Cost, volume, and profit formulas Essay

The cost-volume-profit analysis is a business tool which companies utilize in order to analyze the effects of changes on costs and volume in its profits. It has five major components namely, volume or level of activity, unit selling prices, variable cost per unit, total fixed cost, and sales mix. The volume of level of activity refers to the quantity of the product which is sold. Unit selling prices is the amount that the company sells one unit of its product to the customers. In CVP analysis, costs are classified as a either variable or fixed. Variable cost per unit refers to the costs which can be directly attributed to the production of the product like direct labor and materials. Fixed costs on the other hand, are costs which are incurred even if the company increase or lessen its level of activity. Sales mix is applicable to business organizations which has two or more products. It refers to the breakdown of sales according to product types. 3&4. Based on the formulas you have reviewed, what happens to contribution margin per unit when unit selling prices increase? Illustrate your explanation with an example from a fictitious company of how an increase in unit selling prices might affect contribution margin. Holding everything constant, an increase in the unit prices will directly increase the contribution margin per unit by the amount of price increase. For example, company A sells a burger for $2. 00 incurring $1. 50 for the production. Contribution margin is then $0. 50 ($2. 00-$1. 50). If unit price is raised from $2. 00 to $2. 50, the company’s contribution margin per unit will increase by $0. 50 which is equal to the amount of price increase ($2. 50-$1. 50). The contribution margin due to this price increase will be equal to $1. 00. 5. When fixed costs decrease, what does this do for sales? Illustrate your explanation with an example from a fictitious company. A decrease in fixed cost will have a direct impact in the required sales of the company in order to reach break-even or generate a target profit. In general, a decrease in fixed cost lowers the required sales as part of the previous fixed cost will now be counted as profit. Take for example, Starjuice which sells orange juice for $1. 00 per bottle/unit, has variable cost of $0. 70 per unit, and fixed expenses of $10,000. Starjuice wants to generate a profit of $5,000. Thus, it needs to sell ($10,000+$5,000)/($1. 00-$0. 70), 50,000 bottles of orange juice or $50,000 in total sales to reach this target. However, when fixed cost has decreased to $4,000, then the company only needs to sell ($4,000+$5,000)/($1. 00-$0. 70), 30,000 bottles or $30,000 in total sales. 6&7. Define contribution ratios. What happens to contribution ratios as one of the components changes? The contribution margin ratio refers to the ratio of the contribution margin to the unit selling price. For the Starjuice example above, the contribution margin ratio is 0. 30 or 30% as the contribution margin of $0. 30 is 30% of the total selling price of $1. 00. The changes in the contribution margin are often facilitated by the changes in unit selling price and variable costs. An increase in the unit selling price which is discussed above to enhance contribution margin will subsequently bring a rise in contribution ratio. On the other hand, a decrease in selling price will also bring a decline in contribution ratio. Increase in variable cost will directly lessen contribution margin thereby lowering contribution ratio. However, a decrease in variable cost will increase contribution margin and increasing contribution ratio.

Fermentaion

Dilution is achieved by controlling the flow of process water from the dilution tank TUB 1201 into the mixer GAL. 1230. Process water flow rate is controlled to achieve the desired density of the mixed solution. The now diluted C-molasses solution flows into the vapor condensate EAI 1204, where it is preheated by the condensing hot water vapor from the flash tank TUB 1203. The solution is preheated to about 75 to ICC. The preheated solution flows into the hydrothermal GAL. 1231 where the temperature s increased to between 85 to ICC, using the 7 – lobar saturated steam as a heating medium.The then heated solution enters the cyclone IF 210. The cyclone is responsible for removing solid purities that may be present in the concentrated C- molasses. The discharge valve on the cyclone will open periodically to dislodge the cyclone. The diluted, heated and now ‘cleaned' C-molasses then flows into the intermediate/ Buffer Tank TUB 1202. The tank is equipped with a level indicato r control that controls the flow out of this tank maintaining a desired level set point. The stream is then pumped out into the second hydro heater GLOBAL where the temperature is increased to between 121 to ICC, using the 7 – lobar saturated steam.The hydro heater GAL. 1232 is equipped with highly delicate temperature indicator controller; this temperature control is a Critical Control Point. When the temperature drops below ICC, the sterilizer will go into recirculation and will stop feeding forward to the sterile tanks. This is designed to prevent Coli and C. Botulism to enter the sterile tanks. These are harmful micro-organisms that are not suitable to fermentation and human consumption. The heated solution then flows through the retention coils and into flash tank TUB 1203. The flow through the retention coils is controlled at a backslappers of kappa.The coils are interchangeable since there are two coils, one online and the other on standby. The flash tank is kept under vacuum – 35 to -kappa by using the vacuum system. The flash tank TUB 1203 is protected from over-pressuring by pressure relief valve installed into the vacuum system. The vapor leaving the flash tank is condensed by incoming diluted C-molasses in EAI 1240 and forming condensate that flows to the inch separator vessel. This separator easel separates liquid from vapor and also forms a barometric seal into the seal pot. L.DEVELOP DIAGNOSTIC TOOL FOR THE EFFICIENT OPERATION OF THE PLANT/ SECTION OF PLANT UNDER CONSIDERATION. The diagnostic tool for the efficient operation is a system developed for better and safe way of operating a system. These processes include daily maintenance to ensure that a system is performing at its best. There a programs that is designed for each operation of the plant to maintain stability and safety operation through monitoring. There are alarms installed in the plant to alarm operators of deviation from normal operation of the plant.Deviations can b e of process out of specification and danger alarms of hazards in the plant. At Anchor Yeast Durban the company has a dedicated and well developed system of monitoring deviation throughout the plant operation for the efficient operation. There are DOCS and software such as Aurora. Aurora is used for daily operation maintenance and keeping records of the plant operation. Without these systems the plant will be a danger to employees and the surrounding environment. These tools assist in managing and implementing efficient ways of operation of the plant.With the tools it is possible to determine and strategies the optimal peak operation for the plant in the next hour of operation and for the 24 hour of operation. They provide demand response strategy for emergency situations, such as extreme unwanted condition of the plant operation. With these the company always adheres to maintains high standard of delivery to its customers, through meeting schedule timing for the production and safe ty and cost efficient way of saving energy. Fault Tree Analysis is a broadly used deductive method for the efficient operation of the plant in designs and daily operations to minimize costF. HAZARD AND OPERABILITY STUDY (HAZARD) OF THE PROCESS OR PART OF THE PROCESS UNDER CONSIDERATION. Hazard and Operability study is the method in which a multi – discipline team performs a systematic study of a process to identify hazard and problems which prevents efficient operation. The technique is applied to new plant development and existing Operations for better and safe Operation. The method is also applied to continuous and batch process. The study provides opportunities to engineers to let their imaginations go free and think of all possible ways in which a hazard or operating problems might arise.Engineers have to ask themselves the following questions when performing HAZED study: What can go wrong? This is the first and most important stage in any hazard study, is to identify the most important things that can go wrong and produce accidents or operating problems. What will be the consequences? Engineers need to know the consequences to employees, members of the public (community), plant and profits, now and in the long term. How can it be prevented? – Safeguard Engineers need to administer controls that will prevent accidents from occurring, or make them less probable and protect people from the consequences.What should be done? – Solution At this stage engineers weigh their options to resolving the accidents, by comparing the risk (that is, the probability times the consequences) with generally accepted codes and standards or with other risk around them. Is it worth the cost? Engineers should compare the cost of prevention with the cost of the accident to see if the remedy (solution) is reasonably practical or they should look for a cheaper but efficient solution. Prevention At this point engineers have come up with a solution but before comm encing to put the solution in motion they should assess their solution, I. Perhaps their method of prevention has disadvantages and better methods of prevention should be suggested. Figure 1: Hazed Procedure [Figure 2. 1, Peg. 9: Hazed and Hazard Identifying and Assessing Process Industry Hazards, Tremor Klutz 3rd Edition] P. PROBLEM SOLUTION TO A CUSTOMER REQUEST (TECHNICAL REPORT) Unhappy customers are bad news for the company and the business. It takes one unhappy customer to steer away prospective customers away from the company. Unhappy customers have their reasons. Some customers have unrealistic expectations and some they Just don't feel well with the business.We must be hones some customers complaint are legitimate and realistic and we as the suppliers we must attend to their complainants with honesty and integrity to build on good customer relationship. Whatever the cause, unhappy customers are our hope for future business and we want them happy again for the business. Cust omer may not always be right but he or she will always be the customer we want and need. So we need to take care of our customer and take control of their complaints and them to our own advantage. There are seven (7) steps in resolving customer complaint which eave proven to work well. . Listen Intently: Listen to customer and do not interrupt while telling you a complaint. They need to tell their story and feel that they have been heard. 2. Thank Them: Thank the customer for bring the problem to your attention. You cannot resolve a problem that you do not have full details about or solve it on assumptions. 3. Apologies: Sincerely convey to your customer and apology. This is not the time to make Justification and making excuses. You apologies, that's it. 4. Seek the Best Solution: Determine what the customer is seeking as a solution, Ask the customer. Reach Agreement: Seek to agree to the solution that will resolve the problem to their satisfaction. 6. Take Quick Action: Act on the problem with a sense of urgency. Customer will respond positively to your focus on helping them immediately. 7. Follow Up: Follow up to make sure that the customer is completely satisfied. TYPICAL CUSTOMER REQUEST AND SOLUTION At anchor yeast we have customers all over the country and across the border. Customer happiness is very valuable to the company and any complaint is attended with urgency and caution.As one of largest yeast making company in South African, e are always under pressure to deliver on time and meet our customer wants and needs, and still performing to our utmost in producing high quality yeast. There are trucks coming in the plant to collect cream yeast and deliver to customers. One of the company that we always work with very closely is Anchor Yeast Johannesburg were most of the cream yeast produced at Anchor Yeast Durban is transported to, for further applications. There are Unitarians coming on daily basis to collect the product.Delays are very stressing the r elationship between the two companies. The Unitarians ruckus come from Johannesburg Debug) with molasses to Durban Anchor Yeast. The molasses is a raw material that is used to make yeast. When the trucks come on site they first have to go to the company's weighbridge before being offloaded. After being weighed the truck is offloaded either Tank offloading point or at the HTML offloading point. Offloading of the truck takes three (3) hours maximum then truck goes back to be weighed. After the truck has been weighed, it goes to the CHIP (Clean In Place) point to be Caped.Coping is a process where the truck is being clean using chlorinated water and Caustic. This process takes one hour (1 her). After the CHIP the truck is ready to be loaded with cream yeast. The loading process takes one hour (1 her). Then after that the truck is ready to go back to Judder with the product. Customer Complaint: Unitarians tankers are taking to long at Anchor Yeast Durban to turn around back to Anchor Ju dder. Possible causes of delays: At Anchor Yeast Durban there are three companies that come on site to deliver molasses.The Subs Hertz Borders Trucks (GHB) and Gridiron Terminal Trucks and local delivery trucks that that transports cream yeast to Durban based customers ND other customers across the country. When the Unitarians trucks from Judder comes onsite to deliver molasses there are always trucks waiting, loading or offloading molasses. There are only two offloading points at the company. Unitarians have to wait for other trucks which came before to finish offloading and loading. The trucks can sometimes wait for over three hours depending on the number of trucks offloading. Sometimes production of cream yeast is very slow.That means every time the trucks arrives onsite to collect cream yeast, they wait because not enough cream yeast has been produced. The company having to aware of the complaint from the Anchor Yeast Johannesburg, the company came with solutions to the complai nt. There was a spreadsheet that was made to record the times the Unitarians come onsite and time finished to offload the truck. The spreadsheet included also the time it took to load a truck. With regard to running low on cream yeast there was a production time table set for everyday that how much needs to be produced and how much will be transported to Judder on daily basis.The number of other truck companies bring molasses was reduced to avoid Unitarians trucks to wait for other trucks to finish. It was also suggested that Unitarians trucks given first priority when comes to offloading. This meant when Unitarians is onsite and there is a truck waiting to be offloaded, the Unitarians truck will offload before the truck to avoid delays. The plant efficiency was increased and more of product was produced and made available for the Unitarians to transport. The implement solution has been running fro couple months now and been evaluated. The solution has been found to be working well and keeping the customer happy.Thought at the beginning the other companies were not happy with Unitarians having o bypass their trucks, but after some negotiations the other companies have come to accept the terms.

Autism Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Autism - Term Paper Example This paper specifically focuses on how biology impacts psychology  and analyses the structure of the brain, neuron activities, synapses activities, activities of neurotransmitters etc in relation with autism. â€Å"Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder of genetic origins, with a heritability of about 90%. There is no single biological or clinical marker for autism, nor is it expected that a single gene is responsible for its expression; as many as 15+ genes may be involved. No single region of the brain or pathophysiological mechanism has yet been identified as being associated with autism. Postmortem findings, animal models, and neuroimaging studies have focused on the cerebellum, frontal cortex, hippocampus, and especially the amygdala. The cerebello-thalamo-cortical circuit may also be influential in autism. There is evidence that overall brain size is increased in some individuals with autism (Santangelo &  Tsatsanis, 2005). Environmental influences can also cause autism along with genetic factors; however genetic factors seem to be the major reason for autism in more than 90% children with autism. Autism is considered as a developmental disorder. At the same time it is a genetic disorder also. In other words, autism is a mental disorder which affects the physical, emotional, social and behavioral development of a child. Psychologists included autism among the pervasive developmental disorders (PDD). Autism mainly affect three areas of development; social interaction, language development and behavioral patterns. At present medical science has no answer or treatment to this serious psychological disorder. So far no effective drugs have been produced for the treatment of autism. Structure of the brain plays a vital role in causing autism. Neurophysiological functions believed to cause this disorder. In fact, the defect caused in the signals sent and received by brain using the

Liberation Theology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Liberation Theology - Essay Example Many European priests heeded his call and went to work alongside their Latin American colleagues. "In time, the arrival of priests who were accustomed to the economic and political situation in developed countries contributed significantly to the development of liberation theology". (Tombs, 2002, p. 18) The influx of foreign priests encouraged a sense of renewal in the Latin American church and particularly strengthened those who believed that poverty could and should be prevented. In the many instances where progressive priests faced resistance and persecution, the foreign priests were sometimes at an advantage over local nationals. This is the reason as to why "the Theology of Liberation and other early works of liberation theology focused attention on the urgent need for social justice and suggested a more open attitude towards socialism and Marxist analysis". (Tombs, 2002, p. 137) "Many poor families had lost their land and were forced to move to urban areas or remain in desperate conditions in rural areas, facing social exclusion". (Ribeiro, 1999, p. 304) Despite Liberation Theology, the main reason for confronting to the poor people of the society is that we have kept the basic principles of liberation theology aside, and are unable to recognize the true face of capitalism. T he Gospel messages have been out of touch from our lives. We can again start developing those liberation rules in our lives, which we have put aside. Those rules will make us start once again act according to true theologians of liberation. For this purpose we must start reading the bible in order to make it clear the social injustice confronted by the poor. We must percept the real image of socio analytical capitalistic system, which always dominated the poor in the context of human rights. The perception of social reality must be seen and implemented in the light of Bible quotations. Before a plan for a social program is being floated, the question to consider is, "Will this, or will this not, improve the situation of the poor" If it will, it should be supported, since it will bring about a consequent broadening of the degree of social justice in society. If it will not, it should be opposed, as it will simply entrench the non-poor with greater power than ever. "The opposite of a preferential option for the poor would be a preferential option for the rich, assuming that if the rich get more and more money and goods, some of the gains will 'trickle down' to the poor. This is a convenient theory for the well-to-do, but it is a dubious bit of economics, since those with wealth are exceedingly loath to share it with others, and the result of a preferential option for the rich is almost always that the rich get richer while the poor get poorer". (Brown, 1993, p. 32) There must be an equal distribution of wealth according to the principles of Liberation Theology. To feel the societal injustice, one must not find it hard how a verse in the scripture rings a responsive cord in the lives and hearts of the two thirds of the human family who go to bed hungry every night, or the parents who fear that their child will be one of the fifteen thousand children who die every day from starvation or malnutrition. "If we were truly hungry, we would have greate r

Domestic Terrorism Midterm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Domestic Terrorism Midterm - Essay Example While the statement by the FBI is not explicit, it is implied that the target must be a US policy, institution, or political movement, and the act must be violent, though the definition of violent may be vague and ambiguous. Domestic terrorism may be directed either from above or from below. Terrorism from above is carried out by a government or institution that has some legitimate authority. It may be done covertly, where the terrorism is carried on outside formal policy. As an example, the 'Dirty War' in Argentina that utilized death squads was covert terrorism from above (Vohrkyzek, Olson-Raymer, and Whamond, 2001, p.13). It may also be overt as in the case of the Hutu's policy of genocide in Rwanda (Vohrkyzek, Olson-Raymer, and Whamond, 2001, p.13). Domestic terrorism from below is when a group or individual within a country targets a legitimate institution as a means to draw attention to, or change, an official policy. Environmental activists such as the Environmental Liberation Front (ELF) are guilty of domestic terrorism from below. Mao, Guevera, Marighella, and Fanon were not defined as terrorists during their time of activity. History has rewritten the definition of terrorism and they now fall under the new definition. However, initially all these figures were guerilla leaders, which are differentiated from terrorists. Guerilla warfare is different from terrorism in that it is an organized force that believes it has legitimacy due to popular support. In addition, it strikes at government and military targets as a means to overthrow a government. However, these leaders differed in that Marighella believed that random violence could create chaos and an environment for revolution, while Mao and Fanon believed it should not be used against the native population. Guevera was more of a classic guerrilla fighter. Guerrillas represent a political movement, while terrorism supports an ideological agenda. However, both aspects promote violence as a means to an end. Once in power both Mao and Castro utilized violence an d terrorism from above as a means to sustain power and oppress the opposition. More recently the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has been similar to the previous revolutionary organizations. They have some legitimacy by way of recognition as supporting a significant group of oppressed people. In addition, they have a well organized military faction. Their agenda has been the creation of a Palestinian State, though they have used terrorism to promote their goals. They have targeted innocent people, used suicide tactics, and even acted against their own citizens. All of these rebels and organizations have their roots in revolution, but have resorted to terrorism to further their goals. For the PLO and others, this is counter-productive, as the stigma of being a terrorist organization is a costly price in today's environment. 3.) Historical Terrorism It could be argued that the actions of the US settlers against the native population was terrorism from above. In this context, terrorism from above has existed in the US since the first Europeans arrived. It has also been argued that slavery was terrorism from above (Vohrkyzek, Olson-Raymer, and Whamond, 2001, p.36).

Events Leading to the Creation of DHS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Operations Management and Operations Function Essay

Operations Management and Operations Function - Essay Example Organizations have got into a new era that is featured dramatic, rapid, and turbulent changes. The increased pace of change has transformed the operations in the organizations (Mahadevan, 2010, p. 307). The transformation has become integral and inherent part of organizational life. Several emerging trends have made organizations change their operations functions. These trends include globalization and increased competition from the emerging industries. Most organizations operate in a global economy that is characterized by intense competition. Many products and service are consumed externally as compared to the country of origin. Globalization has brought about a greater union in terms of taste and preference. For this reason, many organizations have changed their old operations in order to keep up with the competition in the market. An operations manager plays a vital role in business, government or any other organization. The task of operation manager is dependent on nature and the size of the organization. An operation manager requires both interpersonal and business skills to succeed in his/ her operations (Burcher, 2004, p. 30). An operation plays a vital role in the management of resources in the organization. Additionally, the operation manager is responsible for financial management in the organization. The operations manager is also responsible for setting objectives and goals and makes policies in various departments in the organization (Meyler, et al., 2013 p 100).