1.
Goods
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In economics, goods are materials that satisfy human wants and provide utility, for example, to a consumer making a purchase of a satisfying product. A common distinction is made between goods that are property, and services, which are non-physical. A good is an item that is useful to people but scarce in relation to its demand. In contrast, free goods, such as air, are naturally in abundant supply, commodities may be used as a synonym for economic goods but often refer to marketable raw materials and primary products. Although in economic theory all goods are considered tangible, in reality certain classes of goods, such as information, only take intangible forms. For example, among other goods an apple is an object, while news belongs to an intangible class of goods. Goods may increase or decrease their utility directly or indirectly and may be described as having marginal utility, some things are useful, but not scarce enough to have monetary value, such as the Earths atmosphere, these are referred to as free goods. In economics, a bad is the opposite of a good, Goods diversity allows for their classification into different categories based on distinctive characteristics, such as tangibility and relative elasticity. A tangible good like an apple differs from a good like information due to the impossibility of a person to physically hold the latter. Intangible goods differ from services in that goods are transferable and can be traded. Price elasticity also differentiates types of goods, an inelastic good is one for which there are few or no substitutes, such as tickets to major sporting events, original works by famous artists, and prescription medicine such as insulin. Complementary goods are generally more inelastic than goods in a family of substitutes and this is because hamburger buns and beef are complementary goods. It is important to note that goods considered complements or substitutes are relative associations, the following chart illustrates the classification of goods according to their exclusivity and competitiveness. Goods are capable of being delivered to a consumer. Goods that are economic intangibles can only be stored, delivered, Goods, both tangibles and intangibles, may involve the transfer of product ownership to the consumer. Services do not normally involve transfer of ownership of the service itself, for example, distributing electricity among consumers is a service provided by an electric utility company. While the service is a process that remains in its entirety in the ownership of the service provider. The consumer becomes electric energy owner by purchase and may use it for any lawful purposes just like any other goods, fast-moving consumer goods Final goods Intangible asset Intangible good List of economics topics Goods and services Service Tangible property Bannock, Graham et al
2.
Obsolescence
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Obsolescence is the state of being which occurs when an object, service, or practice is no longer wanted even though it may still be in good working order. Obsolescence frequently occurs because a replacement has become available that has, in sum, obsolete refers to something that is already disused or discarded, or antiquated. Typically, obsolescence is preceded by a decline in popularity. Driven by rapid changes, new components are developed and launched on the market with increasing speed. The result is a change in production methods of all components. A growing industry sector is facing issues where life cycles of products no longer fit together with life cycles of required components and this issue is known as obsolescence, the status given to a part when it is no longer available from its original manufacturer. However, obsolescence extends beyond electronic components to other items, such as materials, textiles, in addition, obsolescence has been shown to appear for software, specifications, standards, processes, and soft resources, such as human skills. It is highly important to implement and operate a management of obsolescence to mitigate. Technical obsolescence usually occurs when a new product or technology supersedes the old, on a smaller scale, particular products may become obsolete due to replacement by a newer version of the product. Many products in the industry become obsolete in this manner, for example. Singularly, rapid obsolescence of data formats along with their hardware and software can lead to loss of critical information. Another complementary reason for obsolescence can be that supporting technologies may no longer be available to produce or even repair a product and it is rarely worth redeveloping a product to get around these issues since its overall functionality and price/performance ratio has usually been superseded by that time as well. Some products are rendered obsolete due to changes in complementary products which results in the function of the first product being made unnecessary. For example, buggy whips became obsolete when people started to travel in cars rather than in horse-drawn buggies, items become functionally obsolete when they can no longer adequately perform the function for which they were created. This causes scarcity of parts and skilled technicians for repairs. This ultimately leads to prohibitive expense in keeping old technology functioning, the term obsolescence was first applied to the built environment in 1910 in an attempt to explain American skyscrapers sudden loss of value. For example, he suggested that hotels obsolescence will occur faster than banks due to their ever-changing functions, sometimes marketers deliberately introduce obsolescence into their product strategy, with the objective of generating long-term sales volume by reducing the time between repeat purchases. One example might be producing an appliance which is designed to wear out within five years of its purchase
3.
Opportunity cost
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In microeconomic theory, the opportunity cost, also known as alternative cost, is the value of the choice of a best alternative cost while making a decision. The New Oxford American Dictionary defines it as the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen, opportunity cost is a key concept in economics, and has been described as expressing the basic relationship between scarcity and choice. The notion of opportunity cost plays a part in attempts to ensure that scarce resources are used efficiently. The term was coined in 1914 by Austrian economist Friedrich von Wieser in his book Theorie der gesellschaftlichen Wirtschaft, the idea had been anticipated by previous writers including Benjamin Franklin and Frédéric Bastiat. Franklin coined the phrase Time is Money, and spelt out the opportunity cost reasoning in his “Advice to a Young Tradesman”, “Remember that Time is Money. ”Bastiats 1848 essay What Is Seen and What Is Not Seen used opportunity cost reasoning in his critique of the broken window fallacy. Explicit costs are opportunity costs that involve direct monetary payment by producers, the explicit opportunity cost of the factors of production not already owned by a producer is the price that the producer has to pay for them. For instance, if a firm spends $100 on electrical power consumed and this cash expenditure represents a lost opportunity to purchase something else with the $100. For example, a manufacturer has previously purchased 1000 tons of steel, the implicit part of the opportunity cost of producing the widget is the revenue lost by not selling the steel and not renting out the machinery instead of using them for production. One example of opportunity cost is in the evaluation of foreign buyers, note that opportunity cost is not the sum of the available alternatives when those alternatives are, in turn, mutually exclusive to each other. It is the next best alternative given up selecting the best option, use for any one of those purposes precludes all the others. If someone loses the opportunity to earn money, that is part of the opportunity cost, if someone chooses to spend money, that money could be used to purchase other goods and services so the spent money is part of the opportunity cost as well. Add the value of the next best alternatives and you have the opportunity cost. If you miss work to go to a concert, your opportunity cost is the money you would have earned if you went to work plus the cost of the concert, question Suppose you have a free ticket to a concert by Band X. The ticket has no resale value, on the night of the concert your next-best alternative entertainment is a performance by Band Y for which the tickets cost $40. You like Band Y and would usually be willing to pay $50 for a ticket to see them, what is the opportunity cost of using your free ticket and seeing Band X instead of Band Y. Answer The benefit you forgo is $10, the $50 benefit of seeing Band Y less the ticket cost of $40
4.
Oligopoly
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An oligopoly is a market form in which a market or industry is dominated by a small number of sellers. Oligopolies can result from forms of collusion which reduce competition. Oligopoly has its own market structure, with few sellers, each oligopolist is likely to be aware of the actions of the others. According to game theory, the decisions of one firm therefore influence and are influenced by decisions of other firms, strategic planning by oligopolists needs to take into account the likely responses of the other market participants. Oligopoly is a market form where a number of firms are in competition. As a quantitative description of oligopoly, the concentration ratio is often utilized. This measure expresses, as a percentage, the share of the four largest firms in any particular industry. Oligopolistic competition can give rise to both wide-ranging and diverse outcomes, in some situations, particular companies may employ restrictive trade practices in order to raise inflate prices and restrict production in much the same way that a monopoly does. Whenever there is an agreement for such collusion, between companies that usually compete with one another, this practice is known as a cartel. A prime example of such a cartel is OPEC, which has an influence on the international price of oil. Firms often collude in an attempt to stabilize unstable markets, so as to reduce the risks inherent in these markets for investment, there are legal restrictions on such collusion in most countries. In other situations, competition between sellers in an oligopoly can be fierce, with low prices and high production. This could lead to an efficient outcome approaching perfect competition, the competition in an oligopoly can be greater when there are more firms in an industry than if, for example, the firms were only regionally based and did not compete directly with each other. Thus the welfare analysis of oligopolies is sensitive to the values used to define the markets structure. In particular, the level of dead weight loss is hard to measure, the study of product differentiation indicates that oligopolies might also create excessive levels of differentiation in order to stifle competition. Oligopoly theory makes use of game theory to model the behavior of oligopolies. In this model, the firms move sequentially, in this model, the firms simultaneously choose quantities. In this model, the firms simultaneously choose prices, profit maximization conditions An oligopoly maximizes profits
5.
Automotive design
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Automotive design is the profession involved in the development of the appearance, and to some extent the ergonomics, of motor vehicles or more specifically road vehicles. This most commonly refers to automobiles but also refers to motorcycles, trucks, buses, coaches, the functional design and development of a modern motor vehicle is typically done by a large team from many different disciplines included within automotive engineering. Automotive design in context is primarily concerned with developing the visual appearance or aesthetics of the vehicle. Automotive design is practiced by designers who usually have an art background, the task of the design team is usually split into three main aspects, exterior design, interior design, and color and trim design. Graphic design is also an aspect of design, this is generally shared amongst the design team as the lead designer sees fit. Design focuses not only on the outer shape of automobile parts. The aesthetic value will need to correspond to ergonomic functionality and utility features as well, though not all the new vehicular gadgets are to be designated as factory standard items, some of them may be integral to determining the future course of any specific vehicular models. The stylist responsible for the design of the exterior of the vehicle develops the proportions, shape, Exterior design is first done by a series of digital or manual drawings. Progressively, drawings that are more detailed are executed and approved by appropriate layers of management, Clay and or digital models are developed from, and along with the drawings. The data from these models are used to create a full sized mock-up of the final design. With three- and five-axis CNC milling machines, the model is first designed in a computer program and then carved using the machine. Even in times of high-class 3d software and virtual models on power walls, here the emphasis is on ergonomics and the comfort of the passengers. The procedure here is the same as with exterior design, the color and trim designer is responsible for the research, design, and development of all interior and exterior colors and materials used on a vehicle. These include paints, plastics, fabric designs, leather, grains, carpet, headliner, wood trim, Color, contrast, texture, and pattern must be carefully combined to give the vehicle a unique interior environment experience. Designers work closely with the exterior and interior designers, designers draw inspiration from other design disciplines such as, industrial design, fashion, home furnishing, architecture, and sometimes product design. Specific research is done into global trends to design for two to three model years in the future. Trend boards are created from research in order to keep track of design influences as they relate to the automotive industry. The designer then uses this information to develop themes and concepts that are further refined and tested on the vehicle models
6.
General Motors
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With global headquarters at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan, United States, GM manufactures cars and trucks in 35 countries. In 2008,8.35 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under various brands, current auto brands are Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Holden, and Wuling. Former GM automotive brands include McLaughlin, Oakland, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Hummer, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall, the company was founded by William C. Durant on September 16,1908 as a holding company. The company was the largest automobile manufacturer from 1931 through 2007, in addition to brands selling assembled vehicles, GM also has had various automotive-component and non-automotive brands, many of which it divested in the 1980s through 2000s. General Motors produces vehicles in 37 countries under twelve brands, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Holden, HSV, Opel, Vauxhall, Wuling, Baojun, Jie Fang, and Ravon. The current company, General Motors Company LLC, was formed in 2009 following the bankruptcy of General Motors Corporation, the new company purchased the majority of the assets of the old GM, including the brand General Motors. In addition to its twelve brands, General Motors also holds a 20% stake in IMM, General Motors employs 212,000 people and does business in more than 140 countries. General Motors is divided into five segments, GM North America, Opel Group, GM International Operations, GM South America. General Motors led global vehicle sales for 77 consecutive years from 1931 through 2007, longer any other automaker. General Motors acts in most countries outside the U. S. via wholly owned subsidiaries, GMs OnStar subsidiary provides vehicle safety, security and information services. In 2009, General Motors shed several brands, closing Saturn, Pontiac, and Hummer, in 2010, the reorganized GM made an initial public offering that was one of the worlds top five largest IPOs to date, and returned to profitability later that year. General Motors Corporation was formed on September 16,1908, in Flint, Michigan, GMs co-founder was Charles Stewart Mott, whose carriage company was merged into Buick prior to GMs creation. Over the years, Mott became the largest single stockholder in GM, and spent his life with his Mott Foundation, GM acquired Oldsmobile later that year. In 1909, Durant brought in Cadillac, Elmore, Oakland, also in 1909, GM acquired the Reliance Motor Truck Company of Owosso, Michigan, and the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company of Pontiac, Michigan, the predecessors of GMC Truck. Durant, along with R. S. McLaughlin, lost control of GM in 1910 to a bankers trust, because of the amount of debt taken on in its acquisitions. The next year, Durant started the Chevrolet Motor Car Company in the U. S. and in Canada in 1915, Durant took back control of the company after one of the most dramatic proxy wars in American business history. Durant then reorganized General Motors Company into General Motors Corporation in 1916, merging Chevrolet with GM, shortly thereafter, he again lost control, this time for good, after the new vehicle market collapsed. These facilities were added to the factories that were exclusive to Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Oakland
7.
Alfred P. Sloan
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Alfred Pritchard Sloan, Jr. was an American business executive in the automotive industry. He was a long-time President, chairman and CEO of General Motors Corporation, Sloans memoir, My Years with General Motors, written in the 1950s exemplified Sloans vision of the professional manager and the carefully engineered corporate structure in which he worked. It is considered one of the texts in the field of modern management education. Sloan is remembered for being a rational, shrewd, and very successful manager, who led GM to become the worlds largest corporation and his rationality and shrewdness are also remembered by his critics as extending even to cold, plutocratic detachment or avarice. While attending MIT he joined the Delta Upsilon fraternity, Sloan became president and owner of Hyatt Roller Bearing, a company that made roller- and ball-bearings, in 1899. Oldsmobile was Hyatts first automotive customer, with other companies soon following suit. In 1916 Hyatt merged with other companies into United Motors Company, Sloan became Vice-President of GM, then President, and finally Chairman of the Board. In 1934, he established the philanthropic, nonprofit Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, raskob came to GM as an advisor to Pierre S. du Pont and the du Pont corporation, the latter was a principal investor in GM whose executives largely ran GM in the 1920s. Sloan is credited with establishing annual styling changes, from which came the concept of planned obsolescence and these concepts, along with Fords resistance to the change in the 1920s, propelled GM to industry-sales leadership by the early 1930s, a position it retained for over 70 years. Under Sloans direction, GM became the largest industrial enterprise the world had ever known, in the 1930s GM, long hostile to unionization, confronted its workforce - newly organized and ready for labor rights - in an extended contest for control. Sloan was averse to violence of the associated with Henry Ford. He preferred spying, investing in an internal undercover apparatus to gather information, when workers organized the massive Flint Sit-Down Strike in 1936, Sloan found that espionage had little value in the face of such open tactics. The worlds first university-based executive education program—the Sloan Fellows—started in 1931 at MIT under the sponsorship of Sloan and they became degree programs in 1976, awarding the degree of Master of Science in Management. Sloans name also lives on in the Sloan-Kettering Institute and Cancer Center in New York, in 1951, Sloan received The Hundred Year Association of New Yorks Gold Medal Award in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York. The Alfred P. Sloan Museum, showcasing the evolution of the industry and traveling galleries, is located in Flint. Sloan maintained an office in 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Rockefeller Center and he retired as GM chairman on April 2,1956. It was finally published in 1964, Sloan was inducted into the Junior Achievement U. S. Business Hall of Fame in 1975. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a philanthropic non-profit organization established by Sloan in 1934, the Foundations programs and interests fall into the areas of science and technology, standard of living, economic performance, and education and careers in science and technology
8.
Henry Ford
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Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and the sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. Although Ford invented neither the nor the assembly line, he developed and manufactured the first automobile that many middle class Americans could afford. In doing so, Ford converted the automobile from an expensive curiosity into a practical conveyance that would impact the landscape of the 20th Century. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry, as the owner of the Ford Motor Company, he became one of the richest and best-known people in the world. He is credited with Fordism, mass production of inexpensive goods coupled with high wages for workers, Ford had a global vision, with consumerism as the key to peace. Ford left most of his vast wealth to the Ford Foundation, Ford was also widely known for his pacifism during the first years of World War I, and for promoting antisemitism through his newspaper The Dearborn Independent and the book The International Jew. Henry Ford was born July 30,1863, on a farm in Greenfield Township, Henry Fords siblings were Margaret Ford, Jane Ford, William Ford and Robert Ford. His father gave him a watch in his early teens. At 15, Ford dismantled and reassembled the timepieces of friends and neighbors dozens of times, at twenty, Ford walked four miles to their Episcopal church every Sunday. Ford was devastated when his mother died in 1876 and his father expected him to eventually take over the family farm, but he despised farm work. He later wrote, I never had any love for the farm—it was the mother on the farm I loved. In 1879, Ford left home to work as an apprentice machinist in Detroit, flower & Bros. and later with the Detroit Dry Dock Co. In 1882, he returned to Dearborn to work on the family farm and he was later hired by Westinghouse to service their steam engines. During this period Ford also studied bookkeeping at Goldsmith, Bryant & Stratton Business College in Detroit, Ford married Clara Jane Bryant on April 11,1888 and supported himself by farming and running a sawmill. They had one child, Edsel Ford, in 1891, Ford became an engineer with the Edison Illuminating Company. After his promotion to Chief Engineer in 1893, he had enough time and these experiments culminated in 1896 with the completion of a self-propelled vehicle which he named the Ford Quadricycle. He test-drove it on June 4, after various test drives, Ford brainstormed ways to improve the Quadricycle. Also in 1896, Ford attended a meeting of Edison executives, Edison approved of Fords automobile experimentation
9.
Body-on-frame
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Body-on-frame is an automobile construction method by which a separate body is mounted on a relatively rigid frame or chassis that carries the engine and drivetrain. It was the method of building automobiles and continues to this day. In the late 19th century frames might be made of wood reinforced by steel flitch plates, mass production of all-metal bodies became general in the 1920s but Europe, with exceptions, followed almost a decade later. Europes custom-made or coachbuilt cars usually contained some wood framing or used aluminium alloy castings, today some new vehicles still have a separate chassis, most commonly pickup trucks and their relatively low volume variants like crossover SUVs. The Ford Model T carried the tradition of body-on-frame over from horse-drawn buggies and it was also easy to use the same chassis and driveline for several very different cars. Especially in the days before computer-aided design, this was a big advantage, most small passenger vehicles switched to unibody construction by the end of the 1930s. The trend had started with cars like the Citroen Traction Avant, trucks, bus manufacturers and large low volume cars or those made in USA continued to use separate bodies on conventional frames. Mass-market manufacturers Ford, General Motors and Chrysler are abandoning true body-on-frame SUVs, opting, when sales volume permits, for more efficient unibody construction. Toyota currently manufactures the most body-on-frame SUVs with the 4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Land Cruiser, Sequoia, Lexus GX and LX followed by Nissan with the Armada, Patrol, Xterra and Infiniti QX56/80. The Ford Panther platform, which was discontinued in 2011, was the last series of passenger cars to be built in this manner. One variant used by Chevrolet for its Corvette incorporates the inner skeleton to the frame, an intermediate to full monocoque construction was the semi-monocoque used by the Volkswagen Beetle and Renault 4. These used a separate chassis made from pressed sheet steel panels forming a platform chassis, to give the benefits of a traditional chassis. Both of these chassis were used for different models. The mid-1930s designed Volkswagen made use of the bodyshell for structural strength as well as the chassis — hence semi-monocoque, traditionally chassis had compliance, they were designed to allow some twisting. As suspensions improved they could not perform correctly unless supporting a rigid structure like that intended to be provided by unibody or monocoque construction. The Lincoln Town Car once dominated the American limousine market because it was the last American luxury car made on the body-on-frame system, with the Town Car discontinued since 2011, the de facto replacement is the Lincoln Navigator SUV. Easier to design, build and modify, quieter, because the stresses do not pass into the body, which is isolated from the frame with rubber pads around the attachment bolts. This is less significant now, but historically bodies would squeak and rattle more as they rusted, lubricants drained, isolated bodies were affected to a lesser degree by these modes of aging
10.
Vehicle frame
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A vehicle frame is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism. Until the 1930s, virtually every car had a structural frame and this construction design is known as body-on-frame. Over time, nearly all cars have migrated to unibody construction, meaning their chassis. Nearly all trucks, buses, and most pickups continue to use a frame as their chassis. The main functions of a frame in motor vehicles are, To support the mechanical components and body To deal with static and dynamic loads. These include, Weight of the body, passengers, and cargo loads, vertical and torsional twisting transmitted by going over uneven surfaces. Transverse lateral forces caused by conditions, side wind. Torque from the engine and transmission, longitudinal tensile forces from starting and acceleration, as well as compression from braking. In the case of a chassis, the frame is made up of structural elements called the rails or beams. These are ordinarily made of steel sections, made by folding, rolling or pressing steel plate. There are three designs for these. If the material is folded twice, an open-ended cross-section, either C-shaped or hat-shaped results and it is made by taking a flat piece of steel and rolling both sides over to form a c-shaped beam running the length of the vehicle. Hat Hat frames resemble a U and may be either right-side-up or inverted with the area facing down. Not commonly used due to weakness and a propensity to rust, however they can be found on 1936–1954 Chevrolet cars, abandoned for a while, the hat frame gained popularity again when companies started welding it to the bottom of unibody cars, in effect creating a boxed frame. Boxed Originally, boxed frames were made by welding two matching C-rails together to form a rectangular tube, modern techniques, however, use a process similar to making C-rails in that a piece of steel is bent into four sides and then welded where both ends meet. While appearing at first glance as a form made of metal. The first issue addressed is beam height, or the height of the side of a frame. The taller the frame, the better it is able to resist vertical flex when force is applied to the top of the frame and this is the reason semi-trucks have taller frame rails than other vehicles instead of just being thicker
11.
Bernard London
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Bernard London was a Russian–American real estate broker, known for his 1932 paper Ending the Depression Through Planned Obsolescence. Scholars credit him with coining the term planned obsolescence, London was born in 1872 or 1873 and began his career in Russia as a builder. Giles Slade wrote that London was self-educated in the history of building construction and ultimately pursued a career in real estate in New York, Slade also notes that London was a Freemason. All three essays were self-published and copies of his works are considered rare, though London registered these essays with the Library of Congress. Giles Slade notes that London began writing these essays at a point of transition in his life — with plenty of time on his hands, scholars trace the origins of the term planned obsolescence to Londons 1932 paper, Ending the depression through planned obsolescence. However, Giles Slade notes that it is unclear whether London invented the phrase planned obsolescence himself or if the term was already circulating in New Yorks business community. In this paper, London advocated restructuring society around a body of experts whose mandate was to achieve an equilibrium of supply and he stated that the problem of the depression was one of human relationships, Primarily, this country and other countries are suffering from disturbed human relationships. Factories, warehouses, and fields are still intact and are ready to produce in unlimited quantities, the existing troubles are man-made, and the remedies must be man-conceived and man-executed. The solution to this problem would be planning the obsolescence of the products so new products should be acquired to replace them and he argued that the essence of my plan for accomplishing these much-to-be-desired-ends is to chart the obsolesce of capital and consumption goods at the time of their production. This would not be a one solution, but a continuous policy that would also generate income for governments. Such a process would put the country on the road to recovery and eventually would restore normal employment. Bernard London, ou la planification de lobsolescence à des fins sociales
12.
Brooks Stevens
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Clifford Brooks Stevens was an American industrial designer of home furnishings, appliances, automobiles and motorcycles — as well as a graphic designer and stylist. Stevens founded Brooks Stevens, Inc. headquartered in Allenton, Wisconsin, in 1944, along with Raymond Loewy and eight others, Stevens formed the Industrial Designers Society of America. Upon his death in 1995, the New York Times called Stevens a major force in industrial design, Stevens was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on June 7,1911. Stricken with polio as a child, he was encouraged by his father to practice drawing while confined to his bed and he studied architecture at Cornell University from 1929 to 1933, and established his own home furnishings design firm in 1934 in Milwaukee. His son, Kipp Stevens, ran the Brooks Stevens Design Associates until late 2008, the museum closed in 1999, four years after his death. Stevens died on January 4,1995, in Milwaukee and he was survived by his wife Alice, sons Kipp, William, and David, a daughter, Sandra A. Stevens, and five grandchildren. His designs in home and kitchen appliances were popular, and he is recognized as the originator of the phase of 1950s kitchen appliances. He also practiced architectural design and graphic design, of note is his design of the Miller Brewing logo and he is also credited with convincing the company to switch from traditional brown bottles to clear bottles. As an automobile designer, Stevens redesigned the 1962 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk on a minuscule budget, the fast, elegant GT remained until the end of American production. According to Hendry, Stevens also styled three innovative products for family car use for the 1964-66 period, all Harleys since, including models in production now, are based on Stevenss body designs. He designed the Jeep Wagoneer, which was introduced for 1963 by Willys-Jeep and this model was so popular that it was offered in basically the same form by Jeeps subsequent owners, including Kaiser Jeep, AMC, and finally Chrysler, until 1991. Stevens designed the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, an American pop-culture icon and he designed engines for Briggs and Stratton. He also designed the university logo for the Milwaukee School of Engineering in 1978 as a part of The Diamond Jubilee celebration, the logo remains in use today. Stevens designed the post-war Skytop Lounge observation cars for the Chicago, Milwaukee and he also designed a series of Excalibur racing sports cars in conjunction with Kaiser Motors. Beginning in the mid-1960s he and his sons began production of the Excalibur and he modernized the Aero-Willys sedans that were offered in Brazil in the 1960s, and there is a very Studebaker Hawk-ish look to the body of these cars. Stevenss design contributions to the boating industry included collaborations with Outboard Marine Corp. to style the Evinrude Lark. He also designed the Evinrude Lark concept boat, eventually produced as the Cadillac Sea Lark, together with Bob Hammonds 1956 Lone Star Meteor, these designs may be credited with introducing post-world war automotive styling to leisure craft. Other work in the industry include designs for Owens Yacht Company
13.
Minneapolis
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Minneapolis is the county seat of Hennepin County, and the larger of the Twin Cities, the 16th-largest metropolitan area in the United States. As of 2015, Minneapolis is the largest city in the state of Minnesota, Minneapolis and Saint Paul anchor the second-largest economic center in the Midwest, after Chicago. Minneapolis lies on both banks of the Mississippi River, just north of the confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Saint Paul. It was once the worlds flour milling capital and a hub for timber, the city and surrounding region is the primary business center between Chicago and Seattle, with Minneapolis proper containing Americas fifth-highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies. As an integral link to the economy, Minneapolis is categorized as a global city. Noted for its music and performing arts scenes, Minneapolis is home to both the award-winning Guthrie Theater and the historic First Avenue nightclub. The name Minneapolis is attributed to Charles Hoag, the citys first schoolteacher, who combined mni, a Dakota Sioux word for water, and polis, Dakota Sioux had long been the regions sole residents when French explorers arrived around 1680. For a time relations were based on fur trading, gradually more European-American settlers arrived, competing for game and other resources with the Dakota. In the early 19th century, the United States acquired this territory from France, fort Snelling was built in 1819 by the United States Army, and it attracted traders, settlers and merchants, spurring growth in the area. The United States government pressed the Mdewakanton band of the Dakota to sell their land, the Minnesota Territorial Legislature authorized present-day Minneapolis as a town in 1856 on the Mississippis west bank. Minneapolis incorporated as a city in 1867, the rail service began between Minneapolis and Chicago. It later joined with the city of St. Anthony in 1872. Minneapolis developed around Saint Anthony Falls, the highest waterfall on the Mississippi River, forests in northern Minnesota were a valuable resource for the lumber industry, which operated seventeen sawmills on power from the waterfall. By 1871, the west river bank had twenty-three businesses, including mills, woolen mills, iron works, a railroad machine shop, and mills for cotton, paper, sashes. Due to the hazards of milling, six local sources of artificial limbs were competing in the prosthetics business by the 1890s. The farmers of the Great Plains grew grain that was shipped by rail to the citys thirty-four flour mills, a father of modern milling in America and founder of what became General Mills, Cadwallader C. Some ideas were developed by William Dixon Gray and some acquired through industrial espionage from the Hungarians by William de la Barre, pillsbury Company across the river were barely a step behind, hiring Washburn employees to immediately use the new methods. The hard red spring wheat that grows in Minnesota became valuable, not until later did consumers discover the value in the bran that Minneapolis
14.
Volkswagen
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Volkswagen, shortened to VW, is a German automaker founded on May 28,1937 by the German Labour Front and headquartered in Wolfsburg. It is the flagship marque of the Volkswagen Group and is the largest automaker worldwide, Volkswagen is German for peoples car, and the companys current international advertising slogan is just Volkswagen. American English pronunciation is approximately volks wagon, for vehicle timeline tables, see, Volkswagen. Volkswagen was originally established in 1937 by the German Labour Front, in the early 1930s, the German auto industry was still largely composed of luxury models, and the average German could rarely afford anything more than a motorcycle. As a result, only one German out of 50 owned a car, seeking a potential new market, some car makers began independent peoples car projects – the Mercedes 170H, Adler AutoBahn, Steyr 55, and Hanomag 1. 3L, among others. The trend was not new, as Béla Barényi is credited with having conceived the design in the mid-1920s. Josef Ganz developed the Standard Superior, in Germany, the company Hanomag mass-produced the 2/10 PS Komissbrot, a small, cheap rear engined car, from 1925 to 1928. Also, in Czechoslovakia, the Hans Ledwinkas penned Tatra T77, Ferdinand Porsche, a well-known designer for high-end vehicles and race cars, had been trying for years to get a manufacturer interested in a small car suitable for a family. He felt the cars at the time were just stripped down big cars. He wanted his German citizens to have the access to a car as the Americans. The Peoples Car would be available to citizens of the Third Reich through a plan at 990 Reichsmark —about the price of a small motorcycle. Despite heavy lobbying in favor of one of the existing projects, thus, Hitler chose to sponsor an all-new, state-owned factory using Ferdinand Porsches design. The intention was that ordinary Germans would buy the car by means of a savings scheme, however, the entire project was financially unsound, and only the corruption and lack of accountability of the Nazi regime made it possible. Prototypes of the car called the KdF-Wagen, appeared from 1938 onwards, the car already had its distinctive round shape and air-cooled, flat-four, rear-mounted engine. The VW car was just one of many KdF programs, which included such as tours. The prefix Volks— was not just applied to cars, but also to products in Germany. On May 28,1937, Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH, more than a year later, on September 16,1938, it was renamed to Volkswagenwerk GmbH. Erwin Komenda, the longstanding Auto Union chief designer, part of Ferdinand Porsches hand-picked team, developed the car body of the prototype and it was one of the first cars designed with the aid of a wind tunnel—a method used for German aircraft design since the early 1920s
15.
DDB Worldwide
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DDB Worldwide Communications Group Inc. known internationally as DDB, is a worldwide marketing communications network. It is owned by Omnicom Group Inc, one of the worlds largest advertising holding companies, the international advertising networks Doyle Dane Bernbach and Needham Harper merged their worldwide agency operations to become DDB Needham in 1986. At that same time the owners of Doyle Dane Bernbach, Needham Harper, in 1996, DDB Needham became known as DDB Worldwide. Bill Bernbach and Ned Doyle worked together at Grey Advertising in New York, in 1949, they teamed up with Mac Dane, who was running a tiny agency, and together they started Doyle Dane Bernbach in Manhattan. The new agency was successful in winning business for clients with small budgets. As of 2013, DDB has had the Volkswagen account since 1959 and their campaigns for Volkswagen throughout the 1950s and 1960s were said to have revolutionized advertising. Notable campaigns included the 1959 Think Small series of Volkswagen advertisements, in 1960, the agency won the account of Avis, then the number-two auto rental company. The tongue-in-cheek approach, We Try Harder Because Were Number 2, was a major success, the DDB Daisy ad is considered a significant factor in Lyndon B. Johnsons defeat of Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election and landed Mac Dane on the infamous Nixons Enemies List, 1972s Little Mikey commercial for Quaker Oats ran continuously in the U. S for twelve years. A branch office was opened in Los Angeles in 1954, in 1961, DDB opened its first international office in West Germany to service Volkswagen. Significant growth came in the mid-sixties after the firm signed Mobil Oil, offices in London and other European locations were opened. Bernbach was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 1968 when the agency was publicly listed, he became Chairman of the Executive Committee in 1976. By 1986, four years after Bernbachs death, the group had worldwide billings of USD $1. 67B,54 offices in 19 countries, and 3,400 employees. Needham Harper Worldwide started in Chicago in 1925 as Maurice H. Needham Co. with two clients and billings totaling $270,000, in 1951, the agency opened a New York office to concentrate on the rapidly expanding television industry. That office merged with Doherty, Clifford, Steers and Shenfield in 1965 and changed its name to Needham, the Chicago office grew with accounts such as the Morton Company, Household Finance Corporation, General Mills and Frigidaire. In 1966, the opened a Los Angeles office to handle the Continental Airlines business. An office was opened in Washington D. C. in 1971 initially to some local McDonalds business. Soon, this agency was winning government and media business and an Issues and Images division was opened to service corporate public relations and this business would eventually become Biederman & Company
16.
George Nelson (designer)
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George Nelson was an American industrial designer and one of the founders of American Modernism. While Director of Design for the Herman Miller furniture company, Nelson and his studio, George Nelson Associates. George Nelson graduated from Hartford Public High school in 1924, thereafter attending Yale University, Nelson did not originally set out to become an architect. He happened upon the school at Yale because of a rain storm. Walking through the building, he came upon an exhibit of works entitled A Cemetery Gateway. Nelson met with some recognition while still an undergraduate, being published in Pencil Points. He graduated with a degree in architecture in 1928, during his final year at Yale Nelson was hired by the architecture firm Adams and Prentice as a drafter. In 1929, Nelson was hired as a Teachers Assistant while getting his bachelors degree at Yale. He received a degree in Fine Arts in 1931, the next year, while preparing for the Paris Prize competition, he won the Rome Prize. The award for the Rome Prize was a year studying architecture with a healthy stipend, based in Rome, Nelson traveled through Europe, where he met a number of the modernist pioneers, whom he interviewed for articles for Pencil Points magazine. While interviewing Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe, Van Der Rohe asked about Frank Lloyd Wright whom Nelson was embarrassed to say, years later he would work with Wright on a special issue of Architectural Forum which would come to be Wrights comeback from relative obscurity. While in Rome Nelson married Frances Hollister, a few years later he returned to the United States to devote himself to writing. Through his articles in Pencil Points he introduced the work of Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, in 1935 Nelson joined Architectural Forum, where he was first associate editor, and later consulting editor. There he defended the modernist principles, arguing against colleagues who, as industrial designers, Nelson believed that the work of a designer should be to better the world. In his view, nature was perfect, but man ruined it by making things that didnt follow the rules of nature. There is not a modern church in the entire country that is comparable to a first-rate cafeteria. At this point Nelson’s career still mainly involved writing for architecture magazines, ford, all of whom he would later collaborate with. It has been argued that Nelson might be called a metadesigner - that his intent of study and practice was neither the nor the product
17.
Entropy
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In statistical thermodynamics, entropy is a measure of the number of microscopic configurations Ω that a thermodynamic system can have when in a state as specified by some macroscopic variables. Formally, S = k B ln Ω, for example, gas in a container with known volume, pressure, and temperature could have an enormous number of possible configurations of the collection of individual gas molecules. Each instantaneous configuration of the gas may be regarded as random, Entropy may be understood as a measure of disorder within a macroscopic system. The second law of thermodynamics states that an isolated systems entropy never decreases, such systems spontaneously evolve towards thermodynamic equilibrium, the state with maximum entropy. Non-isolated systems may lose entropy, provided their environments entropy increases by at least that amount, since entropy is a function of the state of the system, a change in entropy of a system is determined by its initial and final states. This applies whether the process is reversible or irreversible, however, irreversible processes increase the combined entropy of the system and its environment. The above definition is called the macroscopic definition of entropy because it can be used without regard to any microscopic description of the contents of a system. The concept of entropy has found to be generally useful and has several other formulations. Entropy was discovered when it was noticed to be a quantity that behaves as a function of state and it has the dimension of energy divided by temperature, which has a unit of joules per kelvin in the International System of Units. But the entropy of a substance is usually given as an intensive property—either entropy per unit mass or entropy per unit amount of substance. In statistical mechanics this reflects that the state of a system is generally non-degenerate. Understanding the role of entropy in various processes requires an understanding of how. It is often said that entropy is an expression of the disorder, or randomness of a system, the second law is now often seen as an expression of the fundamental postulate of statistical mechanics through the modern definition of entropy. In other words, in any natural process there exists an inherent tendency towards the dissipation of useful energy and he made the analogy with that of how water falls in a water wheel. This was an insight into the second law of thermodynamics. g. Clausius described entropy as the transformation-content, i. e. dissipative energy use and this was in contrast to earlier views, based on the theories of Isaac Newton, that heat was an indestructible particle that had mass. Later, scientists such as Ludwig Boltzmann, Josiah Willard Gibbs, henceforth, the essential problem in statistical thermodynamics, i. e. according to Erwin Schrödinger, has been to determine the distribution of a given amount of energy E over N identical systems. Carathéodory linked entropy with a definition of irreversibility, in terms of trajectories
18.
Toy
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A toy is an item that is used in play, especially one designed for such use. Playing with toys is supposed to be a means of training young children for life in society. Different materials like wood, clay, paper, and plastic are used to make toys, many items are designed to serve as toys, but goods produced for other purposes can also be used. For instance, a child may fold an ordinary piece of paper into an airplane shape. Newer forms of toys include interactive digital entertainment, some toys are produced primarily as collectors items and are intended for display only. The origin of toys is prehistoric, dolls representing infants, animals, the origin of the word toy is unknown, but it is believed that it was first used in the 14th century. Toys are mainly made for children, the oldest known doll toy that has been found is thought to be 4,000 years old. Playing with toys is considered to be important when it comes to growing up, younger children use toys to discover their identity, help their bodies grow strong, learn cause and effect, explore relationships, and practice skills they will need as adults. Adults on occasion use toys to form and strengthen social bonds, teach, help in therapy, most children have been said to play with whatever they can find, such as sticks and rocks. Toys and games have been unearthed from the sites of ancient civilizations and they have been written about in some of the oldest literature. Toys excavated from the Indus valley civilization include small carts, whistles shaped like birds, the earliest toys are made from materials found in nature, such as rocks, sticks, and clay. Thousands of years ago, Egyptian children played with dolls that had wigs and movable limbs which were made from stone, pottery, in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, children played with dolls made of wax or terracotta, sticks, bows and arrows, and yo-yos. When Greek children, especially girls, came of age it was customary for them to sacrifice the toys of their childhood to the gods, on the eve of their wedding, young girls around fourteen would offer their dolls in a temple as a rite of passage into adulthood. The oldest known mechanical puzzle comes from Greece and appeared in the 3rd century BC. The game consisted of a divided into 14 parts. In Iran puzzle-locks were made as early as the 17th century, Toys became more widespread with the changing attitudes towards children engendered by the Enlightenment. Children began to be seen as people in and of themselves, as opposed to extensions of their household, the variety and number of toys that were manufactured during the 18th century steadily rose, John Spilsbury invented the first jigsaw puzzle in 1767 to help children learn geography. He created puzzles on eight themes - the World, Europe, Asia, Africa, America, England and Wales, the rocking horse was developed at the same time in England, especially with the wealthy as it was thought to develop childrens balance for riding real horses
19.
Durable good
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In economics, a durable good or a hard good is a good that does not quickly wear out, or more specifically, one that yields utility over time rather than being completely consumed in one use. Items like bricks could be considered perfectly durable goods because they should never wear out. Highly durable goods such as refrigerators or cars usually continue to be useful for 3 or more years of use, examples of consumer durable goods include automobiles, books, household goods, sports equipment, jewelry, medical equipment, firearms, and toys. Nondurable goods or soft goods are the opposite of durable goods and they may be defined either as goods that are immediately consumed in one use or ones that have a lifespan of fewer than 3 years. While durable goods can usually be rented as well as bought, while buying durable goods comes under the category of investment demand of goods, buying non-durables comes under the category of consumption demand of goods. Several units may be used to measure the durability of a product according to its field of such as years of existence, hours of use. The life span of household goods is significant for sustainable consumption, the longer product life spans could contribute to eco-efficiency and sufficiency, thus, slowing consumption in order to progress towards a sustainable consumption. Cooper proposed a model to demonstrate the role of product life spans to sustainable production and consumption. Coase conjecture Industrial organization Pacman conjecture Planned obsolescence Putty-putty
20.
Disposable camera
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Disposable or single-use camera is a simple box camera meant to be used once. Some are equipped with a flash unit, and there are even waterproof versions for underwater photography. Internally, the use a 135 film or an APS cartridge. While some disposables contain an actual cartridge as used for loading normal, reusable cameras, the whole camera is handed in for processing. Some of the cameras are recycled, i. e. refilled with film, the cameras are returned for processing in the same fashion as film cameras. A company called Photo-Pac produced a cardboard camera beginning in 1949 which shot 8 exposures, cameras were expensive, and would often have been left safely at home when lovely scenes presented themselves. Frustrated with missing photo opportunities, H. M. Stiles had invented a way to enclose 35mm film in an enclosure without the expensive precision film transport mechanism. Though incredibly similar to the familiar single-use cameras today, Photo-Pac failed to make a permanent impression on the market, in 1966, a French company called FEX introduced a disposable bakelite camera called Photo Pack Matic, featuring 12 photos. The currently familiar disposable camera was developed by Fujifilm in 1986 and their Utsurun-Desu or QuickSnap line used 35 mm film, while Eastman Kodaks 1987 Fling was based on 110 film. Kodak released a 35 mm version in 1988, and in 1989 renamed the 35 mm version the FunSaver, in Japan, the Utsurun was released in 1986 for 1380 yen and became widely accepted. Because of the appeal, companies like Konica, Canon and Nikon soon produced their own models. To stay competitive, Fuji introduced advanced features to its original model such as photography, waterproofing. Some cameras even have a manual zoom feature which works by shifting two lenses in front of the shutter, by 2005 disposable cameras were a staple of the consumer film camera market and flash-equipped disposables were the norm. Disposable cameras are popular with tourists and people traveling around the world to save pictures of their adventures, since the late 1990s, disposable cameras have become increasingly popular as wedding favors. Usually they are placed on tables at wedding receptions to be used by guests to capture their unique perspective of the event, more commonly they are available in colors to match the wedding theme such as ivory, blue, white, gold, etc. So-called accident camera kits containing film-based disposable cameras are increasingly being carried in vehicles to take images as evidence after an accident, film photography is potentially a more credible form of photography in the event of a dispute due to the ease with which digital photography can be edited. The low cost of the makes them a perfect tool for these sorts of projects. Digital one-time-use cameras are available in markets, for example the US saw the introduction of a digital camera in 2004
21.
Apple Inc.
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Apple is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services. Apples consumer software includes the macOS and iOS operating systems, the media player, the Safari web browser. Its online services include the iTunes Store, the iOS App Store and Mac App Store, Apple Music, Apple was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in April 1976 to develop and sell personal computers. It was incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc. in January 1977, Apple joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average in March 2015. In November 2014, Apple became the first U. S. company to be valued at over US$700 billion in addition to being the largest publicly traded corporation in the world by market capitalization. The company employs 115,000 full-time employees as of July 2015 and it operates the online Apple Store and iTunes Store, the latter of which is the worlds largest music retailer. Consumers use more than one billion Apple products worldwide as of March 2016, Apples worldwide annual revenue totaled $233 billion for the fiscal year ending in September 2015. This revenue accounts for approximately 1. 25% of the total United States GDP.1 billion, the corporation receives significant criticism regarding the labor practices of its contractors and its environmental and business practices, including the origins of source materials. Apple was founded on April 1,1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, the Apple I kits were computers single-handedly designed and hand-built by Wozniak and first shown to the public at the Homebrew Computer Club. The Apple I was sold as a motherboard, which was less than what is now considered a personal computer. The Apple I went on sale in July 1976 and was market-priced at $666.66, Apple was incorporated January 3,1977, without Wayne, who sold his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak for $800. Multimillionaire Mike Markkula provided essential business expertise and funding of $250,000 during the incorporation of Apple, during the first five years of operations revenues grew exponentially, doubling about every four months. Between September 1977 and September 1980 yearly sales grew from $775,000 to $118m, the Apple II, also invented by Wozniak, was introduced on April 16,1977, at the first West Coast Computer Faire. It differed from its rivals, the TRS-80 and Commodore PET, because of its character cell-based color graphics. While early Apple II models used ordinary cassette tapes as storage devices, they were superseded by the introduction of a 5 1/4 inch floppy disk drive and interface called the Disk II. The Apple II was chosen to be the platform for the first killer app of the business world, VisiCalc. VisiCalc created a market for the Apple II and gave home users an additional reason to buy an Apple II. Before VisiCalc, Apple had been a distant third place competitor to Commodore, by the end of the 1970s, Apple had a staff of computer designers and a production line
22.
Pentalobe security screw
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The Pentalobe security screw, or pentalobe screw drive, is a five-pointed tamper-resistant system primarily used by Apple in its products. Pentalobe screws have been used by Apple since 2009, when they were first implemented in the 15-inch MacBook Pro and they have since been used on other MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and iPhone models. Apple attracted criticism upon the introduction of the screw, it was seen as an attempt to lock individuals out of their devices. Pentalobe screw sizes include TS1, TS4, and TS5, the TS designation is ambiguous as it is also used for the Torq-set screw drive. The first Apple product to include pentalobe screws internally was the Mid 2009 MacBook Pro 15-inch model, three pentalobe screws were used to attach the battery to the internal frame. A1.5 mm flat-blade screwdriver could easily remove these screws and this was the only internal usage of pentalobe screws, all following MacBook Pros use the Tri-Wing security bit to attach the battery to the internal frame. Pentalobe screws reappeared in the version of the MacBook Pro. Eight 3 mm and two 2.3 mm pentalobe screws were used externally to attach the bottom plate of the case to the internal frame. The late-2012 version of the 13-inch MacBook Pro was the first 13-inch model to have pentalobe screws, none of the three 17-inch models of the MacBook Pro have used any pentalobe screws. The MacBook Air has seen extensive use of pentalobe screws than the MacBook Pro. All five versions of the 11-inch MacBook Air include eight 2.5 mm-long, the last five versions of the 13-inch MacBook Air use eight 2.6 mm-long and two 9 mm-long pentalobe screws. Pentalobe screws have only used externally on MacBook Air models. Third-party manufacturers have marketed a variety of 5-point screwdrivers that fit pentalobe screws on MacBook models since pentalobe screws first appeared externally in the late-2010 MacBook Air, despite this the Huawei P9 received a 7/10 on their repairability scale. The original iPhone had no screws holding the body together, the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS had two #00 Phillips screw next to the 30-pin Dock Connector. Pentalobe screws were first used in the iPhone 4, at first, #00 Phillips screws were used, however, many iPhone 4 models now have pentalobe screws. The screws used are slightly smaller than a Torx TS1, about 0.8 mm, if brought in to an Apple Store for repair, iPhone 4 models with #00 Phillips screws, if any, are replaced with 0.8 mm pentalobe screws. Third-party manufacturers rushed to produce screwdrivers that would remove 0.8 mm pentalobe screws after the iPhone 4s release in June 2010 and these inexpensive, easily purchased drivers will remove pentalobe screws quite easily. Many are sold as kits containing a 5-point driver and Phillips #00 screws, most other security screwdrivers will strip the miniature heads, effectively locking the user out of their device
23.
Washing machine
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A washing machine is a machine used to wash laundry, such as clothing and sheets. The term is applied to machines that use water as opposed to dry cleaning or ultrasonic cleaners. Laundry detergent is used to clean clothes, and is sold in either powdered or liquid form. Laundering by hand involves soaking, beating, scrubbing, and rinsing dirty textiles, Water for the laundry would be hand carried, heated on a fire for washing, then poured into the tub. That made the warm soapy water precious, it would be reused, first to wash the least soiled clothing, removal of soap and water from the clothing after washing was originally a separate process. First, soap would be rinsed out with clear water, after rinsing, the soaking wet clothing would be formed into a roll and twisted by hand to extract water. The entire process often occupied an entire day of hard work, Clothes washer technology developed as a way to reduce the manual labor spent, providing an open basin or sealed container with paddles or fingers to automatically agitate the clothing. The earliest machines were hand-operated and constructed from wood, while later machines made of metal permitted a fire to burn below the washtub, the earliest special-purpose mechanical washing device was the washboard, invented in 1797 by Nathaniel Briggs of New Hampshire. By the mid-1850s steam-driven commercial laundry machinery were on sale in the UK, technological advances in machinery for commercial and institutional washers proceeded faster than domestic washer design for several decades, especially in the UK. In the United States there was emphasis on developing machines for washing at home, though machines for commercial laundry services were widely used in the late 19th. The rotary washing machine was patented by Hamilton Smith in 1858, as electricity was not commonly available until at least 1930, some early washing machines were operated by a low-speed, single-cylinder hit-and-miss gasoline engine. After the items were washed and rinsed, water had to be removed by twisting, to help reduce this labor, the wringer/mangle machine was developed. As implied by the term mangle, these machines were quite dangerous, especially if powered. A users fingers, hand, arm, or hair could become entangled in the laundry being squeezed, resulting in injuries, unwary bystanders, such as children, could also be caught. Safer mechanisms were developed over time, and the more hazardous designs were eventually outlawed, the mangle used two rollers under spring tension to squeeze water out of clothing and household linen. Each laundry item would be fed through the wringer separately, the first wringers were hand-cranked, but were eventually included as a powered attachment above the washer tub. The wringer would be swung over the wash tub so that extracted wash water would fall back into the tub to be reused for the next load, the modern process of water removal by spinning did not come into use until electric motors were developed. Spinning requires a constant high-speed power source, and was originally done in a device known as an extractor
24.
Bearing (mechanical)
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A bearing is a machine element that constrains relative motion to only the desired motion, and reduces friction between moving parts. Most bearings facilitate the desired motion by minimizing friction, Bearings are classified broadly according to the type of operation, the motions allowed, or to the directions of the loads applied to the parts. Rotary bearings hold rotating components such as shafts or axles within mechanical systems, the simplest form of bearing, the plain bearing, consists of a shaft rotating in a hole. Lubrication is often used to reduce friction, a wide variety of bearing designs exists to allow the demands of the application to be correctly met for maximum efficiency, reliability, durability and performance. The term bearing is derived from the verb to bear, a bearing being an element that allows one part to bear another. The simplest bearings are bearing surfaces, cut or formed into a part, with varying degrees of control over the form, size, roughness, other bearings are separate devices installed into a machine or machine part. The most sophisticated bearings for the most demanding applications are very precise devices, the invention of the rolling bearing, in the form of wooden rollers supporting, or bearing, an object being moved is of great antiquity, and may predate the invention of the wheel. Though it is claimed that the Egyptians used roller bearings in the form of tree trunks under sleds. They are depicted in their own drawings in the tomb of Djehutihotep as moving massive stone blocks on sledges with liquid-lubricated runners which would constitute a plain bearing, there are also Egyptian drawings of bearings used with hand drills. The earliest recovered example of a rolling element bearing is a ball bearing supporting a rotating table from the remains of the Roman Nemi ships in Lake Nemi. The wrecks were dated to 40 BC, leonardo da Vinci incorporated drawings of ball bearings in his design for a helicopter around the year 1500. This is the first recorded use of bearings in an aerospace design, however, Agostino Ramelli is the first to have published sketches of roller and thrust bearings. An issue with ball and roller bearings is that the balls or rollers rub against each other causing additional friction which can be reduced by enclosing the balls or rollers within a cage, the captured, or caged, ball bearing was originally described by Galileo in the 17th century. The first practical caged-roller bearing was invented in the mid-1740s by horologist John Harrison for his H3 marine timekeeper and this uses the bearing for a very limited oscillating motion but Harrison also used a similar bearing in a truly rotary application in a contemporaneous regulator clock. The first modern recorded patent on ball bearings was awarded to Philip Vaughan and his was the first modern ball-bearing design, with the ball running along a groove in the axle assembly. Bearings played a role in the nascent Industrial Revolution, allowing the new industrial machinery to operate efficiently. For example, they saw use for holding wheel and axle to greatly reduce friction over that of dragging an object by making the act over a shorter distance as the wheel turned. The first plain and rolling-element bearings were wood closely followed by bronze, over their history bearings have been made of many materials including ceramic, sapphire, glass, steel, bronze, other metals and plastic which are all used today
25.
Maintenance, repair and operations
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Maintenance, repair, and operations involves fixing any sort of mechanical, plumbing, or electrical device should it become out of order or broken. In the former case it may be an operation within a larger organization or smaller operation. The former of these represents a closed loop supply chain and usually has the scope of maintenance, repair, the latter of the categorisations is an open loop supply chain and is typified by refurbishment and remanufacture. The main characteristic of the loop system is that the demand for a product is matched with the supply of a used product. Neglecting asset write-offs and exceptional activities the total population of the product between the customer and the service provider remains constant, for material – all action taken to retain material in a serviceable condition or to restore it to serviceability. It includes inspection, testing, servicing, classification as to serviceability, repair, rebuilding, for material – all supply and repair action taken to keep a force in condition to carry out its mission. For material – the routine recurring work required to keep a facility in such condition that it may be used, at its original or designed capacity. Manufacturers and industrial-supply companies often refer to MRO as opposed to original equipment manufacturer, OEM includes any activity related to the direct manufacture of goods, where MRO refers to any maintenance, repair or overhaul activity to keep a manufacturing plant or facility running. Maintenance is strictly connected to the stage of ideation, in which the concept of maintainability must be included, overhaul extends to the concept of improving performance over and above original design specification. Corrective maintenance where equipment is repaired or replaced after wear, malfunction or break down, preventive maintenance is maintenance performed with the intent of avoiding failures, safety violations, unnecessary production costs and losses, and to conserve original materials of fabrication. The effectiveness of a maintenance schedule depends on the RCM analysis which it was based on
26.
Battery (electricity)
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An electric battery is a device consisting of one or more electrochemical cells with external connections provided to power electrical devices such as flashlights, smartphones, and electric cars. When a battery is supplying power, its positive terminal is the cathode. The terminal marked negative is the source of electrons that when connected to a circuit will flow. It is the movement of ions within the battery which allows current to flow out of the battery to perform work. Historically the term specifically referred to a device composed of multiple cells. Primary batteries are used once and discarded, the materials are irreversibly changed during discharge. Common examples are the battery used for flashlights and a multitude of portable electronic devices. Secondary batteries can be discharged and recharged multiple times using mains power from a wall socket, examples include the lead-acid batteries used in vehicles and lithium-ion batteries used for portable electronics such as laptops and smartphones. According to a 2005 estimate, the battery industry generates US$48 billion in sales each year. Batteries have much lower energy than common fuels such as gasoline. This is somewhat offset by the efficiency of electric motors in producing mechanical work. The usage of battery to describe a group of electrical devices dates to Benjamin Franklin, alessandro Volta built and described the first electrochemical battery, the voltaic pile, in 1800. This was a stack of copper and zinc plates, separated by brine-soaked paper disks, Volta did not understand that the voltage was due to chemical reactions. Although early batteries were of value for experimental purposes, in practice their voltages fluctuated. It consisted of a pot filled with a copper sulfate solution, in which was immersed an unglazed earthenware container filled with sulfuric acid. These wet cells used liquid electrolytes, which were prone to leakage and spillage if not handled correctly, many used glass jars to hold their components, which made them fragile and potentially dangerous. These characteristics made wet cells unsuitable for portable appliances, near the end of the nineteenth century, the invention of dry cell batteries, which replaced the liquid electrolyte with a paste, made portable electrical devices practical. Batteries convert chemical energy directly to electrical energy, a battery consists of some number of voltaic cells
27.
Sneakers
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Sneakers are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise. Sneakers have evolved to be used for everyday activities. The term generally describes a type of footwear with a sole made of rubber or synthetic material. Examples of such shoes include athletic footwear such as, basketball shoes, tennis shoes, cross trainers, the term sneakers is most commonly used in the Northeastern United States and Southern Florida. It is also used in North Carolina and Canada, the British English equivalent of sneaker in its modern form is trainer. In some urban areas in the United States, the slang for sneakers is kicks, plimsolls are low tech athletic shoes, and are also called sneakers in American English and daps in Welsh English. The word sneaker is often attributed to American Henry Nelson McKinney who was an agent for N. W. Ayer & Son. In 1917, he used the term because the sole made the shoe stealthy. The word was already in use at least as early as 1887, the name sneakers originally referred to how quiet the rubber soles were on the ground, in contrast to noisy standard hard leather sole dress shoes. Someone wearing sneakers could sneak up on someone while someone wearing standards could not, earlier the name sneaks had been used by prison inmates to refer to warders because of the rubber-soled shoes they wore. Alternatively, just like the Plimsoll line on a ship, if water got above the line of the rubber sole, plimsolls were widely worn by vacationers and also began to be worn by sportsmen on the tennis and croquet courts for their comfort. Special soles with engraved patterns to increase the grip of the shoe were developed. Athletic shoes were used for leisure and outdoor activities at the turn of the 20th century - plimsolls were even found with the ill-fated Scott Antarctic expedition of 1911. Plimsolls were made compulsory in schools physical education lessons in the UK, British company J. W. Foster and Sons designed and produced the first shoes designed for running in 1895, the shoes were spiked to allow for greater traction and speed. This style of footwear also became prominent in America at the turn of the 20th century, in 1892, the U. S. Rubber Company introduced the first rubber-soled shoes in the country, sparking a surge in demand and production. The first basketball shoes were designed by Spalding as early as 1907, the market for sneakers grew after World War I, when sports and athletics increasingly became a way to demonstrate moral fiber and patriotism. The U. S. market for sneakers grew steadily as young boys lined up to buy sneakers endorsed by football player Jim Thorpe, during the interwar period, athletic shoes began to be marketed for different sports, and differentiated designs were made available for men and women. Athletic shoes were used by competing athletes at the Olympics, helping to popularise athletic shoes among the general public, in 1936, a French brand, Spring Court, marketed the first canvas tennis shoe featuring signature eight ventilation channels on a vulcanised natural rubber sole
28.
Nike, Inc.
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The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan area. It is one of the worlds largest suppliers of athletic shoes and apparel, as of 2012, it employed more than 44,000 people worldwide. In 2014 the brand alone was valued at $19 billion, making it the most valuable brand among sports businesses. The company was founded on January 25,1964, as Blue Ribbon Sports, by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight, the company takes its name from Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. Nike also owned Bauer Hockey between 1995 and 2008, and previously owned Cole Haan and Umbro, in addition to manufacturing sportswear and equipment, the company operates retail stores under the Niketown name. Nike sponsors many high-profile athletes and sports teams around the world, with the highly recognized trademarks of Just Do It, Nike, originally known as Blue Ribbon Sports, was founded by University of Oregon track athlete Phil Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman in January 1964. The company initially operated as a distributor for Japanese shoe maker Onitsuka Tiger, says Davis, I told Tom Brokaw that I was the first. I dont care all the billionaires say. Bill Bowerman made the first pair of shoes for me, in fact, I didnt like the way they felt on my feet. There was no support and they were too tight, but I saw Bowerman make them from the waffle iron, and they were mine. In 1964, in its first year in business, BRS sold 1,300 pairs of Japanese running shoes grossing $8,000, by 1965 the fledgling company had acquired a full-time employee, and sales had reached $20,000. In 1967, due to increasing sales, BRS expanded retail and distribution operations on the East Coast, in Wellesley. By 1971, the relationship between BRS and Onitsuka Tiger was nearing an end, BRS prepared to launch its own line of footwear, which would bear the Swoosh newly designed by Carolyn Davidson. The Swoosh was first used by Nike on June 18,1971, patent and Trademark Office on January 22,1974. In 1976, the company hired John Brown and Partners, based in Seattle, the following year, the agency created the first brand ad for Nike, called There is no finish line, in which no Nike product was shown. By 1980, Nike had attained a 50% market share in the U. S. athletic shoe market, together, Nike and Wieden+Kennedy have created many print and television advertisements, and Wieden+Kennedy remains Nikes primary ad agency. Walt Stack was featured in Nikes first Just Do It advertisement, wieden credits the inspiration for the slogan to Lets do it, the last words spoken by Gary Gilmore before he was executed. Throughout the 1980s, Nike expanded its line to encompass many sports
29.
Nike Air Max
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Nike Air Max is a line of shoes first released by Nike, Inc. in 1987. The shoe was designed by Tinker Hatfield, who started out working for Nike as an architect designing shops. The Nike air technology was created and patented by employee M. Frank Rudy, the Nike Air Max shoe uses a large air cushioning unit at the heel which is visible from the side of the midsole in most models. The 1997 model was the first to include a full length Air bag, the line of sneakers is popular amongst many subcultures, for example Hip Hop, Gabber and the working class. In the mid-1990s the line, especially the Air Max 95 model, the extremely inflated prices of the shoes led to a rash of muggings in the normally-peaceful country wherein Air Max wearers were attacked and their shoes were stolen. Even used shoes were in demand, and fakes also became a serious problem, released in 1989 as the Air Max II, the Air Max Light is a running shoe, a successor to the Air Max. It weighed less than the original, achieved by replacing the forefoot polyurethane midsole with one made of EVA foam, re-released in 2007, the Nike has continued to release additional colorways. Known as the Air Max III until 2000, when it was reissued taking its name from the year of its launch year, the original colourway of white/black/cool grey with infrared was chosen to exaggerate the thickness of the sole air cushion. Nike specially designed a pair of Nike Air Max 90s for President George H. W. Bush, images of the customized sneakers have been seen around the Department of Nike Archives, and feature AIR PRES branding along with what appears to be a unique colorway. The Air Max 95 was the first pair in the line to two air cushions in the forefoot and used air pressure technology to fit the curvature of the wearers forefoot. According to a 2007 tabloid newspaper study of the UK Forensic Science Services database of footwear, the product was referenced in the hip hop song Hate It or Love It by The Game, which was a worldwide top 10 hit in 2005. Also referenced by rappers Gucci Mane in the hit single Bricks and Waka Flocka Flame on the track Head First in his 2009 mixtape, the rapper Eminem designed a limited-edition range of Air Maxes sold for charity. Air Max 95 are a running shoe On 21 January 2006 Nike launched the Air Max 360. In September 2006 Nike introduced a one time only pack which fused the 360 model with three classics. The three shoes used were the Air Max 90, Air Max 95, and Air Max 97, for this special release, the design of the 360 sole was used in place of the normal sole of the three classics. The shoes were released in the three colors, red for the Air Max 90, green/yellow for the Air Max 95. Like other Air Max releases, deluxe editions were also produced and these deluxe editions lasted for about 500 miles before their shock absorbing properties deteriorated. The use of 360 of air cushioning is meant to ensure the shoes longevity, the shoes were initially advertised in 1987 with a TV campaign that used the Beatles song Revolution, the first time a Beatles song had been used in a TV commercial
30.
Status symbol
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A status symbol is a perceived visible, external denotation of ones social position and perceived indicator of economic or social status. Many luxury goods are considered status symbols. Status symbol is also a sociological term – as part of social and sociological symbolic interactionism – relating to how individuals and groups interact, as people aspire to high status, they often seek also its symbols. As with other symbols, status symbols may change in value or meaning over time, for example, before the invention of the printing press, possession of a large collection of laboriously hand-copied books was a symbol of wealth and scholarship. In later centuries, books became common, so a private library became less-rarefied as a status symbol. In some past cultures of East Asia, pearls and jade were major status symbols, similar legal exclusions applied to the toga and its variants in ancient Rome, and to cotton in the Aztec Empire. Special colors, such as yellow or royal purple were reserved for royalty. Another common status symbol of the European medieval past was heraldry, status symbols also indicate the cultural values of a society or a subculture. For example, in a society, having money or wealth and things that can be bought by wealth, such as cars, houses. In a society that values honor or bravery, a battle scar would be more of a status symbol, among intellectuals being able to think in an intelligent and educated way is an important status symbol regardless of material possessions. In academic circles, a long list of publications and a tenured position at a prestigious university or research institute are a mark of high status. It has been speculated that the earliest foods to be domesticated were luxury feast foods used to cement ones place as a rich person. A uniform symbolizes membership in an organization, and may display additional insignia of rank, specialty, tenure, a state decoration medal or badge can show that the wearer has heroic or official status. Elaborate color-coded academic regalia is worn during commencement ceremonies, indicating academic rank. In many cultures around the world, diverse visual markers of marital status are widely used, coming of age rituals and other rites of passage may involve granting and display of symbols of a new status. Dress codes may specify who ought to wear particular kinds or styles of clothing, and when, the condition and appearance of ones body can be a status symbol. In times past, when most workers did physical labor outdoors under the sun and often had little food, being pale and fat was a symbol, indicating wealth. Now that workers usually do less-physical work indoors and find time for exercise, being tanned
31.
Inkjet printing
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Inkjet printing is a type of computer printing that recreates a digital image by propelling droplets of ink onto paper, plastic, or other substrates. Inkjet printers are the most commonly used type of printer, the concept of inkjet printing originated in the 20th century, and the technology was first extensively developed in the early 1950s. Starting in the late 1970s inkjet printers that could reproduce digital images generated by computers were developed, mainly by Epson, Hewlett-Packard, in the worldwide consumer market, four manufacturers account for the majority of inkjet printer sales, Canon, HP, Epson, and Brother. The emerging ink jet material deposition market also uses inkjet technologies, typically printheads using piezoelectric crystals, the technology has been extended and the ″ink″ can now also comprise living cells, for creating biosensors and for tissue engineering. There are two main technologies in use in contemporary inkjet printers, continuous and Drop-on-demand, the continuous inkjet method is used commercially for marking and coding of products and packages. In 1867 Lord Kelvin patented the syphon recorder, which recorded telegraph signals as a trace on paper using an ink jet nozzle deflected by a magnetic coil. The first commercial devices were introduced in 1951 by Siemens, the ink droplets are subjected to an electrostatic field created by a charging electrode as they form, the field varies according to the degree of drop deflection desired. This results in a controlled, variable electrostatic charge on each droplet, charged droplets are separated by one or more uncharged guard droplets to minimize electrostatic repulsion between neighbouring droplets. The more highly charged droplets are deflected to a greater degree, only a small fraction of the droplets is used to print, the majority being recycled. CIJ is one of the oldest ink jet technologies in use and is fairly mature, viscosity is monitored and a solvent is added to counteract solvent loss. Drop-on-demand is divided into thermal DOD and piezoelectric DOD, most consumer inkjet printers, including those from Canon, Hewlett-Packard, and Lexmark, use the thermal inkjet process. Vaughts work started in late 1978 with a project to develop fast, low-cost printing, the team at HP found that thin-film resistors could produce enough heat to fire an ink droplet. Two years later the HP and Canon teams found out about each others work, in the thermal inkjet process, the print cartridges consist of a series of tiny chambers, each containing a heater, all of which are constructed by photolithography. The inks involved are usually water-based and use either pigments or dyes as the colorant, the inks must have a volatile component to form the vapor bubble, otherwise droplet ejection cannot occur. As no special materials are required, the print head is generally cheaper to produce than in other inkjet technologies, most commercial and industrial inkjet printers and some consumer printers use a piezoelectric material in an ink-filled chamber behind each nozzle instead of a heating element. When a voltage is applied, the material changes shape, generating a pressure pulse in the fluid. A DOD process uses software that directs the heads to apply between zero and eight droplets of ink per dot, only where needed, piezo inkjet technology is often used on production lines to mark products. For instance, the date is often applied to products with this technique, in this application the head is stationary
32.
Hewlett-Packard
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The Hewlett-Packard Company or shortened to Hewlett-Packard was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. The company was founded in a garage in Palo Alto by William Bill Redington Hewlett and David Dave Packard. HP was the worlds leading PC manufacturer from 2007 to Q22013 and it specialized in developing and manufacturing computing, data storage, and networking hardware, designing software and delivering services. HP also had services and consulting business around its products and partner products.4 billion in 2008, in November 2009, HP announced the acquisition of 3Com, with the deal closing on April 12,2010. On April 28,2010, HP announced the buyout of Palm, on September 2,2010, HP won its bidding war for 3PAR with a $33 a share offer, which Dell declined to match. On October 6,2014, Hewlett-Packard announced plans to split the PC and printers business from its enterprise products, the split closed on November 1,2015, and resulted in two publicly traded companies, HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. William Redington Hewlett and David Packard graduated with degrees in engineering from Stanford University in 1935. The company originated in a garage in nearby Palo Alto during a fellowship they had with a past professor, Terman was considered a mentor to them in forming Hewlett-Packard. In 1939, Packard and Hewlett established Hewlett-Packard in Packards garage with a capital investment of US$538. Hewlett and Packard tossed a coin to decide whether the company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett, HP incorporated on August 18,1947, and went public on November 6,1957. Of the many projects they worked on, their very first financially successful product was an audio oscillator. This allowed them to sell the Model 200A for $54.40 when competitors were selling less stable oscillators for over $200, the Model 200 series of generators continued until at least 1972 as the 200AB, still tube-based but improved in design through the years. They worked on technology and artillery shell fuses during World War II. Hewlett-Packards HP Associates division, established around 1960, developed semiconductor devices primarily for internal use, instruments and calculators were some of the products using these devices. HP partnered in the 1960s with Sony and the Yokogawa Electric companies in Japan to develop several high-quality products, the products were not a huge success, as there were high costs in building HP-looking products in Japan. HP and Yokogawa formed a joint venture in 1963 to market HP products in Japan, HP bought Yokogawa Electrics share of Hewlett-Packard Japan in 1999. HP spun off a company, Dynac, to specialize in digital equipment. The name was picked so that the HP logo hp could be turned upside down to be a reverse image of the logo dy of the new company
33.
Waste hierarchy
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The evaluation of processes that protect the environment alongside resource and energy consumption to most favourable to least favourable actions. The hierarchy establishes preferred program priorities based on sustainability, to be sustainable, waste management cannot be solved only with technical end-of-pipe solutions and an integrated approach is necessary. The waste management hierarchy indicates an order of preference for action to reduce and manage waste, the hierarchy captures the progression of a material or product through successive stages of waste management, and represents the latter part of the life-cycle for each product. The aim of the hierarchy is to extract the maximum practical benefits from products. The proper application of the hierarchy can have several benefits. It can help prevent emissions of gases, reduces pollutants, save energy, conserves resources, create jobs. All products and services have environmental impacts, from the extraction of raw materials for production to manufacture, distribution, use, life cycle thinking and assessment can be used to support decision-making in the area of waste management and to identify the best environmental options. It can help policy makers understand the benefits and trade-offs they have to face when making decisions on waste management strategies, life-cycle assessment provides an approach to ensure that the best outcome for the environment can be identified and put in place. It involves looking at all stages of a life to find where improvements can be made to reduce environmental impacts. A key goal is to actions that shift negative impacts from one stage to another. Life cycle thinking can be applied to the five stages of the management hierarchy. This is because a washing machine’s greatest environmental impact is during its use phase, buying an energy-efficient machine and using low- temperature detergent reduce environmental impacts. The European Union Waste Framework Directive has introduced the concept of life-cycle thinking into waste policies and this duality approach gives a broader view of all environmental aspects and ensures any action has an overall benefit compared to other options. The actions to deal with waste along the hierarchy should be compatible with other environmental initiatives, relatively new activity, introduced for the first time in 2015 by IBCSD LAB Ltd. is the systematic industrial waste prevention. The process has been named INDUSTRIAL UPCYCLING IU and it is based on 6R principles, the 6R add 3 more steps, and build strong WASTE PREVENTION tool. The 6R is abrevation for RECOGNIZE - RECONSIDER - REALIZE - REDUCE - REUSE - RECYCLE, in 1975, The European Union’s Waste Framework Directive introduced for the first time the waste hierarchy concept into European waste policy. It emphasized the importance of waste minimization, and the protection of the environment and human health, following the 1975 Directive, European Union policy and legislation adapted to the principles of the waste hierarchy. Article 4 of the directive lays down a hierarchy of waste management options which must be applied by Member States in this priority order
34.
Competition (economics)
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Merriam-Webster defines competition in business as the effort of two or more parties acting independently to secure the business of a third party by offering the most favorable terms. Later microeconomic theory distinguished between perfect competition and imperfect competition, concluding that perfect competition is Pareto efficient while imperfect competition is not. Competition, according to the theory, causes commercial firms to develop new products, services and technologies, the greater selection typically causes lower prices for the products, compared to what the price would be if there was no competition or little competition. Competition is generally accepted as a condition for the coordination of disparate individuals interests via the market process. It is generally accepted that competition results in lower prices and a number of goods delivered to more people. Less competition is perceived to result in higher prices with a fewer number of—and less innovation in—goods delivered to fewer people, as a result, many governments use competition laws to promote competition and regulate against anti-competitive practices. Competition is seen as a state which produces gains for the whole economy, competition is widespread throughout the market process. It is a condition where buyers tend to compete with other buyers, in offering goods for exchange, buyers competitively bid to purchase specific quantities of specific goods which are available, or might be available if sellers were to choose to offer such goods. Similarly, sellers bid against other sellers in offering goods on the market, competing for the attention, competition results from scarcity—there is never enough to satisfy all conceivable human wants—and occurs when people strive to meet the criteria that are being used to determine who gets what. For the competitive process to work however, it is important that prices accurately signal costs and benefits, where externalities occur, or monopolistic or oligopolistic conditions persist, or for the provision of certain goods such as public goods, the pressure of the competitive process is reduced. Competition may also lead to wasted effort and to increased costs in some circumstances, in a small number of goods and services, the cost structure means that competition may be inefficient. These situations are known as natural monopoly and are usually publicly provided or tightly regulated, competition does not necessarily have to be between companies. For example, business writers sometimes refer to internal competition, the idea was first introduced by Alfred Sloan at General Motors in the 1920s. Sloan deliberately created areas of overlap between divisions of the company so that division would be competing with the other divisions. For example, the Chevy division would compete with the Pontiac division for some market segments, also, in 1931, Procter & Gamble initiated a deliberate system of internal brand versus brand rivalry. The company was organized around different brands, with each brand allocated resources, each brand manager was given responsibility for the success or failure of the brand and was compensated accordingly. This form of competition thus pitted a brand against another brand, finally, most businesses also encourage competition between individual employees. An example of this is a contest between sales representatives, the sales representative with the highest sales over a period of time would gain benefits from the employer
35.
Market saturation
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The theory of natural limits states, Every product or service has a natural consumption level. In effect, a universe of regular users is naturally established over time after which any significant expansion of that universe becomes extraordinarily difficult. The point at which these limits are reached is known as innovation saturation. With some estimates of up to 100 million sports fans in the United States, however, after many years of investment, the sports weeklys natural and most profitable consumption level was reached – where it has remained for more than 20 years. When suppliers abruptly offer large quantities for sale and saturate the market, for example, in advanced economies an extremely high percentage of households own refrigerators. To give another example, in advanced western households, the number of automobiles per family is greater than 1, to the extent that further market growth is constrained, the market is said to be basically saturated. Future sales depend on factors including the rate of obsolescence, population growth
36.
Externality
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In economics, an externality is the cost or benefit that affects a party who did not choose to incur that cost or benefit. Economists often urge governments to adopt policies that internalize an externality, if external costs exist, such as pollution, the producer may choose to produce more of the product than would be produced if the producer were required to pay all associated environmental costs. Because responsibility or consequence for self-directed action lies partly outside the self, if there are external benefits, such as in public safety, less of the good may be produced than would be the case if the producer were to receive payment for the external benefits to others. For the purpose of these statements, overall cost and benefit to society is defined as the sum of the monetary value of benefits and costs to all parties involved. Two British economists are credited with having initiated the study of externalities, or spillover effects, Henry Sidgwick is credited with first articulating. Pigou is credited with formalizing the concept of externalities, suppose that there are K different possible allocations and N different agents, where K, N < ∞ and N ≥2. Suppose that each agent has a type θ i ∼ F i and that each agent gets payoff v i + t i, a map f = is a social choice function if ∑ i =1 N t i ≤0 for all θ ∈ N. An allocation κ, N → K is ex-post efficient if ∑ i =1 N v i ≥ ∑ i =1 N v i for all θ = ∈ N and all k ∈ K. Let κ ∗ denote an ex-post efficient allocation and let κ i ~ denote an ex-post efficient allocation without agent i. Then the externality imposed by agent i on the agents is ∑ j ≠ i v j − ∑ j ≠ i v j. Voluntary exchange is considered beneficial to both parties involved, because buyers or sellers would not trade if either thought it detrimental to themselves. However, a transaction can cause effects on third parties. From the perspective of those affected, these effects may be negative, neoclassical welfare economics asserts that, under plausible conditions, the existence of externalities will result in outcomes that are not socially optimal. Those who suffer from external costs do so involuntarily, whereas those who enjoy external benefits do so at no cost, a voluntary exchange may reduce societal welfare if external costs exist. The externality may even be seen as a trespass on their lungs, thus, an external cost may pose an ethical or political problem. Alternatively, it might be seen as a case of poorly defined property rights, as with, for example, on the other hand, a positive externality would increase the utility of third parties at no cost to them. Since collective societal welfare is improved, but the providers have no way of monetizing the benefit, Goods with positive externalities include education, public health initiatives and law enforcement. Positive externalities are often associated with the free rider problem, there are a number of potential means of improving overall social utility when externalities are involved
37.
Supply and demand
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In microeconomics, supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a market. By contrast, responses to changes in the price of the good are represented as movements along unchanged supply, a supply schedule is a table that shows the relationship between the price of a good and the quantity supplied. Under the assumption of perfect competition, supply is determined by marginal cost and that is, firms will produce additional output while the cost of producing an extra unit of output is less than the price they would receive. A hike in the cost of raw goods would decrease supply, shifting costs up, while a discount would increase supply, shifting costs down, by its very nature, conceptualizing a supply curve requires the firm to be a perfect competitor. This is true because each point on the curve is the answer to the question If this firm is faced with this potential price, how much output will it be able to. Economists distinguish between the curve of an individual firm and between the market supply curve. The market supply curve is obtained by summing the quantities supplied by all suppliers at each potential price, thus, in the graph of the supply curve, individual firms supply curves are added horizontally to obtain the market supply curve. Economists also distinguish the market supply curve from the long-run market supply curve. In this context, two things are assumed constant by definition of the run, the availability of one or more fixed inputs. In the long run, firms have a chance to adjust their holdings of physical capital, furthermore, in the long run potential competitors can enter or exit the industry in response to market conditions. For both of these reasons, long-run market supply curves are generally flatter than their short-run counterparts, the determinants of supply are, Production costs, how much a goods costs to be produced. Production costs are the cost of the inputs, primarily labor, capital, energy and they depend on the technology used in production, and/or technological advances. Following the law of demand, the curve is almost always represented as downward-sloping, meaning that as price decreases. Just like the supply curves reflect marginal cost curves, demand curves are determined by marginal utility curves, the demand schedule is defined as the willingness and ability of a consumer to purchase a given product in a given frame of time. It is aforementioned, that the curve is generally downward-sloping. Two different hypothetical types of goods with upward-sloping demand curves are Giffen goods, by its very nature, conceptualizing a demand curve requires that the purchaser be a perfect competitor—that is, that the purchaser has no influence over the market price. This is true because each point on the curve is the answer to the question If this buyer is faced with this potential price. If a buyer has market power, so its decision of how much to buy influences the price, then the buyer is not faced with any price
38.
Spare part
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A spare part, spare, service part, repair part, or replacement part, is an interchangeable part that is kept in an inventory and used for the repair or replacement of failed units. Spare parts are an important feature of logistics engineering and supply chain management, spare parts are an outgrowth of the industrial development of interchangeable parts and mass production. In logistics, spare parts can be classified into two groups, repairables and consumables. Economically, there is a tradeoff between the cost of ordering a replacement part and the cost of repairing a failed part, when the cost of repair becomes a significant percentage of the cost of replacement, it becomes economically favorable to simply order a replacement part. In such cases, the part is said to be beyond repair. Analysis of economic tradeoffs is formally evaluated using Level of Repair Analysis, repairable parts are parts that are deemed worthy of repair, usually by virtue of economic consideration of their repair cost. Rather than bear the cost of replacing a finished product. This allows components to be easily removed, repaired, and replaced. Spare parts that are needed to support condemnation of repairable parts are known as replenishment spares, a rotable pool is a pool of repairable spare parts inventory set aside to allow for multiple repairs to be accomplished simultaneously. This can be used to minimize stockout conditions for repairable items, parts that are not repairable, are considered consumable parts. Consumable parts are usually scrapped, or condemned, when they are found to have failed, since no attempt at repair is made, for a fixed mean time between failures, replacement rates for consumption of consumables are higher than an equivalent item treated as a repairable part. Because of this, consumables tend to be lower cost items, because consumables are lower cost and higher volume, economies of scale can be found by ordering in large lot sizes, a so-called Economic order quantity. From the perspective of logistics, a model of the cycle of parts in a supply chain can be developed. Ultimately, this ends with the manufacturer. This type of model allows demands on a system to ultimately be traced to their operational reliability, allowing for analysis of the dynamics of the supply system, in particular. When stockout conditions occur, cannibalization can result and this is the practice of removing parts or subsystems necessary for repair from another similar device, rather than from inventory. The source system is crippled as a result, if only temporarily. As a result, operational availability is impaired, industrialization has seen the widespread growth of commercial manufacturing enterprises, such as the automotive industry, and later, the computer industry
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