Lead-time shortening

Another megatrend in this competitive business environment is that all production processes need to be world-class and lean. This means that processes must be automated lead times shortened rework, scrap, and waste minimized or eliminated and less product must appear in inventory. This places a burden on the adhesive formulator in that the products not only must perform in service (e.g., creep resistance, peel strength) but also must perform in the assembly process (e.g., fast cure time, minimal scrap, low energy cure). 

The only way to avoid this is by strict analysis of the supply chain from the customer order to final product delivery. Definition of the optimized (theoretical) process and sequential work towards a high service level approach allow the identification of gaps, and of opportunities which might not always be the cheapest (ship versus train versus plane) but could be the most effective way to reduce capital costs and shorten planning scope - an important aspect, especially in volatile customer markets with long production processes on the (chemical) supplier side. As in the case of CIP, this needs clear parameters, KPIs, commitment from all players, and regular tracking. The most important parameters are the lead time for all products, optimal lot sizes, replenishment points, and safety inventories. 

Despite the ongoing controversy, for which there is decidedly no definitive answer as of the year 2000, there is no doubt the Maunder minimum years were a time of significant misery in Europe, with the long, harsh winters leading to shortened growing seasons, failed crops, and widespread famine. Whether, or to what degree, the Sun is responsible for this, is an important question for atmospheric scientists and astronomers to tackle over the next few decades. 

In the conventional technology, the temperature range in production is 40 °C-60 °C due to safety reasons. Peracetic acid decomposes to oxygen and acetic acid in higher temperatures. However, higher temperature and higher initial concentrations of raw materials at optimal molar ratios increase the reaction rate and would lead to shortened residence time (Swem, D., 1970). Therefore, the major limits are identified for the conventional process in the reaction step, which is both rate-determining and equilibrium-limit. Moreover, it is also a bottleneck step in terms of inherent safety due to the exothermic reaction, the easier decomposition of peracetic acid and explosion. 

Such rapid pulsing may seem excessively fast for the resonances one wishes to observe, especially for those protons with longer relaxation times. However, one should recall that the proton Tis generally measured relate to carbon-12 bound protons, whereas in HMQC one is interested in carbon-13 bound protons. This nucleus acts as an additional dipolar relaxation source for the directly attached proton leading to shortening of the proton Ti value, consistent with the rapid repetition. 

Third, lead time must be shortened for realization of the fact that chemical and biological weapons must be an integral part of our arsenal of defense. Just as we must shorten our technological lead time, so must we have rapid acceptance of the need for total preparedness. 

This resistance is reflected by extremely long incubation umes on first passage of a TSE agent into a new host species. The barrier to infection on first exposure can be very strong and can lead to incubauon umes that exceed the lifetime of the host. However, as the agent is serially passaged through the new host, adaptation occurs and incubation times shorten until a stable incubation time is reached. 

Shortened lead times and improved market response speed... 

For today s manufacturing industry, engineered pressure-sensitive laminates have the ability to streamline assembly processes, shorten lead times, reduce operational risks and increase profitability. 

Mechanism analysis Sloan and Christiansen research shows that the less unstable cluster which the water molecules number in clusters needs to change in hydrate formation, the faster transformation process, and leading to shorten the inducted time of hydrate formation. Water molecules form unstable clusters around the dissolved guest molecules. The number of water molecules in each cluster is C2H( .24, C3H8.28, N2.2O, and H2S-2O. Coordination number depends on the size of the gas molecules. Because each hydrate structure has two types of different coordination number cavities, it is demanded that instability clusters need to correspond with coordination number, too. 

A mold-making system is used for the RTM process using TS polyester-based materials. Molds have already been used for three years and are reported to show good surface despite 5000-6000 demoldings, while involving minimiun capital outlay and giving a shortened lead-time. 

J. R. Hartley, Concurrent engineering Shortening Lead Times, Raising Quality and Lowering Costs, Productivity Press Cambridge, MA (1992). 

Lead time focus Shorten lead time as long as it does not increase cost Investaggressively in ways to reduced lead time... 

Moving from long to short lead-times - Overall lead-time is composed of individual cycle-times for multiple processes. This step involves shortening the cycle-time at each step in the critical path processes from the point of purchase to the start of production for the entire supply chain. 

Evolution to a demand-driven supply chain will likely proceed in the order proposed above. Shortening the lead-time is fundamental to changing batch model economics. Basing decisions on demand comes after adopting the economics of the flow model. Along the path, there is feedback to earlier steps. For each phase in Fig. 2.6 above there are three to four methodologies to be applied towards a DDSC operation. 

Eliminating the need to forecast by supplying real information shortens the product lead time. A firm does not use its capacity to produce products that may not be needed instead it uses its capacity to meet the actual demand. This does not mean that there is no inventory in the system. For example, a firm may receive information from Wal-Mart about how many saw blades were sold in a week. The firm then schedules production. But, Wal-Mart may carry a two-week supply of inventory to protect itself from surges in demand and to allow for lead time. So, the firm is actually replacing inventory when it builds. 

Multicompany funding and staffing. Joint projects reflect a commitment to effective supply chain design. Such participation will shorten implementation lead-time. A challenge will be to balance contributions among partners. 

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