Costing RAM design and test analysis model for production facility

The objective of this paper is to provide a model for effective implementation of costing RAM (reliability, availability and maintainability) management in the design and procurement of production facility. This research proposed a two-stem model of costing RAM design and test for production facility. In Step 1, a static model is proposed to find an initial system configuration to meet the required performance based on system RAM and life cycle cost (LCC) and analyze the trade-off relationships between various RAM factors (reliability and maintainability) and LCC. In Step 2, we developed time and failure truncated models for system reliability test and analysis. For computational purposes, we developed computer programs and have shown the sample results. By the sample test run, the proposed model has shown possibilities to provide a good method to analyze system performance evaluation for both design and operational phase. This model can be applied to a wide variety of systems, not only for costing RAM of the production facilities but also for the other kind of equipment.     

CCPS guidelines for chemical process quantitative risk analysis

This paper focuses on the new Guidelines for Chemical Process Quantitative Risk Analysis recently published by the AIChE Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS). CCPS was formed soon after the disasters in Mexico City and Bhopal. CCPS was established in 1985 by the AIChE to develop and disseminate technical information for use in the prevention of major chemical accidents. The center is supported by over 60 industrial sponsors in the chemical process industry (CPI), who provide the necessary funding and professional guidance to its technical committees. The major product of CCPS activities has been a series of guideline books. Table I presents a list of the currently available CCPS guidelines. The first book, Guidelines for Hazard Evaluation Procedures (HEP), presented various structured qualitative techniques (HAZOP, FMEA, etc.) that could be used to identify possible hazards in a chemical facility. The Technical Steering Committee of CCPS decided that a sequel to HEP should be developed which would present quantitative methods for acute process hazards. The Guidelines for Chemical Process Quantitative Risk Analysis (CPQRA) resulted from that decision.     

A semiquantitative risk assessment methodology to prioritize recommendations

Process safety engineers promote loss prevention by providing recommendations when deficiencies are observed. Deficiencies are undesirable conditions that aggravate the likelihood and/or the severity of loss events. Any improvement needs resources, and since the resources are always limited, process safety engineers have to establish priorities for loss prevention recommendations. One appropriate way to prioritize the recommendations is to evaluate and compare the cost of risk reduction associated with the improvements. While qualitative risk analysis techniques may not be able to provide the necessary resolution to differentiate the improvements, quantitative techniques need much expertise, time, and funds. A feasible approach would be a semiquantitative methodology with the simplifications necessary to make it easy to use, but at the same time providing the needed resolution for prioritization. This article presents such a methodology to prioritize loss prevention recommendations. The methodology uses the concept of engineered systems, which are simply hardware (equipment or facility), procedures, or a combination put in place to serve specific functional intents. The basis of the methodology is founded in the premise that deficiencies are always associated with engineered systems and deficiencies increase their failure likelihoods. A few examples are provided with the details of the methodology and the incorporated simplifications. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog, 2009     

Dealing with the process safety “management gap”

The Process Industry has Corporate Safety Policies, codes of practice, skilled engineers and safety specialists and powerful techniques for Hazard Identification, Assessment and Control. Despite the above and a strong commitment to safety, accidents still occur. Many accidents appear to be due to “gaps” in the management systems rather than to failures of professional skills or to a lack of commitment. This paper will review the many stages in designing, constructing and operating a facility between the initial appraisal of a potential project and the final taking out of service of a facility. The “primary” and “secondary” safety checks will be described. The paper will give examples of gaps in management systems which have led to problems. Finally the paper will suggest ways in which these gaps can be minimized.     

Estimating the benefits from collaboration: The case of SEMATECH

SEMATECH (SEmiconductor MAnufacturing TECHnology) was established in 1987 as a not-for-profit research consortium with an original mission to provide a pilot manufacturing facility where member companies could improve their semiconductor manufacturing process technology. Since its inception, SEMATECH's mission has become more general. This paper presents the findings from a quantitative case-based analysis of the returns to member companies from their investments in SEMATECH. The findings suggest that SEMATECH has provided an organizational structure in which important processes and technologies have been advanced which could not have been justified on economic grounds outside of a collaborative research arrangement.     

A Review of: INVENTION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH by Jacob Schmookler Harvard University Press 1966 332 pp. $9.95

This paper presents a procedure for calculating system and component utilization patterns or load curves which describe the use of a single service facility by several independent agencies. Such load curves are frequently used to allocate cost of the facility among the agencies it serves. The procedure is a computer model that establishes a link between data that are readily obtain ed and data that are required by allocation formulas. The model derives detailed load curves for each agency and for the-total system. A Monte Carlo procedure is suggested in which the model may be used to estimate the sensitivity of allocation formulas to error in the underlying data.     

Access regulation,entry and investments in telecommunications

This paper presents a model of competition between an incumbent and an entrant firm in telecommunications. The entrant has the option to enter the market with or without having preliminary invested in its own infrastructure; in case of facility based entry, the entrant has also the option to invest in the provision of enhanced services. In the case of resale based entry the entrant needs access to the incumbent network. Unlike the rival, the incumbent has always the option to upgrade the existing network to provide advanced services. We study the impact of access regulation on the type of entry and on firms’ investments. We find that without regulation the incumbent sets the access charge to prevent resale based entry and this generates a social inefficient level of facility based entry. Access regulation may discourage welfare enhancing investments, thus also inducing a socially inefficient outcome. We extend the model to account for negotiated interconnection in the case of facilities based entry.     

Stochastic single-source capacitated facility location model with service level requirements

A stochastic version of single-source capacitated facility location problem is considered. A set of capacitated facilities is to be selected to provide service to demand points with stochastic demand at the minimal total cost. The facilities have service level requirements modeled by chance constraints. For Poisson demand, the problem is proved equivalent to a known solvable deterministic problem. For Normally distributed demand, it is equivalent to a deterministic mixed integer non-linear programming problem. A hybrid heuristic of Lagrangean relaxation with a single-customer-multi-exchange heuristic is embedded within a branch-and-bound framework to find upper and lower bounds for this problem. From test instances created from benchmark problems (10–20 facilities and 50 demand nodes) and real-life data on the deterministic problem, the gap between the bounds is within 6.5% with an average of 2.5%.     

VERTICAL INTEGRATION AND SHARED FACILITIES IN UNREGULATED INDUSTRIES

In this paper we analyze the equilibrium market structure, following liberalization, of an industry involving an essential facility. Two alternative modes of market entry are considered, in conjunction with vertical integration, namely: (i) full entry, which means building a new and more efficient facility at a positive fixed cost; and (ii) partial entry, which means purchasing existing capacity from the incumbent, at a fixed price per unit that is freely negotiated between the incumbent and the entrant. We show that vertical integration is a dominant strategy for each firm under either entry mode, and that upstream firms choose to share the incumbent's facility when the entrant's fixed cost exceeds a positive threshold. In addition, welfare analysis shows that in many situations the market can efficiently solve the trade-off between fixed-cost savings and softened downstream competition, thus providing a rationale for the liberalization of such industries. Several competition policy implications are discussed.     

煤矿通风设施管理方法探析

通风是瓦斯治理的基础,通风设施的完好是通风系统稳定的前提。本文阐述了煤矿通风设施管理的重要性,分析了当前煤矿井下通风设施管理存在的问题,提出煤矿通风设施管理新方法及措施,形成了通风设施每班检查技术及管理标准,可以为通风设施管理工作提供参考及借鉴。     

华庆油田产能建设地面工程“六位一体”质量管理

简要介绍了华庆超低渗油田地面工程建设成果,着重阐述了能充分体现全员、全过程、全方位特点的地面工程建设＂六位一体＂质量管理,形成了对今后工程质量管理具有积极指导意义的认识与结论。     

Environmental Performance and the Market for Corporate Assets

Research summary : Scholars and policy‐makers have tended to assume that asset sales have a negative effect on stakeholders, but quantitative evidence to inform the debate has been scarce. In our research, we explored one way such sales could be beneficial: by facilitating the transfer of specialized capabilities used for environmental improvement. Employing quantitative data from a longitudinal sample of U.S. manufacturers, we find evidence consistent with the transfer of capabilities to or from acquired assets. Our results inform theories of ownership change and the conditional flow of capabilities among operations. They provide evidence as well of the existence of environmental capabilities. For policy‐makers they provide needed evidence and insight on the merits of regulations designed to limit asset sales. Managerial summary : It is often assumed that acquisitions harm environmental performance‐‐acquisition leads to greater emphasis on efficiency, while focusing on environmental performance is driven by managerial discretion. We propose instead that acquisitions might lead to improvement in environmental outcomes; the key is in knowing where to look for improvement. We studied thousands of facility‐level acquisitions and find that when a clean firm buys a facility from a dirtier firm, that facility's environmental performance improved. When a dirtier firm buys from a cleaner one, however, it is the dirtier firm's other facilities in the same industry of the target that improved. These results, along with extensions we undertook, suggest that managers and policy‐makers should view acquisitions as conduits rather than impediments in transferring environmental capabilities. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

农村基础设施投资贡献度模型构建研究

农村基础设施投资贡献度研究,是合理确定农村基础设施投资顺序的依据,是优化资源配置的基础,是加快新农村建设步伐的必要条件。基于运用永续盘存法(PIM)测算的1990~2007年间农村道路、自来水设施和电力设施资本存量,运用Eviews 5.0统计分析软件,从影响农民收入、农民支出和农村经济三个维度出发,构建生产函数模型,科学测算各项基础设施的投资贡献度;在此基础上,提出相应政策建议。     

Using Bayesian methods in strategy research: an extension of Hansenet al.

Hansen, Perry, and Reese ( 2004 ) recently argued for and demonstrated the utility of Bayesian methods for research associated with the resource‐based view (RBV) of the firm. In this paper, we propose that Bayesian approaches are highly relevant not only for strategy problems based on the RBV, but also to its extensions in the areas of dynamic capabilities and co‐evolution of industries and firms. Further, we argue that Bayesian methods are equally applicable for a wide range of strategy research questions at both the micro‐ and macro‐level. Bayesian techniques are especially useful in addressing specific methodological challenges related to firm‐ and individual‐level effects, firm‐level predictive results, precision with small samples, asymmetric distributions, and the treatment of missing data. Moreover, Bayesian methods readily permit the engineering and updating of more realistic, complex models. We provide a specific illustration of the utility of Bayesian approaches in strategy research on entry order and pioneering advantage to show how they can help to inform research that integrates micro‐ and macro‐phenomena within a dynamic and interactive environment. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

MACHINE TOOL PRODUCTION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES by M. M. Huq and C. C. Prendergast,Scottish Academic Press,Edinburgh, Scotland, 1983, xlll + 132 pp.

Engineering economics courses and textbooks have typically acknowledged the existence of the role of risk in economic decision making, but often in a peripheral way. The approach has been to suggest the existence of risk and uncertainty in engineering decisions, and to quantify that risk. The world of financial decision making includes many more powerful tools and techniques for risk management, rather than just risk measurement. The techniques of risk management include diversification, hedging, insuring, the capital asset pricing model (CAPM), futures contracts, options, and other investments. These portfolio tools are useful to engineering decision making, and the engineering economics community would be well served to include these topics in engineering economics undergraduate education.     

知识产权、基本要素与技术标准化合作

技术标准是高技术等产业竞争与合作的基本要素；知识产权是技术标准化竞争与合作的基本要素；在技术标准化过程中，基本知识产权起着关键作用，决定标准化联盟及其结构．而主导企业的知识产权战略也影响重大。研究这些机理及其规律对于在我国发展自主知识产权，推动高技术产业的标准化合作，促进产业技术进步具有重要意义和深刻启示。     

Comparing the Accuracy of the Minimum-Variance Grid Method to Multiple Regression in Appraised Value Estimates

The adjustment-grid method and the multiple-regression method are the two most frequently used techniques in the sales comparison approach. This paper demonstrates that although both techniques provide unbiased estimators, the minimum-variance grid estimator should result in a smaller standard deviation than the multiple-regression estimator. A technique is also derived to estimate the confidence interval or to perform hypothesis tests for the minimum-variance grid estimator.     

Facility risk review as an approach to prioritizing loss prevention efforts

In large, complex facilities such as refineries and chemical facilities, it is difficult to identify and compare the risks from many different threats to personnel and production activities. Such a comparison, however, is worthwhile because managers can use this information in allocating limited loss prevention resources. A facility risk review (FRR), as described in this paper, is an effective means of identifying and ranking risks in a facility.     

Compensation Options in Joint Ventures. A Real Options Approach

This research focuses on a cluster of dynamic reallocation and restatement of ownership clauses contained in joint venture agreements. These clauses, with potentially significant financial implications, govern the transfer of rights between the parties on two key financial issues: the allocation of profits and losses and the ownership interests in the joint venture. The central contribution of this research is to consider these clauses themselves as non-standard real options and to propose a methodology for assessing their values. Determination of such values will be essential throughout the joint venture negotiation process. In addition, we provide valuable information on another key question of managerial importance: estimating the downside risk of a clause so that the affected party can design a hedging strategy. Two actual case studies extracted from recent joint ventures have been used to stress the importance of these concepts and to develop suitable valuation techniques. The theoretical framework is based on real options methodologies. However, the clauses studied involve real options with non-standard features (compensation options and options with uncertain initial date). Therefore, we have developed ad hoc valuation models with user-friendly numerical examples in spreadsheet format.     

Countervailing effects of value and risk perceptions in manufacturers' adoption of expensive,discontinuous innovations

Both value and risk perceptions are germane to industrial firms' adoption decisions involving discontinuous innovations. Yet a surprisingly limited number of studies examine how these two considerations jointly influence the innovation adoption phenomenon. We intend to fill this gap by studying the countervailing and context-dependent effects of value and risk perceptions on industrial firms' intention to adopt discontinuous innovations.A conceptual model is proposed and tested with data collected from influential decision makers in pharmaceutical manufacturers on their decision to adopt the modular facility technology, a costly, discontinuous facility construction innovation. The findings confirm the offsetting roles of value and risk in affecting adoption and reveal the moderating effects of external market pressure in that both value and risk assume greater roles in affecting adoption as external market pressure increases. Furthermore, our results show a positive effect of external market pressure on value, and negative effects of external market pressure and internal adoption readiness on risk.Our study contributes to the innovation diffusion and industrial marketing literatures by: (1) studying the joint and countervailing effects of value and risk perceptions on adoption decisions by manufacturers, (2) considering the contextual influences on industrial adopters' value and risk perceptions, and (3) gathering data from influential decision makers for a major capital investment decision.