Benefits and challenges of Enterprise Resource Planning for Pakistani SMEs

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is used to combine all the functions happening inside the organization with the help of one software. All the data is centralized which makes it easy to manage information for all participants. The literature on ERP is studied thoroughly the whole process of adoption till the implementation and final evaluations. But studies that focus on small and medium sized enterprises are limited in number when compared to the large scale enterprises. In case of Pakistan, research is very limited. In this thesis, the author tries to analyze the current status of SMEs usage of ERP system. The benefits obtained and challenges faced by SMEs of Pakistan are studied. Framework presented by Shang and Seddon (2000) is used to understand the benefits obtained by the SMEs in Pakistan. This is a comprehensive framework that classifies the benefits obtained by the ERP adoption, into five categories: operational benefits, managerial benefits, Strategic benefits, IT benefits, and Organizational benefits. The results show that SMEs of Pakistan are also getting many benefits after adoption of ERP. Most of the firms had implemented SAP software. Operational benefits were mentioned by all the firms. The most important benefits were report generation, quick access to critical information, better product and cost planning. Respondents also mentioned that they had reduced corruption as a result of ERP implementation. It is also an important benefit considering high corruption rate in Pakistan. Along with benefits, challenges faced by Pakistani SMEs included infrastructure problems like electricity, difficulties with integration of one module with other module, costs of adoption and lack of skilled ERP consultants. Further studies in this regard can be conducted on cloud based ERP which is fast growing all around the world.

The impact of scheduling on the implementation of the new Ontario curriculum: teachers' perceptions /

This qualitative study explored secondary teachers' perceptions of scheduling in relation to pedagogy, curriculum, and observation of student learning. Its objective was to determine the best way to organize the scheduling for the delivery of Ontario's new 4-year curriculum. Six participants were chosen. Two were teaching in a semestered timetable, 1 in a traditional timetable, and 3 had experience in both schedules. Participants related a pressure cooker "lived experience" with weaker students in the semester system experiencing a particularly harsh environment. The inadequate amount of time for review in content-heavy courses, gap scheduling problems, catch-up difficulties for students missing classes, and the fast pace of semestering are identified as factors negatively impacting on these students. Government testing adds to the pressure by shifting teachers' time and attention in the classroom from deeper learning to a superficial coverage of material, from curriculum as lived to curriculum as text to be covered. Scheduling choice should be available in public education to accommodate the needs of all students. Curriculum guidelines need to be revamped to reflect the content that teachers believe is necessary for a successful course delivery. Applied level courses need to be developed for students who are not academically inferior but learn differently.

A System for Models of First Order Theories

If you want to know whether a property is true or not in a specific algebraic structure,you need to test that property on the given structure. This can be done by hand, which can be cumbersome and erroneous. In addition, the time consumed in testing depends on the size of the structure where the property is applied. We present an implementation of a system for finding counterexamples and testing properties of models of first-order theories. This system is supposed to provide a convenient and paperless environment for researchers and students investigating or studying such models and algebraic structures in particular. To implement a first-order theory in the system, a suitable first-order language.( and some axioms are required. The components of a language are given by a collection of variables, a set of predicate symbols, and a set of operation symbols. Variables and operation symbols are used to build terms. Terms, predicate symbols, and the usual logical connectives are used to build formulas. A first-order theory now consists of a language together with a set of closed formulas, i.e. formulas without free occurrences of variables. The set of formulas is also called the axioms of the theory. The system uses several different formats to allow the user to specify languages, to define axioms and theories and to create models. Besides the obvious operations and tests on these structures, we have introduced the notion of a functor between classes of models in order to generate more co~plex models from given ones automatically. As an example, we will use the system to create several lattices structures starting from a model of the theory of pre-orders.

A new look at reversible logic implementation of decimal adder

Reversibility plays a fundamental role when logic gates such as AND, OR, and XOR are not reversible. computations with minimal energy dissipation are considered. Hence, these gates dissipate heat and may reduce the life of In recent years, reversible logic has emerged as one of the most the circuit. So, reversible logic is in demand in power aware important approaches for power optimization with its circuits. application in low power CMOS, quantum computing and A reversible conventional BCD adder was proposed in using conventional reversible gates.

An Assessment of the Degree of Implementation of the Lean Aerospace Initiative Principles and Practices within the US Aerospace and Defense Industry

This report is a formal documentation of the results of an assessment of the degree to which Lean Principles and Practices have been implemented in the US Aerospace and Defense Industry. An Industry Association team prepared it for the DCMA-DCAAIndustry Association “Crosstalk” Coalition in response to a “Crosstalk” meeting action request to the industry associations. The motivation of this request was provided by the many potential benefits to system product quality, affordability and industry responsiveness, which a high degree of industry Lean implementation can produce.

Implementation of a robust coded structured light technique for dynamic 3D measurements

This paper presents the implementation details of a coded structured light system for rapid shape acquisition of unknown surfaces. Such techniques are based on the projection of patterns onto a measuring surface and grabbing images of every projection with a camera. Analyzing the pattern deformations that appear in the images, 3D information of the surface can be calculated. The implemented technique projects a unique pattern so that it can be used to measure moving surfaces. The structure of the pattern is a grid where the color of the slits are selected using a De Bruijn sequence. Moreover, since both axis of the pattern are coded, the cross points of the grid have two codewords (which permits to reconstruct them very precisely), while pixels belonging to horizontal and vertical slits have also a codeword. Different sets of colors are used for horizontal and vertical slits, so the resulting pattern is invariant to rotation. Therefore, the alignment constraint between camera and projector considered by a lot of authors is not necessary

Implementation of global make to inventory strategy at BASF SE

La optimización y armonización son factores clave para tener un buen desempeño en la industria química. BASF ha desarrollado un proyecto llamada acelerador. El objetivo de este proyecto ha sido la armonización y la integración de los procesos de la cadena de suministro a nivel mundial. El proceso básico de manejo de inventarios se quedó fuera del proyecto y debía ser analizado. El departamento de manejo de inventarios en BASF SE ha estado desarrollando su propia estrategia para la definición de procesos globales de manufactura. En este trabajo se presentará un informe de las fases de la formulación de la estrategia y establecer algunas pautas para la fase de implementación que está teniendo lugar en 2012 y 2013.

An analysis of real time implementation of Fourier transform-based frequency recognition algorithms

Frequency recognition is an important task in many engineering fields such as audio signal processing and telecommunications engineering, for example in applications like Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) detection or the recognition of the carrier frequency of a Global Positioning, System (GPS) signal. This paper will present results of investigations on several common Fourier Transform-based frequency recognition algorithms implemented in real time on a Texas Instruments (TI) TMS320C6713 Digital Signal Processor (DSP) core. In addition, suitable metrics are going to be evaluated in order to ascertain which of these selected algorithms is appropriate for audio signal processing(1).

An MPI-based implementation of intelligent agents on clusters

Recent research in multi-agent systems incorporate fault tolerance concepts, but does not explore the extension and implementation of such ideas for large scale parallel computing systems. The work reported in this paper investigates a swarm array computing approach, namely 'Intelligent Agents'. A task to be executed on a parallel computing system is decomposed to sub-tasks and mapped onto agents that traverse an abstracted hardware layer. The agents intercommunicate across processors to share information during the event of a predicted core/processor failure and for successfully completing the task. The feasibility of the approach is validated by implementation of a parallel reduction algorithm on a computer cluster using the Message Passing Interface.

A cluster-based implementation of a fault-tolerant parallel reduction algorithm using swarm-array computing

Recent research in multi-agent systems incorporate fault tolerance concepts. However, the research does not explore the extension and implementation of such ideas for large scale parallel computing systems. The work reported in this paper investigates a swarm array computing approach, namely ‘Intelligent Agents’. In the approach considered a task to be executed on a parallel computing system is decomposed to sub-tasks and mapped onto agents that traverse an abstracted hardware layer. The agents intercommunicate across processors to share information during the event of a predicted core/processor failure and for successfully completing the task. The agents hence contribute towards fault tolerance and towards building reliable systems. The feasibility of the approach is validated by simulations on an FPGA using a multi-agent simulator and implementation of a parallel reduction algorithm on a computer cluster using the Message Passing Interface.

Implementation of robust hybrid feedback FxLMS active noise cancellation headset

Instability is a serious problem for acoustic Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) headsets as a result of large errors in estimating the transfer function of the plant. Typically this occurs when, for example, a wearer adjusts the headset. In this paper, the instability problem of adaptive ANC headset is addressed. To ensure stability of the whole system, we propose a hybrid solution consisting of an analog feedback loop parallel to the digital loop, and the role of the analog loop in stabilizing the headset is analyzed theoretically. Finally the methodology of implementing such a hybrid ANC headset is described in detail. The experiments carried out on the headset prototype show that the headset is robust under considerable fluctuations of the plant transfer characteristics, and has very good noise cancellation performance both for narrow-band and wide-band disturbances.

Evaluating the likelihood of the adoption of an animal welfare assessment system in European agri-food supply chains

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the likelihood of adoption of a recently designed Welfare Assessment System in agri-food supply chains and the factors affecting the adoption decision. The application is carried out for pig and poultry chains. Design/methodology/approach – This research consisted of two main components: interviews with retailers in pig and poultry supply chains in eight different EU countries to explore their perceptions towards the adoption possibilities of the welfare assessment system; and a conjoint analysis designed to evaluate the perceived adoption likelihood of the assessment system by different Standards Formulating Organisations (SFOs). Findings – Stakeholders were found to be especially concerned about the costs of implementation of the system and how it could, or should, be merged with existing assurance schemes. Another conclusion of the study is that the presence of a strong third independent party supporting the implementation of the welfare assessment system would be the most important influence on the decision whether, or not, to adopt it. Originality/value – This research evaluates the adoption possibilities of a novel Welfare Assessment System and presents the views of different supply chain stakeholders on an adoption of such a system. The main factors affecting the adoption decision are identified and analysed. Contrary to expectations, the costs of adoption of a new welfare assessment system were not considered to be the most important factor affecting the decision of supply chain stakeholders about the adoption of this new welfare system.

The HadGEM2-ES implementation of CMIP5 centennial simulations

The scientific understanding of the Earth’s climate system, including the central question of how the climate system is likely to respond to human-induced perturbations, is comprehensively captured in GCMs and Earth System Models (ESM). Diagnosing the simulated climate response, and comparing responses across different models, is crucially dependent on transparent assumptions of how the GCM/ESM has been driven – especially because the implementation can involve subjective decisions and may differ between modelling groups performing the same experiment. This paper outlines the climate forcings and setup of the Met Office Hadley Centre ESM, HadGEM2-ES for the CMIP5 set of centennial experiments. We document the prescribed greenhouse gas concentrations, aerosol precursors, stratospheric and tropospheric ozone assumptions, as well as implementation of land-use change and natural forcings for the HadGEM2-ES historical and future experiments following the Representative Concentration Pathways. In addition, we provide details of how HadGEM2-ES ensemble members were initialised from the control run and how the palaeoclimate and AMIP experiments, as well as the “emission driven” RCP experiments were performed.

Tempo de implantação de sistemas ERP: análise da influência de fatores e aplicação de técnicas de gerenciamento de projetos

Freqüentemente, a implantação de sistemas ERP é complexa e demorada, requerendo, em alguns casos, três ou quatro anos. em geral, um sistema ERP divide-se em módulos cujas implantações são feitas em vários estágios. Um problema sério é que os prazos para a implantação desses módulos são críticos e raramente são cumpridos. Esses atrasos geram insatisfação dos clientes, pois resultam em custos adicionais não previstos. A implantação de sistemas ERP depende de vários fatores, alguns dos quais têm muita influência nos prazos de implantação. Considera-se neste trabalho a técnica de planejamento de experimentos para a determinação dos principais fatores. Além disso, são usados métodos de caminhos críticos para a identificação das atividades que requerem mais investimentos para que haja redução no tempo total de implantação do projeto.