Essay on business and engineering. 3 parts.
1) Business, accounting,computers
2) Electrical eng.
3) quality eng. management.
The integration of BUSINESS, ACCOUNTING and COMPUTERS
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What is the nature of a business?
ANS:
An organisation that provides a service or product to
the client and that the transaction may give itself a profit.
What is the difference between a service-based business and a product
based business?
ANS:
1) Service-based business can be customer-service oriented.
Eg. Providing information over the phone, delivering of goods, repair of
equipment
2)A product business usually has an inventory that receives stock
from suppliers. It also has an operations side that sells the stock,
assemble/modify stock for use. Eg. restaurants, insurance, retail,
fish & meat, marketshop-house. Sometimes it provides services not
related
to the business, eg. Asking the shopowner for an exchange of coins.
How does accounting relate to business?
ANS:
Accounting records information of expenditure, credit, debit,
capital and liabilities. It shows a business's performance.
This information is useful to the business organisation and to
government bodies that it must report to. Eg. Company Income tax Body.
What is Computing?
ANS:
The input and process of information by a dedicated device and its
delivery
and presentation to the user. Eg. Computer, Cash register, handphone
etc.
How has computers affect accounting?
ANS:
Traditionally, accounting is done by calculators and notes
written on recordbooks. Computers is a way to deliver
the information to another location. It also processes business
information
to provide brief, accurate reports.
How is computing used in any business?
ANS:
1) Administration/Sales
2) Engineering/Production
3) Critical data
1) In any service-based business, one can see extensive usage of
computers eg. in electronic cash-registers, a whole armada of
office-workers
behind computer desks and phonecalls.
2) Computing affects eng/production with these tools:
Rapid prototyping, PLC/SCADA, electro-mechanical automation.
These tools are used to test product design and manufacturing
processes.
3) The use of phones, recorders, radiosets especially to request for
exact information. (in scenes like emergency rooms, underground ops,
supplychain)
Electrical Engineering (EE)
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What is EE?
ANS: It is an applied science, a study in some polytechnics and has
a profound influence on urban life.
What does it involve?
ANS: It starts off with power delivery, distribution, and also
components,
systems and information technology.
How is it an applied science?
ANS: Alot of modern day products and devices uses electricity. How
they are safe and reliable involves design and economic usage of parts.
This is a role taken up by electrical engineers.
What does a study of EE involve?
Electrical Engineering graduates need to study
basic electrical circuits, electronics, design, power protection, PLCs
and mechanical interaction.
What does an electrical engineering project involve?ANS:
It could be a Programmable Logic Relay project or a electronics
circuitboard
or a computer software or a product-material research/study.
The tools used could be statistics, interviews, and documentation.
The mode of presentation can involve website displays that show
'live' product performance.
How is EE related to ELECTRONICS eng.?
Electronics focuses on op-amps, transistors, diodes, design and
performance
of TVs, COMPUTERS, hardware and software.
EE focuses on INSTALLATION and SAFETY INSURANCE such as
lighting appliances, datacable fixtures etc.
What is PLC?ANS:
PLC stands for programmable logic controller. It is a tool
used to control traffic lights, MRT trains, robots, etc.
It is often linked with SCADA: Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition.
That is a tool often used in factories to supervise manufacturing
processes.
Programs are written into the PLC machine through a PLC controller.
The machine then processes the program and shows the results.
Where is EE most profound?
ANS:
It is a science that involves other disciplines. If we look at around
us,
alot of our lifestyle is made possible through EE.
For eg. To have a proper apartment, materials must be made
to fit and proper for use in accordance with housing regulations.
The wires chosen must be of correct rating and the mechanical
parts(eg. armatures, housings, cableboxes) must fit exactly.
Their behaviour must relate to each other in such a way
that there is a form of 'distinguishment'. This distinguishment
is for safety purposes. Eg. Enough gap inside a socket-housing
Airconditioners are made through electrical and mechanical
eng. but are repaired by people well-versed in gases and fluids.
What skill is needed to understand EE?
ANS: Understanding of relationships of parts and how they
are presented to the user in a cautious way.
What is javascript?
ANS: It is a language used on web-browsers. It processes codes
written by programmers. Together with advance languages,
they can tell our computer what to do and what to display.
What has javascript got to do with PLC programming?
IMHO they are both the same in rules and methods.
Both involve a use of a dedicated device to process
the rules(PLC machine and the Browser).
Both involve the usage of rules to get
1) User variables/input
2) User expectations.
Whereas PLC programming/SCADA runs stored programs
to control remote lights, machines, sensors located far away, the same
behaviour
goes for web-browsers: local browsers running codes stored
in servers and remote PCs in other countries.
Their only difference is that
1) PLC/SCADA serves the organisation requirements and is founded on
"CONTROL"
2) Web-browsers/handheld netdevices serves the user interests and is
founded on "FREEDOM"
How the two relate to each other is best found in
Space Satellites. There over 24 man-made satellites in outerspace
rotating
around Earth. They deliver information to and fro. When a
satellite receives continental information, it activates its PLC
program-turning
on or off the appropriate switches-then the signals are transmitted to
another
continent. The local device(browser or monitor) thus presents the
information.
Is there a possibility of a webbrowser running a server code to
activate: say my TV/RADIO/SHOWER and lights?
ANS:All this is very possible and is actually happening. Such a system
is very expensive
but i think BILL GATES'S HOUSE got such a thing.
Is it profitable to sell such a system?
Unless it becomes a way of life, IMHO i think it would produce only
marginal profits.
Foreseable benefits of JAVA cum PLC device:
1)Together with advance pollution control techniques, it would reduce
AIR POLLUTION
2)and improve SAFETY
Benefits to URBAN society
1) Improved interaction among house-trapped citizens
2) Reduced traffice movement.
3) Demand of programming literacy will rise
Nature of quality engineering & management
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What is quality?
Quality is about providing customer satisfaction such as getting good
reviews of service/product and reducing complains and also the running
of
smooth operations within the company.
I have seen companies stating they are quality class. What does it mean?
It means their company has the procedures and measures
to run their business according to a set of rules.
What are these set of rules?
The ISO 9000 series is a popular one. usually conformance to these
rules provide the company with an award. In the US, the award is know as
MALCOLM BALDRIDGE and in Japan, the DEMING prize.
In Singapore, the Productivity & Standards Board(PSB) administer these
rules
for local companies.
Why should quality be related to engineering?
1) Safety. A well designed engineered product passes the safety test.
It is used and sold extensively in world-markets.
2) Performance: Solid performance shows the dedication of the people
involved.
How does engineering relate to Management?
Management serves to guide the organisation as a whole.
Engineering prepares the service or product for sale and use.
Management makes sure this product gets to the right person
and at the right time and price.
How is quality related to management?
A good quality management programme improves employee morale.
Reduced costs. More bonuses.
Can an organisation survive by a quality mark?
No. It must continously improve its ideas, retrain people and improve
methods
for survival. It needs the right people to take on the work.
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28 July 2001 - Liew Kian Boon, Lawrence - SINGAPORE