Assessment of Naproxen and Paracetamol in Mixed Tablet

Assessment of Naproxen and Paracetamol in Mixed Tablet METHOD DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION FOR SIMULTANEOUS ASSESSMENT OF NAPROXEN AND PARACETAMOL IN MIXED TABLET DOSAGE FORM BY RP-UPLC K.KANAKAPARVATHI*, Vijay Nagarjan, Santha Arcot and CH Hemanth Kumar. ABSTRACT An advancement design and corroboration for simultaneous assessment of Naproxen (NAP) and Paracetamol (PAR) in merged tablet dosage form by UPLC. The column used in determination was C18 thermo fisher (50cm x 4.6 mm x 3Â µm), mobile phase used in this method was 0.4% ammonium acetate buffer: methanol: acetonitrile (40:40:20), the retention time was about 1.9 minutes and 3 minutes for PAR and NAP of a total run time of 5 minutes, with flow rate of 0.2ml per minute respectively at a wavelength of 271nm, linearity of the method was linear over the range of 38.496 to 57.664ÃŽ ¼g/ml for Paracetamol and 64.096 to 95.968ÃŽ ¼g/ml of Naproxen respectively with a correlation of 0.999 for simultaneous assessment for PAR and NAP thus the method was fast, simple, elegant and less time consuming method Keywords: Naproxen, Paracetamol RP-UPLC, Method validation INTRODUCTION Naproxen is chemically 2-Naphthaleneacetic acid, 6-methoxy-ÃŽ ±-methyl-(s)-(+)-(s)-6 methoxy-ÃŽ ±-methyl-2-naphthaleneacetic acid as shown in (Figure 1). It is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug commonly used for minimizing of moderate to severe torment, delirium, inflammation and stiffness. [6-11]. Paracetamol (PAR) is chemically N-(4-hydroxyphenyl) acetamide (Figure 2), It has analgesic and antipyretic activity for the therapy of subsidiary, non-inflammatory conditions of patient who were prone to gastric symptoms [12-14]. The merger of these two drugs are used in the remedy [11] of Musculoskeletal Disorder (Sprain/Strains) Trauma Fractures/injuries), Occupational affliction, Joint torment, Low Back laceration the literature review supports legion UPLC methods for the evaluation of NAP and PAR independently and in combination with other drugs but There was no UPLC method had been reported for the determination of NAP and PARA in merged dosage form So an experiment was taken to expand and corroborate a rapid RP-UPLC method [1-5] for the determination of NAP and PARA in mixed tablet dosage forms. Figure 1 NAPROXEN Figure 2 Paracetamol MATERIALS NAP and PAR was earned from Ideal analytical and research institution puducherry, India. All chemicals worn were analytical standard. The pharmaceutical tablet dosage form used in this study was NAPROSYN P with a label claim of NAP 300mg and PAR 500mg were purchased from local pharmacy. INSTRUMENTATION AND APPARATUS The uplc system used for advancement design and corroboration was thermo accela equipped with 1050 quaternary pump auto sampler and photodiode array detector. The detector output were recorded and processed using chrome quest software version 5.0 sonicator (PCI bath sonicator ) was used for degassing of mobile phase and sonication of the solutions prepared SOFTWARE: The statically calculation for the analysis was performed by using Microsoft excel 2010 software (Microsoft, USA) METHOD CORROBORATION: SYSTEM SUITABILITY: System suitability was determined by injecting the standard solution and observed the parameters like retention time, peak area, relative standard deviation, tailing factor, USP theoretical plates. LINEARITY For testing of linearity five different concentration of sample solution (80%, 90%, 100%, 110%, and 120%) was injected and checked over by plotting the graph as peak area verses concentration thus the data treated by linear regression analysis. ACCURACY Accuracy can be done by injecting the sample solution with known standard concentration and the amount of percentage recovery gives the accuracy of sample. PRECISION Precision can be evaluated by Interday and intraday, were the same sample solution has to be assayed for the same day and on different days at different time intervals ROBUSTNESS The determination of robustness can be done by changing the experimental condition deliberately. The condition may include of changing in mobile phase flow rate, pH and temperature, the percentage of RSD, tailing factor, resolution, were cross check with the original data. RESULT DISCUSSION: The method has validated according to the norms of international harmonization of conference (ICH) guidelines with regards of system suitability, linearity, accuracy, precision and robustness as follows SYSTEM SUITABILITY The system suitability tests were carried out to evaluate the resolution and reproducibility of the system for the analysis. The results of the system suitability test were summarized in Table No.1. Table 1: System suitability results S.No PARAMETERS PAR NAP 1 Retention Time 1.807 3.007 2 Peak area 410801 306340 3 Percentage area 57.28 42.72 4 Theoretical plates 2633 3306 5 Resolution 0.0000 0.85712 6 Tailing factor 1.754 1.696 Solution stability The solvents which had been used in the mobile phase were cost effective than the solvents used in the other UPLC methods which are reported in the literatures. Standard and samples solution stability was studied above 12 and 24 hours and found stable against the freshly prepared standard. Table2. Results of Solution stability Time (hrs) Percentage Assay Percentage difference in assay PAR NAP PAR NAP Initial 99.92 99.99 0.002 0.001 After 12 hrs 99.52 99.57 0.003 0.002 After 24 hrs 99.12 99.19 0.001 0.002 LINEARITY Linearity of the method was evaluated at 5 different concentration levels of 38.496 to 57.664ÃŽ ¼g/ml for Paracetamol and 64.096 to 95.968ÃŽ ¼g/ml of Naproxen respectively. Both the drugs were found to give linear detector response in the concentration under study with correlation coefficient of 0.997 and 0.999 for PAR and NAP respectively. Table3: Linearity study for NAP and PAR S.NO PARAMETERS PAR NAP 1 Linearity range 38.49 57.664ÃŽ ¼g/ml 64.09 -95.96ÃŽ ¼g/ml 2 Correlation coefficient (r2) 0.997 0.999 3 Slope 3769.8726 2867.1591 4 Intercept 1567.7362 0.1591 ACCURACY Accuracy of the method was determined by recovery test. The percentage recovery was found to be within the concentration of 100 to 115 as 100, 105, 110, and 115 (Table4). All results indicate that the method is highly accurate. Table: 4(a) accuracy data for PAR S.NO ACCURACY LEVEL STANDARD AREA SAMPLE AREA Mg/tab PERCENTAGE 1 100 404871 393726 499.83 99.97 2 105 404871 413927 525.48 105.1 3 110 404871 433143 549.87 109.97 4 115 404871 454077 576.46 115.29 Table 4(b) accuracy data for NAP S.NO ACCURACY LEVEL STANDARD AREA SAMPLE AREA Mg/tab PERCENTAGE 1 100 306460.4 303506 299.26 99.75 2 105 306460.4 319467 315.00 105.00 3 110 306460.4 334246 329.57 109.86 4 115 306460.4 350847 345.94 115.31 PRECISION This method was validated for its inter-day and intra-day precision. The results (table4) obtained were within the acceptable limit. Table 5: results for precision studies s.no Parameter(units) PAR NAP STANDARD AREA SAMPLE AREA PERCENTAGE STANDARD AREA SAMPLE AREA PERCENTAGE 1 Interday precision (1st day) (2nd day) (3rd day) 404871 404871 404871 401886 402568 403442 100.87 99.28 100.74 306460 306460 306460 307076 307209 309589 99.77 98.08 100.07 2 Intraday precision 1sthrs 2nd hrs 3rd hrs 404871 404871 404871 402645 401507 400271 100.17 100.65 100.49 306460 306460 306460 309957 307438 307946 99.82 99.76 100.07 3 Average 100.366 99.595 4 SD 0.584 0.75 5 RSD 0.582 0.758 ROBUSTNESS The robustness of the method was determined and the percentage RSD of the results was found to be less than 2.0%, which demonstrate that the developed method is robust. Table6. Results of Robustness parameter CHANGED PARAMETERS FLOW RATE WAVE LENGTH S.NO PARAMETERS 190 210 269 273 PAR NAP PAR NAP PAR NAP PAR NAP 1 Retention time 1.938 3.215 1.70 2.832 1.810 3.005 1.810 3.007 2 Area 462947 347334 406134 306784 432154 322852 426295 347442 3 % area 57.13 42.87 56.97 43.03 57.24 42.76 55.10 44.90 CONCLUSION: Thus, the above stated method for determination of PAR and NAP by UPLC method concludes as it can be quantified simultaneously by using of isocratic mobile phase of 0.4% ammonium acetate buffer: methanol: acetonitrile (40:40:20), by using of PDA detector at 271 nm. Thus the proposed method is simple, precise, accurate, rapid and sensitive, where it can be applied successfully for the assessment of PAR and NAP in combined pharmaceutical formulations. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors are thankful to ideal analytical and research laboratory pondycherry, India for all the facilities provided to complete our work.

Transplantation: Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease Essay -- Health Medi

Transplantation: Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a slowly-progressive disease which ultimately robs its victims of voluntary motor control. The disease manifests itself as a series of symptoms which include "bradykinesia, rigidity, tremor, and impairment of postural reflexes (Fitzgerald, 1992:215)". It is a result of a loss of neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc). Chemotherapy, in the form of drugs such as levodopa and carbidopa, has been effective in alleviating many of the symptoms in the early stages of PD; however, with increasing losses in the number of cells in SNpc, such therapy becomes more and more ineffective. New therapies, using selegiline (deprenyl) and antioxidants (tocopherol or Vitamin E) focus on halting the progression of the disease by potentially salvaging surviving SNpc cells (Ahlskog, 1990). A more aggressive approach in the treatment of PD has surfaced in recent years. Researchers are experimenting with the prospects of transplanting tissue directly into the afflicted areas of the central nervous system (CNS) of PD patients. In both animal models of PD and humans, marginally successful transplants have been performed using adrenal chromaffin cells and fetal neurons. Genetically-altered, dopamine-producing tissues are currently being proposed as an alternative in transplant therapy of PD. As techniques become more refined, such "brain-grafting" may be the panacea for not only PD, but also for other debilitating diseases such as Huntington’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. According to Fitzgerald (1992:215), the "cardinal pathological feature [of PD] is loss of neurons from the substantia nigra". Most of this loss occurs in the SNpc, of which approxima... ...zgerald, M. J. T. Neuroanatomy: Basic and Clinical. London: Bailliere Tindall, 1992. Freed, C. R. et.al. 1992. Improved drug responsiveness following fetal tissue implant for Parkinson’s disease. Neurochemistry International, 20: 321S-327S. Freed, C. R. et.al. 1990. Transplantation of human fetal dopamine cells for Parkinson’s disease. Fetal Human Transplant, 47:505-12. Freed, W. J. et.al. 1991. Brain grafts and Parkinson’s disease. Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, 45:261-7. Hurtig, H. et.al. 1989. Postmortem analysis of adrenal-medulla-to caudate autograft in a patient with Parkinson’s disease. Annals of Neurology, 25(6):607-13. Kordower, J. H. et.al. 1991. Putative chromaffin cell survival and enhanced host-derived TH-fiber innervation following a functional adrenal medulla autograft for Parkinson’s disease. Annals of Neurology, 29(4):405-12.

The Madonnas of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse :: Immigration, Immigrants

â€Å"Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.† -- President Franklin D. Roosevelt Throughout the course of my life, I have always encountered individuals wanting to better their economic situation especially those within my community. Those who come from impoverished communities in other countries risk their lives and lifetime savings to come to the United States hoping that one day they will regain everything that they lost. Their only motivation to come to this country is to be able to provide their family with basic necessities and in order to do this, they must work two or more jobs that pay at minimum wage and are taken for granted. However, many individuals do not see this side of the story and categorize immigrants as unambitious people. In order to be completely aware of what immigrants truly go through and how they succeed in life, one must be willing to place themselves in their shoes and hear his/her story. We must acknowledge that the hands of these people work in back breaking jobs in order to sustain their families. While some Americans may be agains t immigrants arriving to the United States in search of a better life and the American Dream, in The Madonnas of Echo Park, Brando Skyhorse further reveals that immigrants are exploited as cheap labor, and although they contribute greatly to the everyday function of American industry, they are quite invisible. Mexican immigrants in the United States are willing to work hard and long hours throughout the day regardless of the amount of sleep or rest they may get. Conversely, this is not how Efren Mendoza, a public city bus driver, views Mexicans and he believes they are not motivated to achieve things in life. One would assume that he would understand how difficult it is for immigrants to assimilate in a new foreign country without knowing anyone or anything here, but he is not on their side and it is somewhat hypocritical of him because he himself is Mexican. It is as though Efren sees his own people as invisible individuals because he does not acknowledge all their hard work and sacrifices they may have gone through in order to arrive in the United States. He further proves his insincerity when he mentions that the â€Å"new wetbacks [are] picky about what jobs they’ll do [and that they] half-ass [the] work† that they are given to do (77).

Oligopoly Essay -- Business Oligopolistic Industries

An oligopoly describes a market situation in which there are limited or few sellers. Each seller knows that the other seller or sellers will react to its changes in prices and also quantities. This can cause a type of chain reaction in a market situation. In the world market there are oligopolies in steel production, automobiles, semi-conductor manufacturing, cigarettes, cereals, and also in telecommunications. Often times oligopolistic industries supply a similar or identical product. These companies tend to maximize their profits by forming a cartel and acting like a monopoly. A cartel is an association of producers in a certain industry that agree to set common prices and output quotas to prevent competition. The larger the cartel, the more likely it will be that each member will increase output and cause the price of a good to be lower. The majority of time an oligopoly is used describe a world market; however, the term oligopoly also describes conditions in smaller markets where a few gas stations, grocery stores or alternative restaurants or establishments dominate in their fields. A distinguishing characteristic of an oligopoly is the interdependence of firms. This means that any action on the part of one firm with respect to output, price, or quality will cause a reaction on the side of other firms. Many times an oligopoly leads to price leadership between many firms. A price leadership is the practice in many oligopolistic industries in which the largest firm publishes its price list ahead of its competitors. Then these competitors feel the need to match those announced prices so they lower their prices. This is also termed a parallel pricing. Oligopolies tend to be broken down into one of two distinguished groups. These groups are either a homogeneous or differentiated oligopoly. Homogeneous oligopolies have a standardized product and which include industrial, with petroleum serving as the standardized example, and also services such as banking. Differentiated oligopolies, where the products have some differences, are found in consumer goods industries, such as cars, biscuits, beer and electrical appliances. There is however another oligopoly in which the manner of the corporation or industry is quite familiar to that of a monopoly. This oligopoly is termed collusive. A collusive oligopoly has the ability to behave in the manner of a m... ...nt with the relevant demand curve of D1D1, and prices below Po are consistent with the relevant demand curve of D2D2. The kink in the demand curve occurs at the point labeled E. There is also a gap in the marginal revenue curve marked by MR1 and MR2.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many oligopolies in the world market that dominate their respective fields. They have the ability to control prices and quantities of their goods, forcing other companies in that specific industry to adjust to the oligopoly’s changes. The oligopoly has the power to do that because there are few sellers in the industry and each seller reacts to that of the other ones. This often leads to price leadership. This price leadership has a dramatic impact on consumers. Companies compete with the prices of goods and they keep lowering their prices. At the time these price decreases are beneficial for consumers; however, an oligopoly can afford to lower their prices and the smaller firms can not. As a result these smaller firms might be annihilated and enable the oligopoly to dominate the industry. If the oligopoly comes to dominate their industry they then have the ability to set prices higher, a terrible aspect for consumers. Oligopoly Essay -- Business Oligopolistic Industries An oligopoly describes a market situation in which there are limited or few sellers. Each seller knows that the other seller or sellers will react to its changes in prices and also quantities. This can cause a type of chain reaction in a market situation. In the world market there are oligopolies in steel production, automobiles, semi-conductor manufacturing, cigarettes, cereals, and also in telecommunications. Often times oligopolistic industries supply a similar or identical product. These companies tend to maximize their profits by forming a cartel and acting like a monopoly. A cartel is an association of producers in a certain industry that agree to set common prices and output quotas to prevent competition. The larger the cartel, the more likely it will be that each member will increase output and cause the price of a good to be lower. The majority of time an oligopoly is used describe a world market; however, the term oligopoly also describes conditions in smaller markets where a few gas stations, grocery stores or alternative restaurants or establishments dominate in their fields. A distinguishing characteristic of an oligopoly is the interdependence of firms. This means that any action on the part of one firm with respect to output, price, or quality will cause a reaction on the side of other firms. Many times an oligopoly leads to price leadership between many firms. A price leadership is the practice in many oligopolistic industries in which the largest firm publishes its price list ahead of its competitors. Then these competitors feel the need to match those announced prices so they lower their prices. This is also termed a parallel pricing. Oligopolies tend to be broken down into one of two distinguished groups. These groups are either a homogeneous or differentiated oligopoly. Homogeneous oligopolies have a standardized product and which include industrial, with petroleum serving as the standardized example, and also services such as banking. Differentiated oligopolies, where the products have some differences, are found in consumer goods industries, such as cars, biscuits, beer and electrical appliances. There is however another oligopoly in which the manner of the corporation or industry is quite familiar to that of a monopoly. This oligopoly is termed collusive. A collusive oligopoly has the ability to behave in the manner of a m... ...nt with the relevant demand curve of D1D1, and prices below Po are consistent with the relevant demand curve of D2D2. The kink in the demand curve occurs at the point labeled E. There is also a gap in the marginal revenue curve marked by MR1 and MR2.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many oligopolies in the world market that dominate their respective fields. They have the ability to control prices and quantities of their goods, forcing other companies in that specific industry to adjust to the oligopoly’s changes. The oligopoly has the power to do that because there are few sellers in the industry and each seller reacts to that of the other ones. This often leads to price leadership. This price leadership has a dramatic impact on consumers. Companies compete with the prices of goods and they keep lowering their prices. At the time these price decreases are beneficial for consumers; however, an oligopoly can afford to lower their prices and the smaller firms can not. As a result these smaller firms might be annihilated and enable the oligopoly to dominate the industry. If the oligopoly comes to dominate their industry they then have the ability to set prices higher, a terrible aspect for consumers.

Sadada

Heineken Netherlands B. V. : Reengineering IS/IT To Enable Customer – Oriented Supply Chain Management In June 1993, Jan Janssen, financial manager of Heineken Nether lands B. V. and the person responsible for Information Systems (IS) and Information Technology (IT), and his IS manager, Rob Pietersen, faced the challenge of developing an IS/IT configuration that would add value to the business and support the ongoing transformation of Heineken's supply chain management system.This system was extensive, not only supplying the Dutch home market, but also providing a significant part of the supply to more than 100 export countries served by the Heineken Group. Supply chain management central to enterprise-wide transformation. Management was committed to a process-driven organization, customer service partnerships, 24-hour delivery lead time, major innovations in the transport system, and resulting changes in the way people worked. And Janssen knew that all of these-and more-requi red fundamental changes in the way this new work was to be supported by information systems and technology.Janssen was convinced that the effective management of information as well as a more appropriate IT infrastructure were critical to achieving Heineken's goals of increased flexibility, greater coordination, and a sharper focus on customer needs. In his mind, the change program initiated in 1990 in the IS/IT area had just been the beginning. Now, he and Pietersen needed to design an information systems and technology backbone that would be flexible enough to evolve with the changing business needs and adapt to continuous changes in technology.HEINEKEN NETHERLANDS B. V. Heineken Netherlands B. V. was the principal operating company responsible for operations in Heineken's home market. It also accounted for a significant part of Heineken N. V. ‘s worldwide exports. Of the 60. 4 million hectoliters' of beer produced worldwide under the supervision of the Heineken Group in 199 4, a significant portion was produced in the company's two Dutch breweries- Zoeterwoude and `s-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch).Likewise, 11 percent of the Heineken Group's sales took place in the domestic market, and more than 5400 employees worked for Heineken Netherlands. Supply Chain Management The supply chain at Heineken Netherlands began with the receipt of the raw materials that went into the brewing process, and continued through packaging, distribution, and delivery. Brewing took six weeks; it began with the malt mixture of barley and ended with the filtering of the beer after fermentation.Depending on the distribution channel, the beer was then packaged in â€Å"one-way† or returnable bottles or cans of different sizes and labels, put in kegs, or delivered in bulk. The variety of outlets meant that the company had to manage differences in response time (beer for the domestic market was produced to stock, while exported beer was produced to order) and three distinct distri bution channels. While each channel consisted mainly of the same steps from the receipt of raw materials through brewing, they differed greatly in packaging and distribution.Beer could be distributed to either on-premise outlets (hotels, restaurants, and cafes, where it was delivered in kegs or poured directly into cellar beer tanks), off-premise outlets (supermarkets, grocery and liquor stores, where it was sold in a variety of bottle and package sizes for home consumption), or to export markets (export deliveries were made to order). Ongoing Transformation With key customers requesting faster response times, the development of a process-driven view of Heineken's supply chain activities became critical.The company started the transformation of its supply chain management system by creating customer-service partnerships with its largest domestic customers. The overall objective was to improve the logistics chain dramatically for these customers. In response, delivery lead times were reduced and the transport system was changed. However, the supply chain transformation was seen as a never-ending process. New Customer-Service Partnerships In these new service partnerships, Heineken was requested to reduce the time from the placement of the product order to the actual delivery.Before, this delivery lead time had been three days, but the supermarket chains wanted Heineken to supply their warehouses in the Netherlands in 24 hours. Each of the warehouses carried only 8 hours of stock at any time, so the supermarket chains depended on quick and flexible delivery to maintain low inventories and fast response times. To further enhance its close cooperation with customers, Heineken had embarked on a pilot test of a new logistics improvement called â€Å"Comakership† with Albert Heijn, the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands.Comakership was part of Albert Heijn's Efficient Customer Response project, â€Å"Today for Tomorrow. † The Albert Heijn reta il stores sent their sales information as scanning data to the computer in their central head office. There, the data for Heineken products were scanned out and separated. The beer sales information was then relayed via a standard EDI system (provided by a value-added network operator) from the central office of Albert Heijn directly to Heineken's Zoeterwoude brewery. Heineken was usually able to deliver within 18 hours.Although the pilot had been initiated in only one of Albert Heijn's distribution centers (and the set of stores it served), it had already resulted in lower lead times, decreased costs, and less complexity in the distribution system. Moving to a 24-Hour Delivery Lead Tinge As a result of these successes, top management concluded that delivery lead time could be cut to 24 hours for most domestic customers. However, it would require major shifts in the company's stock levels, distribution centers, work organization, transport system, organizational structure, and infor mation systems.The 24-hour lead time allowed for greater stock turnover and for lower stock levels in the customer distribution centers. There was, however, more interdepot traffic and higher stocks of packaging material (â€Å"returnables†) on the brewery premises (which had been located elsewhere along the supply chain). But management believed that as less total inventory was held in the system, these packaging material stocks might be reduced over time. New Transport System Until 1991, Heineken Netherlands had contracted out the transportation of its products from the two breweries to about 50 transporters.All of them used a lorry-trailer system with â€Å"dedicated† drivers-a driver and his â€Å"truck† could make an average of 2. 1 deliveries per day. To meet the 24-hour lead time, Heineken had to completely change the fleet used for transport and reduce the number of transporters from 50 to 10. Heineken then contracted 4 cabin trucks from each transporter (40 cabin trucks in total) and paid them for the use of the trailers. The ability of the driver to move from one trailer to another without waiting for unloading meant that he could make an average of 2. deliveries per day (a cost reduction of approximately G1. 5 million ). New Information Management (IM) Needs Heineken's customer-service partnership with Albert Heijn and the other changes Heineken had implemented in its supply chain activities brought new information requirements to support the more stringent delivery dictates. With the pilot testing of the Comakership logistics improvement, Heineken needed to implement systems which could manage this new transfer of information, and make appropriate modifications in work activities and organizational structure.Furthermore, the new IS/IT infrastructure needed to be flexible enough to handle and reflect individual retailer and customer beer purchasing patterns. In the context of these changes in supply chain activities, Janssen ref lected on the beginnings of the transformation of IS/IT: The transformation of IS/IT and the shifts occurring in our supply chain activities were concurrent without causality. That is very strange, but it just happened that way. I can't say to you that it is a â€Å"chicken and egg† kind of story. Of course, there was a link but not an explicit one. Somewhere in our minds, when you do one you do the other, too.Jansen knew that the relationship between information management, information systems, and information technology had to be clearly defined to have optimum support for the new approaches to value creation. Information management focused on supporting customers and creating new â€Å"bundles of goods and services. † Information systems focused on developing applications software, managing data, and supporting the new business processes. Finally, information technology related primarily to data and text services, and the underlying operating systems, interfaces, ha rdware, and networks.PHASE l: RECOGNIZING THE NEED FOR CHANGE In July 1989, at the beginning of all the changes at Heineken, Janssen (then at headquarters and responsible for IS/IT worldwide) received a request for a second mainframe at Heineken Netherlands, costing G6 million (with another G6 million required in three to four years); Janssen brought in the consulting firm Nolan, Norton, Inc. to evaluate the IS/IT infrastructure, first at the corporate level and then at the operating company level for Heineken Netherlands: A proposal to purchase a second mainframe focused everybody on our IS/IT infrastructure.You have to have some kind of crisis to get people thinking. IS/IT Benchmarking Nolan, Norton, Inc. benchmarked Heineken's IS/IT cost structure against the beverage industry IS/IT average and it was clear that Heineken was indeed not competitive-the company was spending twice the money for half the functionality. â€Å"The Nolan, Norton report confirmed what a very wide group of the users thought,† Janssen commented. In response, management recommended decentralizing the data center and having each business area manage its own computing resources.At the same time, Janssen asked Heineken Netherlands, the largest operating company, to develop a new IS/IT plan based on new computer technology, â€Å"which meant looking for mid-range platforms, decentralized computing, and standard software packages, rather than developing customized programs for every new application-previously the standard practice. † Before determining an appropriate IS/IT plan, Janssen made sure that information management scans were conducted in every functional area. Managers were asked, â€Å"What do you need and how can that used to create information plans.Working with KPMG Management Consultants and Nolan, Norton, Inc. , Janssen developed a list of priorities for IS/IT and selected a new IT platform (IBM AS/400)-both were accepted in July 1990: The AS/400 became the c ore of our new IT platform for two reasons: first, we had been a client with IBM for roughly 40 years, and it was not their fault that we used their mainframes in the wrong way; second, we already knew that huge masses of application software were being written for the AS/400, as a quick scan easily confirmed.Furthermore, we were starting to think about an appropriate IT architecture and we were considering the possibility of using personal computers as peripherals linked together through local area and wide area networks. Implementation of the New IS/IT Plan Before the end of 1990, Janssen was appointed financial manager. He became the person responsible for IS/IT at Heineken Netherlands and was to oversee the implementation of the new IS/IT plan. Janssen concluded that outsourcing would play a critical role in this process: The decision to outsource was part of the plan.When we came to the conclusion that a major change was necessary, that we should look for midrange computers, th at we should go for standard software, that we should not go for dumb terminals but for personal computers as peripherals, it became clear to us that this was a big operation and we could not evolve to it. We could not manage just to keep the old systems in the air with all the problems and have enough management attention for building up the new systems. So we told the organization, â€Å"Gentlemen, we are going to outsourcers, and we are going to freeze the applications to free up management time. PHASE 3: OUTSOURCING TO DEVELOP THE NEW IS/IT INFRASTRUCTURE Outsourcing enabled the IS group to keep the â€Å"old† mainframe applications running while it developed a new IT approach-focusing on the development of its client/server distributed processing infrastructure, the appropriate new IT architecture, and the IS people and skills to achieve these new objectives. Outsourcing In 1991, after scanning the outsourcers' market, Janssen chose Electronic Data Systems (EDS), the la rgest provider of computer services in the United States.EDS provided the expertise and infrastructure required to meet Heineken's information systems and technology needs, and career possibilities for Heineken's mainframe personnel, both vital to the successful transformation of its IS/IT infrastructure. Finally, the five-year contract (with declining involvement each year) provided â€Å"guaranteed continuity† while Heineken maintained control. The plan indicated that the last mainframe program would be replaced in 1996 and the contract with EDS would end. Development of the New IT Architecture The development of the new IT architecture took place almost concurrently:We moved in two directions-one, to outsource our operational concerns, and two, to focus on our new architecture development, eventually replacing everything which was on the mainframe with standard packages on AS/400s. With the decision to downsize-to move off the mainframe platform-and to decentralize the inf ormation management and systems, Janssen chose a comprehensive client/server strategy using a combination of workstations, local and wide area networks, mid-range systems such as AS/400s, and local area servers to complete the technology architecture. (Refer to Figure 1 for Heineken’s IT architecture. â€Å"Personal computers† became â€Å"Heineken workstations† to eliminate the confusion and â€Å"mess† of having 2000 â€Å"personal† workstations-in this way, every workstation had the same setup. Furthermore, the sales force began using â€Å"Notebooks† for customer sensing and information sharing. Changing Over to Standard Packages and Developing Greater Flexibility to Serve the Business In 1993, Rob Pietersen became IS manager at Heineken Netherlands. He believed that the decentralized IS/IT operations gave more â€Å"computer power to the people,† and enabled the â€Å"user† to become the process owner.Old mainframe program s were replaced with new standard application packages that covered all the functions in the supply chain. Heineken started this â€Å"changeover† by focusing on the software applications dealing with clients: order entry, delivery, transport, invoicing, and accounts receivable. Selecting Standard Software Packages To increase flexibility and customer responsiveness, Pietersen knew that Heineken had to shift from the â€Å"waterfall approach† to the development of standard software packages: At that time in the mainframe orld, we were developing software applications using a methodology often referred to as the â€Å"waterfall. † You started with a requirements definition from the users, developed a design and the code to implement that design (getting signoffs at each point along the way). You put the code in production, tested the code, released the code into operation and then you maintained it. When you adopted the code, you went back to the users and asked them if this was what they wanted, and often they said â€Å"What? This waterfall process took 18 to 36 months or more, and by the time it was completed, the users' requirements often had changed. Pietersen began using the PILS (Project Integral Logistics) – named after the successful approach developed to select appropriate logistics software – to test and select standard software packages (refer to Figure 2). The PILS approach involved: Oidentifying appropriate software packages; Osetting the top two package vendors against one another in a â€Å"shoot-out† as in the American â€Å"Wild West†-where the specific elements of each software package were compared and contrasted;O implementing it; O evaluating its performance. For IS people, this meant moving from COBOL programming to developing a thorough knowledge of the business. Pietersen chose PRISM for the logistics area and J D Edwards for the financial area. Pietersen found that the new systems and p olicies better fit the information needs of the company: We needed more flexibility, more power, and less cost. Our current systems have scored high in each of those areas. Computer power is now where it belongs: not with the IT people, but in the hands of the people who need it. IS Group ReconfigurationOutsourcing the mainframe and mainframe applications to EDS led to a change in the configuration of the IS group as well. Contracts with employees from software houses were stopped, and many of the individuals working on the mainframe went with the mainframe systems to EDS while other staff shifted to other areas of the IS group, such as systems management. Pietersen was convinced that the competencies and capabilities of the IS group had to be expanded to align the use of IT with the evolving supply chain, rather than simply promoting IT solutions as â€Å"answers† to the company's information management â€Å"problems. Pietersen understood that this change in approach for t he IS group required not only a deeper knowledge of business processes and strategy, but also an understanding of how people used the information. Pietersen therefore transformed the IS department from units for application development, customer support, and operations (a functional structure) to teams solution, and customer-service areas-the â€Å"process owners† (a team-oriented business approach). (Refer to Figures 3 and 4 for the IS organization before and after 1993. The information management needs of the business areas were thus defined by people from both the business areas and IS. These account teams helped select standard application packages and, afterwards, adapt the business process to the software package or adapt the software package to the business process. These teams thus developed and implemented systems that gave the required support for the respective business processes and delivered information to enable a better control of the supply chain. Shrinking fr om 130 to 40 people, the IS group was now â€Å"doing what they had been doing differently. Pietersen and Janssen believed that increasing overall access to information would support management's efforts to enhance the employees' empowerment. Client/server systems also fostered teamwork and horizontal decision making. They were fast, flexible, and permitted greater communication with customers and suppliers, which resulted in improved customer service. And they promoted the development of a â€Å"process view† (focusing on total processes rather than on discrete tasks). Furthermore, the new configuration of the IS group, with its more team-oriented business approach, also promoted a spirit of greater cooperation and communication.Pietersen commented, â€Å"If we still had the mainframe, all this would not be possible. † Evaluating IS Performance In 1995, Pietersen and Janssen were still trying to determine how to measure the performance of the IS/IT department. They a greed that IS/IT needed to serve the business, and different service level Agreements were to be negotiated with the different functional areas (as shown in Figure 5): What is our business? Is it information technology? No, our business is brewing and selling premium beer of high quality.We changed our IT policy to make it clear that IT supports the business, but doesn't drive the business. We started to focus on having a beautiful bottom line rather than beautiful IT applications. IS performance then became based on the timely and successful completion of projects. The most important measure was the improvement of the business process for which a system or service was meant. In the future, Pietersen and Janssen would be trying to develop criteria to measure the impact of an IS project on improving overall business performance.INFORMATION ASSETS IN THE BUSINESS Executive Information Systems (EIS) By 1995, Heineken's operational supply chain system-from supplier to end customer-was i n its final phase, and the company had begun to add the decision support element. Decision-support or executive information systems would make it possible for managers to express their information requirements directly. Pietersen hoped that their ease of use would encourage managers to analyze past performance in greater depth and enable them to simulate the possible consequences of proposed actions more accurately.When it came to selecting the appropriate software, Pietersen had chosen EIS Express: I call it the technical infrastructure; the basic logical infrastructure of all these systems is in place, and now we come to enabling real improvement, not just the EDI links we have with our retailers, but also such things as installing executive information systems (EIS) to give our management team the control instruments they need to navigate us through the more turbulent business environments we will face in the coming years.The executive information systems gather their data from t he data warehouses of the different business systems in all areas and can show this easily through different (graphical) viewpoints. One of Janssen and Pietersen's goals for the use of executive information systems was to have unity in the data. Janssen explained: Having unity in our data is crucial. Only a few years ago we discovered some departments were using different unit volumes than we were. And that just should not happen in any organization. Better Planning ToolsA key part of the IS/IT strategy was to develop an integrated set of systems to plan and control the overall supply chain, both in the short run (bottle-line scheduling and daily operations) and over a longer horizon (sales forecasts and long-term operations research). The aim was faster and more flexible control of supply chain activities. Jan Janssen elaborated: What we are working toward is a coherent and consistent set of planning and scheduling tools which are more or less compatible and interconnectible so tha t you can build up or build down the basic data.Our goal is to be able to model business processes and to have the data, like sales forecasts, to support our decisions about capacity, bottling lines, and stocks. We want to be in a position where, if you have to make a decision, you can run simulations based on actual data. The concept of supply chain management ultimately served as the driver for to optimize the supply chain activities as well as to ensure better information management. (Refer to Figure 6 for Heineken's information systems. )Janssen and Pietersen had put in place information systems to collect and integrate information on Heineken's â€Å"on-premise† customer activity. Information on each hotel, restaurant, and cafe/pub that Heineken Netherlands had contact with (as owner, financing agent, or product supplier) was included in these systems. In this way, Heineken Netherlands was able to provide the relevant sales force with an integrated view of their customer s (large or small) as well as with information on competitors catering to the same establishments, beer sold, and contract terms. Janssen elaborated:We are thinking about what the â€Å"next stage of the rocket† will be. We have defined the baseline and are looking at workflow, EDI and planning information systems-how should these planning systems interrelate? We are in the process of defining the next phase of the vision for Heineken as a business in the Netherlands and for the IS/IT fit to that. The current debate is just how far to go. This case is a condensed version of Heineken Netherlands B. V. A&B. It was prepared by Research Associate Kimberly A. Bechler under the supervision of Professors Donald A. Marchand and Thomas E.Vollmann, as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a business situation. The names of the Heineken managers involved have been disguised. It was developed within the research scope of Manufa cturing 2000, a research and development project conducted with global manufacturing enterprises. The authors wish to acknowledge the generous assistance of Heineken management, especially IS manager Gert Bolderman. Copyright @ 1996 by IMD- Institute for Management Development, Lausanne, Switzerland. Not to be used or reproduced without written permission directly from IMD.CASE STUDY QUESTIONS 1. Analyze Heineken Netherlands using the value chain and competitive forces models. Why did the company feel it needed to transform its supply chain? 2. Analyze all the elements of the new IT infrastructure that Heineken selected for its new business processes. Were Heineken's technology choices appropriate? Why or why not? 3. What management, organization, and technology issues had to be addressed when Heineken Netherlands reengineering its supply chain? ‘Hectolitre = 22 Imperial gallons = 26. 418 U. S. gallons; Heineken 1994 Annual Report. 21000 Guilders (G) = approximately ? 368 = U. S. $575 (at December 31,

Course: Contract and Liquid Chemical Co.

The Cost Analysis for Decision Making project is intended to be a comprehensive evaluation of the key objectives covered throughout this course. It will challenge you to apply your knowledge of cost information when evaluating the decision to make or buy a product. Please use this outline and grading rubric as a guide to completing your course project. It provides specific details of the required elements of the project, and it will be used by your instructor as a grading guide. Read Integrative Case 4-61, â€Å"Make versus Buy,† on pages 151 and 152 of the course text.Assume that you are the general manager (Mr. Walsh) faced with this decision. You have identified the following four alternatives available to Liquid Chemical Co. †¢Alternative A: It is the status quo. (i. e. , Liquid Chemical Co. will continue making the containers and performing maintenance. ) †¢Alternative B: Liquid Chemical Co. will continue making the containers, but it will outsource the maintena nce to Packages, Inc. †¢Alternative C: Liquid Chemical Co. will buy containers from Packages, Inc. , but it will perform the maintenance. Alternative D: It is completely outsourced. Packages, Inc. will make the containers and provide the necessary maintenance. Your project should include the following items: †¢Part (a): Discuss each of the four alternatives outlined above. Identify the relevant costs (including amounts) for each of the four alternatives, and explain why these costs are relevant to the decision. Identify any costs that are not relevant, and explain why they are not relevant. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative? Who benefits and who loses? Part (b): Other than the relevant costs identified in Part (a), what additional information would you use when making your decision? Are there financial factors other than those identified in the case study that you would incorporate into your decision? What nonfinancial information would affect y our decision? †¢Part (c): As the general manager, which alternative would you choose, and why? Support your conclusion with facts and figures, as necessary. The Liquid Chemical Company manufactures and sells a range of high-grade products. Many of these products require careful packaging.The company has a special patented lining made that it uses in specially designed packing containers. The lining uses a special material known as GHL. The firm operates a department that maintains and repairs its packing containers to keep them in good condition and that builds new ones to replace units that are damaged beyond repair. Mr. Walsh, the general manager, has for some time suspected that the firm might save money and get equally good service by buying its containers from an outside source. After careful inquiries, he has approached a firm specializing in container production, Packages, Inc. and asked for a quotation. At the same time, he asked Mr. Dyer, his chief accountant, to let h im have an up-to-date statement of the costs of operating the container department. Within a few days, the quotation from Packages, Inc. , arrived. The firm proposed to supply all the new containers required—at that time, running at the rate of 3,000 per year—for $1,250,000 a year, the contract to run for a guaranteed term of five years and thereafter renewable from year to year. If the number of containers required increased, the contract price would increase proportionally.Packages, Inc. , also proposed to perform all maintenance and repair work on existing packaging containers for a sum of $375,000 a year, on the same contract terms. Mr. Walsh compared these figures with Mr. Dyer’s cost figures, which covered a year’s operations of the container department of the Liquid Chemical Company and appear in Exhibit 4. 13. Walsh concluded that he should immediately close the packing container department and sign the contracts offered by Packages, Inc. He felt an obligation, however, to give the manager of the department, Mr.Duffy, an opportunity to question his decision before acting. Walsh told Duffy that Duffy’s own position was not in jeopardy. Even if Walsh closed his department, another managerial position was becoming vacant to which Duffy could move without any loss of pay or prospects. The manager Duffy would replace also earned $80,000 per year. Moreover, Walsh knew that he was paying $85,000 per year in rent for a warehouse a couple of miles away that was used for other corporate purposes. If he closed Duffy’s department, he’d have all the warehouse space he needed without renting additional space.Duffy gave Walsh a number of considerations to think about before he closed the department: â€Å"For instance,† he said, â€Å"what will you do with the machinery? It cost $1,200,000 four years ago, but you’d be lucky if you’d get $200,000 for it now, even though it’s good for another five years. And then there’s the stock of GHL (a special chemical) we bought a year ago. That cost us $1,000,000, and at the rate we’re using it now, it’ll last another four years. We used up only about one-fifth of it last year. Dyer’s figure of $700,000 for materials includes $200,000 for GHL.But it’ll be tricky stuff to handle if we don’t use it up. We bought it for $5,000 a ton, and you couldn’t buy it today for less than $6,000. But you’d get only $4,000 a ton if you sold it, after you’d covered all the handling expenses. † Walsh also worried about the workers if he closed the department. â€Å"I don’t think we can find room for any of them elsewhere in the firm. However, I believe Packages would take all but Hines and Walters. Hines and Walters have been with us since they left school 40 years ago. I’d feel bound to give them a supplemental pension—$15,000 a year each for five years, sa y.Also, I’d figure a total severance pay of $20,000 for the other employees, paid in a lump sum at the time we sign the contract with Packages. † Duffy showed some relief at this. â€Å"But I still don’t like Dyer’s figures,† he said. â€Å"What about this $225,000 for general administrative overheads? You surely don’t expect to sack anyone in the general office if I’m closed, do you? † Walsh agreed. â€Å"Well, I think we’ve thrashed this out pretty well,† said Walsh, â€Å"but I’ve been turning over in my mind the possibility of perhaps keeping on the maintenance work ourselves. What are your views on that, Duffy? â€Å"I don’t know,† said Duffy, â€Å"but it’s worth looking into. We wouldn’t need any machinery for that, and I could hand the supervision over to the current supervisor who earns $50,000 per year. You’d need only about one-fifth of the workers, but you cou ld keep on the oldest and save the pension costs. You’d still have the $20,000 severance pay, I suppose. You wouldn’t save any space, so I suppose the rent would be the same. I don’t think the other expenses would be more than $65,000 a year. † â€Å"What about materials? † asked Walsh. â€Å"We use 10 percent of the total on maintenance,† Duffy replied. Well, I’ve told Packages that I’d give them my decision within a week,† said Walsh. â€Å"I’ll let you know what I decide to do before I write to them. † Assume the company has a cost of capital of 10 percent per year and uses an income tax rate of 40 percent for decisions such as these. Liquid Chemical would pay taxes on any gain or loss on the sale of machinery or the GHL at 40 percent. (Depreciation for book and tax purposes is straight-line over eight years. ) The tax basis of the machinery is $600,000. Also assume the company had a five-year time horizon for this project and that any GHL needed for Year 5 would be purchased during Year 5.

Discussion and Application Questions Essay

1. (a) The mission statement should be a clear, short, and to the point representation of the companies purpose for existence. It should incorporate socially meaningful and measurable criteria addressing concepts such as the moral/ethical position of the enterprise, public image, the target market, products/services, the geographic domain and expectations of growth and profitability. The intent of the Mission Statement should be the first consideration for any employee who is evaluating a strategic decision. The statement can range from a very simple to a very complex set of ideas. (b) Medtronic gives a strategic direction to its organization by committing to the research, design, manufacturing, and the sale of their product. (c) My career mission statement: Obtain my degree to position myself for future advancement within the organization I work. Exceed expectations by persistence, professionalism, and integrity. 2.(a) Empire State competencies is providing adult education through individualizes degree programs, distance learning, and flexible independent studies. (b) My favorite restaurant competencies are customer service and a large variety of beer and soups. (c) Dell’s competencies are customer service and technology. 3.The main result of each of the three phases of the strategic marketing process. (a) Planning: Marketing plans (or programs) that define goals and the marketing mix strategies to achieve them. (b)Implementation: Results (memos or computer outputs) that describe the outcomes of implementing the plans. (c)Control: Corrective action memos, triggered by comparing results with plans, that (1) suggest solutions to problems and (2) take advantage of opportunities. 4. Select one strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat from the SWOT analysis for Ben and Jerry’s shown in Figure 2-6, and suggest a specific possible action that Unilever might take to exploit or address each one. Strength: Prestigious, well-known brand name among U.S. consumers and Unilever can expand its growth globally as is a market for quality ice cream. Weakness: Need for experience managers to help grow. Unilever is the world’s largest ice cream company and has the resources Ben and Jerry need. Opportunity: Unilever can help Ben and Jerry react to the demand for frozen yogurt and other low-fat desserts by using their knowledge and experience. Threat: Pillsbury and Haagen-Dazs brands are their competitor’s and Unilever being the largest ice cream company would help them increase their market share.