Performance of products

Perhaps the most important role of the plant engineer is process optimization. This function has the sole responsibility for improving the reliability and performance of production and auxiliary systems. 

There are material and processing limitations that can influence the fabrication and performances of products. These subjects are reviewed in Chapter 6, MATERIAL VARIABLE and Chapter 8, EQUIPMENT/ PROCESSING VARIABLE. 

The EPS system was initially developed to be used within the product development process as a tool to help assess the environmental performance of products. The system is based on LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) methodology and uses inventory data (kg of substance A), characterization factors (impact/kg of substance X) and weighting factors (cost/impacts) to calculate the external costs or values of a product. By multiplying the characterization factor with the weighting factor, an impact index is obtained (cost/kg of substance X) which describe the cost/values related to the emission per use of a kg of a certain substance. 

Much research has been done to identify the relationship between the properties of materials as measured in small scale tests and the performance of products made from them under real fire conditions [4, 5]. The best approach is to estimate the rate of growth of a real fire (or perhaps the time available before flashover) based on measuring, in a small scale test, the peak rate... 

The complexity of interactions between species and ecosystem functions are not yet fully explored so that simple biological indicators of soil productivity are yet to be identified. In particular, more research is needed on the interactions between the diversity and density of habitats in the agricultural landscape, and the performance of production systems. Both the positive and negative interactions between cultivated and uncultivated areas in organic farming systems need to be covered. Reliable indicators of a supposed functional integrity need to be developed. 

It is not surprising that, given the importance of tearing and the different levels of result obtained from different geometries, a considerable number of tear tests have been devised which, in part, reflect the different stress concentrations found in various products. The arbitrary nature of the geometries means that, in general, the measured tear strength is not an intrinsic property of the material and it is difficult to directly correlate the results of laboratory tests with the performance of products in service. 

When accelerated-aging methods are used to predict long-term performance of products, the predictions are difficult to verify with natural-aging results. It is therefore desirable to ensure that the following criteria are met to generate reasonable confidence in accelerated-aging results ... 

Since the sales numbers taken from the 2001 analysis only represent a snapshot in time of a considerably dynamic field, a trend analysis with more predictive value can be obtained from the growth performance of products in conjunction with the respective market share (Table 1.2) [4],... 

ASTM D 4488-89, Guide for testing cleaning performance of products intended for use on resilient flooring and washable walls, Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol. 15.04, American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, PA, 2000, p. 474. 

Market Research can assist the Sales Department in developing a more realistic budget for monitoring the performance of products and individuals in three ways. It can provide the budget assumption, appraise and assist in the revision of initial and interim budget estimates, and review actual performance in the light of economic forces that have prevailed. 

They allow real advances in the environmental performance of production processes, through lower energy consumption and biodegradabiUty. 

In general, the soybean and rapeseed oils were discriminated by PCA, and the two spoilt oils behaved differently with the rancid rapeseed samples exhibiting more object scatter on the PC-scores plot than the adulterated soybean oil. For the PLS and RBF-ANN prediction methods, suitable training models were devised, which were able to predict satisfactorily the category of the four different oil samples in the verification set. Rank ordering with the use of MCDM models indicated that the oil types can be discriminated on the PROMETHEE 11 scale. For the first time, it was demonstrated how ranking of oil objects with the use of PROMETHEE and GAIA could be utilized as a versatile indicator of quality performance of products on the basis of a standard selected by the stakeholder. 

AATCC 127—1998 test the performance of products under external pressure fluids present on the fabric... 

ST 80.5—1995 test the performance of products when fluids remain standing on one area of fabric... 

Hydroperoxides formed during processing of polymers have a profoundly deleterious effect on the long-term performance of products made from them. This is a consequence of the very great sensitivity of hydroperoxides to light which leads to the rapid deterioration of the polyolefins, PVC and rubber-modified polymers in the outdoor environment. Their formation is of crucial importance to the weathering of industrial polymers since these highly reactive free radicals produced are initiators for the photooxidation of polymers. 

EC, 2013. 2013/179/EU Commission Recommendation of 9 April 2013 on the Use ofCommon Methods to Measure and Communicate the Life Cycle Environmental Performance of Products and Organisations. European Commission, http //ec.europa.eu/environment/ eussd/smgp/dev pef.htm (accessed October 2014). 

It is easy to highlight weaknesses of LCA, but this is not a sufficient argument to abstain from its use. Despite the inherent uncertainties of LCA, it has been shown to be an efficient tool for improving the environmental performance of products and processes. 

Proactive purchasing groups typically consider the role of early supplier involvement (ESI) as a tool to improve the cost and quality performance of products. A paper by Zsidisin and Smith [92] summarizes the literature... 

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