Author: chris

Discussion Question:
• Using a specific control system as an example (position control, temperature control, pressure control, flow control, etc.), describe how you would apply the four design steps to meet the design criteria.
Background and topic information:
In this module, we use the example of a DC motor speed control system to introduce the concepts of a control system, control system design criteria, and the design steps.
A control system is made up of interconnected components forming a system configuration that provides a desired system output (response). There are two types of control systems: open-loop control and closed-loop control. An open-loop control system has the following block diagram:

Figure 1. Block diagram of an open-loop control system (Dorf & Bishop, 2011).
Notice that there is no feedback loop in the diagram, and as a result, the actual output cannot be compared to the desired output. On the other hand, a typical closed-loop control system has the following block diagram:

Figure 2. Block diagram of a closed-loop control system (Dorf & Bishop, 2011).
The major difference here is that the actual output is fed back and compared to the desired output, and any error can be dealt with by the controller. Let’s consider our DC motor speed control example. The input is the desired speed and the output is the actual speed. The actuator is a power amplifier, the process is the DC motor, the sensor is a tachometer, and the controller consists of op-amps and RLC components.
Suppose the input voltage is 10 V, representing an output speed of 1000 rpm, and the sensor ratio is 0.01. If the actual output is 1000 rpm, the feedback voltage is 1000*0.01 = 10 V, and the error is 0, so no action is needed from the controller. If, for some reason (like a sudden load increase), the actual rpm drops to 900, and the feedback voltage is now 9 V, then the error signal will be 10 – 9 = 1 V and is sent to the controller. The controller will send a signal to the actuator to increase its output to the process (motor) so as to increase the speed. This example shows that closed-loop (feedback) control in general works better than open-loop control because automatic speed control is achieved.
There are a few general criteria to follow when designing a control system:
1. Stability (absolute and relative): The system must be stable with a certain stability margin. This will be discussed more in Modules 5 and 7.
2. Steady-state error: This is the difference between the desired output and actual output at steady state. This value should be as small as possible. This will be covered more in Modules 3 and 4.
3. Transient response: This includes rise time, maximum overshoot, peak time, and settling time. These parameters must meet the requirements. We will cover this more in Module 4.
4. Sensitivity to parameter changes and disturbances: These values should be as small as possible and must meet the requirements. This will be discussed further in Module 3.
There are a few steps to follow in the design process in order to meet these design criteria:
1. Choose the sensors and actuators. Note that these are system dependent. For example, you will need a transducer, instead of a tachometer, as a sensor for a temperature control system.
2. Develop the process, sensor, and actuator mathematical models. Note that this is not an easy task in general and may require people with different areas of expertise. For example, a mechanical engineer is needed to develop a flow control model, while an electrical engineer is needed to develop a DC motor speed control model. The models can be in the forms of differential equations or transfer functions. This is covered further in Chapter 2 of the textbook.
3. Based on the models from step 2, design the controller to meet the control criteria. The controller is the only component in the block diagram whose mathematical model can be changed (or designed) at will. Therefore, the design of the controller is critical in meeting the criteria. We’ll see more on this in Chapter 10 of the textbook.
4. Evaluate the design analytically, by simulation, and by actual system tests. Since actual system tests can be costly, they should be the last step of the design process.

Objectives
1. To learn how to design and implement functions for program development
2. To reinforce how to use pass by value and pass by reference variables
3. To learn how to use structures

Problem: Dragon Collecting (dragondex.c)
Movies about dragons and dragon training were very popular this summer. Your friend has not stopped talking about how awesome dragons are and how cool it would be to train them. After completing your dragon training simulator, your friend is ready to graduate to having a team of dragons.

You are now building a program that will store a collection of dragons for your friend’s team. Your friend will need to be able to do the following:

1) Add a dragon to his team
2) Remove a dragon from his team
3) Search for a particular dragon
4) List all of the dragons of a particular color on the team

To make the testing of the program easier, your program will read in all of its input from a file called “dragon.txt”. Your friend’s team of dragon cannot exceed 1000 dragons.

Header Specification
To facilitate grading, include in your header comment which portions of the assignment you have completed. You must complete all options in order to earn full credit. Your choices are as follows:

(1) Adding dragons only
(2) Adding and removing dragons only
(3) Adding, removing, and searching dragons only
(4) All options implemented: adding, removing, searching, and listing dragons

If your comment is accurate, meaning that you pass the appropriate tests cases corresponding to your choice, you’ll earn 10 points. If your comment is roughly accurate, meaning that you sincerely attempted the items you listed, and most of them work minus a tiny bug, then you’ll get 5 of these points. If your comment isn’t accurate to a reasonable degree, you’ll get 0 of these points.

The reason this is here is because it’s very important to communicate to others accurately what you’ve accomplished and what is left to accomplish. This sort of honesty and ability to appraise your own work is a critical skill in a job.

Input Specification (dragon.txt)
The first line of the file will contain a single positive integer representing the number of updates to the dragon team. (Note: We assume that at the beginning of the program, the team has no dragons on it.) Each following line will have directions for a single update to the dragon team. The formats for these lines are as follows:

The very first value on each of these lines will be a string from the following subset: {ADD, REMOVE, SEARCH, LIST}. This string indicates which operation (corresponding to the list in the problem statement) is being designated.

If the operation is to add a dragon (ADD), then the line will contain the following information after ADD, separated by spaces:

NAME COLOR

The name and color of the dragon will be strings that contain only alphabetic letters and underscores. None of these strings will exceed 39 characters. No dragon will share a name with another dragon, though there may be multiple dragons of the same color.

If the operation is to remove a dragon (REMOVE), then the line will only contain the exact name of the dragon after REMOVE.

If the operation is to search for a dragon (SEARCH), then the line will only contain the exact name of the dragon that is being searched for.

If the operation is to list all of the dragons by a particular color (LIST), then the line will only contain the desired color after LIST.

Output Specification
All output should go to the screen. Separate the output for each command with one blank line. Here is the format for output for each command:

For adding a dragon, simply write out a statement of the form:
X the Y dragon has been added to the team.

For removing a dragon, simply write out a statement of the form:
X the Y dragon has been removed from the team.

For both of these, X represents the name of the dragon and Y represents the dragon’s color. You may assume that remove operations in the input file will always be valid. Thus, if a remove is ever requested, the dragon in question is guaranteed to be on the team.

For searching for a dragon, output one of two statements, depending on whether or not the designated dragon was found on the team:
X the dragon is currently on the team.
X the dragon is NOT currently on the team.

For searching for all the dragons of a particular color, output a single line of the form:
Y dragons:
Y represents the color requested. Each following line should list the name of one dragon of that color on the team. List each dragon exactly once.
Implementation Restrictions
You must use the following constants:
#define MAX_LENGTH 40
#define MAX_TEAM 1000

You must use the following structures to store information:

struct dragon {
char name[MAX_LENGTH];
char color[MAX_LENGTH];
};

struct collection {
struct dragon team[MAX_TEAM];
int num_dragons;
};

It is not sufficient to simply have the structures in your program, you must use them store information and process operations for the dragon team.

Though function prototypes will not be provided, it is expected that you follow good programming design and create several functions with well-specified tasks related to the solution of this problem. Make sure to pay very careful attention to parameter passing.

Hints
Use pass by reference parameters for your functions. This will ensure that any change made to the dragon team in the function is reflected in main. Inside the function, remember to access the components using the -> syntax for structures.

Use the prewritten string functions when dealing with strings:
• use strcpy whenever you want to copy the contents of one string into another, instead of the equals sign.
• use strcmp to determine which operation is being requested.

Whenever you add a dragon to the team, make sure you add it to the first open slot on the team.

Whenever you remove a dragon from the team, make sure you copy the dragon in the last spot on the team into the vacated spot. For example, if the dragon to be removed is in index 3 and the number of dragons on the team before removal is 7, then the dragon in index 6 (the last filled index) should be copied into the dragon spot in index 3. Subsequently, the number of dragons on the team should be updated to 6.
Sample Input File (library.txt)
12
ADD TOOTHFUL BLACK
ADD SPITFIRE RED
SEARCH FURY
ADD FURY RED
ADD ICICLE BLUE
ADD NIGHTWING BLACK
LIST BLACK
REMOVE SPITFIRE
ADD STARFALL BLUE
LIST RED
LIST GREEN
LIST BLUE

Sample Output (corresponding to input file)
TOOTHFUL the BLACK dragon has been added to the team.

SPITFIRE the RED dragon has been added to the team.

FURY the dragon is NOT currently on the team.

FURY the RED dragon has been added to the team.

ICICLE the BLUE dragon has been added to the team.

NIGHTWING the BLACK dragon has been added to the team.

BLACK dragons:
TOOTHFUL
NIGHTWING

SPITFIRE the RED dragon has been removed from the team.

STARFALL the BLUE dragon has been added to the team.

RED dragons:
FURY

GREEN dragons:

BLUE dragons:
ICICLE
STARFALL

Deliverables
One source file: dragondex.c for your solution to the given problem submitted over WebCourses.

Restrictions
Although you may use other compilers, your program must compile and run using Code::Blocks. Your program should include a header comment with the following information: your name, course number, section number, assignment title, and date. Also, make sure you include comments throughout your code describing the major steps in solving the problem.

Grading Details
Your programs will be graded upon the following criteria:

1) Your correctness

2) Your programming style and use of white space. Even if you have a plan and your program works perfectly, if your programming style is poor or your use of white space is poor, you could get 10% or 15% deducted from your grade.

3) Compatibility – You must submit C source files that can be compiled and executed in a standard C Development Environment. If your program does not compile, you will get a sizable deduction from your grade.

Discuss the following:

a.  Why is increased coordination needed to manage supply chains?

b.  Give three examples.

c.  How can coordination be increased both internally within the firm and externally with customers and suppliers?

These questions correspond with discussion questions 5 and 6 at the end of Chapter 10 in your textbook.

Discussion 6.2:Production Disruption

Watch the B2E Case Study 9 scenario “Production Disruption.”  Identify the ethical issues that may be unique to the field of Operations Management in this company and the ethical issues relating to corporate responsibility. Discuss ways to successfully role-model and promote ethical values and principles with B2E.

Discussion 7:PERT and CPM

Review the material in sections 14.5 and 14.6 of your text. These sections provide an overview of the PERT and CPM methods of project scheduling. In addition, watch the second video clip (2514 KB) profiling the construction of the “super bridge” at Alton, Illinois, which provides an interesting comparison of these two methods. After reading both sections from your textbook and watching the video clip discuss these concepts.

Discussion 8:Lean concepts

There is an explanation of the lean thinking concepts on page 15 of your textbook. After reading this, explain how the lean thinking concept could be applied to inventory management.

LP6 Assignment: Boeing

Read the profile of Boeing and the company’s 787 Dreamliner found in your textbook. This profile serves as an excellent example of how a company used an infrastructure change to improve its supply chain.

In making this improvement, which of the five ways of implementing an infrastructure change, identified in section 10.6 of your text, did Boeing employ? Research a company that has used the second main approach (i.e., a structural change) which is commonly employed by organizations to improve their supply chains. Write a brief profile of the company you’ve selected following the pattern of the Boeing profile you’ve just examined. The profile should be one to two pages in length.

Submit this profile assignment to your instructor via the dropbox “LP6 Assignment: Boeing.” This assignment is worth 100 points and will be graded according to the following scale.

LP7 Assignment: Materials Planning

Chapter 16 in your textbook sets forth the fundamental principles essential for understanding the concept of materials requirements planning. Create a basic outline that captures the key points of the chapter. As a guide for your outline, it will be helpful to note the “key points” that are listed at the end of the chapter (section 16.8).

For a refresher lesson in creating an outline, refer to the NAU Research and Writing Center’s Research Writing Guide Tips.

Submit your outline to your instructor via the dropbox “LP7 Assignment: Materials Planning.” This assignment is worth 100 points and will be graded according to the following grading scale.

LP8 Assignment: Virtual Supply Chains

Locate two articles on the topic of virtual supply chains. Synthesize each article into a one-page summary using your own words. Include the following:

• Definitions of virtual supply chains
• How virtual supply chains function
• Advantages of virtual supply chains
• Disadvantages of virtual supply chains
• How virtual supply chains have reshaped business sectors

Submit this assignment to your instructor via the dropbox “LP8 Assignment: Virtual Supply Chains.” This assignment is worth 100 points and will be graded accordin

• Review Chapters 5 and 6 in the course text, Research Design.
• Review the book excerpt “A Typology of Research Purposes and Its Relationship to Mixed Methods.”
• Review the annotated journal article “Developing Long-Term Physical Activity Participation: A Grounded Theory Study With African American Women,” which is annotated to reveal the how an introduction and purpose statement function.
• Look to the Introduction Checklist and Purpose Statement Checklist for more guidance in analyzing and evaluating the introduction and purpose statement in your assigned article.
• Identify the purpose for research in your article according to the nine purposes of research found in “A Typology of Research Purposes and Its Relationship to Mixed Methods.” It is possible that your assigned article may have more than one purpose.
• Assess and evaluate the introductions and purpose statements. As part of the evaluation, be sure to describe how well the introduction achieves its purpose and, if applicable, include suggestions for improvement.

• From the e-Activity, predict the performance of the DOW for the next two years. Provide support for your prediction.
• Analyze the factors that influence investment decisions at different stages in an investor’s life cycle, and make a recommendation at which stage the average investor should consider financial investments. Provide support for your recommendation.

For this assignment, read the case study, “Sonance,”on pages 563-578 of your textbook. You will compile a comprehensive case study analysis based upon this case. This involves a critical review of the company and situation leading to the problem identification. From there, you will research the company, industry, and competition, leading to the identification of several viable alternatives, followed by the final recommendation. In summary, the format should include the following: Company/product overview: Introduce the company and product/services. Situation analysis: This will require an analysis of what is going on internally within the organization as well as externally. Think about the political/legal environment, economic, socio-cultural, and technological. Using the CSU Online Library, minimally research the industry and competitors. Problem: Identify the problem(s) that this company is having or will have in the near future. Alternatives: Formulate a minimum of three possible alternatives that could solve the problem stated above.

Explain each thoroughly with an eye on the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative. Recommendation: Examine the alternatives and select the best alternative for this company. Include your rationale for selecting this over the others and discuss the implementation process. Your comprehensive case analysis should be a minimum of six pages in length, double-spaced (not including the reference page and title page).The case analysis format should include the five sections described above using subheadings within the paper. References should include your textbook plus a minimum of two additional credible references. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations, and cited per APA guidelines. Additional supplemental information on preparing a written case analysis can be found in the textbook on pages 687-702

The textbook is Strategic Marketing Problems 13^th Edition. By Roger A. Kerin and Robert A. Peterson, ISBN 978-0-13-274725-7

he purpose of this assignment is for you to complete descriptive and inferential data

Use data on the internet for the team assignments as company data may be limited or proprietary. You might consider the external environment and how it affects an organization or an industry. Looking at data over time (trends and forecasting) 

Don’t spend too much time agonizing over the problem and organization/industry you want to select for this multi-part assignment.

All public databases are free to you as taxpaying citizens. You can get summary data in tables and in some cases, raw data in Excel files. Search federal, state, and local sites.

(1) Cost of relocation. All team members were from the same midwest state and chose a location in California. The current housing, etc. costs were about the same, but the relocation sites varied widely depending on whether the person chose a big city like San Francisco or a small one like Chico.

(2) Turnover rates. Team members selected industries of interest to each person and compared turnover rates in different locations.

(3) Fuel costs. Team members compared fuel costs in different locations of interest and noted whether there had been significant changes over the last few years.

Summarizing and Presenting Data

Summarize the data collected using descriptive statistics. Descriptive statistics should be in the forms of frequency distribution table, measures of mean, median, mode, standard deviation, and graphical display of data.

Summarize the statistics in relation to the problem selected and research questions and draw conclusions.

Prepare a 1,050- to 1,750-word report of conclusions drawn from the data and make recommendations to the management.

This course covers many different waste streams. For your final project, choose one waste stream (you may use any chapter as your topic), and provide an in-depth analysis of that waste stream. Your paper should address the following:

 Describe chemical and physical characteristics of the waste stream.

 Discuss the most significant problems with managing the waste stream.

 Discuss the regulations that apply to your chosen waste stream.

 Analyze the treatment technologies and management techniques for the waste stream.

 Make an argument for the best course of action for managing the waste.

Your Research Paper must be a minimum of five pages in Times New Roman 12-point font (not including title and reference pages) in APA style.

Information about accessing the Blackboard Grading Rubric for this assignment is provided

This course covers many different waste streams. For your final project, choose one waste stream (you may use any chapter as your topic), and provide an in-depth analysis of that waste stream. Your paper should address the following:

 Describe chemical and physical characteristics of the waste stream.

 Discuss the most significant problems with managing the waste stream.

 Discuss the regulations that apply to your chosen waste stream.

 Analyze the treatment technologies and management techniques for the waste stream.

 Make an argument for the best course of action for managing the waste.

Your Research Paper must be a minimum of five pages in Times New Roman 12-point font (not including title and reference pages) in APA style.

Information about accessing the Blackboard Grading Rubric for this assignment is provided

You decide to sell short 100 shares of Charlotte Horse Farms when it is selling at its yearly high of $56. Your broker tells you that your margin requirement is 45 percent and that the commission on the purchase is $155. While you are short the stock, Charlotte pays a $2.50 per share dividend. At the end of one year, you buy 100 shares of Charlotte at $45 to close out your position and are charged a commission of $145 and 8 percent interest on the money borrowed. What is your rate of return on the investment?

5.You own 200 shares of Shamrock Enterprises that you bought at $25 a share. The stock is now selling for $45 a share.

a.You put in a stop loss order at $40. Discuss your reasoning for this action.

b.If the stock eventually declines in price to $30 a share, what would be your rate of return with and without the stop loss order?

6.Two years ago, you bought 300 shares of Kayleigh Milk Co. for $30 a share with a margin of 60 percent. Currently, the Kayleigh stock is selling for $45 a share. Assuming no dividends and ignoring commissions, compute (a) the annualized rate of return on this investment if you had paid cash, and (b) your rate of return with the margin purchase.

7.The stock of the Madison Travel Co. is selling for $28 a share. You put in a limit buy order at $24 for one month. During the month the stock price declines to $20, then jumps to $36. Ignoring commissions, what would have been your rate of return on this investment? What would be your rate of return if you had put in a market order? What if your limit order was a