POM MIDSEM 2010

3. Productivity is a common measure on how well resources are being used.  In the broadest sense, it can be defined as the following ratio:
Productivity = Output/Input  Or 
 Goods and services produced/All resources use


5. Order qualifiers are the basic criteria that permit the firms products to be considered as candidates for purchase by customers
Order winners are the criteria that differentiates the products and services of one firm from another 


7. Bottleneck - Occurs when the limited capacity of a process causes work to pile up or become unevenly distributed in the flow of a process
– If an employee works too slow in a multi-stage process, work will begin to pile up in front of that employee.  In this is case the employee represents the limited capacity causing the bottleneck.
8. Throughput time = Average time for a unit to move through the system
¬
¬ Throughput rate =  1/Cycle time , where Cycle time = Average time between
completion of units
¬
11.  PARLE Factory has “ S FLOW LAYOUT ”




First of all the parle products buys RAW MATERIAL from the various suppliers and stored into the store room. This raw material is then sent to laboratory for testing and
after testing only it is used for manufacturing. The raw material consist of Wheat flour,
Sugar, Partially hydrogenated edible vegetable oils, Invert syrup, Leavening agents (503
Baking powder) Milk, solids Salt Emulsifiers (E 322 or E 471 or E 481) and Dough
conditioners (E 223).
Such a mixture of raw material is taken and mixed into STEPHAN MIXTURE, which is
high power mixture machine. Specially made for mixture of dough, from which the
mixture is passed to molder called ROTARY MOULDER. Through that moulder
approximately 10,000 come out in a minute. Moulder had 260 cups fitted in it which
gives shape to the biscuits and an impression embossed on it of parle-g.
From rotary moulder the dough is passed through a 260 feet long OVEN which is
approximately 340* c. In oven there are three stages to be followed


• Removal of moisture.
•Building the structure of biscuits.
•Colourings of biscuits take place.


From oven the hot biscuits are placed on the COOLING CONVYOR, which is 260 feetlong and the biscuits continues to run on it for 5 to 7 minutes so that the biscuits becomecool and all the moisture that biscuits contain gets evaporated. And because of the above reason the factory has “ S FLOW LAYOUT ” in the factory.


The conveyor continues to move to COUNTING UNIT where biscuits are counted and
seen that it is going on properly or not.


The conveyor continues till the biscuits reach the STALKING TABLE at which the
biscuits are packed in very orderly manner.
From cooling conveyor sum biscuits are diverted through AUTO FEEDING
MACHINE to another stalking machine where packing is done.


From stalking table the biscuits are moved on conveyor to MULTI PACK WRAPPING
MACHINE were 16 biscuits are packed into a regular parle g wrapper so that the weight
of 16 biscuits comes up to 100 grams.
Then 24 packets of parle g biscuits are packed into a POLY BAG
And after packing it into poly bag it is sent to SEALING MACHINE where it is sealed,
Then it is sent to CORRUGATE BOX SECTION in which 6 poly bags are placed and
Then the boxes are kept on conveyor and sent to DISPATCH SECTION from were the
biscuits are sent to various places in India and all over the world.

MOBILE RADIATION IS DANGEROUS ....

The speculative fears of mobile phones being a danger to health in the long run, seem to be coming true. A latest government study talks about the harmful effects of not just using mobile phones but also the radiation from mobile phone towers.

A Times of India report states that -

Radiation from mobile phones and towers poses serious health risks, including loss of memory, lack of concentration, disturbance in the digestive system and sleep disturbances, according to an inter-ministerial committee formed by the ministry of communications and information technology to study the hazards posed by mobile phones.

One India also reported that the damages may not be lethal for humans, but they worse for birds and insects as well. The committee has attributed the radiation effects to the disappearance of butterflies, bees, insects and sparrows.

The government report also says that  mobile towers should not be installed near high density residential areas, schools, playgrounds and hospitals. "The localized SAR value as per the Indian guidelines standard is 2 watt per kg, averaged over a six minute period and using a 10 gram average mass. With higher SAR values of mobile handsets the public could potentially receive much higher radiofrequency exposure. We have recommended that SAR levels to be lowered down to 1.6 watt/kg, as prescribed by the Federal Communication Commission of US," said a member.

The eight-member committee, which included representatives from the health ministry, department of biotechnology and member secretary, DoT, has recommended that mobile phones not adhering to standard levels of specific absorption rate (SAR) - a measure of the amount of radiofrequency energy absorbed by the body while using a phone -- should be barred.

Member scientist, ICMR R S Sharma said that compared to Europeans, Indian cellphone users are more at risk for adverse affect of radiation due the country's hot tropical climate, low body mass index, and low fat content. "We have recommended amendment in the Indian Telegraph Act 1885 and rules so that only mobile handsets satisfying radiation standards should be permitted in the country," he said.

In another report, citizens are scared of the radiation from mobile tower in Andheri.

In the past five years, more than 15 housewives living in Sher-e-Punjab colony in Andheri (East) have suffered from various forms of cancer. Although there is no proof of a direct link, residents are drawing parallels between the appearance of the first cancer case and the installation of the first mobile phone tower in the society nearly seven years ago. Based on a Hindustan Times report.

Neha Kumar, who has been studying the biological effects of mobile phone towers, said, “All these women don’t have any family history of cancer. Plus, all of them are within a certain radius of those mobile towers. All this is not a coincidence.”

So how do we minimise the damage in view of such grave consequences. The report adds - 

“While talking on mobile, keep calls short or send a text message (SMS). This advice should be especially relevant keeping in mind the children, adolescents and pregnant women” said the report.  The advice should be printed in the user manual by handset manufacturers.

“Whenever possible, use cellphone when the signal quality is good. People having active medical implants should keep their cellphone at least 30 cm away from the implant” said the report.

Many a times we find ourselves complaining of bad network in certain areas. Mobile companies raise towers at every nook and corner to beat each other at network coverage. Are we compromising our health for better mobile connections?

Source : Yahoo! India News

SWOT ANALYSIS NESTLE

By ISHA KANDELWAL

SWOT Analysis Nestle

Strengths

• Global food producer, located in over 100 countries. Consistently one of the world's largest producers of food products, with sales in the USA in 2008 of $10 billion; sales and earnings in 2008 were better than expected, even in a downturned economy. Global sales in 2008 topped $101 billion.
• Repeatedly ranked as the world's largest bottled water company and have set up facilities to operate water resources in a responsible manner.

• In 2008, Nestlé was named one of "America's Most Admired Food Companies" in Fortune magazine for the twelfth consecutive year.
• Nestlé provides quality brands and products and line extensions that are well-known, top-selling brands including:
• Lean Cuisine, Yoplait, Maggi, Dryer's/Edy's, Haagen-Dazs, Stouffer's, Boost, Dibs, Hot Pockets.
• Chocolate and Candy: Kit Kat, Toll House, Butterfinger, Baby Ruth, Crunch Bar, the Willy Wonka Candy line.
• Pet Products: Purina, Alpo, Cat Chow, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Tidy Cat.
• Drinks: Carnation, Perrier, Nesquik, S. Pellegrino, Nescafe, CoffeeMate, Taster's Choice, Juicy Juice.
• General Mills: subsidiary which makes Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Hamburger Helper, Pillsbury, Old El Paso, cereals, fruit snacks, frozen pizza, canned soups, frozen vegetables, ready-made frozen meals.
• Gerber: baby formula, prepared baby foods, baby cereals, water, juice, yogurt, foods for infants, toddlers and preschoolers.
• Professional brands sold to restaurants, colleges, hotels, and food professionals including Jenny Craig meals, Impact liquid meals for trauma patients, liquid meals for diabetics, and OptiFast weight loss products.
• Successful due in part to their unquestionable ability to keep major brands consistently in the forefront of consumer's minds (and in their shopping carts) by renovating existing product lines, keeping major brands from slipping into saturation/decline and having superior access to distribution channels.

Weaknesses

• Their LC-1 division was not as successful as they thought it would be in France. In the late 1980s, Dannon entered the market with a health-based yogurt, and become the top selling brand of yogurt; Nestlé's 1994 launch was behind the product life cycle curve in an already mature market and could not compete against a strong, established brand.
• Growth in their organic food sales division was flat in 2008, even though the industry grew 8.9%.
• Since 2004 the breakfast cereal industry has been under fire from the FDA and the American Medical Association, both of which say that false claims of "heart healthy" and "lower cholesterol" need to be removed from packaging and advertising. They have also been forced to reduce the amount of sugar in their products, as parent's advocates groups claimed they were contributing to the diabetes epidemic among American children.
• General Mills is an experienced, established brand and are the market leader in the USA, however, they have been lacking in innovation, have not cashed in on the booming health food craze and have been behind in creating new, niche products, especially in their yogurt division, where Yoplait is the only brand making a profit.
• In 2008, although their products did not carry the recalled pistachios, several of their ice cream brands, Dryer's, Edy's and Haagen-Dazs, were still plagued with bad PR and loss of sales.

Opportunities

• In today's health conscious societies, they can introduce more health-based products, and because they are a market leader, they would likely be more successful.
• Provide allergen free food items, such as gluten free and peanut free.
• They launched a new premium line of higher cacao content chocolates dubbed Nestlé Treasures Gold, in order to cash in on the "recession economy" in which consumers cut back on luxury goods, but regularly indulge in candy and chocolate. Americans want luxury chocolates, and high-end chocolate is immune to the recession (so far), because it is an inexpensive indulgence.
• Opened Nestlé Café's in major cities to feature Nestlé products.

Threats

• Any contamination of the food supply, especially e-coli. Their Toll House brand cookie dough was recalled in March of 2009 because of e-coli. Outbreaks were linked to 28 states and the product had to be recalled globally. Nestlé has yet to find out how this happened, and is still investigating.
• They were affected by the pet food recall in 2007, in which 95 different brands of dog and cat food were recalled due to contamination with rat poison. Also in 2007, FDA learned that certain pet foods were sickening and killing cats and dogs. FDA found contaminants in vegetable proteins imported into the United States from China and used as ingredients in pet food.
• Raw chocolate ingredient prices are soaring; dairy costs alone rose 50% in 2008, this cuts heavily into their profit margins and often gets passed on to consumers, by shrinking the packaging in a way that is almost unnoticeable-therefore the consumer is paying the same prices for less product.
• They have major competitors, like Hershey's, Cadbury-Schweppes (owned by Pepsi), Lindt and Ghirardelli, Kellogg's, Post, Starbucks, Beech-Nut, Quaker, Kraft Foods, Dannon, Del-Monte, Iams, Earth's Best, Heinz, Frito-Lay (owned by Pepsi).

Source : marketing--research.com