Saturday, October 5, 2019
Marketing management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 2
Marketing management - Essay Example They have specialty outlets to cater to niche segments of high spenders as well as sports lovers. One such company is Blackââ¬â¢s Leisure Group plc (Blacks) whose principal activity is outdoor and boardwear retailing. The Group operates through two retail chains of stores called Outdoor and ONeill. The core activities of Outdoor comprise of outdoor and boardwear clothing, footwear and equipment, while ONeill functions as a distributor and retailer of ONeill products in UK. In 12 months ending March 2007On sales of à £ 298.276m it suffered a loss of à £ 12.353m. This has improved somewhat for the next 6 month period in current year by September end with sales at à £146.8m with profits at à £0.2m. This cannot be considered final as the annual set offs like depreciation and reserves can only be calculated at the end of the year. Blacks have also closed down 7 loss making stores out of 45 planned for closure. It also continues to face tough competition from top 4 competitors. The overall market of sportswear is certainly increasing but the prices are under pressure due to customer resistance and high degree of competition. The fact is both external environments affect the competitive advantage of companies and therefore the PEST analysis helps the management to deal with situations and formulate strategic policies to overcome, circumvent or even take advantage of these factors. PEST stands for Political, Economical, Socio-Cultural and Technological factors. As they are all external, the company can at best try to strategize to tune itself in accordance with them for survival, sustenance and indeed for growth. Economical factors cover Development of relevant economic indicators, Business cycles, Unemployment and Industry structures. The economic indicators show growth in the UK economy with controlled inflation at around 3%. The economy has experienced an unusually long period
Friday, October 4, 2019
Analysing the organisational approach to segmentation,targeting and Assignment
Analysing the organisational approach to segmentation,targeting and positioning - Assignment Example Procter and Gamble also acknowledged as P&G is one of the leading packaged product providers in the world. The company operates globally and offers a variety of products under different brand names. Furthermore, in the highly dynamic business environment, marketing strategy is considered to be a crucial determinant for attaining competitive advantage and for gaining profitability with the aim of surviving at the marketplace. Thus, this paper consists of critical strategic analysis of P&G related with market segmentation, target market and positioning followed in different geographical regions.Procter and Gamble, popularly known as P&G is the one of the leading consumer packaged products company. The companyââ¬â¢s annual sales turnover is nearly US$84 billion with annual net earnings exceeding US$10billion. It has also established a brand portfolio of about US$25 billion. Additionally, the company offers a wide range of products which include household care products, grooming produ cts, personal healthcare products and beauty products among others (Procter & Gamble, 2012). The company operates its business in almost all the continents across the world. Evidently, it operates in 180 countries located in different continents. The company offers its products through grocery stores, membership club stores, discount stores and through merchandisers. Moreover, the company employs in excess of 110000 employees globally. From the critical perspective, it has been identified that markets in which P&G operate are highly competitive due to the presence of global and local competitors. Despite high competition faced by the company, it has been able to sustain its business profitability and to establish itself as one of the renowned brands across the world. It is worth mentioning that the companyââ¬â¢s primary mission and purpose is to offer superior quality branded products and services that significantly contribute towards improving the lives of its worldwide spread c ustomers. Over the period of time, the company has prospered dramatically and is continuously able to improve its overall performance and thereby increase it revenue earnings capability. With due consideration to the above recognized facts, the paper intends to critically analyze P&Gââ¬â¢s approach to segmentation, targeting and positioning. Furthermore, this paper entails certain valuable recommendations for the company so that it is able upheld its existing market dominance and superiority along with focusing on offering quality products to its long-list of trusted consumers. Market Segmentation Strategy It has been critically observed that as a key strategic differentiator from its close competitors, the company offers a wide range of products to its globally dispersed customer base. In general, the companyââ¬â¢s business strategies are fundamentally focused on outsized scale operations, product innovation and development along with strong product branding in order to seek greater competitive advantages. The companyââ¬â¢s strategy is continuously directed towards innovating new products and selling these products to its diverse assortment customers in order to attain sustainability and constant growth. Moreover, the company has made considerable investments worldwide and has significantly involved in joint ventures, acquisitions along with establishing alliances to enlarge their business operations and market reach (Graul & et. al., 2006). Additionally, the company operates under three major global business units namely P&G Household Care, P&G Family Health and P&G Beauty. Correspondingly, these global business units of the company are primarily separated into five major divisions which include Healthcare, Snacks and Coffee, Fabric Care, Baby and Family, P&G Beauty and Home Care (Graul & et.
Thursday, October 3, 2019
North and South Differences Essay Example for Free
North and South Differences Essay When the pioneers from Great Britain came to ââ¬Å"The new worldâ⬠, now known as America, they located themselves all over this new land that they had discovered. They divided themselves up into colonies. They had colonies in the north and colonies in the south, both being different from each other do to the climate and geography. In the northern colonies the main economic goals were centered on the industrial business side of things. They produced tons of goods, which allowed them to be able to trade a lot of what they produced. Also they did a lot of fishing, which was a major business in the northern colonies. The southern colonies, unlike the northern colonies, had an economic system based on agriculture and plantations. They also kept their economy growing by having imported or forced labor with the slave trade going on. The south had a lot of hard work that needed to be done and they needed people to do it for them, so they saw slavery as a solution to that problem. The north on the other hand, like I said, was industrial based so they didnââ¬â¢t have a ton of hands on working jobs like the south. The Labor wasnââ¬â¢t near as hard for the north so they didnââ¬â¢t really get into slavery that much. Religion in the northern and southern colonies was also a little bit different. In the north there were more religious settlements, which means that they had more of freedom when it came to religion and things like that. In the south religious activities aligned with Angicans. Which means they did things like the people in Great Britain did. They had the same views on religion as the Britainââ¬â¢s and didnââ¬â¢t have very much freedom in their religion views. The social views from the northern colonies believed that above all that their time should be spent in productive labor. They had large families and enjoyed drinking. They sang, dance, and made music but did all of these things at the appropriate time, and didnââ¬â¢t get excessive with how much they did it. They did not see sex as evil, but believed that people should be married if they did do it. In the south, due to all the economy being based on plantations, society was based on class and race, which made it difficult for everyone to come together into agreement on things. The government was set up in towns and didnââ¬â¢t have much communication with all the towns as one. The northern colonies were more bonded and had mayors, fire departments, police stations, and other things set up like a real government should. The southern colonies combined with the northern colonies produced a pretty good economical system, the southà having the agriculture side and the north having t he industrial side. This made our relationship with England strong because we had things that they would want to trade with us. We affected Englandââ¬â¢s economy positively, which made our relationship strong. The northern colonies strayed away from Englandââ¬â¢s strict religious views so this sort of hurt the relationship between the north and England, but it didnââ¬â¢t hurt the relationship that bad. It wasnââ¬â¢t till after the French and Indian war, where the relationship between the colonies and England started to go down hill. After the French and Indian war when England started to tax the colonies, the south had a lot of ââ¬Å"Toriesâ⬠these were people who did not want to rebel against England. The northern colonies most everyone was in favor of rebelling. So the South had a better relationship with England if you put all the factors together. Even though both of the colonies had their differences, they also had their similarities. Both relied on trade to an extent, both struggled with their economies at first, both had dreams of creating a new society. They both came from the same place, Great Britain, and wanted to start something new and be the beginning of something new. Even with the diversity of the north and south, eventually we came together, and made America what it is today, one of the greatest countries on Earth. Our diversity defines us, and I believe it makes us stronger as a whole.
Trans-boundary Natural Resource Management (TBNRM) Essay
Trans-boundary Natural Resource Management (TBNRM) Essay Trans-boundary natural resource management (TBNRM) can be defined as process of cooperation across boundaries that facilitates or improves the management of natural resources to the benefit all parts in the area concerned (Griffin et al, 1999). TBNRM it attempts to address the challenges of managing natural resources that are collaborated or shared across international or political boundaries and not ecologically, For instance the Albert national park was the national park across international border in Africa that was established by the Belgium colonial regime in 1925 to conserve natural resources occurring in two countries. It spanned the colonial state of Rwanda-Burundi and the Congo (Van der Linde, 2001). The Africans major fall in land, river, lake, forest and national parks (Lycklama à Nijeholt et al, 2001), and these are as follows: River as natural resources form a narrow or wide channel of water which pass across the country or form the boundary between countries, these rivers contain numerous valuable wildlife that migrate across borders (katerere et al, 2001). For example river Limpopo across boulders (Botswana, south Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe) (Microsoft student, 2008), Orange river (Lesotho and Namibia), Congo river (DRC and Republic of Congo), Nile river from east Africa source in lake Victoria flow through Uganda, Egypt, Sudan to Mediterranean sea ( Microsoft student, 2008), the conservation of these rivers need cooperation and collaborations between nations. National park is one of the major natural resource in Africa, since most of these ecological cuts across international boundaries for instance Kruger national park one of the national park in the world located in South Africa bordered by Mozambique and Zimbabwe, The W-Aryl-Pendjari (WAP) is the national park that is complex straddles the countries of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger and one of the largest continuous protected areas in Africa, the great Limpopo trans-frontier parks is the African largest protected area that spread through Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe, the mountain gorilla conservation in Virunga heartland in central albertine rift region of east central Africa span the borders of Democratic Republic of Congo( DRC), Rwanda and Uganda. Congo basin forest forms ecosystem shared by Cameroon, Central Africa, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Maasai Mara game reserve in Kenya and Serengeti National Park in United Republic Tanzania the two neighboring trans-boundaries protected areas where every year herds of wildebeest Zebra and other herbivores migrate between Serengeti national park in Tanzania and Masai Mara game reserved in Kenya (Microsoft students, 2008). Trans-boundary lakes, African continent has a plenty of shared lakes that cuts across international boundaries and some act international boundaries for example lake Tanganyika in the great rift valley that border on north by Burundi, east Tanzania, south Tanzania and west DRC. Lake Victoria found in east central Africa bordered by Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. Lake Chad located at the junction of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameron. Lake Turkana found in central Africa boarded in North West by Kenya with the northern most tip in south western Ethiopia. Lake Albert an elliptical lake in east central Africa located on western Uganda and north eastern DRC, Lake Malawi or Nyasa located in the great rift valley between Malawi on the west Tanzania and Mozambique on east (Microsoft student, 2008). In spite of the African continent to have endowed with different trans-boundary natural resources across countries that contribute to the economic development, these resource posed a great challenge in terms of their utilizations/exploitation or their conservation and or management, hence the following are some of the challenges facing the management of trans-boundary natural resources in Africa:- Differences in conservation policies, Kenya has long pursued aggressive prevention policies concerning wildlife, where as Tanzania has promoted consumptive use including sport hunting, licenses hunting which does not consider proper policies of hunting wildlife. Such differences obviously exacerbate or accelerate problem in natural resources management. Also there has been experimentation on a ground scale with resources which involves less or no consultation of the other memberââ¬â¢s country and this cause conflicts (Serageldin and sfer-younis, 1996). Management issues in resources are difficult to address at the scale of programs where additional requirements of seeking cooperation for example are cooperation on management of rhino and elephant poaching in Masai Mara in east Africa. Under this situation different sets authority among the stakeholders with different policies and laws find it difficult to unity and control the illegal activities in recourses (Lock wood, Worboys and Kothari, 2006). Poor agreements that is timely, equitable and acceptable by all riparian countries. For example the Nile basin which its management find difficulties among members from the upstream and downstream as Egypt and the Sudan recently exchange threats over the use of the Nile river, also Tanzania and Malawi over lake Nyasa and Kenya and Uganda on the ownership of mountain Elgon. These result in constant conflict and mismanagement of natural resources. Also most of the agreements were either the agreements made by between colonizers or bilateral agreements which contradiction among those nations shared the natural resources (Malasse abtew and Stegn, 2014). Protected areas managers and stakeholders find it difficult to determine those issues that have a specific trans-boundary element for example, it is self evident that trans-boundary protected areas must involve and benefit local people, but trans-boundary program may well involve many other aspects such as community who were previously divided by the imposition of an international border which also may associate with border conflicts among the nation involved for example the lake Victoria conflict between Kenya and Uganda on Mgingo island(Lock wood, Worboys and Kothari,2006). Lack of international system to enforce agreements, there are many mechanisms for trans-boundary management that has been agreed among nations faces difficulties in its implementation. Among them are African agreements like African Conversion on the conservation of nature and natural resources of September 1968, river basin agreements which include the Niger basin Authority, the lake Chad basin commission, the Senegal river develop organization, the Gambia river development organization and the Zambezi river authority also specific agreements like Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda agreements on management of lake Victoria. (Serageldin and Sfer-younis, 1996). Lack of trust among stakeholdersââ¬â¢, many stakeholders fails to trust each other on the conservation of trans-boundary natural resource especially in policies on conservations and utilization of natural resources for example stakeholders like community and community, government and government, community and Non-Government Organization, private sector and government (Goldman, 1998). Limited trust among stakeholders reduces cooperation and full participation among stakeholders. This limit the natural resource management conservation (Chifamba, 2012) Different level of economic development, different level of economic development may impose challenges in trans-boundary natural resources management; different nations have difference contribution to trans-boundary natural resources management, for instance different between South Africa and Zimbabwe. The stages in economic development among neighboring countries lead to analogous different in priorities for trans-boundary natural resources management objectives which may sometimes not allowing compatible , hence make it difficult in collaboration on trans-boundary natural resources management programs (Chifamba, 2012) In general trans-boundary natural recourses management is affected by lack of solid data about environmental issues makes cooperation difficult, absence of appropriate financing scheme for effective trans-boundary management also lack of international system in enforcing the agreement because the world has not yet found an adequate system to settle disputes related to trans-boundary programs. All those and other problems might be solved by ways such as ; proper involvement of stakeholders which is key to adaptive management, proper and clear statement concerning trans-boundary resources management also, enhancing or promotion of A forestation in riparian areas. References Chifamba, E (2012) Trans-boundary Natural Resource Management and distribution of rights and benefits to look communities on the Zimbabwe- South African Border. Zimbabwe . International journal of politics and good governance. Goldman, M. (1998). Inventing the Commons: Theories and Practices of the Commonsââ¬â¢ Professional. In M. Goldman (Ed), Privatizing Nature: Political Struggles for the Global Commons: London .Pluto press Griffin, J., Cumming, S and Metcalfe, S. (1999). Study on the development of trans-boundary Natural Resource Management areas in Southern Africa, world wildlife fund: Washington D.C, USA. Griffin, J.,Cumming, S., Metcalfe, S.,Tsas-Rolfel, M and Singh, J.(1999). Trans-boundary Natural Resource Management in sub Saharan Africa. Biodiversity Support Program c/o World Wildlife Fund: Washington DC, USA. Katerere, Y., Hill, R and Mayo, S. (2001).A Critique of Trans-boundary Natural Resource Management in Southern Africa. Paper No1. IUCN-ROSA series on Trans-boundary Natural Resources Management. ICUW. The World Conservation Union. Lockwood, M., Worboys, L. and Kothari (2006).Managing protected areas: A Global Guide library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Dat, USA. Lycklama à Nijeholt, R., Debie, S and Creerling, C(2001). Beyond Boundaries: Regional Overviews of Trans-boundary NRM on West Africa. Biodiversity Support Program: Washington DC, USA. Malesse, M.A., Abtew, W and Setegn, G.(2014). Nile River Basin: Eco hydrological challenges, Climate change and Hypropolitics. Springer Print: New York- USA, Microsoft Cooperation (2007) Microsoft student 2008, Redmond, WA: Microsoft cooperation. Selegeldin, I and Sfeir- Younis, A. (1996). Effective Financing of Environmentally Sustainable Development. World Bank publications. Van derlinde, H., Oglethorpe, J. Snelson, D. and Tessema,Y.(2001) Beyond Boundaries: Trans- boundary Natural Resource Management in Sub Saharan Africa, Biodiversity Support Program: Washington DC, USA.
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Self-Esteem and Self-Concept :: Self Image Self Perception Essays
In todayââ¬â¢s age and the growing trend in American society of ââ¬Å"whatââ¬â¢s hot and whatââ¬â¢s notâ⬠, is having a huge impact on young childrenââ¬â¢s self-concept and self-esteem. Self-concept ââ¬Å"refers to the beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, and ideas people have about themselves,â⬠whereas self-esteem is ââ¬Å"a personal judgment of worthiness that indicates the extent to which the individual believes himself to be capable, significant, successful, and worthy (392).â⬠à à à à à My interest on this subject was peaked after spending the evening with my five year-old cousin, Sami, last week. We were sitting and eating dinner when she said, ââ¬Å"Cali, I am fat and ugly.â⬠Well, I almost fell out of my chair. At the age of five, she was already cutting herself down. ââ¬Å"Research shows that physical appearance is the strongest correlate of global self-worth in childhood and adolescence (398).â⬠à à à à à However, our textbook explains that children around my cousinââ¬â¢s age have a hard time defining their sense of self. They tend to describe their physical characteristics, areas of interest, family life, etc (394). Nowhere in the text does it say that a child her age should be viewing herself in terms of physical attractiveness. Adolescence and high school students are more apt to make judgments of themselves, not children in kindergarten. à à à à à I feel that television, magazines, books and the internet make our youth have a lower self-esteem because they feel they are not as good looking as the characters on their favorite television show. My cousin watches Nickelodeon and even on childrenââ¬â¢s shows it seems there are no ugly or fat children. The actresses look older than I do because of all the make-up and their choice of clothing. What does that say to our youth? ââ¬Å"Most American girls receive consistent and clear messages that beauty is defined in terms of being ââ¬Ëslim and trimââ¬â¢ (398).â⬠à à à à à In the classroom, self-concept and self-esteem have a huge impact on how well a child does in school. When I was in elementary school and especially high school, I would classify myself as being a good language arts student, but a poor Math and Science student. In elementary school there isnââ¬â¢t as much competition between students, therefore I didnââ¬â¢t feel the need to comment on my strengths and weaknesses. Like the author says, ââ¬Å"and older studentââ¬â¢s self-concept may be further broken down according to success in individual subject areas, such as reading, mathematics, or science (394).â⬠In elementary school, all of the subjects could be incorporated into one lesson, while in high school the students switch classes and concentrate on a certain subject per period.
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Global Warming: Implications on Public Health Essay -- Climate Change,
Theories of global warming surfaced in the nineties as the decade proved to be the warmest on record. Since then, nations have come together to attempt to reverse the effects, if that is at all possible. Some refused and some have made great strides in the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions hoping that this will lead a reversal in the direction of the temperature pattern. Many nations have a great stake in the future of the Worldââ¬â¢s climate, as it is the dictator of our very existence. The nations with the most stake in threats of sea level rising and destructive weather tend to be those whose economies are already weak or teetering. Haughty nations with vast resources such as the United States have a little more time to relax. However, new projections of disease vectors, driven by warm weather, finding their way into temperate climates of the economic giants. Diseases such as dengue, malaria, yellow fever, encephalitis, and cholera which usually spare the Americas could be moving North. Cases of such diseases are popping up as far north as New York and Canada striking fear and genuine concern. Models have lead to projections of potential outbreaks of such diseases in industrialized nations. Many say that a warm climate could be what makes the difference. Others still fear not a plague resulting from global climate change and rest assured that industrialized nations are protected by modern conveniences such as advanced medicine, sanitation, and proper housing. Both sides have valid points and credible scientists supporting them. This paper will detail both sides of the argument citing evidence of those who see disaster on the way and those who downgrade the threat to just hype. Introduction Global ... ...mperate regions global warming foster spread of disease into other regions.â⬠World Disease Weekly Plus 23 Mar 1998: 11-12. Kocin, Paul J., Graf, Daniel H. and Gartner, William E. ââ¬Å"Snow. (snowfall records in the US) (Cover Story).â⬠Weatherwise 12 Feb 1995: 24-29. Meyer, Tara. ââ¬Å"Disease, climate experts debate effects of global warming on health.â⬠AP Online 10 Mar 1998: PG. Morris, Kelly. Global-warming predictions may not always be what they seem. Lancet 350 (9094) (1998): 1825. Reiter, Paul. ââ¬Å"Donââ¬â¢t Blame the Heat.â⬠The New Scientist 6 Feb 1999. PG. Simon, Tamar. ââ¬Å"Canadian malaria cases on the rise.â⬠Discovery Channel Canada 25 May 1998: PG. Taubes, Gary. ââ¬Å"GLOBAL WARMING: Apocalypse Not.â⬠Science 7 Nov 1997: PG. Wilton, Peter. ââ¬Å" Malaria may be on move to `tropical' Canada.â⬠CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal 158 (2) (1998): 160.
Selection, Hardware and Software Requirements of a PLC
Understand the selection, hardware and software requirements of a PLC There are 3 types of PLC, unitary, modular and rack-mounted. A unitary PLC Is a stand alone unity, it has no room for expansion and works on Its own. They are useful for automating activities such as stress testing. For example the stress testing of a hoist, Instead of paying someone to manually control the hoists up and down movement leaving time In between each motion a PLC could be used Instead. It could be set up to perform a number of cycles of movement of the holst by the use of Ilmlt switches t the top and bottom of Its movement to detect when to change direction.The time to walt between movements can be set so that the motor doesn't get strained. Other safety features could be added, for example, a set of sensors could be installed around the hoist to stop it's movement if some one comes too close to it. It would also be easier to set the parameters of the test and change them easily for testing a different hoist or piece of equipment. It would have to keep its functionality to a small scale as it can't be upgraded at all. A large variety of inputs and outputs could be sed as most PLCs support analogue and digital.This would mean you could have temperature sensors in use on the analogue and through-beam sensors on digital. It is likely that this type of PLC would be mounted somewhere near the object it is controlling, most likely to a nearby wall. A modular PLC allows for other modules to be connected to it increasing its functionality such as position sensing, stepper and servo motion control and packaging and press controls. Where it may have only had the ability to handle a certain amount of functions adding more increases this. The two or more connect ogether and act as if they still Just one.This would be useful for a company that uses a greater amount automation than the above company, perhaps for a conveyor belt system that is wanted to be upgraded in the future and with modula rity more modules could be added to allow for the extension of the conveyor belt and the new Inputs and outputs that are required. For example a bottling company may only just fill bottles but not label them, they could extend the conveyor to allow for them to print and attach labels to the bottles as well which would require a lot more sensors o detect the location of the bottle and outputs for controlling the labelling machine.Individual parts of the PLC can also be swapped out such as the power supplies and CPU, Central Processing unit, handles the programming and Interpreted the Inputs/ outputs. A rack-mounted PLC is very similar to a modular PLC with the ablllty to upgrade and change different parts of it but they are on standard cards that slot into standard more can be fit into a cabinet due to their design to fit closely with similar units. They are most likely to be used on large assembly lines with a wide range of equipment in use simultaneously.They can be upgraded to all ow the line to run better with more memory and faster CPU to better work with the large amount of things happening. The racks with the PLCs in are likely to be kept either in the factory control room or their own individual room specifically for them. Cost is the most important aspect to selecting the right PLC and the lowest cost PLC is the unitary because it is as it is. It can't be modified in anyway they can get expensive though as the specifications increase.Next up is the modular PLC which can be quite large to allow it to be upgraded with more memory, faster CPU and greater power upply. The most expensive are the rack mounted PLCs. They are much smaller than the modular PLCs but still retain the ability to be upgraded allowing you to have more powerful PLCs in smaller space. A robotic arm inside a cell would need to perform the same task continuously and because of this a PLC could be used.Using a series of limit switches to control when the arm moves there wouldn't be a prob lem because it would be able to stop before hitting any obstructions that may be in the way. For example a series of optical sensors would be able to detect when the item to be manufactured as entered the ell and is in the correct position for the arm which would allow the arm to pick it up and perform what it had been programmed to do. Be it to spray paint on it or to add something onto it, because those motions do not need to be dynamic a single program would be enough to manage it.The software requirements could be quite large depending on the complexity of the task and the robotic arm If there are a lot of joints on the arm that are controlled by motors then the program will need to control each one independently and add to the fact the movements required then it is quite complex set of instructions the arm requires because of this it will need a large amount of memory and a fast CPU to execute the commands quickly as it is likely that the manufacturing cell is required to get t hrough a lot of items a day.This would most likely rule out the use of a unitary PLC because the cost would be too great for one with the required specifications. It is also likely that a large amount of robotic arms would be in use so a rack mounted system would be more space efficient, they do cost more than modular PLCs but keeping all the PLCs in cabinets near each other n a neat and organised manner can make it easier for any maintenance required on them. They would need to be near enough to a computer to program them and update software when necessary.The computer could be in a completely different room as a ethernet cable is used to load the new software into them but having one nearby would make it easier for any quick alterations to the software needed in the likely that the operator would use a proprietary piece of software to program the PLC with, if they were from Siemens they would be programmed in Ladder Logic. A PLC would be very useful for this type of activity becau se it is repetitive, the same item would be having the same thing done to it.A PLC controlled arm doesn't need breaks, if set up properly, so it could take the place of a human and thus save money. A problem though is that the item that comes into the cell could have a defect on it that wouldn't be noticed by the sensors in use so whatever the arm does may be done to something that needs to be scrapped. That is something a human worker would have noticed and would have thus saved money by not doing anything to it.The main benefit of having a PLC control it is that the Job is done autonomously and would be more cost effective than employing a human to do it but you lose out on the fact the human can see what they are doing and ensure that the item entering the cell is correct and make sure he does his Job completely before sending it out, if it was spraying they would be able to check the coat is even and well done by eye where you would not get that from a PLC.Stricter control furth er down the line would eliminate this though. Immediate costs would be expensive with a PLC solution, the obotic arms that are going to be controlled need to be bought, the PLCs need to be bought, mounted and wired, someone needs to write the software for them and then maintain their operation. That position would likely be a higher paid position than someone working on the assembly line.Those that do work on the assembly line do not have as high start up costs but the costs are continuous plus allowance for tools and equipment needed such as PPE. Which leads on to the potential cost each has. If a robotic arm breaks it could potentially lead to the whole line being stopped while it s repaired, both of which will cost time and money.If a worker was to not be wearing the required PPE or Just sustain an injury it could mean that the line has to stop although he would be quickly replaced to keep the line running. There is also a possibility that the person that was injured might file c laims against the company that could lead to a large loss of money. The expansion of what the PLC controlled could be very costly as it would require new equipment and wiring which could mean that parts of production need to be shut down for it to be laid.
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