Cost control

Between 1979 and 1991, the amounts of herbicide apphed in the United States have remained constant, but the expenditures on herbicides have increased 54%. Agricultural costs accounted for ah. of this increase and more, since herbicide user expenditures in the government/commercial and home sectors combined dropped 3 to 4% during that period. Increased weed control costs related to crop protection have also contributed to the 37% increase, since 1988, in total annual user expenditures for pesticides in general, ie, herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides. In the United States, agricultural uses (ca 1993) account for more than 67% of total pesticide user expenses and 75% of the quantity used annually. Herbicides are now the lea ding type of pesticides in terms of both user expenditures and volumes used (1). 

The avadabihty of prompt iadustrial scrap is directiy related to the level of iadustrial activity. Producers geaeraHy do aot accumulate prompt iadustrial scrap because of storage requiremeats and iaventory control costs. Thus, it is rapidly available to the scrap consumer or the ferrous scrap iadustry. Prompt iadustrial scrap comes from imported steel as well as domestic steel mill products. Obsolete scrap, also known as old or post-coasumer scrap, is widely used. Treads ia aew steelmaking capacity and the reduced proportions of premium scrap iadicate that use of obsolete scrap should be expected to iacrease. 

Because zinc-based alloys have low melting points, energy savings in the melting operation are substantial and the foundry operation is essentially free of fume. With the current trend of increasing energy costs and pollution control, cost benefits can be considerable (114). 

Removal of metal chlorides from the bottoms of the Hquid-phase ethylene chlorination process has been studied (43). A detailed summary of production methods, emissions, emission controls, costs, and impacts of the control measures has been made (44). Residues from this process can also be recovered by evaporation, decomposition at high temperatures, and distillation (45). A review of the by-products produced in the different manufacturing processes has also been performed (46). Several processes have been developed to limit ethylene losses in the inerts purge from an oxychlorination reactor (47,48). 

The manufacturing cost consists of direct, indirect, distribution, and fixed costs. Direct costs are raw materials, operating labor, production supervision, utihties, suppHes, repair, and maintenance. Typical indirect costs include payroll overhead, quaHty control, storage, royalties, and plant overhead, eg, safety, protection, personnel, services, yard, waste, environmental control, and other plant categories. However, environmental control costs are frequendy set up as a separate account and calculated direcdy. The principal distribution costs are packaging and shipping. Fixed costs, which are insensitive to production level, include depreciation, property taxes, rents, insurance, and, in some cases, interest expense. 

Capital, operating, and some environmental control costs... 

An industrial organization must decide whether to charge off air pollution control costs as a corporate charge, so that the plant manager does not include them in the accounts or the reverse, so that the plant manager must show a profit for the plant as a cost center, after including costs of air pollution control. 

Control Cost Manual," Fifth Edition, EPA 453/B-96-001, Research Triangle Park, NC, February, 1996. 

EPA, 1998a. U.S. EPA, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, "OAQPS Control Cost Manual," S " Edition, Chapter 5, EPA 453/B-96-001, Research Triangle Park, NC. December. 

The economic factors must be considered in every application. It is important to find a technique that will meet both the technical and economical requirements. In short, pollution control costs depend on the system characteristics and the application. Some cost equations that generalize the economics of the managing systems are available in the literature. Most of these equations give rough estimates and have an accuracy of only about 30% to 50%. For a comprehensive cost comparison of different units, a detailed cost analysis based on the equipment tender proposals and the special characteristics of the project is necessary. 

Vatavuk, W. M., et al. Thermal and Catalytic Incinerators. In CJAQPS Control Cost Manual, 4th ed. Research Triangle Park, NC EPA (1990). 

In your particular business, it may be profitable to sell some products below cost as an enticement to capture further business where you can make more profit. This will create a force to drive down costs. Remember that if you control change you control cost, so the more stable your processes the less they cost. 

Costs As you work at controlling costs against the approved project budget, you will often encounter conflict with suppliers who feel a need to increase costs over their original commitment. 

The high specifity of biocatalysts also has the advantage of reducing disposal costs (pollution control costs) because relatively few useless and potential harmful byproducts are generated. In addition, waste products that might be produced are, by their very nature, likely to be biodegradable and, therefore, less environmentally damaging compared to those produced in purely chemical synthetic processes. 

Adaptation of metal tolerances to plastics is not advisable. With plastics reaction to moisture and heat, for example, is drastically different from metals, so that pilot testing under extreme use conditions is almost mandatory for establishing adequate tolerance requirements. Also important to control cost is that close tolerances should be indicated only where needed, carefully analyzed for their magnitude, and proven out as to their usefulness. 

They are the operating quality costs of prevention and appraisal that are considered to be controllable quality costs. Add that in year 2000 the IRS decided to let companies deduct ISO 9000 costs as a business expense. Also there are the internal and external failure costs. As the controllable cost of prevention and appraisal increases, the uncontrollable cost of internal and external failure decreases. At some point the cost of prevention and appraising defective product exceeds the cost of correcting for the product failure. This point is the optimum operating quality cost. 

The indemnity fee-for-service model protects the patient from catastrophic medical expenses but has its own set of potential problems. There is little incentive for either the provider or the patient to control costs. The patient pays less than the full cost of care, creating an incentive to use more care. The provider is paid on a fee-for-service basis and thus can generate more income by providing more services. The health care... 

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