Investment alternate models

The alternative model to the dual-competent chemical engineer is the chemical engineer as a member of a multidisciplinary team, one who knows the vocabulary of the other team members but not their theories. Undoubtedly, this model may be necessary at times, but such a member would have little chance to become the dominant creative mind or project leader. For less investment, one gets less results. 

Because investment alternatives are generally modeled as cash flows over some time horizon, it is important to include the effects of inflation in economic equivalence calculations (Thuesen and Fabrycky 1994). This chapter illustrates measures of inflation and how to include it in cash flow analysis calculations. For the remainder of this chapter, the term inflation is utilized exclusively and deflation refers to negative inflation. 

The critical load concept is intended to achieve the maximum economic benefit from the reduction of pollutant emissions since it takes into account the estimates of differing sensitivity of various ecosystems to acid deposition. Thus, this concept is considered to be an alternative to the more expensive BAT (Best Available Technologies) concept (Posch et al., 1996). Critical load calculations and mapping allow the creation of ecological-economic optimization models with a corresponding assessment of minimum financial investments for achieving maximum environmental protection. 

The relevance (and return on investment) for the bioassays preformed in mice have been questioned for some time. In 1997, ICH opened the possibility for the substitution of some form of short- or medium-term mouse test as an alternative for the traditional lifetime mouse bioassay. FDA has subsequently stated that it would accept validated forms of a set of medium-term mouse studies based on transgenic models, and significant effort has since gone into such validation. 

As illustrated, based on simulation results, using the plotted graphs and screens, management can easily evaluate different design alternatives, machine and human behavior models, control systems, sensory feedback processing, and the need of a balanced server architecture, and even investigate what if scenarios further, without committing to major upfront investment. 

In this section we will focus on addressing the difficulties arising in the first two tasks of sequential HEN synthesis and we will discuss simultaneous approaches developed in the early 90s. More specifically, in section 8.5.1 we will discuss the simultaneous consideration of minimum number of matches and minimum investment cost network derivation. In section 8.5.2 we will discuss the pseudo-pinch concept and its associated simultaneous synthesis approach. In section 8.5.3, we will present an approach that involves no decomposition and treats HRAT as an explicit optimization variable. Finally, in section 8.5.4, we will discuss the development of alternative simultaneous optimization models for heat integration which address the same single-task HEN problem as the approach of section 8.5.3. 

The end-of-horizon problem can be resolved in different ways. The simplest option is to accept that network design models with a cash flow objective function cannot properly evaluate investment and restructuring decisions at the end of the planning horizon if their dynamic payback exceeds the remaining periods of the planning horizon. Alternative ap-... 

Global specialty chemicals companies already operate plants in many different countries and have the expertise to navigate in the respective business environments. Therefore, typically political risks are not incorporated into quantitative models but considered when selecting the potential investment candidate countries. If desired, the model can be extended to include political risk based on an aggregate risk parameter to analyze risk/return profiles for alternative network configurations. For a more detailed discussion of the major elements of political risk see Appendix 3. 

Optimization models are capable of evaluating all possible plant-site combinations simultaneously. However, this approach would considerably increase the data preparation efforts required since for each plant-site combination both investment and operating expenditures would have to be estimated. Additionally, calculation times increase significantly with the number of alternative investment opportunities. 

The majority of chemical companies offer a wide range of channel alternatives -e-channels, direct sales, customer service, third party distribution, technical service. This multi-channel approach has greatly increased customer flexibility and the choice of alternative relationship models, but has done little to reduce the investment in direct customer interface capabilities or to differentiate players service offerings. Primarily, it has added complexity and costs to the delivery system. 

First, it is a static model, which therefore does not capture the impact on investment decisions or, alternatively, the restraint of the potential threat of entrants or regulatory intervention put on power generators to keep prices down. In the long run, new investment is required, and therefore the best estimate for long-term power prices is the cost of the entry of a new generator. This... 

Analyze and review impact for alternatives— What are the impacts on time to market, investment cost, and product cost for each alternative Financial analysis is a key element of this step because senior management uses financials as a critical business indicator. Therefore, each alternative needs to be evaluated versus a financial model. What are the risks and tradeoffs to consider for each alternative ... 

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