United States Postal Service Essay Example

United States Postal Service Essay The U. S. Postal Service It is important for the U. S. Postal Service to have a high volume of mail to process in order to follow the mission statement. An organization mission is its reason for existence and is expressed in the mission statement (Stevenson 42). Mission of the Postal Service: The Postal Service shall have as its basic function the obligation to provide postal services to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people. It shall provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render postal services to all communities (USPS 1998). For the Postal Service to â€Å"bind the Nation together†¦Ã¢â‚¬  they would need a high volume of mail from across the country to process on a daily basic. The more mail means a more successful business. Productivity improved at the Postal Service due to the increased use of automation and introduction and later expansion of zip codes. The technological advancements allowed for postal rates to remain low and maintain rapid delivery. Technology is not enough for productivity to increase. We will write a custom essay sample on United States Postal Service specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on United States Postal Service specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on United States Postal Service specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer There needs to be proper planning or else technology can reduce productivity (Stevenson 58). Competition from delivery companies such as, FedEx and UPS put pressure on the United States Postal Service to increase productivity to keep rates low and maintain rapid delivery. Operations Management makes point that pricing is very important to consumers in the selection process and that there is a trade-off between price and quality (Stevenson 40). Having lower prices and/or rapid delivery will determine whether someone will choose to mail their package with the Postal Service or the competition. The United States Postal Service took several steps to remain competitive, first starting with customer service. The Postal Service began working to better identify their customer’s needs; this included adding customer service managers, expanding retail hours, and measuring customer satisfaction. The text explains that â€Å"Identifying consumer wants and/or needs is a basic input in an organization’s decision making process† (Stevenson 40). The Postal Service also underwent a reorganization where management positions were eliminated and divisions were consolidated to reduce overhead. These measures all lead to increased production and speedier delivery to remain competitive. The results of the Postal Service’s changes were very successful. The reduced bureaucracy and overhead lead to improved service, customer satisfaction and reduced the need to increase postage rates. The reorganization eliminated some programs, cut cost, attracted new business, and reduced the Postal Service’s projected deficit. The Postal Service employed a quality-based strategy to accomplish these goals. They focused on improving the quality of its organization, as quality is maintains and attracts new customers (Stevenson 50). The increased use of e-mail has an inverse effect on the Postal Service’s production. The more mail that is sent electronically means less mail is being processed by the Postal Service. The less mail being processed equals decreased productivity (Stevenson 53).

Descartes & matrix essays

Descartes & matrix essays Matrix is an interesting movie because it examines very basic questions of philosophy. The existence of human being, the reality of this world we live and the questions of the reliability of human mind are examined during the movie. When examined deeply, it is found that the philosophy of Matrix has very common features with the philosophy of Descartes. The dream metaphor, the deception of people by a malignant demon, the reliability of certain physical truths, and split of mind and body are the most significant ones. But there are also some significant differences, since the possibility of dreaming is remained as a possibility for Descartes whereas in the movie it is realized. Moreover, the existence of God is another big difference since Descartes is a strong believer but movie ignores the existence of God. In the movie Matrix, before Neo discovers the reality, Morpheus asks Neo Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? and he continues, What if you were unable to wake from that dream, Neo? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world? In the movie, the dream, which Neo woke, was his own life. He could not sense that the world in which he is living is just a dream. The whole story of the movie is started up by the wake-up of Neo and some other people from their dreams, namely the Matrix. The most surprising similarity between the Matrix and the philosophy of Descartes is the dream metaphor. Descartes, similarly, asserts that we might be in a dream in which, even if we realize that we are dreaming we could not wake up. Descartes started to build his argument by giving examples of real life such as How often, asleep at night, am I convinced of just such familiar events - that I am here in my dressing gown, sitting by the fire - when in fact I am lying undressed in bed (75). The objects in our dreams are sam...

Evaluate what managers do so as to manage the organisational Essay

Evaluate what managers do so as to manage the organisational environment - Essay Example alize the fact that business is a consistently changing world and in this context only the people who are ready to acclimatize themselves would be hailed as successful. Thus to put it in the related context, change is the only constant in the world and in the business scheme of things, changing to suit the will and desire of the customers and/or the stakeholders as well as doing one last bit to bring in more revenues and profits for the company just plays the right trick for the business to succeed both in the short term as well as in the long run. Similarly, managing any sports organization could be a Herculean task. This is because managing the sports enterprise means understanding the psyche of the players, the attached officials and team trainers, coaches, people who make the management regimes work in a smooth manner as well as a whole lot more. (Reeves, 2000) Sports management has come to the fore with the increasing viewership of sports within the world with the global audiences touching close to 2 billion people at a single time. This is equally true for soccer events, rugby matches, the Olympics and many other sporting tournaments and events. Within the sporting tenets, managers need to uphold work and staff quality at all times which means that the work done by the workers and the employees alike should match some pre set standards and there is no alienation as far as this point of view is concerned. Sports managers need to plan in a sound manner the different things, control these activities and tasks and make them plot against short term gains rather than having a long run perspective and integrate the activities so that there is a complete mesh in the related ranks and the synchronization is pretty apparent at the end. Sports managers look out for constant changes that happen within the realms of a sports organization in essence. (Duke, 2003) This means that the change factor has to be studied in the light of the consistency basis since as the maxim

Transferable Learning Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Transferable Learning - Assignment Example This paper intends to examine into details the external and internal factors that promote or demote the continuity of the company. The analysis is intended to be done by use of PESTEL analysis. Moreover, the Porters Diamond Concept is intended to be applied in examining the strategic planning; the five forces of an industry set up and value chain because of differentiation advantage particularly in creating and sustaining the market niche (POWER ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL, 2009). Centrica’s market niche is complex because it occupies both local and global market spaces. Numerous factors of sustaining the market nice will be discussed. Furthermore, the paper intends to explore diverse competition mechanisms used by the company’s management in sustaining the competition level with other players in the same industry. It is imperative to note that, the dynamic nature of the global market the overall company development ion diverse sectors requires specific skills to full realize the whole potential of resource utilization (HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL DIGEST, 2009). The said skills should be embraced by the managers who are required to possess exemplary abilities to detect the company’s trends and act in tandem with the market demands within the same industry (POWER ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL, 2009). The managers should not only rely on the internal resources but also the attributed environmental considerations, which affect the operations and trends of the company. Some of these factors include fundamental market features, whic h can affect and dictate the strategic business implementation and sound decision making from available options. The forecast of subsequent political, social, economic and technology implications in tandem with the company’s vision and ambition will ensure successful and purposeful development of the

Disscussion questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Disscussion questions - Essay Example Further, it also instills in the mind a keen familial bond with the innate family and even the motherland giving the person strong roots to stand firmly to find his appropriate place in the world. Something negative about this country is that it is not so much financially a strong country like the U.S. therefore its standard of living is not so much high. In global dimensions, in the field of assertiveness Indian people are moderately assertive in comparison to the people of U.S.A. However, from the Future Orientation dimension which stresses about the delay of the immediate gratification so that something maybe achieved in future, Indian people lead in comparison to U.S.A. This is because in this particular country the people think a lot and care a lot about their family. They are very family oriented therefore they tend to hoard money so that it can be invested in the future for the betterment of their family. Global Footprints,. (2007).  The global dimension in action A curriculum planning guide for schools  (1st ed.). Retrieved from

Automotive Industry Lean Model Analysis

Automotive Industry Lean Model Analysis Introduction In any organization there are essential activities which need to be run effectively: production, quality, logistic, and so on. These activities are the means for the main purpose of any company which is to make money (Goldratt, 1993:41). Today the companies are facing a fierce market place: set the production with customer demand, in variety and quantity, and pursuit superior quality. To reach this is a high goal for any company, reach that and being effective is the core of nowadays strategy plan. The financial crisis that exploded the last year led many companies analyze the way they were operating in, and seek how to be more effective and make the company sustainable in the medium and long term. Reduction of cost is important at any time but reduction in time of crisis is essential. The way to escape the pitfalls faced in the mass production requires a redefinition of the production management system which eliminates the waste and pursuit the efficiency of the company as a whole. This dissertation is a case study base in an industry of automotive  industry. This sector has the characteristic of being very influential in the development of emerging trend in management.  From Henry  Fords  and the introduction  of the  moving  assembly to Toyota Production Systems many innovations have been development in this sector. Taiichi Ohno (1988) was the first person to identify seven inefficiencies which do not contribute to the goal of any company. These inefficiencies of wastes are denominated as muda in the Toyota Production System. It was after the book The machine that changed the world?, 1990, when the term Lean began to be known all over the world. Lean thinking is the medicine for companies suffering from inefficiency, and is Lean because it provides a way to do more with less; less human resources, less equipment, less time and less space, (Womack J. et al., 1990:15). All this reduction measures could be easily translated into money hence when a company is making money it has a future to plan. Another  characteristic  of  automotive industry  is  the  low  margins. The company, in which is based the dissertation, as  many  of  others  automotive manufacturers, is struggling  with  low  or  negative  profits. Through the application of Value Stream Mapping, Cell layout, and Takt time is the intention of the research to show and encourager the company to swap from traditional production into lean manufacturing Confidentiality   The company where the case study is bases is a sensitive phase of change. Due to this reason this dissertation will not display the company name, name of persons working at the company and other pieces of information that can be derived from the research. Therefore the company is referred throughout all dissertation as the company. Aims and objectives The main objective of this dissertation is to study and understand lean model and revealing the efficiency of lean techniques by applying them in a case study. These objectives can be summarised as the following: To carry out an extensive literature review about the lean model. To study the different elements and techniques of lean Draw the potential new ways to seek the processes and process layout. Outline potential improvements in the points below which contribute to solve the problem of the current highly expensive processes. Quality Lead Time Space Inventory Workers required This study intends to show the benefits of lean approach application and be used as an internal feasibility study of the potential application of this philosophy into the company. Nevertheless, whether the company finally decides to apply these principles or not is not the purpose of this project. Methodology The methodology for the first three chapters involves and intensive literature search and review on the lean philosophy. The source of this information was from extensive range of information sources as: written literature; books, journals, and the internet resource; also detailed discussions with lecturers and colleges who had knowledge on the topics. An important part of the literature review was to understand the concept of the lean and how can be applied. Secondary data is based in review documentation provided by the company. Primary data collection is based on the observation of how the company is currently working and after the working procedure are know lean approach will be applied starting with Value Stream Mapping, and the subsequence tools and techniques, described in more detail in the next chapters. Nevertheless a deep explanation to this topic will be found in the methodology chapter. Limitations One of the most important limitations for this dissertation is time limit, driven in part for the limitations time that the research had to the company. The research will be focus to a small area, but the same steps can be applied for all areas/families. No consideration will be taken, about potential issues derived from this research concerning to material handling. Another limitation is the confidential agreement between the research and the company, for this reason relevant information data could not be publicly released. The distance to the company being researched and the researcher is clear limitation for the arrangement of appointments with the company. Nevertheless this limitation known beforehand and a planning was agreed with the company in the first meeting; both sides agreed to make three on site visit of 3 working days each and another visit for presenting the research. 13,14,15 of Aprilà ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚  1 toma de contacto y anÃÆ' ¡lisis de la situaciÃÆ' ³n actual 21,22,23 of Juneà ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚  2 Implementation de VSM, cell layout, takt time,. 13, 14, 15 of July à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚  3 seguimiento de las mejoras applicadas 24 of Augustà ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   4 Ajustes y presentacion del projecto a la compaÃÆ' ±ÃƒÆ' ­a. Research structure This dissertation is divided into 8 chapters, with a brief outline below; Chapter 1 Introductionà ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚  This chapter explains about the nature and the background of the dissertation objectives. Chapter 2 Literature reviewà ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   Is included here a study of the background literature on lean manufacturing. Chapter 3 Tools and techniquesà ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   This chapter explains the tools and techniques used under the umbrella of lean manufacturing. Chapter 4 Methodologyà ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   This chapter gives the overall view of the research design taking into account the methodology under taking to do the primary research and explain the type of research, data and tools used. Chapter 5 Company overviewà ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   This chapter discuss the current situation of a second tier car company which is faced a crisis. Chapter 6 Implementation of lean Chapter 7 Data result and analysis Chapter 8 Conclusion and recommendations. This page is left blank on purpose Literature Review Origins of Lean Manufacturing Any new management approach that emerges will undoubtedly contain pieces from the knowledge from the past. Therefore we can find characteristic of lean were addressed in the past like: interchangeable parts developed by Ely Whitney (1765-18825), the work standardization made by Frederick W. Taylor (1856-1915), or the time and motion studies made by Frank Gilbreth (1868-1924), where he pursuit the elimination of non-value elements. But without any doubts the most influence person in the development of Lean was Henry Ford, he organized all the elements of a manufacturing system; people, machines, tooling and raw materials, in a continuous flow system, for manufacturing the famous model T by applying this methodology the factory achieve to rise the effectiveness in the assembly process and by 1920 he achieved to reduced the price of the model T at 34% of the original price in 1908. Kiichiro Toyoda travelled to EEUU (1929) in his search for learn the American Way. Fords assembly line provided the flow idea upon which Kiichiro Toyoda based his early car production, but soon he realized the need to adapt it to the market conditions and the culture in Japan. They knew that they could not compete with the giants like Ford in foreign markets. Therefore, they were producing only for internal market, and bring the raw materials from outside, for that reason Toyota could not lower cost by exploding economies of scale, thats why they build a systems upon an strategy: to make many models in small numbers (Ohno, 1988). They pursuit the cost reduction through the elimination of the inefficiencies; defined as muda, Japanese word for waste. (W. J. Hopp et al, 2000) Henry Ford vision about systematic elimination of waste, standardization and elimination of process variability, Quality at the source, and so forth was so inspirational for Ohno and the definition of TPS. In the book Toyota Production System; beyond large-scale Production, 1988, Ohno quoted the Fords book Henry Fords Today and Tomorrow in different chapter as a key to the development of lean principles. In 1945, after Toyoda Kiichiro set an ambitious goal: Catch with America in three years (Ohno, 1988). In order to achieve this goal Toyota production system was developed as a respond to the severe competition imposed by mass production and offered an alternative production system according with the restrictions of the moment. Under these conditions Taiichi Ohno (1912-1990) was brought into the company as a leader to translate the ideas of Kiichiro Toyoda into action. He was working for the company since 1932 but wasnt until 1943 when he went transfer to Toyota Motor Company, where he became Machine-shop manager in 1949. During that period the company was fighting on bankruptcy hence major investment or massive inventories werent affordable. For many years the western companies had cut the cost by increasing the production but after oil crisis, explore around 1973, rapid growth stopped and the principle if you can make it, you can sell it (Ohno, 1988, p2), most of the Japanese industries had losses, but Toyota overcame these problems. The capability of Toyota to overcome the crisis was the trigger for eyes opener to Japanese companies and implement the TPS. The Toyota Production System (TPS) was first denominated in the West as Just in Time (JIT).After the initial visits of industries from western countries to Japanese industry, the people returning with stories of factories which produced only what was needed, when needed, without any Just In Case expensive stock. Later, we realised that there was more than this, and the JIT was worked because was part of a more global management system, TPS. A system in fact useful to reduce costs and from that time the TPS became very popular. (Y. Monden 1993). But this system got popularity in the western countries after a researcher made in 1990 for Massachusetts institute of technology (MIT) by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones. This five year research about the future of the automobile makers, revealed a gap between the conventional mass production and the new trend used in Japanese industries. This book coined the term Lean as a description of the Toyota Production System. Definition of Lean As is described above, Toyota Production System was born in Toyota (1945). This system is sustained for two pillars: Just in Time and Autonomation or Jidoka. The name of Lean manufacturing was given in a research published by Massachusetts institute of technology (MIT) in 1990. Ohno make three statements in his book Toyota Production System; beyond Large-Scale Production, 1988, taken together we can use as his definition: The basis of the TPS is the absolute elimination of waste. The two pillars needed to support the system are: Just in Time and Autonomation (Jidoka) (Ohno, 1988 p4) Cost reduction is the goal (Ohno, 1987 p8) After World War II, our main concern was how to produce high-quality goods. After 1955, the question became how to make the exact quantity needed (Ohno, 1987 p33). We can conclude that for Ohno the TPS consist of many techniques that are designed to reduce the cost by removing the waste and providing the right product, at the right quantity at the moment is required. Using less of everything this statement was made in the book The machine that change the world (Womack et al. 1990) as a definition of Lean production. Another important contribution of TPS was a new approach of looking at the equation formed by: Price, Cost and Profit. When TPS was developed, the western was using the following equation to obtain price of a product: Price=Cost + Profit In this formula if the cost increase, the best way to maintain the same profit is by raising the price, is based on the principle that is the company who fix the price. By offering more feature, quality or service they can raise the price. By another hand, Japan proposed the next expression: Profit=Price â‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Cost In this equation is the market, the final customer who is fixed the price. The companies used the voice of the customer as a means to design the new features of a product, and the price they are willing to pay for it. With this equation the only way to obtain better profits is by reducing the cost as much as possible (fig. 3.1). This equation leads the companies to pursuit internal improvement if they want to keep or raise the profit in the current market situation. (J. Santos, et al. 2006). Figure 3â‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ1 Equation price-cost benefits (adaptation of J. Santos et al 2008) Price fixed by the customer Cost Profit Summarizing we can conclude that Lean is a theory of management that consider the uses of resources for any means other than the creation of value from customer point of view is a waste (defined below); and pursuing the elimination waste as a means of achieving greater efficiency of the process. (Y. Monden, 1993) Seven types of Wastes Muda is a Japanese means waste. According to James P. Womack (2003) any activity which absorbs resources but creates no values is called waste. Lean thinking provides a way to identify the value, defined by the final customer, and analyze the value stream in the search for not added value action in order to eliminate and based in Continuous improvement, where the search for new improvements is never ending. (Womack et al., 2003) The wastes defined by Ohno include parts not right the first time, piles of products made in Just in case, processing step that no one had analyzed, to realized that they are not needed, transporting goods thought work floor, workers, machinery or material waiting to the next step in the process, and so forth. (Womack et al., 2003, p16). There are many types of waste; some are easy to discern others difficult. An important thing to remember is that to eliminate waste, you must find it first, towards eliminating it. The seven wastes (7Ws) addressed by Ohno (1988) are detailed below, with the addition of the one defined by Womack, 2003. Overproduction Manufacturing companies, sometimes produce more than they have sold, some times because they want to build an inventories, in the expectation that the market requirements arise, another times with the purpose to keep everyone busy and / or to achieve a high used of the facilities. Whatever the reason is, making products for which there is no demand is waste and can drive the company out of business. The key point to found this waste is compare what is produced versus what is sold. (J. Nicholas, 1988) Waiting This waste will include delay between the end of one activity and the start of the next activity. This waste can take many forms: operators or machineries waiting for orders, parts, materials, parts for the preceding process, equipment repairs, and so on. Contrasting with the previous waste, this one it is easy to identify. As It was explain above, some companies minimizing the waste of waiting by keeping the workers and the machines active all the times, incurring in that way in the previous waste; overproduction. Stopping the machines and allowing workers to be idle in occasion, is less costly than producing products with no orders. Another advantage of these spare times is that the workers can used it to search for improvements. (J. Nicholas, 1988) Transporting It is any kind of unnecessary transport of workers, parts, products, etc moved from one location to another. There two things that determine the transport through the factory; the layout facility and the sequence of operations. (J. Nicholas, 1988) No value is added in any items while they are moving around, therefore all time and facilities involve in that are wastes. Rearranging the layout and putting sequential equipment together allow us to minimize this waste. Too much machining; over processing. A process may itself contain steps that are ineffective or unnecessary. When company use expensive or high precision equipment where investing in smaller and more flexible equipment would be adequate. This often results in poor plant layout because The monuments are located far away from the process and making the process incur in waste such transportation, wait and in addition overproduction (in order to set high utilization, and justify the investment). Inventories Ohno in his book Toyota Production System, Beyond Large Scale Production (1988), qualify the inventory as the root of all evil because covers other kinds if wastes and inefficiencies and encourages to wasteful practices. Inventories represent items waiting for something to happen, where there are many associated and hidden costs (storage space, handling, management, insurance, lost of opportunity, and so forth). John Nicholas (1988) identifies that many companies even when they recognize the high cost of the inventory they justify them for dealing with issues such: To cover fluctuations in future demand, where more accurately forecasted are necessary. To cover the delay in lead times caused by breakdowns or delivery delays, where a Preventive maintenance plan would be necessary as well a close relationship with the suppliers. To cover long setup times, where an improvement in standardization as well as a study of the setup times made the big batch unnecessary. We can use the analogy of a ship on water (figure 2.1) to clarify the idea of hidden costs and problems incurred with high level of inventory. As inventory is reducing, problems are exposed, which can be resolved. After that, the inventory is lowered again, in order to get more problem appear and management has to resolve them in order for the system to work. Figure 3â‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ2 Analogy of water and inventory Worker absenteeism Work load imbalance Downtime Quality Scrap Rework Out of spec. materials Set-up Times Process variation Inventory level is hidden all problems By reducing the inventory, production problems arise WIP The research is agreed with Ohno (1988) when he argued that people tend to build some inventory as a respond of their farming roots. Our ancestors grew rice for subsistence and stored it in preparation for times of natural disasters (Ohno, 1988) this type of accumulation is no longer practical from the moment that we can find everything that we need from the corner shop. Nevertheless, break this habit in the day to day factory habits is difficult, is requires a change of attitude. But we need to keep in mind that reduction of inventory is not an end itself; it is a mechanism for revealing problems and wasteful practices in the production system. Moving People in work often confuse being in motion with working. A worker in constant motion all day may actually be doing little work; we should consider which portion of the motion is actually added value to the product. This waste is related to ergonomics and the objective is to obtain that the 100% of the motion is work; added value. Hence pursues the elimination of wasteful motion, but not by increasing work. Motions as bending, stretching, walking, lifting, reaching, picking up, transporting, loading, and so forth take workers time and increase the cost, but not add value. (J. Nicholas, 1988) Making defective parts and products. The simplest form of waste is products that do not meet the specification. Manufacturing products right at first time requires no money. Defects in any product are a major source of waste, hold up production and increase production lead times avoidable if products were done right the first time. Quality defects result in rework or scrap and involve a remarkable cost to organizations, along with the associated costs such: re-inspecting, rescheduling quarantining inventory, and capacity loss.   The key point is attain Quality at the source or Quality Assurance where the parts are made right the first time, transforming the old idea of Quality Assurance; where the parts are inspected at the end of the line. In order to achieve this we can use tools such: Poka Yoke, Kaizen, and so forth. (Y. Monden, 1993) Underutilization of Employees In the book Lean Thinking by James P Womack and Daniel T. Jones (1996), was added another wasted, added to the seven defined by Ohno (1988); which was denominated by them as Underutilization of employees. The companies hire employees for the physical skills, and sometimes the managers forgot to take an advantage of the brainpower that they hired with those skills. Some common causes of inability to see this waste may result in mudas such high employee turnover, inadequate hiring practices, and so forth. Not Used the employees as an experts of the process in which they are working is a waste of creativity and the improvement ideas that they can generate, this waste deserved the same important than the previous seven described above. Tools and Techniques There are many definitions that refer to lean; as Toyota Production System, Just in Time, Jidoka, flexible workforce, Kanban, TQM and so forth; partly because for many years had been confusion and many practitioners; mix up the purpose with the means. Lean production may be viewed as a bunch of all this practices/tools, and all underneath subsystems give the necessary support to the main system. The main systems Ohno (1988) described as two pillars are: Just inTime Autonomation with human touch, or Jidoka The tools/techniques of lean, as supporting subsystems can be said as; Kanban Poka-yoke Visual Control, Andon Value Stream Mapping Standard Operations One Piece Flow 5S Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) Levelling Production Benchmarking SMED Multifunctional Workers Kaizen Some of the most relevant for the research purpose are explained below. The two pillars of Lean: Just in Time In 1950 Toyota was near to bankrupting, as a consequence they couldnt afford major investment in new machineries or substantial inventories. In 1956 Ohno travel to America, where he got the perspective of Just-In-Time in the American supermarket. He was interested in way the supermarket were working; by providing to customer what they need, when they need and in the quantity they need. Ohno transfer this idea down to the process, and he developed a system that is working like a coordinate chain of small supermarket, where all processes are transformer in customer for the previous step and supplier for the next step and every step is only produced the quantity needed for the next step, with perfect quality and no waste. The system was denominated as pull system. TMMK (7may2010) JIT was developed in the framework of TPS and evolved due to the need of the Japanese industry to survive in the post-war global market. Soon, the value of the system was proven into the manufacturing industry and a large number of companies worldwide hastened to implement this model to their own production systems (Monden, 1993). Ohno developed a number of methodologies to support the Just in Time system; one of the best known is the Kanban system, detailed below. Pull system and Kanban The traditional mass production system is the one denominate as push production system, where every station start to assembly a part when the raw material arrive to the work station. The way to manage production system is usually based in forecasting. The parts usually are processes in batches according to a schedule for each process (fig 2.2). The materials must usually wait until the workstation complete the previous work and is performing the changeover necessary. Changes in schedules, breakdown in machinery and other incidents, make a planning inaccurate. (J Nicholas, 1988). When a problem occurs at one stage, the problem will not be notice in the rest of the system, because an inventory between the workstation are insulated the problems in each workstation, and dependency between workstation was low. Figure 4â‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ3 Push System Retention points Process 1 Retention points Process 2 Inspection Retention points inspection Information and material flow High variability in lead times, long lead times, large Work in Progress inventory, and a numerous quality issues are arisen in this system. Besides with the problems associated with maintaining valid scheduled, made by the forecasting office, which is far a way from the shop floor and all the problems that arise in the manufacturing process. By contrast the pull production is sometimes called stockless, because is minimized the work in progress, pursuit the one piece flow. It seeks to have every stage in a process produce and deliver materials downstream in the exact quantities and the exact times requested. (J Nicholas, 1988). Figure 4â‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ4 Pull System Process 2 Inspection Material Flow Process 1 Inspection Max Min Delivery point Max Min Max Min Information Flow Refer to the figure 2.3, when a customer order arrives to the delivery point, this work station sends a production order to the downstream process, in order to refill the product had been delivered. The work station 2 in the moment is used more than two parts, and let the buffer with the minimum quantity, then sends a production order to the work station 1. Just in time pursues the zero inventories; the system that is describing here is used a buffer, in that way any process shouldnt wait to have the necessary material to start producing an order. Refer to the figure 2.3 each work station begins de production as soon as the order upstream is received. (J Nicholas, 1988). In contrast with the Push production system, any problem in any work station is affected the whole system, so that all stage are working together in order to resolve the problem, increasing the chances of solving the root problem. Kanban is a subsystem to support of the JIT system and was developed by Toyota in the early stages of TPS. Kanban is a Japanese word for card, but not necessarily need to be a card, sometimes can be a signboard, container, empty space, and so forth. The broadly idea is to use the Kanban, whatever the form is takes, as a signal to produce a specific number of parts request for the next process. (N. Slack et al, 2004). The system is not used a complicated and expensive computer schedules. The theoretical operation of Kanban is no one product is manufacture until is demanded for the final customer. Therefore the signal Kanban is used as a trigger for a production. There are different types of Kanban; Conveyance Kanban, also know as a move Kanban, whose purpose is to move the goods along different production stages. The Production Kanban, work as a signal to a production process that can start producing a part to be place in the inventory. (N. Slack et al, 2004) There are two procedures of using Kanban system; dual-card (used both production and conveyance) this is the original Toyota method, and the single-card, explained below (used only the production, but acting as both move and produce authorization), is more often used the last one, for the simplicity of use. (N. Slack et al, 2004) Figure 4â‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ5 Kanban system. Process 2 Inspection Material Flow Process 1 Inspection Delivery point Max Min Kanban Max Min Kanban Max Min Kanban Information Flow Order to the supplier To explain the concept we can use the example in figure 2.4, where each process made two piece batches. When the delivery point sent two finished parts, the operator takes a Kanban card from the container and sends it back down to the previous workstation; process 2,where that part is assembled. When the Kanban card is received, the previous work station start to assemble new batch of 2 parts, and consequently it sends downs to the previous process the Kanban card in order to refill the parts used in the last operation. This chain or work orders is repeated until an order is sent to the supplier of raw material. This system keeps to minimum the paperwork, provides a self-manage workstation and one the more important achievements is that the inventory of Work in Progress is kept to a minimum. The parts are assembled only when a need for them and WIP is reducing by dropping the number of cards into the system. The two pillars of Lean: Jidoka Jidoka is a Japanese word meaning automation with a human touch, refers to the automatic control of defects under the supervision of an employee; or as is described by Ohno (1988) Autonomation. Is refers to a process that has incorporated mechanism to detect non conformances and not allowed the process to pass a product if there isnt a conformance with the requirements.   Sakichi Toyoda began to used Jidoka, also known as Autonomation; he invented the automatic looms that stopped immediately when any thread broke. In that way one operator was able to manage many machines with no risk of producing outside specifications. This pillar of TPS is a â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"Proactive Systematic Approach. That is means instant detection of non conformances at the root source, pursuing the prevention is chosen over correction for problems after its occurrence. Through this principle we ensure that hundred per cent of the products are free defects, and when a defect is found this is fixed directly, otherwise the worker had the authority to stop the line, in order to resolve it.(J. Nicholas,1998).No OK parts are very important in JIT, when a one short part can cause the stoppage of the whole factory, just to remember one of the quotation for define JIT The exact product in the exact moment that is required (Ohno, 1988) This authority to stop the line meets resistance in western managers, because they are afraid that this can cause a delay in the lead time. But that is only the negative side, by another hand should be viewed as improvements in the process, the root of many quality issues are discovered and as a result they are resolved. Thought Jidoka principles the employees are more aware of quality issues and the related problems, and the number of defects and rework drop at the end of the line. (Nicholas, 1988 Automotive Industry Lean Model Analysis Automotive Industry Lean Model Analysis Introduction In any organization there are essential activities which need to be run effectively: production, quality, logistic, and so on. These activities are the means for the main purpose of any company which is to make money (Goldratt, 1993:41). Today the companies are facing a fierce market place: set the production with customer demand, in variety and quantity, and pursuit superior quality. To reach this is a high goal for any company, reach that and being effective is the core of nowadays strategy plan. The financial crisis that exploded the last year led many companies analyze the way they were operating in, and seek how to be more effective and make the company sustainable in the medium and long term. Reduction of cost is important at any time but reduction in time of crisis is essential. The way to escape the pitfalls faced in the mass production requires a redefinition of the production management system which eliminates the waste and pursuit the efficiency of the company as a whole. This dissertation is a case study base in an industry of automotive  industry. This sector has the characteristic of being very influential in the development of emerging trend in management.  From Henry  Fords  and the introduction  of the  moving  assembly to Toyota Production Systems many innovations have been development in this sector. Taiichi Ohno (1988) was the first person to identify seven inefficiencies which do not contribute to the goal of any company. These inefficiencies of wastes are denominated as muda in the Toyota Production System. It was after the book The machine that changed the world?, 1990, when the term Lean began to be known all over the world. Lean thinking is the medicine for companies suffering from inefficiency, and is Lean because it provides a way to do more with less; less human resources, less equipment, less time and less space, (Womack J. et al., 1990:15). All this reduction measures could be easily translated into money hence when a company is making money it has a future to plan. Another  characteristic  of  automotive industry  is  the  low  margins. The company, in which is based the dissertation, as  many  of  others  automotive manufacturers, is struggling  with  low  or  negative  profits. Through the application of Value Stream Mapping, Cell layout, and Takt time is the intention of the research to show and encourager the company to swap from traditional production into lean manufacturing Confidentiality   The company where the case study is bases is a sensitive phase of change. Due to this reason this dissertation will not display the company name, name of persons working at the company and other pieces of information that can be derived from the research. Therefore the company is referred throughout all dissertation as the company. Aims and objectives The main objective of this dissertation is to study and understand lean model and revealing the efficiency of lean techniques by applying them in a case study. These objectives can be summarised as the following: To carry out an extensive literature review about the lean model. To study the different elements and techniques of lean Draw the potential new ways to seek the processes and process layout. Outline potential improvements in the points below which contribute to solve the problem of the current highly expensive processes. Quality Lead Time Space Inventory Workers required This study intends to show the benefits of lean approach application and be used as an internal feasibility study of the potential application of this philosophy into the company. Nevertheless, whether the company finally decides to apply these principles or not is not the purpose of this project. Methodology The methodology for the first three chapters involves and intensive literature search and review on the lean philosophy. The source of this information was from extensive range of information sources as: written literature; books, journals, and the internet resource; also detailed discussions with lecturers and colleges who had knowledge on the topics. An important part of the literature review was to understand the concept of the lean and how can be applied. Secondary data is based in review documentation provided by the company. Primary data collection is based on the observation of how the company is currently working and after the working procedure are know lean approach will be applied starting with Value Stream Mapping, and the subsequence tools and techniques, described in more detail in the next chapters. Nevertheless a deep explanation to this topic will be found in the methodology chapter. Limitations One of the most important limitations for this dissertation is time limit, driven in part for the limitations time that the research had to the company. The research will be focus to a small area, but the same steps can be applied for all areas/families. No consideration will be taken, about potential issues derived from this research concerning to material handling. Another limitation is the confidential agreement between the research and the company, for this reason relevant information data could not be publicly released. The distance to the company being researched and the researcher is clear limitation for the arrangement of appointments with the company. Nevertheless this limitation known beforehand and a planning was agreed with the company in the first meeting; both sides agreed to make three on site visit of 3 working days each and another visit for presenting the research. 13,14,15 of Aprilà ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚  1 toma de contacto y anÃÆ' ¡lisis de la situaciÃÆ' ³n actual 21,22,23 of Juneà ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚  2 Implementation de VSM, cell layout, takt time,. 13, 14, 15 of July à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚  3 seguimiento de las mejoras applicadas 24 of Augustà ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   4 Ajustes y presentacion del projecto a la compaÃÆ' ±ÃƒÆ' ­a. Research structure This dissertation is divided into 8 chapters, with a brief outline below; Chapter 1 Introductionà ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚  This chapter explains about the nature and the background of the dissertation objectives. Chapter 2 Literature reviewà ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   Is included here a study of the background literature on lean manufacturing. Chapter 3 Tools and techniquesà ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   This chapter explains the tools and techniques used under the umbrella of lean manufacturing. Chapter 4 Methodologyà ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   This chapter gives the overall view of the research design taking into account the methodology under taking to do the primary research and explain the type of research, data and tools used. Chapter 5 Company overviewà ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   This chapter discuss the current situation of a second tier car company which is faced a crisis. Chapter 6 Implementation of lean Chapter 7 Data result and analysis Chapter 8 Conclusion and recommendations. This page is left blank on purpose Literature Review Origins of Lean Manufacturing Any new management approach that emerges will undoubtedly contain pieces from the knowledge from the past. Therefore we can find characteristic of lean were addressed in the past like: interchangeable parts developed by Ely Whitney (1765-18825), the work standardization made by Frederick W. Taylor (1856-1915), or the time and motion studies made by Frank Gilbreth (1868-1924), where he pursuit the elimination of non-value elements. But without any doubts the most influence person in the development of Lean was Henry Ford, he organized all the elements of a manufacturing system; people, machines, tooling and raw materials, in a continuous flow system, for manufacturing the famous model T by applying this methodology the factory achieve to rise the effectiveness in the assembly process and by 1920 he achieved to reduced the price of the model T at 34% of the original price in 1908. Kiichiro Toyoda travelled to EEUU (1929) in his search for learn the American Way. Fords assembly line provided the flow idea upon which Kiichiro Toyoda based his early car production, but soon he realized the need to adapt it to the market conditions and the culture in Japan. They knew that they could not compete with the giants like Ford in foreign markets. Therefore, they were producing only for internal market, and bring the raw materials from outside, for that reason Toyota could not lower cost by exploding economies of scale, thats why they build a systems upon an strategy: to make many models in small numbers (Ohno, 1988). They pursuit the cost reduction through the elimination of the inefficiencies; defined as muda, Japanese word for waste. (W. J. Hopp et al, 2000) Henry Ford vision about systematic elimination of waste, standardization and elimination of process variability, Quality at the source, and so forth was so inspirational for Ohno and the definition of TPS. In the book Toyota Production System; beyond large-scale Production, 1988, Ohno quoted the Fords book Henry Fords Today and Tomorrow in different chapter as a key to the development of lean principles. In 1945, after Toyoda Kiichiro set an ambitious goal: Catch with America in three years (Ohno, 1988). In order to achieve this goal Toyota production system was developed as a respond to the severe competition imposed by mass production and offered an alternative production system according with the restrictions of the moment. Under these conditions Taiichi Ohno (1912-1990) was brought into the company as a leader to translate the ideas of Kiichiro Toyoda into action. He was working for the company since 1932 but wasnt until 1943 when he went transfer to Toyota Motor Company, where he became Machine-shop manager in 1949. During that period the company was fighting on bankruptcy hence major investment or massive inventories werent affordable. For many years the western companies had cut the cost by increasing the production but after oil crisis, explore around 1973, rapid growth stopped and the principle if you can make it, you can sell it (Ohno, 1988, p2), most of the Japanese industries had losses, but Toyota overcame these problems. The capability of Toyota to overcome the crisis was the trigger for eyes opener to Japanese companies and implement the TPS. The Toyota Production System (TPS) was first denominated in the West as Just in Time (JIT).After the initial visits of industries from western countries to Japanese industry, the people returning with stories of factories which produced only what was needed, when needed, without any Just In Case expensive stock. Later, we realised that there was more than this, and the JIT was worked because was part of a more global management system, TPS. A system in fact useful to reduce costs and from that time the TPS became very popular. (Y. Monden 1993). But this system got popularity in the western countries after a researcher made in 1990 for Massachusetts institute of technology (MIT) by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones. This five year research about the future of the automobile makers, revealed a gap between the conventional mass production and the new trend used in Japanese industries. This book coined the term Lean as a description of the Toyota Production System. Definition of Lean As is described above, Toyota Production System was born in Toyota (1945). This system is sustained for two pillars: Just in Time and Autonomation or Jidoka. The name of Lean manufacturing was given in a research published by Massachusetts institute of technology (MIT) in 1990. Ohno make three statements in his book Toyota Production System; beyond Large-Scale Production, 1988, taken together we can use as his definition: The basis of the TPS is the absolute elimination of waste. The two pillars needed to support the system are: Just in Time and Autonomation (Jidoka) (Ohno, 1988 p4) Cost reduction is the goal (Ohno, 1987 p8) After World War II, our main concern was how to produce high-quality goods. After 1955, the question became how to make the exact quantity needed (Ohno, 1987 p33). We can conclude that for Ohno the TPS consist of many techniques that are designed to reduce the cost by removing the waste and providing the right product, at the right quantity at the moment is required. Using less of everything this statement was made in the book The machine that change the world (Womack et al. 1990) as a definition of Lean production. Another important contribution of TPS was a new approach of looking at the equation formed by: Price, Cost and Profit. When TPS was developed, the western was using the following equation to obtain price of a product: Price=Cost + Profit In this formula if the cost increase, the best way to maintain the same profit is by raising the price, is based on the principle that is the company who fix the price. By offering more feature, quality or service they can raise the price. By another hand, Japan proposed the next expression: Profit=Price â‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Cost In this equation is the market, the final customer who is fixed the price. The companies used the voice of the customer as a means to design the new features of a product, and the price they are willing to pay for it. With this equation the only way to obtain better profits is by reducing the cost as much as possible (fig. 3.1). This equation leads the companies to pursuit internal improvement if they want to keep or raise the profit in the current market situation. (J. Santos, et al. 2006). Figure 3â‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ1 Equation price-cost benefits (adaptation of J. Santos et al 2008) Price fixed by the customer Cost Profit Summarizing we can conclude that Lean is a theory of management that consider the uses of resources for any means other than the creation of value from customer point of view is a waste (defined below); and pursuing the elimination waste as a means of achieving greater efficiency of the process. (Y. Monden, 1993) Seven types of Wastes Muda is a Japanese means waste. According to James P. Womack (2003) any activity which absorbs resources but creates no values is called waste. Lean thinking provides a way to identify the value, defined by the final customer, and analyze the value stream in the search for not added value action in order to eliminate and based in Continuous improvement, where the search for new improvements is never ending. (Womack et al., 2003) The wastes defined by Ohno include parts not right the first time, piles of products made in Just in case, processing step that no one had analyzed, to realized that they are not needed, transporting goods thought work floor, workers, machinery or material waiting to the next step in the process, and so forth. (Womack et al., 2003, p16). There are many types of waste; some are easy to discern others difficult. An important thing to remember is that to eliminate waste, you must find it first, towards eliminating it. The seven wastes (7Ws) addressed by Ohno (1988) are detailed below, with the addition of the one defined by Womack, 2003. Overproduction Manufacturing companies, sometimes produce more than they have sold, some times because they want to build an inventories, in the expectation that the market requirements arise, another times with the purpose to keep everyone busy and / or to achieve a high used of the facilities. Whatever the reason is, making products for which there is no demand is waste and can drive the company out of business. The key point to found this waste is compare what is produced versus what is sold. (J. Nicholas, 1988) Waiting This waste will include delay between the end of one activity and the start of the next activity. This waste can take many forms: operators or machineries waiting for orders, parts, materials, parts for the preceding process, equipment repairs, and so on. Contrasting with the previous waste, this one it is easy to identify. As It was explain above, some companies minimizing the waste of waiting by keeping the workers and the machines active all the times, incurring in that way in the previous waste; overproduction. Stopping the machines and allowing workers to be idle in occasion, is less costly than producing products with no orders. Another advantage of these spare times is that the workers can used it to search for improvements. (J. Nicholas, 1988) Transporting It is any kind of unnecessary transport of workers, parts, products, etc moved from one location to another. There two things that determine the transport through the factory; the layout facility and the sequence of operations. (J. Nicholas, 1988) No value is added in any items while they are moving around, therefore all time and facilities involve in that are wastes. Rearranging the layout and putting sequential equipment together allow us to minimize this waste. Too much machining; over processing. A process may itself contain steps that are ineffective or unnecessary. When company use expensive or high precision equipment where investing in smaller and more flexible equipment would be adequate. This often results in poor plant layout because The monuments are located far away from the process and making the process incur in waste such transportation, wait and in addition overproduction (in order to set high utilization, and justify the investment). Inventories Ohno in his book Toyota Production System, Beyond Large Scale Production (1988), qualify the inventory as the root of all evil because covers other kinds if wastes and inefficiencies and encourages to wasteful practices. Inventories represent items waiting for something to happen, where there are many associated and hidden costs (storage space, handling, management, insurance, lost of opportunity, and so forth). John Nicholas (1988) identifies that many companies even when they recognize the high cost of the inventory they justify them for dealing with issues such: To cover fluctuations in future demand, where more accurately forecasted are necessary. To cover the delay in lead times caused by breakdowns or delivery delays, where a Preventive maintenance plan would be necessary as well a close relationship with the suppliers. To cover long setup times, where an improvement in standardization as well as a study of the setup times made the big batch unnecessary. We can use the analogy of a ship on water (figure 2.1) to clarify the idea of hidden costs and problems incurred with high level of inventory. As inventory is reducing, problems are exposed, which can be resolved. After that, the inventory is lowered again, in order to get more problem appear and management has to resolve them in order for the system to work. Figure 3â‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ2 Analogy of water and inventory Worker absenteeism Work load imbalance Downtime Quality Scrap Rework Out of spec. materials Set-up Times Process variation Inventory level is hidden all problems By reducing the inventory, production problems arise WIP The research is agreed with Ohno (1988) when he argued that people tend to build some inventory as a respond of their farming roots. Our ancestors grew rice for subsistence and stored it in preparation for times of natural disasters (Ohno, 1988) this type of accumulation is no longer practical from the moment that we can find everything that we need from the corner shop. Nevertheless, break this habit in the day to day factory habits is difficult, is requires a change of attitude. But we need to keep in mind that reduction of inventory is not an end itself; it is a mechanism for revealing problems and wasteful practices in the production system. Moving People in work often confuse being in motion with working. A worker in constant motion all day may actually be doing little work; we should consider which portion of the motion is actually added value to the product. This waste is related to ergonomics and the objective is to obtain that the 100% of the motion is work; added value. Hence pursues the elimination of wasteful motion, but not by increasing work. Motions as bending, stretching, walking, lifting, reaching, picking up, transporting, loading, and so forth take workers time and increase the cost, but not add value. (J. Nicholas, 1988) Making defective parts and products. The simplest form of waste is products that do not meet the specification. Manufacturing products right at first time requires no money. Defects in any product are a major source of waste, hold up production and increase production lead times avoidable if products were done right the first time. Quality defects result in rework or scrap and involve a remarkable cost to organizations, along with the associated costs such: re-inspecting, rescheduling quarantining inventory, and capacity loss.   The key point is attain Quality at the source or Quality Assurance where the parts are made right the first time, transforming the old idea of Quality Assurance; where the parts are inspected at the end of the line. In order to achieve this we can use tools such: Poka Yoke, Kaizen, and so forth. (Y. Monden, 1993) Underutilization of Employees In the book Lean Thinking by James P Womack and Daniel T. Jones (1996), was added another wasted, added to the seven defined by Ohno (1988); which was denominated by them as Underutilization of employees. The companies hire employees for the physical skills, and sometimes the managers forgot to take an advantage of the brainpower that they hired with those skills. Some common causes of inability to see this waste may result in mudas such high employee turnover, inadequate hiring practices, and so forth. Not Used the employees as an experts of the process in which they are working is a waste of creativity and the improvement ideas that they can generate, this waste deserved the same important than the previous seven described above. Tools and Techniques There are many definitions that refer to lean; as Toyota Production System, Just in Time, Jidoka, flexible workforce, Kanban, TQM and so forth; partly because for many years had been confusion and many practitioners; mix up the purpose with the means. Lean production may be viewed as a bunch of all this practices/tools, and all underneath subsystems give the necessary support to the main system. The main systems Ohno (1988) described as two pillars are: Just inTime Autonomation with human touch, or Jidoka The tools/techniques of lean, as supporting subsystems can be said as; Kanban Poka-yoke Visual Control, Andon Value Stream Mapping Standard Operations One Piece Flow 5S Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) Levelling Production Benchmarking SMED Multifunctional Workers Kaizen Some of the most relevant for the research purpose are explained below. The two pillars of Lean: Just in Time In 1950 Toyota was near to bankrupting, as a consequence they couldnt afford major investment in new machineries or substantial inventories. In 1956 Ohno travel to America, where he got the perspective of Just-In-Time in the American supermarket. He was interested in way the supermarket were working; by providing to customer what they need, when they need and in the quantity they need. Ohno transfer this idea down to the process, and he developed a system that is working like a coordinate chain of small supermarket, where all processes are transformer in customer for the previous step and supplier for the next step and every step is only produced the quantity needed for the next step, with perfect quality and no waste. The system was denominated as pull system. TMMK (7may2010) JIT was developed in the framework of TPS and evolved due to the need of the Japanese industry to survive in the post-war global market. Soon, the value of the system was proven into the manufacturing industry and a large number of companies worldwide hastened to implement this model to their own production systems (Monden, 1993). Ohno developed a number of methodologies to support the Just in Time system; one of the best known is the Kanban system, detailed below. Pull system and Kanban The traditional mass production system is the one denominate as push production system, where every station start to assembly a part when the raw material arrive to the work station. The way to manage production system is usually based in forecasting. The parts usually are processes in batches according to a schedule for each process (fig 2.2). The materials must usually wait until the workstation complete the previous work and is performing the changeover necessary. Changes in schedules, breakdown in machinery and other incidents, make a planning inaccurate. (J Nicholas, 1988). When a problem occurs at one stage, the problem will not be notice in the rest of the system, because an inventory between the workstation are insulated the problems in each workstation, and dependency between workstation was low. Figure 4â‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ3 Push System Retention points Process 1 Retention points Process 2 Inspection Retention points inspection Information and material flow High variability in lead times, long lead times, large Work in Progress inventory, and a numerous quality issues are arisen in this system. Besides with the problems associated with maintaining valid scheduled, made by the forecasting office, which is far a way from the shop floor and all the problems that arise in the manufacturing process. By contrast the pull production is sometimes called stockless, because is minimized the work in progress, pursuit the one piece flow. It seeks to have every stage in a process produce and deliver materials downstream in the exact quantities and the exact times requested. (J Nicholas, 1988). Figure 4â‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ4 Pull System Process 2 Inspection Material Flow Process 1 Inspection Max Min Delivery point Max Min Max Min Information Flow Refer to the figure 2.3, when a customer order arrives to the delivery point, this work station sends a production order to the downstream process, in order to refill the product had been delivered. The work station 2 in the moment is used more than two parts, and let the buffer with the minimum quantity, then sends a production order to the work station 1. Just in time pursues the zero inventories; the system that is describing here is used a buffer, in that way any process shouldnt wait to have the necessary material to start producing an order. Refer to the figure 2.3 each work station begins de production as soon as the order upstream is received. (J Nicholas, 1988). In contrast with the Push production system, any problem in any work station is affected the whole system, so that all stage are working together in order to resolve the problem, increasing the chances of solving the root problem. Kanban is a subsystem to support of the JIT system and was developed by Toyota in the early stages of TPS. Kanban is a Japanese word for card, but not necessarily need to be a card, sometimes can be a signboard, container, empty space, and so forth. The broadly idea is to use the Kanban, whatever the form is takes, as a signal to produce a specific number of parts request for the next process. (N. Slack et al, 2004). The system is not used a complicated and expensive computer schedules. The theoretical operation of Kanban is no one product is manufacture until is demanded for the final customer. Therefore the signal Kanban is used as a trigger for a production. There are different types of Kanban; Conveyance Kanban, also know as a move Kanban, whose purpose is to move the goods along different production stages. The Production Kanban, work as a signal to a production process that can start producing a part to be place in the inventory. (N. Slack et al, 2004) There are two procedures of using Kanban system; dual-card (used both production and conveyance) this is the original Toyota method, and the single-card, explained below (used only the production, but acting as both move and produce authorization), is more often used the last one, for the simplicity of use. (N. Slack et al, 2004) Figure 4â‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ5 Kanban system. Process 2 Inspection Material Flow Process 1 Inspection Delivery point Max Min Kanban Max Min Kanban Max Min Kanban Information Flow Order to the supplier To explain the concept we can use the example in figure 2.4, where each process made two piece batches. When the delivery point sent two finished parts, the operator takes a Kanban card from the container and sends it back down to the previous workstation; process 2,where that part is assembled. When the Kanban card is received, the previous work station start to assemble new batch of 2 parts, and consequently it sends downs to the previous process the Kanban card in order to refill the parts used in the last operation. This chain or work orders is repeated until an order is sent to the supplier of raw material. This system keeps to minimum the paperwork, provides a self-manage workstation and one the more important achievements is that the inventory of Work in Progress is kept to a minimum. The parts are assembled only when a need for them and WIP is reducing by dropping the number of cards into the system. The two pillars of Lean: Jidoka Jidoka is a Japanese word meaning automation with a human touch, refers to the automatic control of defects under the supervision of an employee; or as is described by Ohno (1988) Autonomation. Is refers to a process that has incorporated mechanism to detect non conformances and not allowed the process to pass a product if there isnt a conformance with the requirements.   Sakichi Toyoda began to used Jidoka, also known as Autonomation; he invented the automatic looms that stopped immediately when any thread broke. In that way one operator was able to manage many machines with no risk of producing outside specifications. This pillar of TPS is a â‚ ¬Ã‹Å"Proactive Systematic Approach. That is means instant detection of non conformances at the root source, pursuing the prevention is chosen over correction for problems after its occurrence. Through this principle we ensure that hundred per cent of the products are free defects, and when a defect is found this is fixed directly, otherwise the worker had the authority to stop the line, in order to resolve it.(J. Nicholas,1998).No OK parts are very important in JIT, when a one short part can cause the stoppage of the whole factory, just to remember one of the quotation for define JIT The exact product in the exact moment that is required (Ohno, 1988) This authority to stop the line meets resistance in western managers, because they are afraid that this can cause a delay in the lead time. But that is only the negative side, by another hand should be viewed as improvements in the process, the root of many quality issues are discovered and as a result they are resolved. Thought Jidoka principles the employees are more aware of quality issues and the related problems, and the number of defects and rework drop at the end of the line. (Nicholas, 1988

Brutality and Deceit in A Streetcar Named Desire Essay -- Tennessee Wi

  Ã‚  Ã‚   A Streetcar Named Desire is a socially challenging play in light of the way in which Tennessee Williams depicts the capacity of human nature for brutality and deceit.   He takes the viewpoint that, no matter how structured or 'civilized' society is, all people will rely on their natural animal instincts, such as dominance and deception, to get themselves out of trouble at some stage in life.   William's has created three main characters, Blanche Dubois, Stella Kowalski and Stanley Kowalski. Each of these characters is equally as civilized as the next, yet all are guilty of acts of savagery on different levels.   Throughout the play Williams symbolically relates these three characters to animals, 'savages,' through the disclosure of their attitudes, beliefs, appearances and desires. The most obvious example of a savage in the play is Stanley Kowalski.   He is a large well-toned, territorial male with simple beliefs and a short temper.   He does not have many manners and does not care what people think of him.   He seems very simple but there is more to him than meets the eye.   Stanley feels threatened by Blanche not only because she has invaded his territory, but also because she is a reminder to his wife of what she sacrificed to marry him and of the severe limitations on what he has been able to provide her in return (Adler 51).   At first, Stanley acts physically dominant over both Blanche and Stella, by rifling through Blanche’s possessions (Williams 124), by quoting to Stella and Blanche that "every man is a king" (Williams 197-198), by throwing the radio out the window in a drunken frenzy and by actually striking his pregnant wife (Stella) (Williams 152-155).   However, towards the end of the play, Stanley realizes his ... ...s that lifestyle that they shared in their youth.   However, Stanley has shown her his world and she is caught between the two, like a ping-pong ball.   Ultimately Stanley wins the game, because of Stella’s primal nature, her sex drive and her need to be dominated. It appears that Tennessee Williams has called for all the world to be cognizant of the fact that mankind is still a member of the animal kingdom in spite of society’s efforts to cloak his primal urges and somehow give the appearance that he is above the other animals.    Works Cited Adler, Thomas P.   A Streetcar Named Desire: The Moth and the Lantern.   New York: Twayne, 1990. Kazan, Elia.   Twentieth Century Interpretations of A Streetcar Named Desire.   Ed. Jordan Miller.   New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1971. Williams, Tennessee.   A Streetcar Named Desire.   Stuttgart: Phillipp Reclam, 1988.

Inception Film Analysis Essay

Inception came out to theaters last 2010. It is an action, adventure and sci-fi film starring Leonardo DiCaprio (Cobb), Joseph Gordon Levitt (Arthur) and Ellen Page (Ariadne). The movie revolves around Cobb, whose job is to steal information from the minds of people through their dreams. He was given the task to perform the reverse called Inception on a businessman named Fischer in exchange for having the charges against him dropped and going back to America to finally see his children again. In the process of doing his job, Mal (Cobb’s wife who already passed away) keeps on appearing in the dreams as a projection of Cobb’s subconscious and becomes a danger to Cobb and his team. Christopher Nolan Born in London in 1970, Christopher Nolan began making films at the age of seven using his father’s super 8mm camera and an assortment of male-action figures. He graduated to making films involving real people, and his super 8mm surreal short ‘tarantella’ was shown on PBS’ ‘image union’ in 1989. Chris studied English Literature at University College London while starting to make 16mm films at the college film society. His short film ‘larceny’ was shown at the Cambridge Film Festival in 1996, and his other 16mm shorts include a three- minute surreal film called â€Å"doodlebug. † He directed other genuis films such as Following, Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises. Christopher Nolan usually starts his movies by introducing the main character/s with a Close-up shot of their hands. He is known for making use of flashbacks or scenes from the end of the movie as an opening. The movies that he directs are also usually about characters who have psychological disorders or who develop a physical or psychological handicap throughout the film. In the case of Inception, the lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio wakes up on the shore with his hands trying to reach or point out to his children who were playing with the sand. This scene reappears again in the end and plays an important role to explain the essence of the movie. Finally, Mal represents the psychologically deranged character since she was not able to tell the difference between reality and dreams anymore thus leading to her death. The scenes altogether is about seven minutes long. Cobb and Ariadne go into a fourth dream layer and try to find Mal because she has captured Fischer. Mal is still trying to convince Cobb that he does not know what reality is anymore but Cobb is very certain that Mal is just a projection of his subconscious. This is also the part when Cobb confesses the reason behind his projection of Mal and his feeling of guilt. This is the essence of the scene- letting the audience know what Cobb was feeling inside. The first Inception actually took place when Cobb tried to plant an idea in Mal’s mind. Mal could not accept the fact that they were still in a dream so Cobb went deep into her mind and made her think that her world was not real and that death was the only way to come back to reality. When they awoke, Mal felt as if she was possessed by an idea – an idea that her world is still not real. She felt as if she was still dreaming so she killed herself again in the real world. By telling this truth that Cobb has been keeping, he is now then able to let go of the idea of Mal. This scene explains Cobb’s motive in pursuing the task given to him. It was not only to come back to America and see his children but also to be able to let go of Mal and the fact that she has passed away. It also introduces to the audience what the root of everything is – discovering Inception that lead to Mal’s death. The scene revolves around Cobb and Mal talking while Ariadne listens to their conversation. As the audience, we see what is happening through the point of view of Ariadne. Cobb and Ariadne are the protagonists whose goal is to find Fischer so they could continue with their mission. Mal acts as an antagonist and prevents them from reaching their goal. She has captured Fischer and is only willing to give him up in exchange for Cobb staying with her. In the course of their dialogue, Mal asked Cobb what he was feeling. Cobb explained that he was feeling so much guilt because he was the one who caused Mal to question her reality. When they were stuck in a dream, he wanted to help her realize that they were still in a dream so he planted this idea in her mind not knowing that the idea would still linger after she awoke. This confrontation is a way of Cobb breaking free from the guilt he has kept for a long time. Upon finding out, Mal feels betrayed. On the other hand, Ariadne is also shocked by the confession of Cobb. Their relationships intertwine except between Ariadne and Mal who seem to have no connection at all. When the flashback started, there had been a detachment mostly from the part of Mal because of her delusion but at one point, we can also see the relationship of the couple being intimate and personal. Mal still wants Cobb to keep their promise of being together despite having him performed inception on her. At the beginning of the scene, Ariadne and Cobb expect to find and get Fischer from Mal and Mal expected Cobb to stay and believe that she was real. In the end, they all got what they wanted except for Mal. Cobb being a really skilled mind extractor, was so sure that Mal is not real and that in reality, she is already gone. Mal was not successful in her attempt to make him stay. Ariadne was able to give herself and Fischer the â€Å"kick† while Cobb stayed and went into limbo to find Saito, another member of their team who died in the third dream layer. He was also able to reach his underlying goal – which was to talk to Mal, accept that they cannot be together anymore and let her go.

Michelangelos Life essays

Michelangelo's Life essays If one were to be asked if Michelangelos life affected his work, I would have to say yes and that would be saying it in the least. All of Michelangelos work was based on his life from childhood up to six days before his death. Michelangelo Buonarroti was born on March 6, 1475 in the village of Caprese, Italy, where his father was serving as a magistrate of the Florentine Republic. Michelangelo briefly attended grammar school managed by Francesco da Urbino but he spent most of his time drawing or sketching. It was something he couldnt live without, but brought him frequent scolding and even beatings by his father who considered drawing and fine arts to be a waste of time that brought no money or honor to his family. Little did his father know that in time Michelangelo would become one of the most important artists of the Italian Renaissance. At thirteen Michelangelo was apprenticed to Dominico Ghirlanaio, the leading fresco (wall) painter in Florence. Michelangelo remained only one year: it was Ghirlandaio himself who sent him to the Medici Gardens Art School that Lorenzo the magnificent had founded in Florence for young artists and sculptures. During this first year at the Medici Gardens, the young Buonarroti developed his innate quality by studying the ancient masterpieces, sketching, drawing and fashioning clay models after the works of Donatello and Masaccio. It is believed that during this period he carved two bas-reliefs: one depicting the Battle of Centaurs a subject taken from Greek mythology in the style of the Old Masters the second one Madonna on the Stairs is a flattened relief derived from Donatello. The Madonna of the steps is one of his earliest sculptures in which he tackles a subject to which he would return several times: the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child, with the mother already touched by a foreboding that her son is destined ...

The relationship that Heaney writes about between himself and his father Essay Example

The relationship that Heaney writes about between himself and his father Essay Example The relationship that Heaney writes about between himself and his father Paper The relationship that Heaney writes about between himself and his father Paper Essay Topic: Poetry Seamus Heaney Poems I am going to compare two different poems written by Seamus Heaney. The names of these two poems are Digging and Follower. Both of these poems were written when Seamus Heaney had started his career in poetry. Heaney was the eldest of nine children and grew up in poor conditions, as his father was a potato farmer, just as his forefathers. The poems are basically Heaneys autobiography, where he is explaining what happened in his past. Heaney was born when there were Catholic and Protestant riots were occurring and it was a troubled time for him and his family. The two poems are similar because they both describe Heaney at a young age, when he used to be tripping, falling, yapping always. This was meant to prove that Heaney was always behind his father, but the second poem has a real twist to it at the end, which I will describe to you further in to this essay. Heaney is probably writing this poem in his room, and looking out into his old farm which is bringing back his memories of being a child. His room would be dimly lit to show the bluntness in his vocabulary. This also depicts that fact that his language is not flowery, or there is no glorification of any part of his fathers job, but just going straight to the point. He does not in any way denigrate the job either, but just keeps it simply and straight to the point. I think that Heaney wouldve been in his dimly lit room (as explained above) and is picturing his father in a hat, with a grey coat on and his coarse boot nestled on the lug, against the inside knee was levered firmly. Heaneys language here conveys to us the point that he used language that reflects the traditional down-to-earth nature of his ancestors. What I mean here, is that most other writers would glorify these sentences and add extra vocabulary to add to the effect, but Heaneys draws in the readers interest by keeping it simple and concise. The relationship between Heaney and his father is exposed in the second line, The squat pen rests; snug as a gun, and it can be compared to line 4, Then the spade sinks Here, Heaney is trying to force through the point that his fathers profession was a farmer, and his weapon was a spade, whereas, Heaneys profession is a writer and his dangerous weapon is the pen. The pen also had enormous power and when the pen is used incorrectly, it can too cause damage. Heaneys pen gives him the eccentricity and power which he felt he lacked as a child due to the restricted conditions. The pen freed him from his restrictions that he had a child and the pen if offering him dangerous new possibilities. This emphasises the point that Heaney lacked attention and had wished to get it with the power of his pen. Heaney believes that the pen can be as powerful as the spade. This is proven in line 2 The squat pen rests; snug as a gun. This means that when the pen is not in use, it is just a potential threat, but when it is used incorrectly, it can be as dangerous as a gun, and a gun is surely more powerful than a spade. The relationship between him and his father is flowing at times, for example, when enjambment is used between lines five and six. My father digging. I look down Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds. The second stanza ends at the word down and the third stanza begins at the word Till. Enjambment is used to keep the rhythm of the poem continuously flowing and to keep the readers in the frame of the poem. Enjambment is also used to show that the poem is digging further into his memories. Heaney liked harsh and blunt sounds such as lug, coarse, nestled and heaving sods. These words dont have a squeaky sound to them, whereas, the words like nicking and slicing do. What I mean by blunt is that the words arent sharp or high, but easy to say, and uses less effort, meaning that more effort can be used in the work being done. The poem is basically about Heaneys admiration for his father. By god, the old man could handle a spade, Just like his old man My grandfather cut more turf in a day, than any other man in Toners Bog. In these quotes, he is portraying to us how much he admires his forefathers. He is exaggerating the fact that his grandfather cut more turf in a day than any other man in Toners Bog. He is exaggerating it because is substantiates that fact that his grandfather was the greatest potato farmer of all time, and that his speed and skill together was indestructible. He states that his grandfather is not any old potato farmer, but a very unique one indeed. The speed, I have verified above, but the skill of his grandfather-Nicking and slicing neatly. This is also Heaneys use of onomatopoeia nicking, sounds like its meaning; as does slicing. They are both quite gruesome words, but this depicts to us that the job of Heaneys forefather was gruesome and it also portrays the conditions that he wouldve lived in, being the eldest of nine children and being the son of a potato farmer. This exposes to us about Heaneys straight to the point thoughts, no matter how grisly his history may be, he will state it. Once I carried him milk in a bottle Corked sloppily with water. He straightened up to drink it, then fell to it straight away. This illustrates how devoted his forefathers were in their work. No other work could show that dedication, it was unparalleled. This is an example of Heaneys pride for his forefathers, not everyone would write in a poem how inspired they are by their forefathers. I think that Heaney is a bit ashamed of not being able to follow in their footsteps, But Ive no spade to follow like them. What Heaney means here is not that he has no spade, but he has no spade within him to carry on his fathers work, that he was not enough bottle to follow in their footsteps. Between my finger and my thumb, The squat pen rests. Ill dig with it Heaney is trying to convey the message that as his fathers profession was a farmer, he used the spade to dig for potatoes, but Heaney will use a pen to dig with it, meaning that he will continue his profession as a writer. Heaney believes the pen will give him that extra power but never that hardness and toughness that his forefathers had from their profession. I think that Heaney loves and respects his forefathers due to the amount of respect that he has given them in this poem. By God the old man could handle a spade, Just like his old man. This tells us that he admires his forefathers unbelievably, and that he is proud of them. I think that Heaney is not a bit monotonous, because each time he marvels at his forefathers, he is giving us something original, something new and interesting. He does say that he wanted to grow up and follow in his fathers footsteps, I wanted to grow up and plough All I ever did was follow. This shows us that he did want to be a farmer just like his forefathers, but he felt he lacked the physical strength, but he had the mental strength of being a writer. This explains that Heaney always wanted to be a farmer, but he felt he lacked the individuality that he needed and the confidence when he was a child, and he now feels a bit guilty not carrying on the family tradition. I think that Heaney felt inadequate and lost as a child and felt he lacked the attention that a child needed. That is why he felt he lacked the power of being a potato farmer, and that he would rather have had a stronger childhood to be a farmer, not a feeble and astray one as he has experienced. Heaney saw himself as a nuisance in both poems, but more so in the second poem. I stumbled in his hob nailed wake, Fell sometimes on the polished sod. This is a quote from the second poem elucidating the fact that he used to stumble on his fathers hard work. Heaneys language is blunt and matter of fact. Corked sloppily with water. He is just stating the obvious here, meaning that he is down to earth and likes to state what is there, and not exaggerate to give effect, but the structure and the way he has delivered this poem to us speaks for itself. Heaney also uses language that reflects the down-to-earth nature of his ancestors. The cold small of potato mould, the squelch and slap. Here is another example of onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia is used to emphasise the meaning of the words to the reader, these words are one syllable words. One syllable words are easy to say and they get the meaning of the words of the reader straight away. One syllable words can also be used so that it takes less time to read, and it reflects the level of knowledge and education that his forefathers have in speaking. Another reason why one syllable words are used is because it shows us how little time these farmers have, and that they believe in a little less conversation, a little more action. His shoulders globed like a full sail strung. This is a simile which is used to compare his fathers shoulders with a sail. What he means here is that his shoulders were so muscular that they were comparable with a full sail strung. This also shows his admiration for his forefathers. How wonderful he thought they were; a pity that he was not as capable of doing physical activities as they were. Nar rowed and angled at the ground, Mapping the furrow exactly, this exemplifies to us the Heaneys father worked exactly and that he would calculate all of the angles and get the lifting of the turf exactly right. Heaney felt he was a nuisance following his father around all day, but then also felt proud to have a father whom he could follow around like that, All I ever did was follow, in his broad shadow round the farm. This is when Heaney would be looking up to his father. Heaney is looking up in not only the literal way, but also in character. He may also look up to his father in an idol like way. Comparing this to the last line of follower, it is like the falling of a god, as if the admiration empire for his father is crumbling. But today it is my father who keeps stumbling behind me, and will not go away. I dont think that Heaney is being spiteful, but there is a role reversal here. As, we have seen, in the first poem, Digging, he had great admiration for his forefathers. Towards the end of the second poem, the roles are reversed to show the change in Heaneys mind, Heaney now thinks that he is more powerful than his father due to the age difference. The last line can also be a metaphor. The meaning of this metaphor is that his father may be dead and the metaphorical part of this is that he may be dead, and his thoughts may keep lingering behind him, not his physical body itself. On the other hand, his father may be old and requires care. His father may loiter behind him and question everything he does asking whether he is doing it right or not, getting on his nerves. If he does get on his nerves, then I believe that he was being a bit spiteful, but I think that this is a metaphor and his father is dead, and his memories are lurking behind him. Now I am going to comment on other linguistic features, and the structure of this poem. Rhyme is used to bring out the points further. It helps the reader to enjoy the poem as well as understand the poem. Heaney also used rhythm in this poem. He uses a different rhythm for both Heaney and his father. I was a nuisance, tripping, falling, yapping always. That is the kind of rhythm used for Heaney. This is the rhythm which is used for Heaney because it is a bit rocky, just as his feelings, whereas the rhythm used for Heaneys father is Of reins, the sweating team turned around. The rhythm is much smoother for Heaneys father because his work is smooth and neat, whereas Heaney become s a bit spiteful at the end. Alliteration is also used in both poems. Alliteration is used because it makes the reader work just a bit harder, and it also draws in the readers attention better than other devices. Spade sinks, the alliteration is used here to show the smoothness when the spade sinks into to ground by his father, to depict how good of a farmer he is. Overall, I find Digging more effective than Follower. This is because the first poem is more emotional and he is comparing himself to his father more, and this reflects how he felt as a child. The second poem, Follower, is more technical, and readers prefer poems that are more emotional and describing, not technical and too straight to the point. I think that Heaney is very fond of his past and would like to re-live it; we can extrapolate this from the poems we have read. Both poems reveal that Heaney can remember his past very vividly and that he is a very good writer. He also considered himself as a lesser being most of the tie, I was a nuisance etc. He considered himself to not be as complex of a character of a being but a very simple person indeed. He was very humble in the way he wrote, not bragging on about himself, but showing the great admiration for his forefathers. I think that Heaney did not have a very simple relationship with his father. That was because there was not a lot of conversation between the two characters. Heaney was mainly seen and not heard in the poem, and his thoughts were mainly kept to himself as his father was too busy. The only part which I took into consideration was the change of roles at the end of Follower. That really showed that Heaney had a bit of a relationship with his father. Dead or not, he still remembers him and his memories will remain with Heaney forever.

Plato's _Phaedo_ Discussion Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Plato's _Phaedo_ Discussion - Dissertation Example Through the dialogue of Phaedo, Plato had been able to present one of his greatest contributions to philosophy which is the perspective of dualities, wherein every concept is viewed and given reason through the opposing concept. Few examples include the body and the soul, right and wrong, darkness and light, night and day, etc. Though concepts are not delineated clearly, the view of duality is the simplest manner of philosophizing regarding the existence of different matter and concepts. Another contribution of Plato’s Phaedo is the further discussion of the Forms, an example of which is the soul. Are Plato’s views applicable in the modern era? On a personal note, Plato’s views can be considered exceptional even in the present era. His views regarding the Forms have influence in the philosophies of the people in the present generation. The main difference though is that the immortality of the soul in the present views of people is related to religion and faith wh ile for Plato the soul is an entity of knowledge, thus, related to science. The view on virtue is also another example. Virtue according to Plato can only be observed in philosophers or people of knowledge since they are aware of the concept of virtue itself.

Cross-Cultural Business Expansion Management Essay

Cross-Cultural Business Expansion Management - Essay Example The two countries where we can expand our business have been identified as China and Canada. Canada has certain similarities to America in terms of the legal, cultural and economic environment but the systems in China are significantly different (Bartlett & Ghoshal, 1998). However, an understanding of both is important for us if we are to make our international venture a successful one for all concerned parties. Being our old ally and neighbor, Canada is particularly important for America as a trade and resource partner and there are quite a few similarities in terms of culture, laws, the environment and business processes which connect the two countries. In terms of size, it is the worlds second-biggest country with regard to governed area and it stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. The country was founded like America as a set of British colonies but it gained full independence from the UK in a peaceful process (Statistics Canada, 2007). Systemically, unlike America, Canada is a federal constitutional monarchy which is ruled by the Queen of England but it also has a parliamentary system of democracy. Culturally, Canada is a bilingual country since a significant population speaks French therefore both French and English are official languages (Statistics Canada, 2007). The levels of diversity in Canada are much higher than in America since a significant population segment is made up of immigrants to the country. In terms of doing business, it might be useful for us to have a French speaker or two if we really want our products to sell in the French-speaking regions of the country. However, the advantage of doing business in Canada comes from its technological base and high standard of living.