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Accuracy in Detecting Failure in Ballscrew Assessment Towards Machine Tool Servitization
No full textMany manufacturers, in particular machine tool builders, aim for service innovation in order to improve their market competitiveness. Machine tool trading companies expect to create a value-added process through shifting from just selling product i.e. machine tools to selling an integrated combination of product and services, so called product-service system (PSS) which in turn competes with other developing companies. This is the process of servitization.
The purpose of this work is to explore the benefits of servitizing machine tool industry and identify the effect of such an approach on the performance of engineering companies. As important, is to evaluate the accuracy of components as part of predictive maintenance, to support machine tool sevitization.
This paper proposed a case study of ballscrew performance assessment. The purpose was monitoring the degradation of two parallel ball screws in a 5-Axis gantry machine tool, based on data from an acoustic emission sensor and machine learning technology.
The significance of this work is that ballscrew performance as part of machine tool accuracy is critical for high value manufacturing. Machine tool users would prefer their machines to be maintained to the required tolerance by the predictive maintenance service warranty offered by the machine trader and keep their machines up to date to reduce unnecessary downtime
The internationalization of Nigerian firms: Motivations and location patterns
Full text linkDespite the increased number of studies of the internationalization of emerging-market multinationals (EMNCs), Latin American and Asian firms have dominated the focus of such studies, while the study of the internationalization process of sub-Saharan African firms in the international business literature is quite limited. Therefore, this article examines the motivations and location patterns of the internationalization process of four Nigerian firms through a multiple case study approach. The findings show that the internationalization of the Nigerian firms is a recent phenomenon, but the foreign investment pattern reflects a pan-African investment strategy. However, the findings also reveal that the firm-specific advantages that had been accumulated in the domestic market, coupled with home-country factors and regional-/host-market factors, were key determinants of the motivations and location patterns in the internationalization process of Nigerian firms
Collective lay support for late-Reformation preaching in the South Pennines
Full text linkThis article examines how lay people brought preaching of the Word to their locality in early seventeenth-century Yorkshire and Lancashire by acting collectively to build chapels, raise funds for ministers’ wages, and provide fees and hospitality. A wide cross-section of society was willingly involved in this support, suggesting that enthusiasm for sermon-centred worship was not just the preserve of a godly few. It is proposed that this collective behaviour and its rhetorical representation could foster an inclusive sense of local identity. The importance of the personal style and skills of individual preachers for engendering support is also considered
Risk, competition and cost efficiency in the Chinese banking industry
No full textUsing a sample of Chinese commercial banks over the period 2003-2013, this paper tests the interrelationships between credit risk, competition and cost efficiency in the Chinese banking industry under a three-stage least square estimator. The findings suggest that a higher level of competition leads to higher credit risk of Chinese commercial banks and a higher level of efficiency leads to lower credit risk. In addition, it is found that higher level of efficiency results in higher level of competition in the Chinese banking industry and higher levels of credit risk precede an increase in the level of competition. Finally, the results show that Chinese commercial banks with higher levels of credit risk have lower levels of cost efficiency and competition-efficiency hypothesis holds in the Chinese banking industry. The results provide policy implications to the Chinese government and banking regulatory authorities
“I just felt as though I had to drop something”: The implications of care for female working elder carers’ working lives.
No full textThis paper explores the challenges that female elder carers in the UK face in combining paid
work with elder care, and the implications of this care for their current and future working
lives. In-depth interviews with 11 working women from a large organisation were conducted,
and 5 of the women were re-interviewed after a period of one year to examine any changes in their situation. The interviews revealed the precarious nature of their daily schedules,
which required constant effort to maintain, the intrusion of elder care into their working lives and the impact it had upon their career development and future aspirations. The findings provide insight into the reasons why carers, especially women, are more likely to reduce their working hours, do not take advantage of training opportunities and retire early. The findings are discussed in relation to the expectation of an extended working age and gender equality
“Hollywood” Hulk Hogan: Stardom, Synergy and Field Migration
Full text linkDuring the late 1980s, World Wrestling Federation star Hulk Hogan embarked on a career as a Hollywood movie star, through roles in several modestly-budgeted films produced by New Line Cinema. Building on recent examinations of “celebrity migration” between fields and studies of “promotional culture”, we explore how Hogan’s celebrity persona adapted to various economies and structures of fame in a changing media marketplace. This article explores how Hogan negotiated of codes and conventions of different popular cultural fields and media subfields. By doing so, we identify key tensions in the wrestler’s celebrity image during the late 1980s and early 1990s and reflect on the difficulties celebrities face when trying to become film stars
Core Temperature Measurement in Subtractive Manufacturing Processes
No full textTemperature variation is one of the most important factors that affect the dimensional accuracy and surface integrity of workpieces during machining processes. Several attempts have been made towards estimating machine tool and workpiece temperature. The techniques used generally depend on the type of material and the level of accuracy required. However, none of the existing techniques gives a true representation of the core temperature of the workpiece. The speed of sound in any material depends on the temperature of the material. This dependence can be used to obtain the temperature of the material, provided that the speed of sound can be obtained. The speed of sound can be obtained using the length of the material and the ultrasonic time of travel through the material. The challenge however arises in developing a cost effective acquisition device that can resolve up to 0.5 °C variation with ± 1 °C accuracy. In order to achieve this goal, simulations were done in MATLAB using the k-wave toolbox to determine the required parameters needed for achieving the stated resolution and accuracy. Sensitivity analysis was conducted and the results show the output of simulation of two viable ultrasonic thermometry methods-the pulse-echo method and the continuous wave method. The results of this study will serve as the input for designing and developing an in-process temperature measurement system for subtractive manufacturing processes
The negative influence of the entrepreneur’s level of higher education on the attractiveness of European SMEs as alliance partners in Brazil: the role of practical experience and international entrepreneurial orientation
Full text linkNotwithstanding the contemporary relevance of alliance strategies for SME internationalisation, especially in the case of uncertain business environments, few studies have investigated human resource issues in the context of SMEs prior to alliance formation. Even more scarce are studies looking at the impact of a manager/entrepreneur’s characteristics on pre-alliance formation, despite recognition of the expected crucial role of the entrepreneur in this context and of the strong connection between an entrepreneur and their SME. Drawing on international entrepreneurship theory and empirical observations from an exploratory study, we propose a post hoc conceptual model. The exploratory empirical part of our study employs a sample of entrepreneurs from biotechnology SMEs in the United Kingdom and Germany intending to ally in a large emerging market (i.e. Brazil). Our empirical observations suggest an anomalous (at first glance) negative association between the entrepreneur’s level of higher education (a construct at the individual level) and the attractiveness of the SME as a partner firm vis-à-vis alliance formation (a construct at the firm level). Our post hoc model emphasises the role of practical experience and the corresponding levels of international entrepreneurial orientation as theorised variables mediating the observed empirical relationship. We develop theoretical propositions, and suggest practical implications and future research directions
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