Aspects Regarding the Redesign of a Component of the Vertical Lifting Module Used in Sustainable Production Management

To remain competitive on the market with a developed product, it’s very important to analyze the manufacturing costs and times, from the concept stage of the product. Design for manufacturing and assembly (DFMA) is one of the engineering methods that can be applied to reduce manufacturing costs and times, right from the design stage, without compromising product performance and reliability. The 3D modeling of the tray was made in Solidworks, and for the analysis of it’s manufacture and assembly, the Boothroyd and Dewhurst principle and recommendations from the DFMA software were followed. This paper presents a case study for a subassembly called a tray, used in automatic vertical storage systems. For the redesigned model, substantial improvements were obtained, through cost reductions of 12% and an increase in design efficiency from 4.86 to 12.03. Product analysis using DFMA has proven to be a key point in the development of a product that meets engineers.

Business model as an innovation

Business model is the way in which an organization develops relationships with their market environment and converts products into cashflow. The chapter focuses on business model as a type of economic innovation. This chapter provides a case study on CD Projekt Red company, the publisher of the Witcher games series. The case of the game covers three types of innovations, i.e., business model, product performance and customer engagement, and is an example of multidimensional innovation process. The case is related to both innovation types: business models and customer experience ones. The aim of this chapter is to diagnose business model innovations on the basis of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt game created by CD Projekt Red.

Predicting the Swelling Behavior of Acrylic Superabsorbent Polymers Used in Diapers

Acrylic polymer is a superabsorbent for water and widely used in diapers, in which its swelling behavior can be significantly affected by several factors, i.e., the time, temperature, pH, and salt concentration, and thus the product performance in the applications. In this work, the water absorption behavior of acrylic superabsorbent polymers by each of these individual factors was investigated. The results showed that the water absorbency increases with the pH in the range of 2 to ~7 and decreases when the pH continues to increase. However, it decreases with the increases in NaCl concentration in the solution. Moreover, more water can be absorbed by the acrylic polymers at the higher temperature. Based on a previously developed kinetic swelling model and the information from the above investigations, a semiempirical model for predicting the swelling behavior of superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) under different conditions has been developed. Data showed that the model can predict (with a relative error of <4.5%) the amount of water absorbed by acrylic SAPs under different swelling conditions. The model would be very helpful to the practical application in both product design and its performance evaluation.

Role of Advertising Strategies on Product Performance of Manufacturing Firms in Rwanda: A Case of Rwaspices Ltd

Advertising strategies and product performance are very important facets of a company for surviving in the worldwide competitive souk. Advertising strategies define the achievement of a business by the way advertising has be accomplished every day. The purpose of study was to explore the role of advertising strategies on product performance of manufacturing firms in Rwanda with specific reference to RwaSpices Ltd. The study is significant to the management of RwaSpices Ltd and other manufacturing firms. This study used three theories namely Bettman model, Consumer behavioral models and Howard – Sheth Model. The research design for this study was descriptive research and data was analyzed by use of quantitative and qualitative methods. The target population of the study comprised of ninety-nine (99) employees of RwaSpices Ltd. The study involved a small population hence a census was conducted. To ascertain the validity and reliability of the study, the researcher conducted a pilot study. Using descriptive and inferential statistics the researcher then made the conclusions on the study from the findings on how advertising strategies affect the product performance of local manufactured products using SPSS. Advertising has a great effect on product performance from the results it was found out that advertising had an overall mean 3.92 with a standard deviation of 0.415 which also showed that Rwaspices ltd have advertised their product well in the local markets.

Creative Appeals in Firm-Generated Content and Product Performance

Creative and original message appeals stimulate customers, generating arousal through novelties, meanings, associations, inspirations, human emotions and connections, and the degree to which the message appeals resonate and get the attention of the customers. Hedonic appeals imbue desirability around a product, endowing it with mystery or coolness, subtly invoking intentions, anticipation, and agency. Firms should highlight more about the hedonic rather than utilitarian features of products with high quality, highly consistent, or less complex firm-generated messages to persuade consumers to purchase. High-quality content is original and virtuosic, novel and compelling, curated and accurate, insightful and relevant, relatable and credible, authentic and immersive, and engaging and resonating with customers. Message goal consistency calls for alignment to central brand guidelines (i.e., what the brand stands for, its value proposition, and its purpose) and adherence to the brand DNA regarding look and feel, tone and manner in content creation. Writing clearly and concisely in a novel approach creates intrigue by making firm-generated content communications stick. Excellent writing and easy readability make for easy comprehension and consequently better persuasion. Firms stand to gain more by devoting resources, such as employee training for content creation and technology acquisition in getting high quality, easy-to-comprehend, and goal consistent messages to customers.

Comparison of Generic and Proprietary Aquatic Herbicides for Control of Invasive Vegetation : Part 2. Emergent Plants

Aquatic herbicides are one of the most effective and widespread ways to manage nuisance vegetation in the US After the active ingredient is selected, often there are numerous proprietary and generic branded products to select from. To date, limited efforts have been made to compare the efficacy of brand name and generic herbicides head to head; therefore, at tot al of 20 mesocosm trials were conducted to evaluate various 2,4 -D, glyphosate, imazapyr, and triclopyr products against alligatorweed (Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb.), southern cattail (hereafter referred to as cattail, Typha domingensis Pers.), and creeping water primrose (hereafter referred as primrose, Ludwigia peploides (Kunth) P.H. Raven). All active ingredients were applied to foliage at broadcast rates commonly used in applications to public waters. Proprietary and generic 2,4 -D, glyphosate, imazapyr, and triclopyr were efficacious and provided 39 to 99% control of alligatorweed, cattail and primrose in 19 of the 20 trials. There were no significant differences i n product performance except glyphosate vs. alligatorweed (trial 1, Rodeo vs. Roundup Custom) and glyphosate vs. cattail (trial 1, Rodeo vs. Glyphosate 5.4). These results demonstrate under small -scale conditions, the majority of the generic and proprietary herbicides provided similar control of emergent vegetation, regardless of active ingredient

Mobile Augmented Reality Application for Component Identification

This article discusses the development of augmented reality (AR) based object identification applications. The purpose of this study is to improve the distribution station component identification workbook. Through the implementation of the developed application, it is assumed that it will be easier to understand the functionality of the components of the distributing station. The augmented reality application was developed for the android platform. The result showed the application of Distributing Station-AR has been developed by applying a marker-based tracking method. The application test has successfully displayed the three-dimension components of distributing station using a marker on the component identification workbook of distributing station. Product performance is known to be very good and product validation is also very good, including material validation, media validation, and first user responses. For further development, this application is expected to add animation of the working principle of AR-based components.