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The Importance of Structural Steel In Constructing Buildings

Descripción: The Importance of Structural Steel In Constructing Buildings     Structural steel has become one of the most prevalent construction materials of the century, often seen as an extremely important component of modern buildings and housing. According to the World Steel Association, over 1,600 million tonnes were produced in 2016, 197 million more than the previous year. It’s become viable for any kind of project and offers several benefits, which many building plans rely on for structural safety.     Availability     The widespread adoption of steel has made it easy to find, both as a raw alloy and pre-made components. Fabricated parts will often be openly sold by suppliers (with many factories selling both locally and overseas), allowing beams and frames to be purchased directly.  Thanks to this, companies can work under tighter deadlines and access a supply of steel parts anywhere in the world.      Steel parts can be ordered as soon as the architectural plan is agreed on, saving time that would be spent waiting for them to arrive at the site. This provides extra time to check measurements and find suitable storage, issues that could normally delay construction by several hours.     Weight     Its lightweight makes steel easy to transport over land and lift via a crane, reducing the amount of fuel wasted getting it to the site. In addition, this can make buildings far easier to take down: a prototype ProLogic warehouse was built at Heathrow to demonstrate how over 80% of the entire structure was reusable, which could be disassembled in a fraction of the time an average warehouse would take.     Low weight can aid in moving and rebuilding structures, as shown with the 9 Cambridge Avenue warehouse relocation: the warehouse itself was dismantled and rebuilt 1 mile away, using almost no steel except the existing components. This added mobility and versatility makes steel a very desirable building material for structures that have extra land for expansion.     Sustainability     As the desire for eco-friendly buildings increases, steel will become more convenient for construction projects. It can easily be recycled and doesn’t need to be permanently disposed of, so old buildings or temporary supports can be repurposed into new projects as needed. Roughly 97.5% of all steel from UK demolition sites is recovered and reused, according to data gathered by Steel Construction.     Recovered steel components that haven’t been damaged can be re-used in other projects, removing the cost of getting the alloy melted down and re-cut as a new part. If a building is being demolished and rebuilt, existing parts could be stripped out and repurposed to save money kept in storage for future projects or simply sold to another company as components (or raw alloy, if sold back to a steel fabrication company).      Strength     Due to its high strength-to-weight ratio, less steel is needed in a single support or beam, reducing material costs and improving its sustainable nature. It can withstand strong physical impacts and forces, keeping building occupants safe, but won’t wear away or need to be replaced afterwards. This extra strength can be retained through the design, rather than the amount of steel used. Steel I-beams are often used in modern construction since they’re lighter, stronger and less wasteful than any wooden beam of the same size.     The natural fire and rust resistance of alloy steel makes it viable for exterior structures, such as fire escapes or balcony supports – MIMA also suggest possible use as external walls to contain insulating materials.     Price     Modern regulations are very specific about how efficient construction should be: these rules often have the added benefit of cutting maintenance or material costs in the long run. Concrete remains more consistent compared to the varying price of steel, but the costs of repairing and reinforcing a concrete beam or pillar will usually make steel cheaper over a building’s lifetime.     As mentioned earlier, steel is entirely reusable. It retains all of its properties, so a large amount of recovered steel could drastically reduce the cost of a new structure. A small study on the cost of a London office building revealed that steel composite was roughly 8% cheaper than concrete slabs across all ten storeys.     Steel constructions are widely used in several applications such as structures for buildings, stores, factories, and power plants. The scope of the research is to study a methodology to reduce the weight and the cost related to big frame steel structure warehouse during the early design phase, which is the phase where most of the project layout is defined. The main aim of this paper is the development of a platform-tool to support the automatic optimization of a steel structure using virtual prototyping tools and genetic algorithms. The focus is on the design of heavy steel structures for oil & gas power plants. This work describes in detail the design methodology and estimates the weight saving related to the re-design process of a test case structure. The design cases considered in the paper are those relevant to the operating.     Steel structure workshop modular residence is the outstanding residential industrialization. It has many advantages, such as the low whole cost, high resource recovery, a high degree of industrialization. This paper compares the comprehensive benefits of steel structural in modular buildings with prefabricated reinforced concrete residential from economic benefits, environmental benefits, social benefits and technical benefits by the method of entropy evaluation. Finally, it is concluded that the comprehensive benefits of steel structural in modular buildings is better than that of prefabricated reinforced concrete residential. The conclusion of this study will provide certain reference significance to the development of steel structural in modular buildings in China.     In this paper, various moment-resisting steel frames (MRSFs) are subjected to 30 narrow-band motions scaled at different ground motion intensity levels in terms of spectral acceleration at first mode of vibration  in order to perform incremental dynamic analysis for peak and residual interstory drift demands. The results are used to compute the structural reliability of the steel frames by means of hazard curves for peak and residual drifts. It is observed that the structures exceed the threshold residual drift of 0.5%, which is perceptible to human occupants, and it could lead to human discomfort according to recent investigations. For this reason, posttensioned connections (PTCs) are incorporated into the steel frames in order to improve the structural reliability. The results suggest that the annual rate of exceedance of peak and residual interstory drift demands are reduced with the use of PTC. Thus, the structural reliability of the steel frames with PTC is superior to that of the MRSFs. In particular, the residual drift demands tend to be smaller when PTCs are incorporated in the high-rise steel structure.     Currently, most of the seismic design regulations recommend the use of maximum interstory drift as the main engineering demand parameter. Nevertheless, earthquake field reconnaissance has evidenced that residual drift demands after an earthquake play an important role in the seismic performance of a structure. For example, several dozen damaged reinforced concrete structures in Mexico City had to be demolished after the 1985 Michoacan earthquake because of the technical difficulties to straighten and to repair buildings with large permanent drifts . Okada et al. reported that several low-rise RC buildings suffered light structural damage but experienced relatively large residual deformations as a consequence of the 1995 Hyogo-Ken Nambu earthquake even though they had sufficient deformation capacity. After examining 12 low-to-mid-rise steel office buildings (particularly 10 with structural system based on steel moment-resisting frames) structurally damaged and leaned after the same earthquake, Iwata et al. highlighted that the cost of repair of leaned steel buildings linearly increased as the maximum and roof residual drift increased. Based on their study, the authors suggested that steel buildings should be limited to maximum and roof residual drift about 1.4% and 0.9%, respectively, to satisfy a repairability limit state that meets both technical and economical constraints. More recently, a field investigation in Japan indicated that a residual interstory drift of about 0.5% is perceptible for building occupants . Bojórquez and Ruiz-García by comparing peak and residual drift demand hazard curves have observed that if steel frames exhibit peak drift demands about 3%, they could experience residual drifts larger than 0.5%, which is the threshold residual drift that could be tolerable to human occupants, and it could lead to human discomfort when subjected to narrow-band earthquake ground motions of high intensity. Therefore, several researchers have demonstrated that the estimation of residual drift demands should also play an important role during the design of new buildings and the evaluation of the seismic structural performance of existing buildings .     In the present study, motivated by the need to reduce peak and residual interstory drift demands, PTCs are incorporated into various MRSFs. Posttensioned steel moment-resisting frames are structural systems proposed in recent years as an appropriate alternative to welded connections of moment-resisting frames in seismic zones . They are designed to prevent brittle fractures in the area of the nodes of steel frames, which can cause severe reduction in their ductility capacity, as occurred in many cases during the 1994 Northridge and the 1995 Kobe earthquakes. The philosophy of structures with PTC is that under an intense earthquake motion, beams and columns remain essentially elastic concentrating the damage on the energy dissipating elements, which can be easily replaced at low cost. Moreover, they provide capacity of energy dissipation and self-centering which can significantly reduce the residual demands. The structural performance of the selected MRSFs is compared with the structures with PTC through incremental dynamic analysis and the estimation of the structural reliability of the frames in terms of peak and residual interstory drift demands. With this aim, four MRSFs and the same structures with PTC (here named FPTC frames with posttensioned connections) are subjected to 30 long-duration ground motions recorded at the lake zone of Mexico City where most of the damages were found in buildings as a consequence of the 1985 Michoacan earthquake. In general, it is observed that the structural reliability of the steel frames with PTC is superior to that of the MRSFs. In particular, the residual drift demands tend to be smaller than 0.5% (which is perceptible for building occupants) when PTCs are incorporated into the steel structure buildings.

Fecha de Publicación: 25-10-21

Bags for Everyone

Descripción: Bags for Everyone     IT’S ALWAYS a good time to buy a bag,” said Sarah Newkirk, a mortgage underwriter in Waterford, Wis. Last year, some prominent fashion observers disagreed, wondering if we’d ever embrace handbags again, with Australia’s Daily Telegraph, for one, suggesting the pandemic might bury the accessory for good. Unaware of these death knells, Ms. Newkirk did a lot of embracing just last month, treating herself to a pink nylon Kate Spade bag for her 40th birthday as well as a black-and-rust Coach crossbody. “I’ve been buying bags to cheer myself up. And, like everybody else, I gained weight,” she said. “But a handbag always looks good.”     Ms. Newkirk is not in the minority. “In the beginning, the world seemed to stop altogether,” said Hallie Spradlin, director of accessories at Fashion Snoops, a trend-forecasting agency. But by last summer, cooped-up men and women “were looking for a mood boost…and started investing in mailer bag.” Yumi Shin, chief merchant of New York department store Bergdorf Goodman, called handbags “pandemic proof”—particularly, she added, when they’re in perky hues like tangerine or neon green. Perhaps that’s because they represent optimism: Buying a bag designed to tote essentials between home, school, the office and even the airport suggests that we’ll soon return to some version of our bustling former lives. Paul-Sebastian Japaz, a New York painter, said he began building “an arsenal” of bags last summer. His buys range from Telfar’s vegan Shopping Bag to an as-yet-unused leather Prada tote. Mr. Japaz, 29, cheerily called it the “back-to-school bag.”     However, as our lifestyles have shifted, so too have our handbag tastes. The awkwardly bulky, top-handle work bags so prevalent pre-pandemic have been ousted by smaller, more versatile options that facilitate a lighter existence. Giana Ballard, 29, who owns a New York photography studio, recently splurged on a canvas Balenciaga bag with a long shoulder strap. Before the pandemic, she used different travel duffel bags for day and night, work and play. Now she wears her roughly 8-inch-tall bucket bag (which fits her iPhone, camera, lipstick and a crucial can of pamplemousse LaCroix) for morning walks, afternoon errands and outdoor dinners. Once she needs to carry heftier cargo like, say, a laptop, again, Ms. Ballard plans to team her modest new pal with a roomier tote.     Curt Myers, a Boston public-affairs consultant and erstwhile traveler, has bought three bags during the pandemic—a leather duffel and two backpacks. Mr. Myers, 28, admitted that he “never really looked at bags” before, but with a surfeit of time and a new, social distancing-inspired love of hiking, he sought pieces that fused style and utility. His usual habit of searching for cities to visit was irrational, he said. “The alternative was to buy that symbolized travel.”     Katrina Tracy waited until she was vaxxed to splash out on a faux-snakeskin Steve Madden crossbody-cum-fanny pack. “It was a little bit of an affirmation of, ‘We’re getting back to it!’” said Ms. Tracy, 34, who works in human resources in Los Angeles. She debuted the chain-embellished bag when visiting her grandmother, whom she’d seen only once in the past year. “It was fun to have a conversation with her about my shiny new purse,” she said. Her grandmother thought it was adorable.     In the 17th Century, small bags known as sweet purses were exquisitely crafted in unusual shapes such as frogs, while the fashionable technique of filigree was used to create elegant purses which were often exchanged as gifts between aristocrats. The 'reticule'  – which emerged in the 19th Century and is considered the forerunner of the modern handbag – had a flat surface, so offered the perfect opportunity for artistic expression. "There is a surface to be decorated so women would decorate them with patterns and flowers," says Savi.     The appeal of the bag's creative potential to artists is evident as far back as the 1930s     The witty and innovative designs from the 19th Century, which included lunch cooler bags in the shape of flower baskets, scallop shells and pineapples, influenced the trend for the incongruous objects which appeared in bag design in the 1930s. Designers such as Anne-Marie of Paris created wonderfully eccentric bags in the shape of telephones, champagne coolers and even radios.     These in turn had an impact on the jewel-like creations of Hungarian-US designer Judith Leiber, whose sought-after evening bags come in the shape of everything from bunches of asparagus to lipstick, and the British designer Lulu Guinness, whose flower-basket bags from the 1990s can be seen as a three-dimensional interpretation of floral reticule designs.     The appeal of the bag's creative potential to artists is evident as far back as the 1930s. Hilde Wagner-Ascher, an artist and designer connected to the Vienna-based collective the Wiener Werkst?tte, used the clutch as a blank canvas for her graphic designs. "She used a very common and fashionable shape but the decoration of it and the pattern of it are really representative of her involvement with the Wiener Werkst?tte – the design movement that grew out of the Vienna Secession – and that type of aesthetic," says Savi.     In recent decades this trend has accelerated as brands collaborate with artists to reinvigorate their classic designs. Louis Vuitton in particular has worked with artists, beginning with Stephen Sprouse and his neon graffiti bags, under then artistic director Marc Jacobs in 2001. Since then, the brand has worked with everyone from Takashi Murakami to Yayoi Kusama.     "They're like artist pieces, limited-edition pieces where artists try and experiment in a different medium," says Savi.     To have and to hold     These experiments have included Bethan Laura Wood's series of interchangeable handles for Valextra's Iside and wine packaging bags, and Marc Quinn's designs for the Lady Dior bag. Wood's quirky aesthetic, inspired by Eduardo Paolozzi and realised in shades of Neapolitan ice-cream and sludgy 70s interiors, transforms the somewhat austere bags into modern poppy icons.      There's definitely a very strong relationship between fashion and art right now – Rachel Koffsky     Quinn, who was invited to re-interpret Dior's classic design to commemorate the opening of their New Bond Street Store in 2016, took his Fossil Record – the Age of Aluminium print series as inspiration. Embossing orchids in various states of bloom on to metallised lambskin, he created objects of breathtaking beauty.     Savi is particularly taken with the International Woman suitcases that Tracey Emin designed to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Longchamp's Le Pliage bags in 2004. "That is a piece where you really see an artist working as if on a piece of art," she says. Made in an edition of 200, each piece carries a unique rosette designed by Emin and is inscribed with a different location which reminds the artist of a moment of love.     "There's definitely a very strong relationship between fashion and art right now," says Rachel Koffsky, head of handbag and accessory sales at Christie's. "It's bringing art collectors into the world of fashion and fashion collectors into the world of art."       But it seems that what serious bag collectors are drawn to, season after season, is the classics – the Lady Dior bag, the Chanel Flap bag, the Hermès Kelly and, of course, the Birkin.     "The Birkin is considered the most desirable bag in the world because of the iconic design and the way that it's created by hand in the atelier. It really is the highest degree of craftsmanship," says Koffsky.     A Himalaya Birkin, sold at Christie's in Hong Kong in 2017, broke the world record for the most expensive bag ever sold at auction when it went for an astonishing ￡293,000. "This particular piece is adorned with 18-carat white gold and diamond hardware. It was really more than just a bag. It was also a piece of jewellery. It's like a wearable work of art," says Koffsky.     It is clearly an astronomical amount to spend on a handbag but, it appears, money well spent. "After the recession in 2008 customer spending was way down. However some bags, like the Hermès Birkin, continued to hold their value so collectors began to invest this amount of money," explains Koffsky. "Collectors' taste has changed and now they're looking at laundry bags as something that's an asset rather than just a fashion item." Indeed, according to a recent report by Art Market Research, Birkins have increased in value even more than Banksys.     Desire for these classic designs is being fuelled "by a sense that the fashion world is looking to the past to inform the designs of the present," says Koffsky. Dior's Saddlebag, which first debuted in 1999, has been brought back under Maria Grazia Chiuri, and Alessandro Michele at Gucci is heavily inspired by the Gucci archive. "The handbag that your mum had in the 1970s, all of a sudden you see it on the runway and the price for that vintage piece skyrockets," says Koffsky.     But despite their value these bags are not going to be gathering dust in a vault somewhere. "Some collectors will buy really special bags and display them like art in walk-in closets with carousels," says Koffsky. But, she adds, "the majority of collectors I work with, if not all, buy handbags because of love and passion and they make smart investment decisions based on what they love and what they're going to use".     Of course, for most us, the thought of owning a Chanel Flap Bag or a Dior Saddlebag, let alone a Hermès Birkin, is as out of the question as owning one of Tracey Emin’s sewn appliqué pieces or a print by Marc Quinn. It seems we will have to content ourselves with viewing them in a gallery like works of art. Which, indeed, they are.     Bags: Inside Out is on at the V&A, London, until 12 September, but is temporarily closed at the moment.     If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.     And if you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called The Essential List. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.

Fecha de Publicación: 25-10-21

Tin box: when the material of your packaging is the real secret weapon that sells

Descripción: Tin box: when the material of your packaging is the real secret weapon that sells     To work in the study of a functional packaging for sale – as we conceive it here at Packaging In Italy – could suggest a selection of technical aspects, materials, and, only at a later stage, identifying the main guidelines.     So, do we first sit around a table to reason abstractly and, at the end, we decide technical details of the material to be used?     Not really. In fact, there are cases where the choice of the material is an integral part of the features that make a packaging functional for sales.     That is, selecting a material and modeling the packaging development based on that material. Packaging contributes to the increase in sales.     For many, it is difficult to understand, but according to facts, sales change for the better when the choice of material was conducted in a strategic manner and not as if it was one of the many technical details.     This is the specific case of a tin packaging – technically tin box – a very distinctive material that can be often functional for the use of the product; such as in the case of the can of oil, the classic cans of soda or the common tuna cans.     In these cases, choosing a can also has practical reasons, but there are situations where to develop a can container – despite not having practical reasons – is a winning choice for boosting sales.     How do we tell if a can could be a driving force for the sales of your product?     The first step is to separate the product from its packaging: let’s get into our heads that packaging, in this case, is not only functional to the product and its use, but it also becomes a product itself and the consumer sees it exactly like that!     It is not an assumption, it is a fact – and I want to prove it in this article. In the case of food tin box, the packaging itself acquires a value that lives regardless of the product.     For this reason, in trying to identify the needs of the consumer, it will be good to find answers through the choice of packaging.     There are basically THREE aspects that make a tin packaging a success factor:     → its reusability (I, many time, buy and reuse the packaging for other purposes)     → its value as a collectable item (I buy and collect the package)     → 100% recyclable material (determining factor for the environment and in today’s buying reasons)     Specifically, what do I mean?     There are some solutions where packaging is not only seen acting as a product container or as a product exhibitor on the shelf, but it is conceived from the start as a separate object that can be, later, reused for other purposes or just collected. And that is how it acquires immediately its own value that can be added to the value or purpose of the product it contains.     Taking it to an extreme, this concept can turn some choices of packaging into the driving feature for the sale: you buy the product almost exclusively to own the tin packaging that contains it!     A recent and clear – for everyone – example of a square tin box packaging designed as a collectable item is the Caffé Illy set of cans.     Notwithstanding, there are many less famous examples where the package is immediately identified as a valuable object that contributes to motivate the final purchase.     The festivity sweets industry is certainly suitable. In these cases, the product is often purchased as a gift, the packaging maintains the above mentioned characteristics, such as reusability and collectibility, and it helps to create a stylish image for the gift – very important aspect when selecting a gift – and that’s why it wins its challenge on the shelf.     We buy a gift => we want to make a good impression => “tin box” packaging gives prestige to our choice => we direct our choice towards a valuable solution.     It is evident how, in a situation like this, packaging is the one playing the most important role. At this point, many entrepreneurs, justifiably proud of their products, could not agree, giving all the credit to the quality of the final product. Is it really so?     Let me answer with a question: would you take to a friends’ place, on Christmas day, a great panettone, wrapped in transparent discount-style plastic? Would you do the exercise using a case? The answer is a single “NO!” That kind of gift, nowadays, is given to no one with that presentation. It is a completely different story if the same panettone is packed in a tin packaging.     This choice is not limited to festivity sweets or to food in general. Also in the beauty sector, it is a much exploited choice, specifically when packing beauty products sold in special festivities, but also for continuous sales it proves to be a successful choice     There are also very famous cases where tin packaging became an iconography of the product itself, to the point that changing it would be risky for the company since the customer identifies the product right through the “tin” of its packaging. As an example, the Nivea cream jar.     The material lives behind a purely technical function to acquire a precise meaning. Obviously, you must find a coherent match with the product and it is not said that it will work for every product. But, when studied properly, it is certainly a strong incentive to sales.     Compared with other packaging containers, such as plastic, glass, and paper containers, rectangular tin box have greater strength, good rigidity, and are not easy to break. Not only can be used for small sales packaging, but also the main container for large transport packaging.     Tin boxes have better barrier properties than any other material, with good gas barrier properties, moisture resistance, light-shielding properties, and fragrance retention. In addition, the seal is reliable and can reliably protect the product.     Tin boxes have a long history of production, with mature craftsmanship and a complete set of matching production equipment, high production efficiency, and can meet the packaging needs of various products.     Golden Tin Co.,Limited warmly reminds that metal materials have good printing performance; the pattern and trademark are bright and beautiful, and the packaging container produced is eye-catching, which is an excellent sales package.     tin metal boxes can be made into various shapes according to different needs, such as square cans, round tin box, round cans, horseshoes, trapezoids, etc., which not only meet the packaging needs of different products, but also make packaging containers more varied. Promoted sales.     he tin metal box packaging can be recycled to achieve the purpose of protecting the environment     In line with international environmental protection requirements, in line with future product trends.     The princess, who is allowed contact only with precious jewels, and precious metals reaches the age of eighteen. Her father, the king, sends an ambassador to the courts of five neighboring kingdoms announcing that he will give his daughter in marriage to the prince who bring her the gift she likes most. Three of the princes bring expensive decorative gifts, one of them an elaborate jewel box, and the last, being poor (though handsome) brings a tin box with non-precious metal in it. Although she is amused by the latter gift she finally selects the jewel box as being most practical and marries the prince who brought that. Moral: even a princess prefers a valuable gift to something of small material value.     An article under discussion by a good number of my colleagues appeared in TheOutline recently. Titled “Bribes for Blogs: How Brands Secretly Buy Their Way Into Forbes, Fast Company, and HuffPost Store” and written by Jon Christian, it tells how various PR and content-supply companies bribe — or try to bribe — bloggers and journalists to incorporate favorable mentions of their clients into articles they write for these publications. It’s an excellent article.     My first reaction was (as was the reaction of many folks I know who are in the business) similar to that of Captain Renault in Casablanca: “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.” As a tech journalist working for a popular publication, I’d routinely get at least one or two of these offers a week — and as routinely send them to my trash folder. I’d bet that any other professional journalist will tell you the same. In fact, this type of thing has become so common that a couple of times, when I wrote a company telling them I wanted to review their product, I got back an email tentatively asking what it would cost. (Much to my dismay.)     There are a couple of aspects to this, however, that also occurred to me and that I thought I’d pass on.     First, that the majority of professional journalists have been trained — either formally or by those in their workplaces — in the ethics of journalism, which includes, yes, not taking bribes to, in effect, advertise a product or service. True, most publications exist through some kind of advertising, but we are taught very quickly that it’s important to separate advertising from editorial.     But there is also another difference. They get paid for their work.     As somebody who has, over the last few months, dipped a toe into the current freelancer pool, the pay rates that many content producers are offering are, to say the least, ridiculous. An example: I applied for a freelance gig with a publication that was pointed towards seniors. After a very positive phone conversation with an editor, she told me that the rates they were offering were $25 for a 400-word article — in essence, about 6 cents a word. She was at least the second editor I talked to who offered those rates, and I saw a lot more on various freelance job boards. And that is more than other publications pay, which can be less or nothing at all.     Now, I have accepted rates of 6 cents a word or less for the publication of a speculative fiction story — because that is my art, not my craft. But few can make a living writing articles at 6 cents a word unless they are pumping them out so quickly that there is no time to do research, interviews, or pay any attention to factual clarity. (I do know one or two writers who can do this because they have many years of experience behind them and so know their subject backwards and forwards. But they are the exception rather than the rule.)     So — you have somebody who is trying to make a living as a freelancer, who does not have the contacts needed to find work or any specific expertise, or is young enough that they need to get some experience under their belt, or is simply a former staff member who is now out on the market. They have rent or a mortgage, utilities and/or broadband, food and other expenses to pay for. All they can get is pennies for their writing, and they’re thinking of applying to the nearest fast food joint for a job. Then somebody offers them real money for linking to a client’s site in their next article, or mentioning a client’s business in a couple of articles. Enough to pay for that week’s groceries. Or that month’s rent. In other words, to provide an income.     I can see where it would be tempting. Especially if the writer isn’t aware of where the lines are as far as ethics are concerned. Or doesn’t really care.     Freelancing is hard. It’s hard to find assignments that pay well. It’s hard to find the discipline to work past daily distractions. It’s hard to get answers from vendors, companies and experts when you don’t have a known publication as part of your email address. It’s hard to find work that pays a decent rate.     And so I understand how it can be hard to dismiss temptation when you’re offered the chance to make a decent living by making a few ethical shortcuts.     But it’s a temptation that I, and many other freelancers, still insist upon dismissing. And I hope that more writers out there will be able to.

Fecha de Publicación: 25-10-21

Essential Cosmetic Containers For Skincare & Beauty Packaging

Descripción: Essential Cosmetic Containers For Skincare & Beauty Packaging     There are few industries out there with as much potential to develop loyal, die-hard customers as beauty and cosmetics. Beauty products are a staple in bathroom cabinets around the world; whether a person is going for an “I woke up like this” look or the avant garde “makeup is art you wear on your face” feel, just about every woman (not to mention tons of men!) use beauty products on the daily.     Which means if you own a beauty or cosmetics line, the potential for some serious business is there. But it also means if you want to grab that business and take it for yourself, you’re going to need to find a way to break through the clutter, jump off the shelf at Sephora, and tell your ideal customer “THIS is the lipstick for you!” And the best way to do that is your packaging.     Your packaging is the first thing the beauty die-hards you want to turn into customers are going to see. If your packaging grabs their attention and speaks to what they’re looking for, they’re likely to take your product home and give it a try. If not? It’s likely to gather dust on the shelf.     But how, exactly, do you design the kind of packaging that makes your ideal customer scream “I need that blush yesterday?” Never fear, 99designs is here with all the information you need to design packaging that stands out on the shelf and gets your product into your customer’s bag (and, eventually, on their face).     Just as important as your customer’s identity is your identity. What’s your branding? Are you dark and edgy (like Urban Decay)? Simple and classic (like Bobbi Brown)? Luxurious (like Dior)? Accessible (like Wet n Wild)? Who you are as a brand—and the personality you want to portray to your customers—is going to determine what design elements you use in your packaging.     Define how your ideal customers are buying your product     You’ll also want to consider how you’re going to sell your products. Are you selling online or in store? In small boutiques or in large retailers? Your design strategy might change depending on where you’re shelling your goods.     Create a mood board for your brand     A great thing to do before you start designing is to create a mood board for your brand. Pull together images, colors, advertisements and whatever else you feel embodies your brand personality; these will act as inspiration as you go through the design process.     Let cosmetics packaging trends inspire you     —     If you need a little inspiration for your packaging design there’s no better place to start than looking at the latest cosmetics packaging trends. Once you know what’s currently trending, you can create packaging that caters to what’s important to your customers right now and that speaks to them in the right way.     Remember that you want to pick a look that’s both modern and on trend, but also timeless and universally appealing, so your packaging design looks up-to-date for as long as possible.     Makeup containers expand to a range of jars, bottles, pots, tubes, pens, compacts and liquid dispensing solutions. Each container offers a different design and solution; however, in the world of ‘cosmetic containers’, each product sits under the skincare, hair and beauty categories. This article will explore the different types of cosmetic containers available in the packaging industry. Raepak offers an extensive range of distinctive packaging products that enable us to explore innovations and keep an eye on exciting designs that are beneficial to the current market cycle.     Cosmetic Jar Containers     Lipstick containers in the form of jars are perfect for skin care and beauty products. Jars can contain gels, creams, lotions and deep skin cleansing products. Most jar containers come with a shive (a flat plastic shelf that fits inside the jar) used to keep the contents free from foreign debris (dust & germs). Moreover, jars are designed with airtight lids, which keep the contents fresh and ready for future use.     Bottle containers can be produced as an airless recyclable container or a high-end luxury acrylic bottle. Acrylic bottles look fantastic with a matching jar and can store nourishing body lotions or face creams. PP airless bottles can also store creams and lotions. However, they are cheaper to produce and lighter in raw plastic material. Acrylic airless bottles are seen as a hybrid between both full acrylic and pp airless containers.     Lip gloss containers in the form of pots can be funky, stylish, trendy or sophisticated. Small pots for cosmetic packaging tend to be perfect for eye serums, aromatherapy oils, lip balm, hand creams or hair products. Moreover, small plastic pots tend to be made with a wide range of different plastic types; PMMA/PETG/PP/AS & ABS. Using these plastic combinations helps with the shape and aesthetics of the final jar design.     Cosmetic tube packaging containers come in different shapes, colours, materials and profiles. Cosmetic tubes are manufactured from high-quality materials, including AS, ABS, PETG, and PCTG. Each item is designed to work with makeup for the beauty & cosmetics industry. Furthermore, mascara containers are manufactured to have an excellent quality finish and be competitively priced.     Cosmetic pen containers come in a beautiful range of styles and design. Each pen gives off a trendy vibe, is easy to use and fits perfectly into any purse or handbag. Cosmetic pen packaging is manufactured from high-quality materials and can be used for eyebrow, lip gloss, concealer, highlighters or liquid blushers.     Compact containers are manufactured to be used with beauty and makeup products. Makeup powder is available in a vast range of colour palettes, and it helps give the wearer a look they desire. Compacts can be produced in a range of different styles included; square, round, rectangle and bespoke finishes.     Cosmetic liquid dispensing containers come in different shapes, colours, materials and profiles. Furthermore, they can work well with other eyeshadow containers to offer brands a set of makeup and beauty products – offering a collection of different makeup and beauty product solutions that can help target a wider audience.      Around one-fifth of the cosmetics market is made up of skincare products. With ￡920 million made from sales in 2018, non-medicated face care products (like moisturisers and exfoliators) were the best selling skincare cosmetics. Haircare and colour cosmetics also make up 18% and 16% of the market.     Home is where the heart is, sure — but it's also where we live our beauty lives. So, we teamed up with the editors at AD to bring you tons of great design tips, trends, and tricks for making over your bathrooms, showers, and vanities. For more like this, click here.     We've seen the overflowing shelfies and packed skin-care fridges, and we know firsthand how hard it can be to find the best makeup organizers to streamline your vanity. Limited space and a never-ending stream of exciting new product launches mean that our makeup and skin-care collections tend to grow much faster than the space we have to store it all. But your countertop no longer has to be a sea of beauty supplies and brushes, because we have the perfect solutions.     Until the day when we all have Huda Kattan's glamorous bathroom set-up, we're opting for makeup organizers. These beauty organizers can help sort the many (many, many) products into efficient storage spaces that also happen to be easy on the eyes.     The best news? Limited drawer space isn't even an issue since these gorgeous designs were made to be displayed. Not only do they provide optimal storage for your foundations, eye shadow palettes, lip products, and makeup brushes, but they're way more sanitary than throwing everything into a canvas bag and hoping nothing leaks. Next time you get that organizational itch, or are overcome by a Marie Kondo-inspired need to tidy, turn to one (or a few) of these storage solutions for your beloved beauty products.     We've rounded up the best makeup organizers, including spa-like bamboo boxes, old-school Caboodles kits, clear plastic drawers, and more. There's something for every budget, every design taste, and every size bathroom. So go ahead — take the first step toward decluttering your vanity. Your beauty routine (and your countertop) will thank you.     Climate change is hard to deny when we see how much change has happened in the time we’ve been practicing social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, the carbon dioxide levels in New York City were 50% lower than they were in March 2019. Environmentalists are also tracking the air pollution above Wuhan province in China; it went down significantly for two months while everyone was in isolation and is now creeping back up.       While we wrestle with these challenging times, many are starting to see what the human impact on our planet really looks like.      You’ve likely heard the statistic that less than 11% of plastic is actually recycled properly in Canada. But did you also know that every year in the U.S.A., according to the Environmental Protection Agency, over two billion razors and refill blades are sent to landfill? Even worse, that stat is actually from a 1988 report, and that number has likely gone up exponentially since then. If you do math and consider that we have similar spending habits to our neighbours to the south, Canada has about 10% the amount of people as the U.S., so it would track that we throw away about 200 million disposable razors each year, at minimum.      The above data notwithstanding, Canadian stats on how much plastic waste actually comes from the beauty and self-care sector are very elusive. Unless brands release their numbers on products sold, it’s hard to estimate the actual amount of plastic that ends up in landfills. Nonetheless, it’s safe to assume a lot of plastic gets thrown out because of our Sephora sprees.      So what does all the doom and gloom have to do with you and your beauty and personal care habits? Well, there are a few ways to make sure that you’re doing the most you can when it comes to not adding to our already massive recycling problem. “One of the best ways to make sure that change happens is to make the companies understand that you really care about this issue,” says Vito Buonsante, plastics program manager at Environmental Defence Canada. “People can only do so much. It’s not really their responsibility to control the waste; it’s more on the company.”      Buonsante recommends that we take a look at what we’re purchasing and start giving our money to brands that offer recycling programs or that use more easily recycled materials, like glass and tin, as opposed to plastic. If it’s absolutely necessary to buy plastic, check that the container has a 1 or 2 plastic rating, which can be found on bottles inside the recycle symbol. Those numbers are the most desirable for recycling programs (the system ranks up to a 7). “The problem with packaging in the beauty industry is that it is often made of mixed materials, therefore it becomes pretty difficult to recycle,” says Buonsante. In short, try not to buy cosmetic products with a plastic rating of 3 or higher.      Strongly expressing your environmental concerns to your member of parliament and local city councillor is also helpful, says Buonsante, as is signing plastics-focused petitions and supporting environmental charities (like the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Ecotrust Canada or any local conservancy groups) so they can continue to help push things forward.      And now, while we’re taking social distancing measures very seriously, perhaps we can also help curb our plastic waste anxiety (because really, we don’t need another thing to fret about) by looking into the following ways to make our beauty routine a little more environmentally friendly. 

Fecha de Publicación: 25-10-21

What is Webbing?

Descripción: What is Webbing?     Webbing is a woven fabric that is distinguishable by its various material compositions, strength variations and widths. The webbing process essentially involves yarns that are woven via looms to create strips. While it is generally comparable to rope for its harnessing function, webbing is an extremely versatile component used in an array of industry applications, ranging from military apparel to automotive parts. Typically, webbing is fabricated in solid or tubular form, with each type having different applications and functions. While ropes are typically thick in texture, PRET webbing is produced in extremely lightweight parts. The primary materials used in the production of webbing include variations of polyester, nylon, and polypropylene. Cotton webbing is also available and is commonly used in commercial applications, including clothing apparel. Webbing is also customizable in a series of colors, designs and prints, and manufacturers can fabricate reflective webbing for safety applications.     Standard Industry Applications      Webbing is found across various sectors. Standard RPET webbing applications and associated industries include:       Seatbelts and harnesses; automotive industry     Hiking, backpack and harnessing gear; sporting good retail apparel     Safety bands and tapes; hospital and medical industry       Upholstery (seat bases); furniture manufacturing     Uniform (suspenders) and accessories for various professions, e.g. police and military     Web Processing: Solid (Flat) and Tubular     Solid webbing is also known as flat webbing and is fabricated in varying degrees of thickness. Distinguished by its flat aesthetic, solid webbing is commonly used for applications like seatbelts. It is lightweight though it is susceptible to tearing, as stress from use tends to affect the outer surface of the material. Solid webbing is generally too stiff to function in applications that require knots, which is why this type of webbing is best suited for applications where the material can be sewn into a larger product. Backpack straps, for instance, are examples of this type of solid webbing.       Tubular webbing is thicker and more durable than solid PP webbing and is composed of two sheets of fabric. It is suitable for knotting applications (like a rope for hoisting) and carries tension better than solid webbing. For functions like climbing, experts recommend utilizing tubular webbing that is woven into a continuous loop.     Common Webbing Materials     Below are the common webbing materials and some examples of webbing, and types and uses. While nylon and polyester have similar properties to each other, there are some key differences.     Nylon Webbing           Nylon Webbing is a high strength elastic material that is commonly used for belt applications (specifically, flat nylon). This material tends to stretch approximately 2% the length of the webbing when it is wet. When looking at how to make nylon webbing, experts warn that nylon webbing should not be exposed to water continuously, as the material tends to absorb liquid and may harbor mildew if it is not maintained properly.     Polyester Webbing     Polyester webbing is durable and similar in aesthetic to nylon. This material is suitable for use for applications that require lifting heavy loads. Polyester webbing has low water-absorption and is more mildew and rot-resistant than nylon. This webbing is commonly used in applications including racing harnesses and seatbelts.      Polypropylene Webbing     This type of webbing is typically used for outdoor applications. Some products fabricated with this Nylon webbing include window nets and plastic bags. Polypropylene webbing is comparable to nylon, though it is generally lighter. Additionally, it is fabricated with U.V. protection and is water-resistant. This material is processed in varying degrees of thickness, although it has low abrasion resistance. According to experts, it is most suitable for medium-strength operations.     Additional Considerations: Replacement & Maintenance      Professionals recommend inspecting the material on an annual basis, especially where the component is utilized as a safety restraint application. Webbing installed as belts and harnesses in the racing industry, for example, will begin to lose elasticity and tear after consistent use and exposure to certain elements, such as oil and heat. Replacement is recommended accordingly, ranging from 2-5 years or sooner if the application is used regularly, as with seatbelts and chair seats (cotton chair webbing).     Maintenance is another essential webbing consideration. As a rule, most webbing should be kept clean and dry, although some materials, like polypropylene are water-proof. A mild detergent is recommended to clean webbing, though it is also essential to remember that the aforementioned materials are manufactured in colors, which may fade or bleed when exposed to certain conditions or cleaner treatments. Therefore, consult the manufacturer for the best maintenance approach.     Textile webbing straps are usually connected to a load by insertion of a bolt or fitting through a looped end in the strap. The strength and efficiency of such a connection are analyzed in this paper. Several simplifying assumptions, e.g., a linear elongation- load characteristic for the webbing, negligible friction, etc, are made. The analytical results are compared with test data for Nylon and Dacron webbing straps with various end-loop configurations. The comparison shows that the analysis of loop strength and efficiency is approximately correct. Both theory and test data indicate the need for close specification of loop configuration parameters during design.     Webbing structures are essential to the safety of engineering systems that routinely endure excessive sunlight exposure. Particularly damaging is the ultra-violet (UV) component of sunlight that may degrade polymer chains, thereby compromising mechanical strength. Despite considerable progress in structural health monitoring, UV damage sensors for Jacquard webbing structures are still lacking. To fill this gap, we propose a simple and fast fabrication process for a nylon webbing structure that exhibits photochromic responses to UV irradiation. The photochromic webbing structure is fabricated by coating a nylon strap with a photochromic polymer. The photochromic webbing structure demonstrates high sensitivity to a wide range of UV irradiation energy. In addition, the webbing structure maintains photochromism even after photodegradation due to extreme UV irradiation (equivalent to 72 h of sunlight exposure). Our analysis indicates that a photochromic dye concentration of 1.00% is optimal for UV sensing. The proposed photochromic webbing could facilitate health monitoring of industrial, aeronautical, and aerospace structures.     The integration of digital tools in mathematics education is considered both promising and problematic. To deal with this issue, notions of webbing and instrumental orchestration are developed. However, the two seemed to be disconnected, and having different cultural and theoretical roots. In this article, we investigate the distinct and joint journeys of these two theoretical perspectives. Taking some key moments in recent history as points of departure, we conclude that the two perspectives share an importance attributed to digital tools, and that initial differences, such as different views on the role of digital tools and the role of the teacher, have become more nuances. The two approaches share future challenges to the organization of teachers’ collaborative work and their use of digital resources.     The following guest article was inspired by an enlightening conversation between SRN editor Denise Donaldson and Dave Sander, CPST-I and engineer (formerly with Evenflo, but employed elsewhere at the time this article was written).     Have you ever given close attention to the webbing used for car seat harnesses, LATCH straps, or vehicle seat belts? If so, you may have noticed that some are wider or feel thicker, smoother, or rougher than others. You may have also noticed that some have stripes (actually called panels), and that those panels vary in appearance and number.     If you have noted these things, I congratulate you on your keen sense of observation! These differences are not random or decorative; each detail in webbing has been intentionally designed to affect how it will perform, especially in a crash.     FMVSS 213 stipulates certain webbing characteristics of CRs. It defines the minimum width of the Print webbing used in harnesses, tethers, and LA straps. It also says that new webbing must meet a minimum strength requirement of 11,000 Newtons for harness webbing and 15,000 Newtons for LA and tether webbing. To get an idea of how strong that is, you could basically pick up a Honda Accord with a strap made out of LA or tether webbing!     CR manufacturers purchase this strong webbing, and most also do their own internal testing to doubly ensure compliance with the standard. FMVSS 213 specifies that this be done using what’s called a quasi-static test. This is simply a test in which the webbing must not break, at the specified load, when a device attached to the ends pulls it apart at a slow and steady rate.     The quasi-static test is beneficial as a consistent benchmark for measuring performance criteria among all the different webbings that a company might use. However, CR manufacturers also assess webbing during dynamic testing of car seats during sled tests run at a very high rate of speed. Quasi-static results typically do not match these high-speed results, in that the amount of elongation (or stretch) seen during the quasi-static test is likely to differ from the amount during a sled test—it could be more or less. Since the amount of stretch is a key characteristic with respect to how webbing manages crash forces, it is helpful to know the results of both types of testing.     Now back to the guts of the story. We’ve observed that webbing comes in different styles with varying construction. Why? Because, depending on the configuration of the fibers (threads), webbing will stretch to varying extents when loaded by crash forces, such as in a sled test or actual car crash. Rather than considering one type the best, engineers make use of this variability.     Like car seats, webbing types can perform differently in FMVSS 213 crash testing, and the actual car seat it is attached to will further differentiate the results.  Sometimes the webbing selected during car seat design may even cause the CR to crack during the development and testing phases. By simply making a better choice for the type of webbing, the same car seat may pass testing without any other changes to the CR being needed. When looking at the performance criteria in FMVSS 213, differences in harness webbing can influence the results of the test dummy head injury criterion (HIC) score and Chest G injury criteria, as well as the head and knee excursion (forward movement).     As CPSTs know, the management of crash forces requires give and take.  While one goal is to hold a CR in place, injury may result if the body isn’t allowed to slow down gradually enough. Therefore, while webbing used for LATCH installation must be strong and hold the car seat in place, car seat engineers carefully select the kinds of webbing used for a particular car seat model to balance the CR’s overall performance.     For instance, some car seat models may have tether or lower anchor webbing that has a relatively high elongation in order to enhance the performance of the CR structure.  While this would increase some excursion measurements (a negative effect), this might be a net-positive tradeoff if it lowers the dummy HIC or chest Gs enough (a positive effect). In fact, because tethers do such a good job of supporting a CR and controlling head excursion, there is usually some room to use webbing that stretches more if the overall effect is a more structurally sound CR that measures better HIC and chest Gs in testing—a tradeoff that is likely to translate to better outcomes for real children in crashes.     Webbing variations can also be especially useful to engineers in the late stages of CR development. To CR engineers, these final stages are all about tweaking or “turning the dials” until you get the best performance possible in all the measurable categories: HIC, chest G’s, head excursion, knee excursion, and structure.  What does turning the dials mean?  Well, before a car seat is even made, developers use a variety of tools, like computer-aided design programs and 3-D printed models, to predict a CR’s fit, performance, and function, because changes made after a CR is molded are very costly. But, until it has been physically made, it is difficult to really know for sure how a CR will perform in every test configuration. So CR manufacturers have a few go-to ways to tweak performance during the final development stage. Having a wide selection of webbing to try is an important one of those, giving them so-called “dials” to turn. By matching the right webbing to a CR, manufacturers can fine-tune it so it performs to its best potential.     I hope this sheds some light on how CR manufacturers choose webbing, just one of the many factors that can influence the performance of a car seat. In particular, consider this when asked why owners are prohibited from swapping components of different car seats, even if the parts are from the same manufacturer. When it comes to webbing (and other parts, as well), rest assured that there were important reasons the CR developers used the particular type that they did for each model. So, even if parts seem similar to the untrained eye, making changes to a CR that are not approved by the manufacturer can truly have negative consequences on performance.

Fecha de Publicación: 25-10-21

A modern party speaker with exhilarating acoustics

Descripción: A modern party speaker with exhilarating acoustics     Sony recently launched in India the Sony SRS-XG500 party speaker. Though it reminded me of the old boombox music players, it is by no means a retro one but a modern party speaker with a powerful output and wide connectivity options. Although bulky, the SRS-XG500 is a moveable party speaker that is easy to manage irrespective where you throw a party. Priced at Rs 32,999, the speaker seems to be on the expensive side. Is it? Let’s find out:     Build and design     Sony SRS-XG500 party speaker     The cylindrical body gives the speaker a distinct look while the fabric covering brings minimalism. The big handle is sturdy enough for us to carry it anywhere. On the front, there are buttons for power, Bluetooth, volume, play/pause, and a bass boost button. A rubber lid at the back covers power and USB ports and a connector for plugging in a guitar. The two large rubber feet keep the speaker stable when the bass comes in. The sides have LED lights that change colour when you play music and it looks absolutely beautiful under dim or low light. The Sony SRS-XG500 weighs nearly 5 kg but quality material is used so weight isn't much of a factor to point out.     The audio quality of the Sony SRS-XG500 is at par with most of the small-sized trolley-style audio speaker, although it has its own limitations considering it is a portable speaker. That said, the sound is loud and bassy, but at the same time, highly balanced so it will be music for your ears.     For bass lovers, there is a bass boost feature but honestly, the default sound is much better because of the balance. The feature to connect a guitar adds to its credentials as a party speaker. You can also connect the SRS-XG500 with other speakers using Party Connect. There are slight tweaks you can do with the sound and light settings using the Sony Music Centre app. I had to play with the equalizer as the default sound at times doesn't go well with all genres of music.     Overall, the experience was fine as I played songs on full volume on the terrace.     The Sony SRS-XG500 offers up to 30 hours of playtime on a full charge. The battery fares well in real-life scenarios and the backup is close to that Sony claims. The SRS-XG500 is water and dustproof with the IP66 rating, so a slight rain or splash of water and everyday dust won't harm the speaker.     The Sony SRS-XG500 is a speaker with loud and enthralling audio out. Although bulky, it can be taken anywhere - from terrace to park for an enhanced musical experience. The SRS-XG500 brings all the features a modern party speaker should have, not to forget about Sony's signature sound that lights up the party, but at Rs 32,999, it's quite expensive and people may prefer cheaper alternatives that JBL and other brands offer.     Throwing a party anytime soon or planning to attend one? Conventionally, partygoers used to have a big music system with bulky speakers to ensure everyone is able to enjoy the melody. Thanks to technology upgrades, today, you can do so by carrying a small yet powerful fire light speaker. In the last decade, the trend of party speakers has seen a big spike.     With increasing workload, people are now taking every chance they get to loosen up with friends and crank up their favorite music. Incomes party speaker with fire light. Be it a house party, a beach party or even better, a pool party, party speakers are always going to lighten up your guests with incredible sound effects and thumping bass. These are small, portable, and quite powerful.     Yesterday I was writing about the perils and stigma of hearing loss, sometimes caused by listening to loud music. Today I’m reporting on speakers that produce loud music. Hopefully, the two aren’t mutually exclusive because when listening to music in larger rooms or out of doors, you do need more volume.     Sony is building a name for itself in the growing market for large bluetooth speaker. Today it’s announcing the launch of three new models designed to get any party going with a swing. Marketed with the slogan “Life should be lived at full volume” Sony wants you to turn up the music to full volume and dance away the night with clear and rich sound.      Sony’s new range of X-Series speakers is specially designed to provide a powerful and wide-spreading sound that will suit almost any genre of music. Whether you’re listening indoors or outdoors, by yourself or with a group of friends, the new X-Series speakers come in a range of styles and choices of sound quality, portability, durability and lighting.     All the new models s feature Sony’s innovative X-Balanced Speaker Units. Featuring a non-circular diaphragm, the drivers create more sound pressure and have lower distortion by maximizing the area of the speaker. The upshot of this, claims Sony, is a richer and clearer sound whatever style of music is being played.      The new Sony XP700 has three front high-efficiency tweeters and one rear high-efficiency tweeter delivering an omnidirectional sound that Sony says has a punchy and deep bass with plenty of clarity. The new XP500 and XG500 speakers have two front high-efficiency tweeters while the XG500 model includes passive radiators that are optimized to reproduce a clear bass.      Whether you’re looking for something to use on the go or in the shower, a portable speaker will play any music, podcasts, or audiobooks a lot louder (and a lot clearer) than the one that comes with your phone or laptop. And while we’ve written before about lots of audio accessories — including the best noise-canceling headphones, wireless headphones, and workout headphones — here, we’ve rounded up the best portable speakers, as praised by the most enthusiastic reviewers on Amazon.     Over 53,000 reviewers give this Anker speaker five stars, with thousands particularly impressed with its 24-hour battery life. “Oh my God, it lasts forever,” says one reviewer. “I’ve charged it once since I got it (a week ago) and used it every day for at least a few hours.” Another calls it “RIDICULOUS. I gave it a full charge and got over a week play time while playing via Bluetooth at around five presses below max volume for about ten hours a day.” And while the battery might be on par with the original Soundcore model, this newer model — called the Soundcore 2 — has several upgrades. It has 12-watt speakers instead of six-watt ones, which leads to a beefier sound overall. “I have the original Soundcore, which was an excellent little gadget until I finally blew a little speaker playing it louder than recommended, repeatedly, for years,” one says. “This SC2 is also excellent. It does put out more sound and the base is fuller.” This model is also waterproof, which increases the number of places you can port this speaker to. “This little speaker has taken on the Atlantic Ocean, Moriches, and Great South Bay with no problem at all,” says one fisherman. “Swells of huge waves have soaked this speaker and it just keeps working.”     This under-$20 speaker received high marks from over 19,000 five-star reviewers for its sleek design and surprisingly powerful sound. “This is the most fantastic Bluetooth speaker I have ever purchased and I have purchased a lot,” says one such reviewer, who goes on to say that the sound is “gorgeous,” and the controls are “incredibly easy and intuitive. I might even add slick. I have no idea why they are selling at this price.” Another reviewer was looking for a small speaker to carry while on the go, but they were “pretty skeptical about this little $15 speaker being that great.” As it turns out, “this little speaker packs BIG POWER,” they write. “I can’t believe the volume level. I have a much bigger 808 Audio Bluetooth speaker that cost much more and has half the sound.” While the reviewer admits you’re “not gonna be bumping bass with this little dude,” they say it “gets the job done well” for streaming videos and music. And ultimately, for under $20, “if it does break, I won’t mind buying another one.”     “360-degree sound is extremely innovative and the best part of this product, as it essentially solves the problem that most portable speakers have, which is the volume level being too loud for some people and not loud enough for others,” one reviewer says, explaining the appeal of the unique design of this Bose speaker. They add, “With music coming from all sides of this speaker, everyone is hearing the same level of music and you can have it loud enough to be enjoyed but not worry about it overpowering someone else.” Other companies make similar style speakers, but one user says this one from Bose is above the rest. “If you have owned a 360-degree speaker under a hundred bucks and then upgrade to this one,” they write, “WOW, what a difference. I own the Soundcore Flare also; it sounds good, but you get what you pay for. The lows are much more pronounced on the Bose along with much fuller sound.” It’s a sound so full it’s enough to power a party. “Used for the music at our outdoor wedding ceremony,” one writes. “All 120 people could hear the music just fine.”     Like our best rated pick, also an Anker speaker, this model has an impressive 24-hour battery life. “Great little speaker — especially for the price,” one says. “Sound is crisp and full, it looks great, and has a nice, solid heft to it. It’s also extremely easy to pair to an iPhone. Once paired, it quickly and reliably connects to my phone when turned on.” Another asks, “Is it the utmost in premium quality sound? Of course not, don’t be an idiot, it’s a tiny speaker that costs under $30.” But they find it impressive nonetheless: “I think you would be hard pressed to find anything at this price point that comes anywhere even remotely close to the awesomeness you get with this speaker.” Many of the thousands of reviewers call out the long battery life, including one who describes it as, “stupid-good … I have literally left this thing on for days — DAYS — and it still had juice.” Another says “I have only charged it once and have likely played it for a total of 4 hours over the last week (Bluetooth) and the battery still says 100 percent.” And when it comes to portability, reviewers say it can hold up to most environments. Reviewers use this in the bathroom, the car, and even on motorcycles, which leads one to say it’s pretty durable: “I’ve dropped this thing onto the street from a speeding motorcycle — the speaker didn’t even stop playing.”

Fecha de Publicación: 25-10-21

Control of the Brushless DC Motor in Combine Mode

Descripción: Control of the Brushless DC Motor in Combine Mode     A brushless DC (BLDC) motor is considered to be a high performance gear motor due to its low maintenance cost, versatility, adequate torque and speed, and high reliability. Normally, a simple BLDC motor driver is composed of a permanent magnetic rotor and three stator coils. In each controlling step, two out of three coils are used to generate rotating magnetic field, while the floating coil induces a back electromotive force (emf) and feeds the generated current back to the controller as noise. In this work, combine mode scheme is proposed to control a BLDC motor in such a way that the excess current is accumulated via additional switching circuit for further utilization. Therefore, a BLDC motor can drive the load in concurrent with generating power. The proposed switching circuit has been designed and simulated on PSpice. The results show that up to 75% of input voltage can be charged to the storage capacitor.     This paper provides a technical review of position and speed sensorless methods for controlling Brushless Direct Current (BLDC) motor drives, including the background analysis using sensors, limitations and advances. The performance and reliability of BLDC motor drivers have been improved because the conventional control and sensing techniques have been improved through sensorless technology. Then, in this paper sensorless advances are reviewed and recent developments in this area are introduced with their inherent advantages and drawbacks, including the analysis of practical implementation issues and applications. The study includes a deep overview of state-of-the-art back-EMF sensing methods, which includes Terminal Voltage Sensing, Third Harmonic Voltage Integration, Terminal Current Sensing, Back-EMF Integration and PWM strategies. Also, the most relevant techniques based on estimation and models are briefly analysed, such as Sliding-mode Observer, Extended Kalman Filter, Model Reference Adaptive System, Adaptive observers (Full-order and Pseudoreduced-order) and Artificial Neural Networks.     For the past two decades several Asian countries such as Japan, which have been under pressure from high energy prices, have implemented variable speed PM motor drives for energy saving applications such as air conditioners and refrigerators . On the other hand, the U.S.A. has kept on using cheap induction motor drives, which have around 10% lower efficiency than adjustable PM motor drives for energy saving applications. Therefore recently, the increase in energy prices spurs higher demands of variable speed PM motor drives. Also, recent rapid proliferation of motor drives into the automobile industry, based on hybrid drives, generates a serious demand for high efficient PM motor drives, and this was the beginning of interest in BLDC motors.     BLDC motors, also called Permanent Magnet DC Synchronous motors, are one of the motor types that have more rapidly gained popularity, mainly because of their better characteristics and performance . These motors are used in a great amount of industrial sectors because their architecture is suitable for any safety critical applications.     The brushless DC motor is a synchronous electric motor that, from a modelling perspective, looks exactly like a DC motor, having a linear relationship between current and torque, voltage and rpm. It is an electronically controlled commutation system, instead of having a mechanical commutation, which is typical of brushed motors. Additionally, the electromagnets do not move, the permanent magnets rotate and the armature remains static. This gets around the problem of how to transfer current to a moving armature. In order to do this, the brush-system/commutator assembly is replaced by an intelligent electronic controller, which performs the same power distribution as a brushed DC motor . BLDC motors have many advantages over brushed DC motors and induction motors, such as a better speed versus torque characteristics, high dynamic response, high efficiency and reliability, long operating life (no brush erosion), noiseless operation, higher speed ranges, and reduction of electromagnetic interference (EMI). In addition, the ratio of delivered torque to the size of the motor is higher, making it useful in applications where space and weight are critical factors, especially in aerospace applications.     The control of BLDC motors can be done in sensor or sensorless mode, but to reduce overall cost of actuating devices, sensorless control techniques are normally used. The advantage of sensorless BLDC motor control is that the sensing part can be omitted, and thus overall costs can be considerably reduced. The disadvantages of sensorless control are higher requirements for control algorithms and more complicated electronics . All of the electrical motors that do not require an electrical connection (made with brushes) between stationary and rotating parts can be considered as brushless permanent magnet (PM) machines , which can be categorised based on the PMs mounting and the back-EMF shape. The PMs can be surface mounted on the rotor (SMPM) or installed inside of the rotor (IPM) , and the back-EMF shape can either be sinusoidal or trapezoidal. According to the back-EMF shape, PM AC synchronous motors (PMAC or PMSM) have sinusoidal back-EMF and high performance Brushless DC Motor have trapezoidal back-EMF. A PMAC motor is typically excited by a three-phase sinusoidal current, and a BLDC motor is usually powered by a set of currents having a quasi-square waveform .     Because of their high power density, reliability, efficiency, maintenance free nature and silent operation, permanent magnet (PM) motors have been widely used in a variety of applications in industrial automation, computers, aerospace, military (gun turrets drives for combat vehicles) , automotive (hybrid vehicles) and household products. However, the PM BLDC motors are inherently electronically controlled and require rotor position information for proper commutation of currents in its stator windings. It is not desirable to use the position sensors for applications where reliability is of utmost importance because a sensor failure may cause instability in the control system. These limitations of using position sensors combined with the availability of powerful and economical microprocessors have spurred the development of sensorless control technology. Solving this problem effectively will open the way for full penetration of this motor drive into all low cost, high reliability, and large volume applications.     The remainder of the paper is arranged as follows. Section 2 describes the position and speed control fundamentals of BLDC motors using sensors. Next, Section 3 explains the control improvements applying sensorless techniques, describing the motor controller model and the most important techniques based on back-EMF sensing. Section 4 also briefly analyses the sensorless techniques using estimators and model-based schemes. In addition, Section 5 compares the feasibility of the control methods, and describes some relevant implementation issues, such as open-loop starting. Finally, Section 6 provides an overview for the applications of BLDC motor controllers, as well as conclusions are drawn in Section 7.     PM motor drives require a rotor position sensor to properly perform phase commutation and/or current control. For PMAC motors, a constant supply of position information is necessary; thus a position sensor with high resolution, such as a shaft encoder or a resolver, is typically used. For BLDC motors, only the knowledge of six phase-commutation instants per electrical cycle is needed; therefore, low-cost Hall-effect sensors are usually used. Also, electromagnetic variable reluctance (VR) sensors or accelerometers have been extensively applied to measure motor position and speed. The reality is that angular motion sensors based on magnetic field sensing principles stand out because of their many inherent advantages and sensing benefits.     2.1. Position and Speed Sensors     As explained before, some of the most frequently used devices in position and speed applications are Hall-effect sensors, variable reluctance sensors and accelerometers. Each of these types of devices is discussed further below.     2.1.1. Hall-effect sensors     These kinds of devices are based on Hall-effect theory, which states that if an electric current- carrying conductor is kept in a magnetic field, the magnetic field exerts a transverse force on the moving charge carriers that tends to push them to one side of the conductor. A build-up of charge at the sides of the conductors will balance this magnetic influence producing a measurable voltage between the two sides of the conductor. The presence of this measurable transverse voltage is called the Hall-effect because it was discovered by Edwin Hall in 1879.     Unlike a brushed DC motor, the commutation of a high performance BLDC Motor is controlled electronically. To rotate the BLDC motor the stator windings should be energized in a sequence. It is important to know the rotor position in order to understand which winding will be energized following the energizing sequence. Rotor position is sensed using Hall-effect sensors embedded into the stator .     Most BLDC motors have three Hall sensors inside the stator on the non-driving end of the motor. Whenever the rotor magnetic poles pass near the Hall sensors they give a high or low signal indicating the N or S pole is passing near the sensors. Based on the combination of these three Hall sensor signals, the exact sequence of commutation can be determined. Figure 1 shows a transverse section of a BLDC motor with a rotor that has alternate N and S permanent magnets. Hall sensors are embedded into the stationary part of the motor. Embedding the Hall sensors into the stator is a complex process because any misalignment in these Hall sensors with respect to the rotor magnets will generate an error in determination of the rotor position. To simplify the process of mounting the Hall sensors onto the stator some motors may have the Hall sensor magnets on the rotor, in addition to the main rotor magnets. Therefore, whenever the rotor rotates the Hall sensor magnets give the same effect as the main magnets. The Hall sensors are normally mounted on a printed circuit board and fixed to the enclosure cap on the non-driving end. This enables users to adjust the complete assembly of Hall sensors to align with the rotor magnets in order to achieve the best performance .

Fecha de Publicación: 25-10-21

Electric Tricycle Replica Review: Super Enlightening, Mildly Terrifying

Descripción: Electric Tricycle Replica Review: Super Enlightening, Mildly Terrifying     I'm an advocate for electric cars needing to get back to basics. There's no need to be running off, sticking in 56-inch touchscreens, or making the EV larger than a small European state. Really, one of the things we should be working on is taking existing chassis, finding ways to quickly convert them to EVs, and worrying about all the fancy stuff later. Nothing new under the sun and all that, which is how I found myself driving a converted motor tricycle from 140 years ago through the British countryside.     Two weeks ago, journalist Jeremy Hart got in touch with me and asked me if I wanted to drive a replica of an EV from 1881. The answer, obviously, was yes. Nothing on earth could be more my jam than this. Once I'd worked out if it was legal for me to actually leave my house and drive something under the U.K.'s lockdown restrictions, I was straight on the train to Surrey to have a go in a remake of what was very probably the first-ever vehicle with a rechargeable battery.      Not sure what image you were expecting here but: Yes, this is an electric cargo motor tricycle from 1881. Or, well, an unbelievably faithful replica of one that Hart commissioned and artisan bicycle designer Christian Richards built.      Because the original vehicle was an adaptation rather than a purpose-built chassis, the yoke-like pedals in front still work and can power the vehicle—and swing wildly, threatening to take your shins out when it's under motor power. The single seat is at the top, perched a bit perilously, and the battery is—as it seems to have been on the original—in a pannier attached to the rear of the bike. The motor drives the big left-hand wheel and the two smaller wheels are connected to what's surprisingly responsive steering.      Now for the facts about this vehicle. It's not really a stat sheet so much as it is a story.      Before 1881, there had already been some progress at making electric vehicles happen. ányos Jedlik, a Hungarian inventor, had made a small cart that used a motor to move in 1828. Four years after that, Moritz Jacobi, a Russian engineer, made an electric boat using non-rechargeable batteries that poisoned its passengers so seriously even the early pioneers of vehicles were forced to admit they'd succumbed to nitrous fumes.     By 1839, a Scottish inventor called Robert Davidson created something that, today, is widely credited as being the first electric car. It ran through the streets of Aberdeen, Scotland, with a passenger, but everything we know about it—which admittedly, is a surprisingly small amount for what was a huge breakthrough—says it used chemical, non-rechargeable batteries.     When Hart and Richards set out to replicate the cabin motor tricycle French inventor Gustave Trouvé took to the streets of Paris in 1881, there was so little documentation that a quick sketch was basically all there was to go off of. It's significant, as a vehicle, because it was rechargeable and Trouvé drove it down regular roads—which as anyone who's driven in Paris knows is kind of an experimental experience even if you're in a well-tested Renault Clio.     The illustration showed Trouvé's electric tri moto wasn't purpose-built, he had to convert it. He'd used an existing pedal vehicle made by a British manufacturer and converted the chain to run from the motor rather than the pedals. And the reason no further information about it exists is that he took it for a drive, presumably decided it went well, and then disassembled the whole thing. He took the motor and battery with him to work on an electric boat project that would lead to him inventing the outboard motor.      So why anyone would try and recreate the short-lived e-trike? The answer is fairly straightforward. Hart likes researching the history of electric vehicles and once he'd found out such a key part of them—like Davidson's car and Jedlik's cart—was missing, it seemed obvious the thing to do was try to recreate it, especially with a tantalizing 140-year anniversary coming up. What he hadn't estimated was how difficult it would be, even with using modern parts for some of it.     When Richards built the trike for Hart's project, he made the frame first—faithful to the original being a conversion—before using a Maxus battery to power a fairly standard e-bike motor. Maxus is an electric van company that decided to back the project, which included providing its own vehicle as transport for the trike to and from Paris, after regular automakers were less interested. The trike's motor sits almost in the larger wheel, delivering power via a simple chain drive.     Driving the Thing     When I stepped off a train to have a look at it, the trike was fresh off its own transport back from France. Which leads me to ask: Have you ever been properly scared by a bicycle? I have, now.     I'm maybe not the most athletic journalist, especially after spending a year in enforced lockdown, so clambering into the seat was a pretty ungainly affair. I'm very grateful Hart didn't laugh at me too much over. At five feet and 10 inches, I'm not especially short but still had to haul myself a good six inches up into it, putting me well above a car or modern bicycle's ride height. In the 1880s, of course, people were used to horseback so this probably felt like a dangerously low sitting position. They also presumably had slimmer hips than me because staying in the seat was quite challenging and definitely felt like I could have fallen out of it at any second.     In terms of control, it's very simple. The replica's designers recreated what looked like the steering and accelerator controls on the one existing image of the original trike. There's one lever to steer the thing (the long one in front, in the picture above) and another to ease the vehicle forward as the accelerator.     You perch your feet on a bar to avoid the flailing pedals and use the steering handle and brake (the handle in the rear of the picture above) to hold on. Obviously, this isn't how the chassis was even intended to work because it's supposed to be pedaled, so there's a sort of direct conflict between the number of handles available to you and the number of hands you actually have—you have to use your left for both the brake and the accelerator.     The first thing that goes through your mind is, "What the hell was anyone thinking, doing this?" Yes, this time I knew that the battery was actually very unlikely to catch fire and the vehicle had been properly engineered for this, but there was just something incredibly insecure about being on a small seat above a vehicle you don't totally feel like you're in control of.      Since the 3 wheel motorcycle was authentically replicated, it had wobbly, slim wheels and hard rims—no real tires. So when you add a little bit of electric torque to it and things start moving, they feel like they might get away from you. The speed of acceleration, driven by that large wheel, feels a lot faster than it is and like it could just keep going until it throws you into a ditch. After a few minutes though, you get the hang of it. The system's simple and it doesn't really need a brake, although it has cushy leather straps as brake pads, that make a shushing sound when activated.     That was the only cushy thing, though. Not big on heated seats, the 1800s. But the steering was incredibly responsive, turning both wheels on the two-wheeled side of the trike in a quick way I didn't totally trust the single, larger wheel to respond to.     The top speed is about three mph—which feels like plenty from the driver's seat. Aside from being pretty unfamiliar as a vehicle (when Hart described it to me, I was not imagining an asymmetrical wheel layout), the trike felt both a little bit overpowered and slightly fragile. The slim frame is built perfectly and has unbelievable balance, thanks to Richards' incredible craftsmanship. But the point of this vehicle obviously isn't performance. That wasn't even the point at the time.      Rather, it's proof of possibility. The guts—or na?veté—it must have taken Trouvé to decide to casually put the electric trike together are unreal, but it's also incredibly impressive to see the history of electric vehicles realized again in such an intensely physical way. I was reminded of this every time it went over a small bump.     It's really easy to think of early EVs as plasticky little city cars or crude experiments like the Sinclair C5. Even getting something from the 1980s to run on battery power alone these days feels like a major endeavor. The stop-start history of electric vehicles over the 20th century—revived at every oil crisis and forgotten as soon as pipelines start flowing again—makes it really easy to forget that electric technology originally appeared as a rival to steam, not gasoline.     So, yeah, I can't recommend an 1881 Trouvé trike as a daily runaround. It's got really no storage space and the road legality, I suspect, is kind of debatable. But as a clanking, mildly terrifying piece of suck-it-and-see impromptu electric vehicle history, it's an extremely special thing. At a time when the only vehicles moving under their own steam were, well, err, literally using their own steam—think great steamboats and huge steam locomotives—this would have been an incredible piece of nippy engineering.      And it still is, honestly. While I'd need more than a short trip where I tried not to break any bit of it (and mostly succeeded, sorry Jeremy) I found I was kind of sold on the trike element by the time it was over. Compared to riding a regular bike, it offers a more refined sitting position; you're upright with incredible views and—steering lever in one hand, accelerator the other—you can't help feeling like you're having an extremely great time. Like driving a vintage car that forces you to sit properly and peek over the bonnet rather than slumping down to gaze out the windshield, there's something very Mary Poppins about it all.

Fecha de Publicación: 25-10-21

Packaging Machines

Descripción: Packaging Machines     Dust-extraction systems were attached to the packaging machines, the sugar screening equipment, and the mills for powdered-sugar production, to remove sugar dust. The dust-extraction ducts were connected to dry dust collectors. However, it was found that the maintenance of the dust-collection system had been poor. In addition, some equipment was significantly undersized or incorrectly installed. Some dust ducts were found to be partially, and in some locations, completely filled with sugar dust.     The plant had hired an outside consultant to evaluate airflows, pressure drops, and other operating parameters on both the dry and the wet dust-collection systems. The report identified numerous design and maintenance deficiencies. Because the report was delivered only a few days before the 2008 catastrophe, there had been no opportunity to review or act on it.     In addition, during the investigation following the 2008 catastrophe, it was found that sugar conveying and processing equipment were not adequately sealed to prevent spillage of significant quantities of sugar onto the adjacent floors. Less than 2 months before the catastrophe, an internal inspection by company supervisors and quality assurance personnel learnt that many tonnes of spilled sugar had to be removed from the floors at intervals and returned to the refinery for reprocessing. Packaging operators and other employees also reported significant amounts of sugar dust escaping the packaging equipment into the working areas.     The systems for conveying maize starch to be mixed with the granulated sugar, the grinding mills, and the powdered-sugar vertical packing machine all generated significant quantities of sugar dust and maize starch in the work area. Workers reported that airborne sugar dust and spilled sugar in the powdered-sugar processing and packaging work areas were a constant problem and that significant accumulations were often seen on equipment and on the floor. One worker told that he used a squeegee to clear a path on the floor through spilled powdered sugar to get to equipment he operated during his shift.     Packaging equipment unwinds materials from its roll, forms it into the shape of a container, fills it with product, and seals the container. Printed material should, of course, reflect the container’s length (the “cutoff”) and its width (the “web”). Web and cutoff can be no more precise than as initially printed, but any subsequent web handling can introduce additional variability to both. Slitting defines a roll’s edge that must parallel to the machine direction of the printing process. Figure 6.1 suggests the challenge. Three impressions on the right have a light-colored border and three on the left have a darker border. Slitting between the third and fourth impressions (cut No. 3) is likely to produce a wavy line with alternating strips of either color. They would appear on the right edge of the third roll and left edge of the fourth roll. When print extends to (and through) a slit edge as in Figure 6.1 (called a “bleeding edge”) its color must be uniform for a width at least as great as the side-to-side tolerance of the slitting operation.     Once the contract has been agreed, the processes of design and construction may commence. These lead to the manufacturing site acceptance trials, which would include a full validation of all the operational requirements of the machine. The final stage is delivery, installation and commissioning, at which the performance of the machine is assessed to ensure that the required operational performance has been achieved.     A rather unusual application of rigid PVC involves building apparatus from machined parts, largely because the polymer is very easy to machine into complex and intricate components. A company in Coventry had the idea of building a type of transparent film packaging machine using such PVC components to produce the wrapping action needed. Their concept included incorporating water-cooling channels within the PVC parts to control the process. They built a working prototype using a combination of light alloy components, slab PVC and acetal bearings (Fig. 6.17), and relied on a toolmaker to machine the various PVC parts and solvent welding the parts together to make the inner water-cooling channels. However, when the wrapping machine was first switched on in 1998, numerous leaks occurred from the PVC components and rendered the process inoperable.     The forming process on a horizontal packing machine requires conformance of printing to the expected machine sequence. The issue is a recurring one for printed rolls of any material for any handling process. To communicate expectations, the printing industry (not only flexible packaging) uses standard designations for print orientation on a roll (Figure 6.2). Eight orientations are described. Numbers one through four refer to printing wound to read from the outside of the roll; five through eight refer to printing wound inside of the roll. The four numbers of each set refer to the orientation of the printing relative to the leading edge of the unwinding roll, top, bottom, right, or left.     The plastic packaging company sued the toolmaker for their losses. I was asked to examine various parts and report on the root cause of the problem. One particular part was chosen for close scrutiny. It was a bar 640 mm long with a section of 39 by 20 mm and when examined, proved to be slightly curved, being about 2 mm out of true. The bar had been solvent welded to form the water channel which ran along its length and was drilled at either end (inner diameter about 8.5 mm) to accept the water supply. Macroscopic inspection showed that the joint between the two halves exhibited a small gap of about 0.6 mm (Fig. 6.18). The same picture shows cross-threading on the upper part of the screw thread, which no doubt was caused by numerous attempts to discover the source of the leak or disconnect the supply to stop the leakage. Since the water pressure was about 2.6 bar or 38 psi, the inner source of the leak was established. External examination showed a similar problem, with similar sized gaps in the joint (Fig. 6.19), and since the bar had leaked here in service, a path between the two gaps was present. No doubt the many other leaks in the system were caused in a similar way by poor joints.     After pressing, the garment should be free from wrinkle and creases, and have a good shape. Apparel needs to be stored and packed for delivery to the potential customers. Nowadays, there are manual or semi-automatic small packing machine available in the industry, but careless or inappropriate storage and packaging will cause a deterioration in the appearance of the final product.     The pressed apparel should be stored in a cool, dry place. The storage should have sufficient room to accommodate the apparel without being too closely packed, which could not only cause wrinkles in the apparel, but also block the air circulation (causing a moisture build-up leading to mildew on the apparels), or result in excessive heat causing the plastic bags to bond to the fabric. Also, the storage area should be as clean as possible so that dust and dirt, the acid pressure in atmospheric pollution, as well as the presence of moths or other pests, do not cause apparel to deteriorate during storage. Apparel in storage should not be subjected to any strain or movement that could cause the fibres to become weak and break. Avoid pressing in sharp folds. Different types of apparel should have different conditions of storage and packaging. Knitted or stretched apparel should preferably be folded rather than hung, and should be stored in a plastic bag. Nylon hosiery should be stored and packed in plastic bags to prevent snagging. Sweaters should also be stored in plastic bags to keep them from becoming contaminated by lint. Clothing containing wool should be stored in a moth-free or mothproofed place (Finch and Putnam, 1977; Fan and Hunter, 2009).     Various kinds of machinery are employed in food and pharmaceutical processing. A plant may have a variety of tanks, fermenters or bioreactors, pumps, valves, centrifuges, homogenizers, heat exchangers, evaporators, spray dryers, and packaging machines, as well as other devices. A vessel may have internals, such as agitators, ports for sensors, shafts and mechanical seals, mechanical foam breakers, baffles, and gas spargers, all of which have an impact on cleanability. Irrespective of the type of equipment, all plant components for food and pharmaceutical processing should be CIP capable. Equipment design should ensure that all surfaces that in any way contact the product, including vapor, foam, and sprayed or splashed material, receive cleaning solutions during CIP. For example, a submerged culture fermenter may need to be supplied with CIP solutions at multiple points to ensure proper cleaning. In addition to being sprayed in the vessel, the CIP solutions may have to be sequenced through the submerged aeration pipe, the air exhaust lines that may be contaminated with fine culture droplets and foam, the mechanical foam breaker, and the various supply lines for the medium, inoculum, antifoam agents, and pH control chemicals, as well as any harvest lines. Cleaning of the sample valve and any retractable probes will require attention. Similar specifics need to be evaluated during the design of other process items and in planning a CIP scheme.

Fecha de Publicación: 25-10-21

How Parcel Lockers Will Transform Last Mile Delivery

Descripción: How Parcel Lockers Will Transform Last Mile Delivery     This study explores customer value in relation to parcel lockers, a self-service tool that reshapes the delivery and returns experience in the context of e-commerce last mile delivery. Parcel lockers offer a response to retail and last mile delivery challenges provoked by the rapid growth of e-commerce worldwide. Retailers, logistics service providers, communities, and other stakeholders now face issues due to increased volumes of goods sold online. The introduction of parcel lockers to service algorithms is intended to address these issues by involving consumers in the service process. However, the existing research fails to provide knowledge about the customer’s view on this new technological solution. This study followed a focus group design and built on grounded theory to provide insights into customer value in relation to parcel lockers. These insights can contribute to both research and practice.     We consider the problem of designing a outdoor parcel locker network as a solution to the Logistics Last Mile Problem: Choosing the optimal number, locations, and sizes of parcel locekers facilities. The objective is to maximize the total profit, consisting of the revenue from customers who use the service, minus the facilities’ fixed and operational setup costs, the discounts in the delivery costs for customers who need to travel in order to collect their parcels, and the loss of potential customers who are not willing to travel for service. The problem is expressed as a 0–1 integer linear program. We show that it is equivalent to the well-known Uncapacitated Facility Location Problem. We then solve the modified problem, and apply it to an industrial-sized network.     Parcel delivery lockers are fast becoming a familiar sight in malls, stores and train stations as the boom in online shopping leads retailers and logistics providers to look for new ways to deliver orders as quickly and efficiently as possible.     Global sports retailer Decathlon is rolling out indoor parcel locker in its 1,500 stores as part of its click-to-collect service, while Amazon has had lockers in supermarkets, post offices and transport hubs across Europe for the last few years.     Online shoppers select the lockers as a delivery option during checkout, then receive a QR or SMS code that will open the locker once the parcel is delivered.     “Parcel lockers are becoming popular because of the convenience,” says Tessa English, Director, Industrial and Logistics, at JLL. “Consumers have more control over when they pick up their shopping, rather than having to wait for deliveries or risk parcels being left in the wrong place.”     As online shopping continues to rise across Europe, shoppers are increasingly expecting fast, flexible delivery. DHL has a network of 340,000 lockers in Germany, accessible by 90 percent of the population, while many retailers, such as ASOS in the UK, also allow customers to return orders via a locker.     “This gives customers greater flexibility over their shopping, especially as lockers located in transport hubs often offer public access 24/7,” says English.     For retailers, parcel lockers are also a means to tackle the challenges – and costs - of last mile deliveries from warehouses to homes and offices. Trying to deliver packages to customers who aren’t home can cause delays on delivery routes, while getting orders to individual addresses often means putting vehicles on the roads before they’re full, raising costs and contributing to city centre congestion and air pollution.     “Delivering to parcel lockers means a van could drop off dozens of orders at each delivery point, rather than just one,” says English. “This reduces vehicle movements and the number of vehicles required, which offers retailers and operators better route and cost efficiencies.”     The right location     Parcel lockers tend to be placed in areas with high footfall, such as supermarkets and train stations, although varying consumer habits in different countries – or even different areas of the country – have a big impact on location decisions.     “A good location depends on retailer customer profiles – how frequently customers order and where they live. This is where big data can provide insight into the most effective locations,” says English.     “What’s key is that customers can pick up the parcel along their usual journey, without a detour. As soon as the convenience factor is lost, electronic locker become a less effective investment and potentially also a less sustainable solution.”     Furthermore, lockers need to be in secure locations with good surveillance to minimise the risk of theft or vandalism.     Future building must-have?     Across Europe, clothing retailers as well as technology and lifestyle brands have already partnered with logistics firms to deliver to lockers. And with more than half of UK customers predicted to shop for groceries online by 2021, refrigerated lockers for food orders could also become popular fixtures.     Down the line, new residential and mixed-used developments could include a block of lockers, accessible by all residents as well as retailers.     “In terms of convenience, this is probably the ultimate - a safe place for parcels that can’t fit into individual mailboxes, allowing people to pick up orders when they’re home,” says English.     For landlords, providing that convenience could be an additional perk that attracts commercial and residential tenants – especially as online shopping across Europe continues to grow.     “With many more goods going through the parcel network, there will be increased demand for convenient last-mile delivery options,” says English. “Retailers want to enable a more seamless, easy delivery. Parcel lockers are one part of the solution.”       In this article, we have the Founder and CEO Dr. Arne Jeroschewski of Parcel Perform sharing his views on the state of the last mile delivery landscape and how the smart implementation of parcel lockers can be the way forward for the e-commerce world to meet the delivery expectations of consumers.     There are many last mile delivery innovations in the market. So why am I focusing on refrigerator locker and collection point networks as the innovation that will transform the last mile?     Imagine this scenario 50 years ago:     The postmen making their rounds in your housing estate would only deliver letters to your doorstep. They will not release your letters without meeting someone at the doorstep. If you weren’t at home while the postman was making their rounds or missed them ringing your doorbell, you’ll need to collect and sign off your mail from your nearest post office.     Understandably, this experience is frustrating, wastes valuable time and inefficient for everyone involved. This is why we have letterboxes in central locations that are accessible 24/7 for us to pick up our mail at our convenience.     Surprisingly, we accept this frustrating experience for parcel deliveries even today decades after we solved it for letter delivery. Well, that is why parcel lockers are bound to innovate parcel delivery in the not so distant future.     With parcel lockers, logistics carriers can deliver orders to a set parcel locker location, eliminating the annoyance and cost of failed first deliveries, rescheduling deliveries and the uncertainty of having someone at home to pick up an item within a vague timeframe.     Likewise. consumers enjoy the convenience of 24-hour accessibility. With parcel lockers located closer to their home than post offices, they can pick up and return items at their convenience with minimal queueing and indirectly lowering service costs at the same time. Logistics carriers also see higher first delivery success rates, more parcels delivered per trip and improved efficiency – enjoying up to 5 times more parcels delivered per courier with the use of parcel lockers.     The parcel locker system strengthens the global last mile delivery experience. In a recent analysis on the global parcel locker market by Belgium-based International Post Corporation, parcel lockers are already heavily used in Finland, Denmark and China – with a usage rate of up to 43%  Consumers prefer the storage locker method citing the 24/7 availability, ability to select delivery locations and lower delivery prices as reasons.     Perhaps in a few years, we’ll look back and wonder how we could have managed our deliveries without the superior convenience offered by parcel lockers.     Therefore, for parcel locker networks to be an effective solution to our parcel delivery challenges, they should be carrier-agnostic; where locker providers and delivery companies work together seamlessly across the industry. Likewise, locations of locker sites should be carefully analyzed for proximity to prospective consumers to help drive route density within the delivery network.     An example of such a coordinated approach can be found within Singapore. In December last year, we at Parcel Perform had the pleasure in working with the Singapore government and the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) to launch the Locker Alliance programme; a collective parcel locker system allowing different locker operators, end-consumers and merchant partners to use the network seamlessly.     Lockers are situated in several transport hubs near public housing estates around Singapore, allowing consumers to access their deliveries at their convenience. This project offers a vast range of benefits to consumers and the logistics industry:     Parcel lockers at a network density that is impossible to achieve for any logistics player alone while simultaneously bringing the convenience of these lockers closer to the consumer.     Higher utilization of all deployed parcel lockers that results in lower operating costs and therefore lower prices for carriers and consumers.     Open access logic to allow all players to effectively operate and use parcel lockers regardless of their size and capacity to make significant infrastructure investments     Parcel Perform are honoured to have worked closely with IMDA to develop the Interoperability Platform that unites all key e-commerce industry players to improve the last mile experience in Singapore.

Fecha de Publicación: 25-10-21

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