Market-related costs

The cost of prescriptions has risen dramatically in the last several decades. The average price for a single prescription in the USA in 2003 was more than 50.00. This rise is occasioned by new technology, marketing costs, and stockholder expectations. The pharmaceutical industry typically posts double-digit profits annually while the retail business sector shows a 3% profit. The cost to the patient for many new drugs like "statins" exceeds 1000 per year. Pharmaceuticals are the highest out-of-pocket health-related cost for the health sector because many other health care services are covered by health insurance whereas prescriptions are often not. 

The economic assessment completed took into consideration 7,200 operation hours per year (300 days) at an expected production rate of 2,000 kg/h for a minimum plant operation life of 15 years. Related costs such as electricity, steam, MEA, potassium permanganate, wages, CO2 plant investment and installation eost, and the CO2 market price, have been considered. 

There is much preliminary work to be done—research into existing (similar and/or related) products, market analysis, cost estimating, safety assessment, etc.—before the designer should start sketching his or her idea. But at this point, the designer should understand what can be done with plastics, which processes to select, how to choose the proper materials, and how to design so that the product not only will work as expected but also can be made efficiently. 

In addition to the basic negotiation of costs and quantities of pipe to be supplied, the relationship between pipe maker and pipe user may involve other market related factors. Technical support may be required in terms of material selection, application of technical standards and provision of quality control test services. Transport to the site of use may involve restrictions in terms of vehicle size or times of delivery. This is particularly so when pipes are being laid below busy city streets or in remote rural locations. Pipe storage areas near the site may be limited and this then implies smaller, more frequent deliveries. Such practical considerations may have a significant bearing on the delivery price of pipe. 

Some costs (e.g. raw materials, use of specific machinery, some labour costs) can be directly associated with specific products or services. They are therefore taken into account directly in determining prices. Other costs, such as sales and marketing, managers costs and costs related to the preparation of bids, carmot be directly associated... 

Business process competencies represent the practical implementation of the market-related core activities of a company, which are directly related to customer requirements. Besides lowering process costs and procurement times, quality and performance need to be aligned to customer requirements. The... 

Improving mechanical properties such as toughness usually serve as the main reasons for the development of novel thermoplastic alloys and blends [4]. Other reasons for blending two or more polymers together include (i) to improve the polymer s processability, especially for the high-temperature polyaromatic thermoplastics (ii) to enhance the physical and mechanical properties of the blend, making them more desirable than those of the individual polymers in the blend and (iii) to meet the market force (cost dilution). Most products succeed because of a beneficial combination or balance of properties rather than because of any single characteristic. In addition, a material must have a favorable benefit-to-cost relation if it is to be selected over other materials for a particular application. One key technical issue is whether the blend will exhibit additive properties, or not. In many cases properties are well below additive, while in others they may be above additivity. The property relationships exhibited by blends depend critically on the correct control of their phase behavior [3]. 

---