The US border Security Essay Example for Free

The US border Security Essay Discussed in this essay is an outline of US borders and security related to them. The geographic and strategic value of the borders has been described in the beginning. Then the origin and purpose of United States Border Patrol has been discussed. Mentioned in the middle body are the steps or actions that USBP had taken so far in for safeguarding the borders along with the trouble they have endured in curbing issues such as illegal immigration, drug and human trafficking and screen immigrants for the signs of terrorism. Also discussed in length are human and drug trafficking that takes place across US border and how these things make their way into United States. The United States policy regarding border security is briefly discussed and the essay is closed with an analytical conclusion. US Border Security Since the beginning of civilization, borders have perhaps been the most valued asset nations consider themselves to have. Wars have been waged for the sake of their protection or expansion but they have been regarded sacredly none the less. As humanity progressed into the latter centuries, the concepts and its rigidity regarding the borders of a state kept on changing as the ancient world had open and unmanned borders. United States of America, since its creation has been guarding her borders with absolute zeal and dedication. Acquiring the half of the north American continent, United States is flanked by ocean on both its east and west side, whilst it shares its borders with Canada in the north and from Mexico in the south. Being one of the richest, most advanced and highly organized countries of the world, United States borders have been the object of fascination for its neighboring countries, specially Mexico being a third world country living right at the door step of US. Adhering to a strict and stern immigration and interior policy, people from all across the globe find it difficult to get entrance into the US without severe securitization. Offering the glorious prospects of freedom, financial security, safeguarding of rights and its ability to assimilate the diverse cultures of the world into its own, almost every person in the world has been enchanted by the prospect of living a life in the US, the Land of the Free. That is the reason its 8,000 miles long border have been violated enough times, specially from the south as immigrants from all across South American wishes to live a life of peace in the US. Along with the sea of illegal immigrants, US borders also face smugglers of both drugs and contraband items because of being one of the most lucrative markets in the world. Coupled with these troubles, US borders have been guarded highly as means of not permitting terrorist from making their way into US. The taste of 9/11 is something that US hasn’t quite forgotten yet. Thus, the border security of United States is not only one of the highest efficient and vigilant in the world, it is also one of the most sensitive one due to its immense size. Its importance can be summed up in the words of Ronald Regan as he said: The simple truth is that weve lost control of our own borders, and no Nation can do that and survive. We ignore Americas lost sovereignty at our own peril† (cited in www. usborderwatch. com) Overview The land border of US along with Canada spans 5,525 miles and is the longest non-militarized border in the world. There are 84 land POEs (Point Of Entry) along the northern border, which include but are not limited to three in Idaho,13 in Maine, three in Michigan, five in Minnesota, 10 in Montana, 12 in New York, 18 in North Dakota, seven in Vermont, and 12 in Washington. Around 250,000 people enter the United States from Canada. Canada is the single largest trading partner of the United States, with the total trade exceeding almost $372 billion in 2003. In fact, the largest trade link in the world is the Ambassador Bridge (connecting Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario) that has more than 7,000 trucks crossing daily transporting goods worth more than $120 billion per year. The southern land border with Mexico is 1,933 miles across and has 25 land POEs, six of which are in California, six in Arizona, two in New Mexico, and 11 in Texas. Over 800,000 people arrive from Mexico daily. Mexico is United States second largest trading partner, with the trade of $220. 3 billion in 2003, down from $247. 2 billion in 2000. The coast line of the United States is 12,479 miles long and there are 143 sea POEs. Some sea and river POEs are principally commercial ports while others receive passengers (Border Security: Inspections Practices, Policies, and Issues, 2004). In order to be able to cope with such a vast border from which not trade merchandise has been able to pass but also torrent of immigrants, either legal or illegal along with the high possibility of drugs, liquor, contraband items and smuggled good, US Border Patrol was founded in 1924 which after 85 five years is among one of the finest law enforcement organizations in the world. United States Border Patrol (USBP) Founded in 1924, the U. S. Border Patrol was established in El Paso, Texas, and Detroit, Michigan. Its primary purpose was to curb the illegal entry of aliens, contraband, and the flow of forbidden liquor from Mexico and Canada into the United States. Under the authority of the Immigration Act, approved by Congress on May 28, 1924, the Border Patrol was created as a uniformed law enforcement branch of the Immigration Bureau (â€Å"85 Years Of Protected By†, 2009). Back in those days, smuggling of liquor from Canada and Mexico was an immensely lucrative business and invited illegal immigrants to have a go at their lucks in United States. Today, the USBP’s primary mission is to detect and prevent the entry of terrorists, weapons of mass destruction, and illegal aliens into the country, and to interdict drug smugglers and other criminals along the border. The Homeland Security Act of 2002 dissolved the Immigration and Naturalization Service and placed the USBP within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) (Border security, the role of US border patrol, 2008). In the wake of 9/11, USBP’s funding and man power has been increased exponentially by the consent of Congress. Now having almost 18,000 agents in 20 sectors, and 164 stations all across the United States, its objectives and strategies also include the prevention of terrorists from entering the United States soil along with the detection and neutralization of weapons of mass destruction. Perhaps the toughest task USBP has to do is to curb the flow of illegal immigrants the swarms the borders of United States, especially the southern border. Due to the fact that over 97% of unauthorized migrant apprehensions occur along the southwest border, the USBP deploys over 90% of its agents there to deter illegal immigration. In 1993, a study commissioned by the Office of National Drug Control Policy pointed out to the fact that the southwest border was becoming the den of illegal immigrants noting as an example that 6,000 illegal immigrants attempted to enter the United States every night along a 7. 5 mile stretch of the San Diego border. The study also concluded that drug smuggling was a serious threat all along the southwest border, and recommended that the entries of the illegal immigrants should e prevented at the border rather than arresting them after entrance. This consequently led to USBP’s implementation of its first National Strategic Plan (NSP) in 1994. National Strategic Plan An endeavor to gain control over the overrun borders, NSP started out as a multiphase programs so as to maximize the USBP’s resources and their implementation on the areas of greatest entry of illegal immigrants and goods. The focus of the NSP was an operational strategy known as â€Å"Prevention Through Deterrence. † The strategy’s goal was to place USBP agents and resources directly on the border in order to prevent the entry of illegal aliens, rather than attempting to arrest aliens after they have already entered the country. Strategy’s phase I was called program â€Å"Hold the Line† at El Paso sector, which focused on the deployment of the agents deep into the borders in order to detect any alleged or attempted entries of border crossing rather than apprehending the culprits in the city streets and wasting precious time as it was relatively easy to catch border crossers in the wide open desert. The program wasn’t a complete success as it merely shifted the border crossing point from El Paso to somewhere else. San Diego’s Operation Gatekeeper followed after the El Paso program and many agents were deployed along the San Diego border. Aiding them was the state of the art ground sensors, infra-red cameras and stadium lights along with landing mats used as a border fence. Phase II of the program included the expansion of Operation Safeguard (1999) in Tucson, Arizona, operation Rio Grande (1997) in the McAllen and Laredo sectors of Texas, and an increased emphasis on securing the northern border. Phase III was set to involve the remaining areas of the southwest border as well as the coastal waters around Florida and Puerto Rico (Border security, the role of US border patrol, 2008). After the fateful events of 9/11, the USBP has modified its directives and prioritizing the prevention of terrorist penetration through the borders. As the investigations relating to 9/11 revealed that the terrorists had roamed freely across US with the status of illegal immigrant and prepared for the attacks from with in the US soil, USBP in collaboration with Immigration and Custom’s Enforcements, Anti Smuggling Units and CBP’s intelligence has directed all its attention towards the alien penetration across the US border. USBP revealed their new strategy to cope with the terror threats from entering US via illegal border crossing in March 2005. The five major points of that strategy are as follows. Establishing the substantial probability of apprehending terrorists and their weapons as they attempt to enter illegally between the ports of entry; Deterring illegal entries through improved enforcement; Detecting, apprehending, and deterring smugglers of humans, drugs, and other contraband; Leveraging â€Å"Smart Border† technology to multiply the deterrent and enforcement effect of Agents; Reducing crime in border communities, thereby improving the quality of life and economic vitality of those areas (Border security, the role of US border patrol, 2008). Striving hard to get the task done, the Homeland Security Department last year awarded one of the most ambitious technology contracts in the war on terror, a 10-year deal estimated at up to $10 billion to the global consulting firm Accenture. In return, the company would provide services to create a â€Å"virtual border that would electronically screen millions of foreign travelers. Termed as US-VISIT program, which stands for the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology, started in July 2003. The US-VISIT system must eventually cover nearly 7,000 miles of borders along Mexico and Canada, including more than 300 land, air and sea ports that witness 450 million crossings a year (Higam OHarrow Jr. , 2005, p. A01). Human and Drug Trafficking across US borders Aside from the newly instilled fear of terrorism, United States faces the troublesome elements of smuggling of drugs and human trafficking and most of these gruesome things wade their way into America by means of illegal border crossing. Addressing the human trafficking element first, â€Å"The U. S. State Department’s 2005 Report on Human Trafficking estimates that between 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year and almost 20,000 are trafficked across U. S. borders alone† (â€Å"Combat Trafficking in Persons†, 2005). The horrible side of this gruesome business is that most of the trafficked persons are children. Extremely lucrative and seemingly unobtrusive, â€Å"human trafficking is considered to be the third-largest source of criminal income worldwide, generating an estimated $9. 5 billion per year. It is also closely linked with money laundering, document forgery, drug trafficking and international terrorism. † (Keefer, 2006, p. 5). According to John P. Torres, deputy assistant director for smuggling and public safety at the United States Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cross border human trafficking is a â€Å"significant risk to national security and public safety† (Seper, 2004). Drug trafficking is the problem that has plagued US since its very beginning. The very purpose of the establishment of USBP was to prohibit smuggled drugs from entering American territory but even after 85 years, the problem has not been fully curbed yet. It is the most lucrative organized crime operation in United States with its annual income estimated to be â€Å"as high as $110 billion† (â€Å"America’s Habit†, 1986). Cocaine being the most sought after drug, as its roots of origin are literally buried in South American countries, other popular drugs such as marijuana and heroin make its way into United States by means of either maritime vessels or through southern border. The numerous drug cartels active in United States gets their drugs en route Mexico regardless of the joint ventures both countries engaged in so as to hamper the drug trafficking. Mexico itself cultivates heroin and due to its lightly guarded 2,000 miles border with United States is the chief trafficker of heroin in USA. Drugs also are brought in underground through tunnels; some 100 have been discovered since 1990 along the 1,950-mile U. S. -Mexico border. The most sophisticated tunnels have lights, air systems and hydraulics (Feyerick et al, 2009). Regardless of extra tight security since 9/11 drug somehow is making its way into United States and hasn’t completely been stopped yet. Aside from human and drug trafficking, the USBP also has to look out for items of contraband nature such as weapons and pirated merchandise. With such a huge number of people passing through both north and south borders of United States, hunting down illegal immigrants, terrorists, drugs and pirated merchandise has become a daunting task for USBP. United States Border Security Policy Aware of its much sought after status, United States border security has always been very clear and its primary motive is to make sure the safety and its borders from the swarms of illegal immigrants and smuggled goods. The primary emphasis of the policy is about the status of immigrants who crosses both the borders of north and south to gain access into United States. Being in excellent terms with the government of Canada, the northern border of United States is subjected to less scrutinizing as compared to the southern one that’s in contact with Mexico. The residents of Mexico are issued a special Mexican Laser Visa that grants them access into US for as long as 6 months. Southern border, being constantly breached by illegal immigrants and smugglers is a highly watched territory where thousands of people pass every day thus making it extremely difficult for CBP and USBP to keep an eye out for anomalies. Keeping that in mind, granting Visa is not the only procedure to gain access into United States. Interviews are conducted, data is cross referenced and surveillance is mounted so that only the right person could be able to go through the gates of US. In the post 9/11 times, the security checks has been doubled and it has become the â€Å"primary mission of CBP is to prevent terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the country. However, other components of CBP’s mission include interdicting other prohibited items such as illegal drugs, ammunition, firearms, and counterfeit goods; and monitoring trade compliance† (Border Security: Inspections Practices, Policies, and Issues, 2004). Conclusion The border patrol strategy was aimed at strengthening of United States immigration laws and strove for decreasing the number of illegal immigrants coming into the United States by increasing controls at the its borders. Previously the resources were primarily directed at strengthening the border patrol along the southwest border, to curb the entrance of illegal immigrants and smuggled goods but the terrorist attacks, however, brought attention to the northern border, which has been understaffed and lacked the necessary technology to adequately screen individuals seeking entry into the United States. Several pieces of legislation passed in the 107th Congress authorized and appropriated funding for additional staffing and resources along the northern border. Regardless of its outstanding services and capabilities, USBP has not been able to completely tackle the problem of illegal immigrants and smuggled merchandise. Many reasons, such the sheer size of the borders, the number of immigrants passing through it every and the dogged determinacy of people willing to enter the Land of the Free etc may contribute to its incomplete success. But that still doesn’t change the fact that US borders are much more safe and vigilant in the presence of United Stated Border Patrol. Reference â€Å"85 years of protected by† retrieved May 24, 2009 from http://www. cbp. gov/xp/cgov/border_security/border_patrol/85th_anniversary. xml/. â€Å"Americas Habit†, Drug Abuse, Drug Trafficking, Organized Crime Presidents Commission on Organized Crime, 1986, retrieved May 24, 2009 from http://www. druglibrary. org/SCHAFFER/GOVPUBS/amhab/amhabc3. htm/. â€Å"Border Security: Inspections Practices, Policies, and Issues†. CRS Report for Congress, 2004. Order Code RL32399, Congressional Research Service, The Library of Congress. â€Å"Border Security: The Role of the U. S. Border Patrol†. CRS Report for Congress, 2008. Order Code RL32562, Congressional Research Service, The Library of Congress. Feyerick, Deborah; Cary, Michael Steffen, Sheila. â€Å"Drug smugglers becoming more creative, U. S. agents say† April 16, 2009, retrieved May 24, 2009 from http://edition. cnn. com/2009/CRIME/04/16/creative. drug. smugglers/index. html/. Keefer, Sandra L. , â€Å"Human Trafficking And The Impact On National Security For The United States† March 2006, U. S. Army War College Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania 17013, p. 5-8. OHarrow Jr. Robert Higham, Scott. â€Å"US Border Security At Cross Roads† Washington Post, Monday, May 23, 2005, p. A01. Regan, Ronald. Quotation. Retrieved May 24, 2009 from http://usborderwatch. com/. Seper, Jerry. â€Å"Human Smuggling a Security Risk. † Washington Times. 19 May 2004, retrieved May 24 2009 from http://www. washingtontimes. com/functions/print. php? StoryID=20040518-103934-8980/. Trafficking in Persons Report, U. S. Department of State, 2005, retrieved May 24, 2009, http://state. gov/g/tip/tiprpt/2005/46606. htm/.

Free Will Determinism Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Every day in our lives and everything we do involves some degree of decision making or choice selection either mental or physical. We start making choices and decisions from the moment we wake up everyday to the second we sleep. Some decisions we make are blatantly obvious to ourselves because of our need to reflect on the choices before choosing. However, most decisions we make throughout the day are made without much thought. We are even, quite often, unaware that we are making decisions due to habituation and preference. Before going further, we must define the terms free will, determinism and fate or destiny. Free will is the ability to choose. Furthermore, it is the power of making free choices that are unconstrained by external circumstances or by an agency such as fate. Fate, or destiny, can be defined as the inevitable events predestined by this force. However, there is a better position to take when it comes to arguing against free will; and that position, or belief, is call ed determinism. Determinism states that the conditions at one moment are the necessary result from the â€Å"previous† conditions. Simply put, every effect has a cause, every action is predetermined. Unlike fate or destiny, it does not mean the future is already established. It is one thing to say that our choice is caused. It is another thing to say that we do not choose, and fate says, we cannot choose. This is definitely an endless argument given that it is a matter of personal opinion with no facts involved. However, free will definitely seems like the most plausible standpoint. We do have free will. First of all, we can all experience something within ourselves that we can conclude to be a decision making process. These decisions we make are obviously made from our own will and not determined by anything other than ourselves. Baron Holbach, an 18th century French philosopher, believes that free will is an illusion. According to Holbach, we have no choice in anything because everything is predetermined. Holbach also states that our decision making boils down to preference. For example, if Bob walked into an ice cream store filled with numerous flavors, it would seem that Bob is free to choose any flavor he wants. Holbach would have to argue that Bob has already made a decision in his mind before walking in due to vanilla being his favorite flavor, h... ... that neurons firing chemicals and so forth could have deterministically resulted in his choice of vanilla. There are arguments which claim that free will is an illusion. It is an illusion that we accept because of our inability to observe all of the processes going on involved with making a choice. Basically, this point of view states that we are unaware and have a lack of understanding for numerous processes present within human thought. Despite the differences between free will and determinism or fatalism, there is some middle ground. Libertarian is the belief that free will is affected by human nature but retains ability to choose contrary to our nature and desires. This is a balance between the ideas from free will and determinism. This is a good stance because of its incorporation of both views. This whole argument about free will is purely subjective. However, it seems that there are stronger arguments for the idea of free will as opposed to determinism and fatalism. As was stated earlier, it would seem rather pessimistic to view the world as a determinist. Just by being a determinist, one is choosing not to believe in free will which is an example of free will in itself.

Thicketwood Ltd

Management of Organizations COMM 1006 Operations Thicketwood Ltd Problem Statement The current production process that Thicketwood Ltd is utilizing can no longer keep with the demand of custom kitchen cabinets. Management must implement a new step to the production line to increase efficiency; however, they must also maintain quality as the customers that are purchasing these cabinets expect top quality for the amount of money they are paying. Problems/Sub problems/IssuesIn the Thicketwood Ltd case there are a few problems and issues that need to be addressed immediately in order to keep up with demand. The current process that involves strictly human labor is no longer efficient as the demand for cabinets continues to increase. The current process has 5 steps which include cutting, drilling, routing, assembling, and finishing the cabinets. The third step in this process takes the longest amount of time to complete and also has the highest number of employees working on it.This step causes a bottleneck and everything is becoming backed up at this stage. Management needs to implement a change in order to try to become more efficient and meet demand but also continue to make quality cabinets. The company has come across an option that they believe will eliminate the bottleneck and allow the supply to meet demand. The option the company believes would be the most beneficial is a Computer Numeric Controlled (CNC) router. The decision that must be made is either to purchase the new machine or the old machine.Each machine has a different price and different life expectancy. By purchasing and implementing this machine to the production process it would also eliminate jobs on the production line, which may result in employees being transferred to different areas or may cause some layoffs which as a result can have a negative impact on the relationship between workers and management which is currently very good as a result of wages and benefits and there have been very few layoffs in the past. Analysis For Thicketwood Ltd, the quality of their cabinets is the most important aspect.Their target market is individuals or families of higher income that are willing to spend more money for a specialty product which is the custom kitchen cabinets. When people are out shopping for the custom products, price is generally not of big concern in comparison to quality and service. Thicketwood Ltd needs to ensure quality, ensure that their service is top notch, ensure that the quantity of cabinets produced meets the forecasted demand for that and lastly, price. As previously stated, the current system that the company uses includes five steps and all the steps are performed by hand.Although performing by hand is a good way to ensure quality, the human labor cannot keep up with the forecasted demand in all five steps. The current process is as follows: (Per Cabinet) Step 1: (1 employee) 4 cuts per part X 3feet per cut X 20 parts = 240/10ft per minute = 24min. St ep 2: (1 employee) 60 holes per cabinet X 1. 2 minutes per hole = 72min. Step 3: (4 employees) 4 employees routing 1 part each of the 4 required parts = 96min. Step 4: (1 employee) 1 worker assembling 1 cabinet = 90min. Step 5: (2 employees) 2 employees finish the cabinet = 20min.With this current process, Thicketwood Ltd cannot reach the forecasted demand of 2000 cabinets per year in all categories. Even if the company was operating at 100 percent efficiency, due to the bottleneck in step 3, the maximum amount of cabinets that can be produced in one year is 1250. 60/96 = 0. 625 X 8 hour shift X 5 days a week X 50 weeks a year = 1250 per year However, we cannot make the assumption that the company is operating at 100 percent efficiency as the employees need time to walk around and set up. To keep things more realistic we will calculate at 90% efficiency as well.Step 3 is not the only step that cannot produce 2000 cabinets a year. Here are the current numbers when the company is oper ating at 100 percent efficiency and 90 percent efficiency: Table 1. 1 | # of employees| Efficiency| Per Shift| Per Year| Step 1(24 minutes)| 1| 100%90%| 2018| 5,0004,500| Step 2(72 minutes)| 1| 100%90%| 6. 645. 976| 1,6601,494| Step 3(96 minutes)| 4| 100%90%| 54. 5| 1,2501,125| Step 4(90 minutes)| 1| 100%90%| 5. 3364. 8| 1,3341,200| Step 5(20 minutes)| 2| 100%90%| 2421. 6| 6,0005,400| | Total: 9| | | | Table 1. 1 represents 9 workers working 8 hours a day for 5 days a week and 50 weeks a year.As presented in table 1. 1, the line is unbalanced and is not meeting the quantity demanded. The CNC router can rout 1 part every 12 minutes and there are 4 parts that need to be routed so this step would now take 48 minutes as oppose to 96 minutes. The CNC router only requires 1 operator who would earn $20. 00 per hour resulting in an annually salary of $40,000. If the company were to implement the CNC router, it would allow other employees to be moved around but would also eliminate some jobs . Table 1. 2 represents the production process with the CNC router. Table 1. 2 # of employees| Efficiency| Per Shift| Per Year| Step 1(24 minutes)| 1| 100%90%| 2018| 5,0004,500| Step 2(36 minutes)| 2| 100%90%| 13. 3612. 024| 3,3403,006| Step 3(48 minutes)| 1| 100%90%| 109| 2,5002,250| Step 4(45 minutes)| 2| 100%90%| 10. 649. 576| 2,6602,394| Step 5(40 minutes)| 1| 100%90%| 1210. 8| 3,0002,700| | Total: 7| | | | Table 1. 2 represents 7 employees each working 8 hour shifts 5 shifts a week and 50 weeks a year. Although each step is now over 2000 cabinets per year, this would still not be desired for the company because some steps are still producing much larger numbers than other steps.In order to balance this line, each step will be operating at different efficiencies. We have also decided to produce 2,250 cabinets a year which will be beneficial if the forecasted demand is slightly off and if it is not we will have an additional 250 cabinets in inventory to be sold the following year . Table 1. 3 shows a balanced line. Table 1. 3 | # of employees| Efficiency| Per Shift| Per Year| Step 1| 1| 45%| 9| 2,250| Step 2| 2| 67. 37%| 9| 2,250| Step 3| 1| 90%| 9| 2,250| Step 4| 2| 84. 6%| 9| 2,250| Step 5| 1| 75%| 9| 2,250| Total: 7| | | | The line is now balanced; however, each step requires a different efficiency in order to produce 2,250. In step 1, the 1 employee will only have to work 3. 6 hours each of the 5 days for 50 weeks to complete 2,250 cabinets. In step 2 each employee will have to put forth 5. 44 hours. In step 3 the CNC router will be working all 8 hours with the operator spending his entire shift there. Step 5 requires both workers to work 6. 67 hours and step 5 requires the 1 employee to work 6 hours to complete his amount of 2,250 per year.Although they will not need to spend their entire shifts on the production line, the company is still not obligated to cut their hours down to part time. Each employee will be given miscellaneous tasks to complete onc e they are done their respective duties. Tasks will include helping load the truck, cleaning the warehouse etc. We will also need to take into consideration days where other employees are sick and cannot make into work, when and if this happens, the other employees will be forced to fill in at the respective step.Alternative Analysis There are only a few alternatives the company can choose in dealing with the problem. Before the company makes a decision they must take into consideration the pros and cons for each alternative, the incremental cost and benefits, the payback period if going with the router, and the employees. We can choose one of the following options: 1. Do not purchase the CNC router and leave the process as it currently is 2. Purchase the new CNC router 3. Purchase the used CNC routerIn choosing to not purchase the CNC router and leave the process as it currently operates would mean that we would not be able to keep up with demand, therefore this alternative is one that cannot be chosen. The new CNC router comes with a warranty of 3 years. If the company purchased the new CNC router it would cost $150,000 and a training cost of $1,500. The router has a life expectancy of 5 years which translates into an annual depreciation of $30,000. The CNC router also requires one operator who will earn $20 per hour which results in an annual salary expense of $40,000 for the company.Additional electricity for the router would run $1000 per year and maintenance would be a total of $4500 per year. The new router will allow a reduction of 3 employees out of the 15 who earn $16 per hour which results in annual savings of $96,000. In order to determine the payback period you must take the initial investment and divide it by the incremental benefits minus the incremental cost. Therefore the payback period would be: Investment= 150,000 + 1,500 = 151,500 Incremental Benefit = 96,000 Incremental costs = $40,000 + 4,500 + 1,000 = 45,500 Payback period = 151,500 / 96 ,000 – 45,500Payback period = 151,500 / 50,500 Payback Period = 3 years With the payback period being 3 years, choosing to purchase the new CNC router would be an ideal purchase for the company as the routers life expectancy is 5 years. It is also beneficial that the warranty does not expire before the payback period in case of any possible malfunctions the router may experience. The company also must take into consideration that this is needed in the production line in order to meet demand and is made with state of the art technology which can ensure top quality.The con to implementing the router is that some jobs will be eliminated which can result in a negative impact on the relationship between workers and management which is currently very strong. There is also the slight chance that the machine may not last the expected 5 years, however there is a slight chance it may last longer as well, and finally, the company would be buying the router off of High-Tech Inc. which we have had no previous relationship with in the past. The used CNC router comes with a warranty of 1 year. If the company were to go with this option it would cost $60,000 and would also have the additional $1,500 training cost.The used router has a life expectancy of 3 years which translates into an annual depreciation of $20,000. The used CNC router would also require one operator earning $20 per hour which again results in an annual salary expense of $40,000 for the operator. Additional electricity for the used router is also $1,000 and regular maintenance of $4,500 plus additional maintenance of $1,000 which comes from projections assumptions that one maintenance worker would be required to complete one extra hour of maintenance each week of operations. The used router would reduce the line by 2. workers which would result in annual savings of $80,000. In order to determine the payback period we must follow the same steps we used to determine the payback period for the new CNC ro uter: Investment = 60,000 + 1,500 = 61,500 Incremental Benefit = 80,000 Incremental Costs = 40,000 + 4,500 + 1,000 + 1,000 = 46,500 Payback Period = 61,500 / 80,000 – 46,500 Payback Period = 61,500 / 33,500 Payback Period = 1 year and 10 months (1. 835 years) In choosing to purchase the used CNC router the company would be taking a risk as the payback period is 10 months longer than the warranty given.As a result of this, if the router experiences any problems after 1 year and Thicketwood Ltd is forced to pay for the repairs due to the warranty being expired, that will cause their payback period to be extended which results in losses for the company. The used machine however, is also believed to eliminate some jobs which again can have an impact on the worker and management relationship. On the positive side to purchasing the used CNC router, it would also increase demand and allow supply to meet demand.In the event that no complications occurred with the router it would be c heaper to implement in comparison to the new CNC router. The company has also dealt with TDL products Co. before and have a good relationship with the sales representative and was confident in her ability to ensure servicing of the router if required. Decision/Recommendation The final decision on behalf of Thicketwood Ltd is going to be implement decision 2, purchase the new CNC router. We chose this decision for various reasons beginning with it is brand new, state of the art technology and has a life expectancy of 5 years along with a warranty of 3 years.The payback period and the warranty both run 3 years which is crucial in the aspect that the payback period cannot be extended if the machine has any malfunctions within the first 3 years because all the repairs will be covered. It will also increase the number of cabinets we can produce per year as a result the company will be able to meet demand even when operating at lower efficiency levels in some steps which means that if dem and happens to increase in following years the production line will be able to produce a larger number of custom cabinets.The most important aspect for Thicketwood Ltd is the quality of the cabinets and there is no better way of ensuring quality when using machines than bringing in new machines. Since the current forecasted demand is only 2000 and with the new CNC router it brings down the 9 employees needed on the production line to 7. As a result of this the company will have to lay off 2 workers which can have a negative impact on the relationship between workers and management but that is a risk the company must take in order to maintain efficiency at a controllable level.Since Thicketwood Ltd is a non-unionized company we will not have to follow any corrective steps in accordance to the layoff, however, to be fair to the other employees the layoffs will be based on seniority with the company. For the remaining employees on the production line, they will not be required to spend their entire 8 hour shifts on the production line; however, it is not in the company’s best interest to cut their hours. The following steps in table 1. 4 represent the amount of hours required by each employee on the production per shift: Table 1. | # of Employees| Hours Per Shift| Cabinets Per Year| Step 1| 1| 3. 6| 2,250| Step 2| 2| 5. 39| 2,250| Step 3| 1| 8| 2,250| Step 4| 2| 6. 77| 2,250| Step 5| 1| 6| 2,250| As a result of steps 1, 2, 4, and 5 not requiring the full 8 hour shifts to complete the demand will result in the other employees given miscellaneous tasks to fill in the remaining hours of their shifts. Duties will include cleaning the warehouse, helping load the trucks for delivery, keeping track of inventory and another possible option can be training the employee in tep 1 to make local deliveries in order to try to reduce some of the shipping costs. As previously stated, the company must also take into consideration that with the majority of the production li ne being human labor, there is a very strong possibility that there will be some sick days taken from some of the employees in which case the remaining employees will have to fill in for their co-workers in the respective step. In conclusion, implementing the purchase of the new CNC router is the best possible option and will be completed immediately.Executive Summary Thicketwood Ltd, a producer of custom kitchen cabinets is experiencing a bottleneck in their production line that will not allow them to produce the proper quantity to meet their increasing demand of their cabinets. The company must implement some new technology to the production line; however, they must also ensure quality as the cabinets the company produces are custom and more expensive than regular cabinets therefore the customers that buy these are expecting top quality.The company has explored a couple options including a Computer Numeric Controlled (CNC) router which we will be exploring the pros and cons to eac h decision throughout the case in order to come up with the best possible alternative that would be most beneficial to the company. Calculations for the Tables 1. 1 and 1. 2 Table 1. 1 Step 1 (24 minutes) 60 / 24 = 2. 5 x 8 = 20 per shift x 5 x 50 = 5000 20 per shift x 0. 9 = 18 per shift x 5 x 50 = 4500 Step 2 (72 minutes) 60 / 72 = 0. 83 x 8 = 6. 64 per shift x 5 x 50 = 1660 6. 64 per shift x 0. = 5. 976 per shift x 5 x 50 = 1494 Step 3 (96 minutes) 60 / 96 = 0. 625 x 8 = 5 per shift x 5 x 50 = 1250 5 per shift x 0. 9 = 4. 5 per shift x 5 x 50 = 1125 Step 4 (90 minutes) 60/90 = 0. 667 x 8 = 5. 336 per shift x 5 x 50 = 1334 5. 336 per shift x 0. 9 = 4. 8 per shift x 5 x 50 = 1200 Step 5 (20 minutes) 60/20 = 3 x 8 = 24 per shift x 5 x 50 = 6000 24 per shift x 0. 9 = 21. 6 per shift x 5 x 50 = 5400 Table 1. 2 Step 1 (24 minutes) 60 / 24 = 2. 5 x 8 = 20 per shift x 5 x 50 = 5000 20 per shift x 0. 9 = 18 per shift x 5 x 50 = 4500Step 2 (36 minutes) 60 / 36 = 1. 667 x 8 = 13. 36 per shi ft x 5 x 50 = 3340 13. 36 per shift x 0. 9 = 12. 024 per shift x 5 x 50 = 3006 Step 3 (48 minutes) CNC router 60 / 48 = 1. 25 x 8 = 10 per shift x 5 x 50 = 2500 10 per shift x 0. 9 = 9 per shift x 5 x 50 = 2250 Step 4 (45 minutes) 60 / 45 = 1. 33 x 8 = 10. 64 per shift x 5 x 50 = 2660 10. 64 per shift x 0. 9 = 9. 576 per shift x 5 x 50 = 2394 Step 5 (40 minutes) 60 / 40 = 1. 5 x 8 = 12 per shift x 5 x 50 = 3000 12 per shift x 0. 9 = 10. 8 per shift x 5 x 50 = 2700

Should College Attendance Be Mandatory Essay - 796 Words

Should college students be required to attend class through mandatory attendance policies? Should professors deduct points for students who miss more than a given number of absences? This can be a heated debate between students and instructors, and between instructors with different opinions as well. Here are some arguments on both side. Arguments in Favor of Mandatory Attendance Policies One of the main arguments in favor of requiring attendance is that good attendance is needed to develop a strong sense of community in a classroom, and to foster a healthy sense of class participation. For instructors who choose to stick with the old lecture model, this isnt an issue. However, many instructors opt to have a participatory classroom†¦show more content†¦Arguments Against Mandatory Attendance Policies One of the biggest argument against attendance policies is that they are patronizing and fail to treat students as adults. Children are forced by law to attend school, but adults are not. And if you treat people like children, they may be more likely to act like children. Related to this is one of the students biggest complains about attendance policies. Hey, I paid to take this class, argues a typical student. I can choose whether or not I want to be here. One reason many instructors dislike mandatory attendance policies is because they can be a good deal of work to enforce, and they put the teacher in the role of police officer. Whenever you have rules, people try to argue their way around them, rightfully or not. Instructors find themselves dealing with a stream of appeals from students who claim (rightly or wrongly) to have legitimate excuses for missing class. 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