaluate the performance of the company and assist the top | | |management in taking the right decisions | 4. 2 Researcher Recommendation By using SIMUL8, the researcher suggested to add value to the company even after pooling their resources which affected in significant results. The researches created new model and recommended to add one more vehicle with the same amount of resources that are available (drivers, warehouses) to compare with the previous results. The following table shows even more effective results as customers received their orders in less than the time spent by using only 2 vehicles.It has also shown that driver’s utilisation increased significantly from 93. 2% to 97. 9% and this is due to a huge reduction in waiting times of drivers. Finally, warehouses queue size and queuing time have decreased to meet nearly the maximum efficiency by which slight amount inventory holding and very tiny amount of time is spent inside the warehouse where most of the finished goods are ready for delivery to customers once arrived. Table (2): Results of adding extra vehicle [pic] 5. 0 Bibliography †¢ Concannon, K. Elder, M. Hindle, K. Tremble, J. and Tse, S. (2007) Simulation Modeling with simul8. [online] Available at: < http://www. visual8. om/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/simulation_modeling_with_simul8_web. pdf > [Accesse d on 26th of January 2013]. †¢ Concannon, K. H. , Hunter, K. I. & Tremble, J. M. (2003) SIMUL8-Planner: Simulation-Based Planning and Scheduling. [online] Available at: < http://ieeexplore. ieee. org/stamp/stamp. jsp? arnumber=01261593 > [Accessed on 28th of January 2013]. †¢ Downey, A. B. (n. d. ) Using queue time predictions for processor Allocation. [online] Available at: < http://www. cs. huji. ac. il/~feit/parsched/jsspp97/p-97-2. pdf> [Accessed on 27th January 2013]. †¢ Freeman, J. , Shoesmith, E. , Anderson, D. R. , Sweeney, D. J. & Williams, T. A. (2010) Statistics for business and economics. 2nd ed.Hampshire: South-Western Cengage learning. †¢ Ghiani, G. , Laporte, G. and Musmanno, R. (2004) Introduction to logistics systems planning and control. Chichester: Wiley. †¢ McLean, C. and Leong, S. (2001) The Role of Simulation in Strategic Manufacturing. [online] Available at: < http://citeseerx. ist. psu. edu/messages/downloadsexceeded. html > [Accessed on 30th of January 2013]. †¢ Robinson, S. (2007) A statistical process control approach to selecting a warm-up period for a discrete-event simulation. European Journal of Operational Research [online], 176 (1). Available at: < http://ac. els-cdn. com/S0377221705005643/1-s2. 0-S0377221705005643-main. pdf? tid=65d0a6b8-6edb-11e2-94b5-00000aacb35e&acdnat=1359990116_8f49ecb58acc4020e744141def925d90 > [Accessed on 26th of January 2013]. †¢ Simul8 (2013) Warm-up Time. [online] Available at: < http://www. simul8. com/support/help/doku. php? id=gettingstarted:techguide:warmup&do=show > [Accessed on 26th of January 2013]. †¢ Simul8. (2013) Chrysler projected to save $5 million using SIMUL8. [online] Available at: < http://www. simul8. com/our_customers/case_studies/chrysler_line_balancing. htm > [Accessed on 28th of January 2013]. †¢ Tunali, S. , Ozfirat, P. M. & Ay G. (2011) Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory. Setting order promising times in a supply chain networ k using hybrid simulation-analytical approach: An industrial case study. 9, (9), p. p 1967 – 1982. [online] Available at: < http://ac. els-cdn. com/S1569190X11000888/1-s2. 0-S1569190X11000888-main. pdf? _tid=9efcdf7a-6a48-11e2-a658-00000aab0f01&acdnat=1359487271_e121e9fba1ca576f0e980d12317a80a9 > [Accessed on 29th of January 2013]. †¢ Valverde M. , Tregaskis O. & Brewster C. (2000) International Advances in Economic Research. Labor Flexibility and Firm performance. 6, (4), pp. 649-661 [online]. Available at: < http://link. springer. com. up3xt5ae3w. useaccesscontrol. com/article/10. 1007/BF02295375 > [Accessed on 31st of January]. †¢ Vanberkel, P. T. Boucherie, R. J. Hans, E. W. Hurink, J. L. & Litvak, N. 2010) Efficiency evaluation for pooling resources in health care. OR Spectrum [online], 34 (1), pp. 371-390. Available at: < http://doc. utwente. nl/67543/1/memo1902. pdf > [Accessed on 27th of January 2013]. †¢ Verma, R. , Sharma, A. & Gupta, A. (n. d. ) Role of Simulation Modeling in Business Process Re-engineering. [online] Available at: < http://simvehic. com/admin/rpapers/Role%20of%20Simulation%20Modeling%20in%20Business%20Process%20Reengineering. pdf > [Accessed on 28th of January 2013]. 6. 0 Appendices: Appendix (1): Initial Simulation Model [pic] Appendix (2): Initial results [pic] Appendix (3): Pooled Simulation Model [pic] Appendix (4): Pooling Results [pic]