Isolation Drills: Valcor™s Diaphragm Solenoid Valves Eliminate Corrosion, Contamination and Clogging

Gone are the headaches normally associated with valves.

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. “Looking for a solenoid valve that works with your design” not against it? Then look no further than the family of Diaphragm Isolated Solenoid Valves from Valcor Scientific.

Valcor Diaphragm Isolated Solenoid Valves (series SV 51 and SV 73) use flexible diaphragms or bellows to isolate operating parts from the fluid being handled. Metal-to-fluid contact is eliminated along with the contamination, corrosion and clogging that occurs in wetted valves. With Valcor Diaphragm Isolated Solenoid Valves, you get fluid integrity in a completely inert environment.

Providing access to the solutions engineers need to realize their designs is central to our work, says Al LaMastra, Business Unit Manager at Valcor Scientific. Our diaphragm solenoids are a big part of that.
 
With all-Teflon® construction and Polypropylene bodies, Valcor’s Diaphragm Isolated Solenoid Valves come in two-way normally closed and normally open, and three-way configurations. Seal materials include Viton, EPDM and Teflon®. Standard voltages are 24 VDC and 115vac/60Hz, while pressures range from vacuum to 100 psi and floe rates up to Cv 3.5.

Since 1951, Valcor Scientific has been a leader in the design and manufacture of a broad range of pumps and valves for analytical chemistry, medical, biomedical and scientific instrumentation as well as light industrial applications. With a wide-reaching sales network dedicated to helping engineers bring their designs to market, Valcor Scientific is based in Springfield, New Jersey, and is a division of Valcor Engineering Corporation. For more information, contact Valcor Scientific at 973-467-8400, valcorscientific@valcor.com or http://www.valcor.com/.

Top 10 Risks of Offshore Outsourcing

Offshore outsourcing is on a steady growth path, growing about 20%-25% per annum, with little evidence of slowing. Though enterprises experience initial resistance, most technical issues are readily resolved and geopolitical risk is deemed insignificant after careful evaluation. Even the current political fervor about jobs being moved offshore via outsourcing is not impacting the demand or strategy of IT organizations.
No matter which country you choose as your outsourcing destination, be sure to analyse its statistics in depth, as choosing the right outsourcing destination and partner can go a long way in ensuring that you reap huge benefits.
Outsourcing is not bereft of risks. The risks in outsourcing need to be successfully addressed to ensure your companys productivity. The top 10 risks of offshore outsourcing are as follows:

1. Cost-Reduction Expectations

The biggest risk with offshore outsourcing is that of cost reduction expectations. Companies that outsource their business functions assume that labor arbitrage will yield savings comparable to person-to-person comparison (e.g., a full-time equivalent in India will cost 40% less) without regard for the hidden costs and differences in operating models. In reality, most IT organizations save only about 15%-25% during the first year; by the third year, cost savings often reach 35%-40% as companies "go up the learning curve" for offshore outsourcing and modify operations to align to an offshore model.

2. Data Security/Protection

This is another risk that IT organizations evaluating any kind of outsourcing need to successfully tackle. Before deciding on an outsourcing supplier, be sure to check if they have sufficiently robust security practices and if they can meet the security requirements they have internally. While most IT organizations find offshore vendor security practices impressive (often exceeding internal practices), the risk of security breaks or intellectual property protection is inherently raised when working in international business. Privacy concerns must be completely addressed. Although these issues rarely pose major impediments to outsourcing, the requirements must be documented and the methods and integration with vendors defined.

3. Process Discipline (CMM)

The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) becomes an important measure of a companys readiness to adopt an offshore model. Offshore vendors require a standardized and repeatable model, which is why CMM Level 5 is a common characteristic. Companies lacking internal process model maturity will undermine potential cost savings.

4. Loss of Business Knowledge

Most IT organizations have business knowledge that resides within the developers of applications that may be of a proprietary nature or competitive advantage. Companies must carefully assess business knowledge and determine if moving it either outside the company or to an offshore location will compromise company practices.

5. Vendor Failure to Deliver

Even with the superb quality methodologies of offshore vendors, they may sometimes fail to deliver. When considering outsourcing, IT organizations should assess the implications of vendor failure and should have a contingency plan ready. If such a situation arises, the organization must be ready to shift the outsourcing strategy (e.g., from a single vendor to multiple vendors). The results of risk analysis vary between companies; it is the process of risk analysis that is paramount.

6. Scope Creep

There is no such thing as a fixed-price contract. All outsourcing contracts contain baselines and assumptions. If the actual work varies from estimates, the client will pay the difference. This simple fact has become a major obstacle for IT organizations that are surprised that the price was not "fixed" or that the vendor expects to be paid for incremental scope changes. Most projects change by 10%-15% during the development cycle.

7. Government Oversight/Regulation

IT organizations must ensure that the offshore vendor is sensitive to industry-specific requirements and the vendors ability to: 1) comply with government regulations; and 2) provide sufficient "transparency" showing that it does comply and is thus accountable during audits. The issue of transparency is becoming more significant as requirements such as the USA PATRIOT Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act place greater burdens of accountability on all American corporations.

8. Culture

Cultural differences are a sensitive issue in outsourcing. Though English is spoken throughout India, pronunciation and accents can vary tremendously. Therefore, many vendors put call center employees through accent training. In addition, cultural differences include religions, modes of dress, social activities, and even the way a question is answered. Most leading vendors have cultural education programs, but organisations should not assume that cultural alignment will be insignificant or trivial.

9. Turnover of Key Personnel

Rapid growth among outsourcing vendors has created a dynamic labor market, especially in Bangalore, India. Key personnel are usually in demand for new, high-profile projects, or even at risk of being recruited by other offshore vendors. While offshore vendors will often quote overall turnover statistics that appear relatively low, the more important statistic to manage is the turnover of key personnel on an account. The impact of high turnover has an indirect cost on the IT organization, which must increase time spend on knowledge transfer and training new individuals.

10. Knowledge Transfer

Most IT organizations experience a 20% decline in productivity during the first year of an agreement, largely due to time spent transferring both technical and business knowledge to the vendor. The time and effort to transfer knowledge to the vendor is a cost rarely accounted for by IT organizations. Many offshore vendors are deploying video conferencing (avoiding travel) and classroom settings (creating one-to-many transfer) to improve the efficacy of knowledge transfer. In addition, employee turnover often places a burden on the IT organization to provide additional information for new team members.
Business Impact: Offshore outsourcing can reduce IT expenditures by 15%-25% within the first year. Longer term, process improvements often make great impacts on both cost savings and the quality of IT services delivered.
Bottom Line: As IT organizations consider the vast benefits and allure of offshore outsourcing, they must balance the risks and uncertainties with the potential for labor arbitrage.

Tapioca ingredient tweaked for lower fat pastry

Ulrick & Short is launching an adapted version of its Delyte F fat replacer for tapioca to reduce the fat content in both sweet and savoury shortcrust pastry. 

The UK ingredients supplier has previously enabled fat reduction in sponge cakes and cream fillings using other products in its Delyte range, but pastry has presented a particular challenge.

Company director Andrew Ulrick told that attempts to reduce fat by 10 to 15 per cent resulted in a pastry that was unacceptably tough. For this reason, the Delyte F product has until now been used to retain moisture and increase shelf life in fruit-rich tea loaves.

But following requests from customers for lower fat pastry solutions, the team revisited the ingredient and has now found a way to allow up to 25 per cent fat reduction, mostly from butter but also some shortening.

Ulrick explained that the granulation has been increased to increase the surface area and increase water binding activity.

“When you reduce fat in processed meats, bakery fillings etc you use high levels of water. In pastry you use low levels, so we have to change the granulation top bind lower levels of water,” he said.

Although 25 per cent fat reduction is not enough for manufacturers to make a low fat claim on products, Ulrick called it a “significant reduction” – and it fits in with industry wide efforts to reduce the levels of saturated fats in packaged products.

Pies to please the eyes 

Another benefit the company has found is that use of the revised Delyte F can help improve final product quality.

Lack of elasticity in the dough can cause cracking, and conversations with large industrial pie-makers have confirmed that cracking can be a problem, even in full fat versions of products.

However Ulrick said Delyte F has been seen to increase the elasticity and repeated tests have turned out pies with un-cracked tops.

Reducing the amount of butter would bring cost savings to manufacturers too, as butter is a relatively expensive commodity.

The company is currently conducting trials on using the ingredient in puff pastry, and Ulrick said a version suitable for the products like croissants could be available in the coming months Potato Starch. 

Hermetic Pumps seal-less design for CO2 pumping

When pumping CO2 in a liquid form, installers and users must be aware of the difficulties that this liquid presents: Cliff Warne of Axflow explains the potential problems in pumping CO2

Firstly, CO2 is a very low viscosity product, so with a conventional mechanical seal pump, leakage can occur across the faces of the mechanical seal resulting in gas escaping into the atmosphere.

Secondly, ice forms on the pump components and this can cause the mechanical seals to freeze, resulting in pump failure.

For these reasons the optimal approach should be by the installation of a seal-less or canned pump.

The double containment design, free of a shaft sealing device, makes the canned motor pump one hundred percent leak free.

Furthermore, the absence of mechanical seals and the employment of maintenance free slide bearings, as opposed to roller bearings, ensure optimised MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure).

Hermetic Pumps is a specialist in the design and manufacture of hermetically sealed centrifugal pumps for difficult pumping applications.

Recognized worldwide by all major chemical manufacturers, its pumps can be relied upon to contain some of the most toxic chemicals.

Hermetic has taken decades of experience in handling toxic liquids and applied this technology to its refrigeration pump range.

Its refrigeration pumps are of mono-bloc design (pump and motor share a common shaft) and as such are quieter, more compact and easier to install than conventional pumps.

They do not require a base plate, couple or coupling guard, nor is there a need for alignment of motor and pump to ensure totally leak-free operation.

Where applications require a low flow, high differential pressure Hermetic offer its CAM and CAMR models, which are built with multiple impellers to accommodate such duties.

For high flow and low differential pressure applications Hermetic has the CNF series, which differs in that it is a single stage pump.

With the use of high tensile tie bolts and high pressure casings, system pressures in excess of 1000 bar can be contained by Hermetic pumps GTMS, Feedthrough.

Valcor Scientific Introduces A New Flow Control Valve

Valcor Scientific introduces a new flow control valve for LCO2 (liquid carbon dioxide) applications. The unique SV91 series valve designed for LCO2 incorporates many features of a valve used in Aerospace systems for over 40 years to make it one of the most dependable solenoid valves available to handle this normally difficult media. Al Lamastra, General Manager for Valcor Scientific, states "We've been involved with the Aerospace industry for so many years. By integrating the technology developed for that industry into our general market products; this helped to make us the manufacturer that people look to when they need dependable cryogenic flow control."

The SV91 all welded leak-tight SS construction has a straight-thru flow path that provides high flow in a compact size. Its direct-acting shear seal design insures positive shifting and sealing unlike piloted valves that tend to fail in the open position. Valcor Scientific developed a free-flow design internally that minimizes the transformation of LCO2 to a solid or "snow". This feature along with the direct-acting shear seal, make the SV91 from Valcor Scientific one of the most reliable solenoid valve for LCO2 applications.

Available in two versions rated at 350 PSI and 1000 PSI, the SV91 series can be used in applications such as fog producing systems for entertainment, food processing, chillers and other temperature control devices. For more information, contact Valcor Scientific at valcorscientific@valcor.com or 973-467-8400.

Company Information:
Valcor Engineering Scientific Div.
2 Lawrence Rd.
Springfield, NJ
07081 USA.
973-467-8400
973-467-9592
http://www.valcor.com

Product Details:
Plastic Valve | Solenoid Valve | Metering Pump | Diaphragm Valves | Miniature valve | Pinch Valves | Cryogenic Valve | Instrument Valve

Offshore Outsourcing: The Big Five :

Outsourcing of software development, support and maintenance is gradually emerging as a source for competitive advantages--and a source for headaches, too--for a number of companies.

A recent study by Gartner attributed the first year-over-year revenue drop suffered by the IT services industry in 2002 to growth in offshore services, which is pushing down the prices. Forrester Research says that the offshore outsourcing is going to rise from 12 percent of corporate IT budgets in 2000 to more than 28 percent in 2003. Meta Group predicts that as much as 50 percent of U.S. IT workers will shift to contract labor by 2007.

A CEO of a young IT products company recently said on the panel of a popular Washington, D.C. event that by outsourcing its R&D center to Bangalore, India, his company was able to develop products very efficiently, effectively and with a minimal amount of cash. With only a $15,000 to $20,000 monthly cash burn rate, his company was able to compete against 4- or 5-year-old VC-backed companies that had raised multi-millions.

But is that all there is to outsourcing--reduced cost? What are the various things that one should consider while employing outsourcing? Industry experts say that there is a lot that stays hidden but has an enormous impact on the decision to outsource. Let's examine the experiences of these people to understand what it takes to successfully outsource a project.

Outsourcing Is More Than Labor Arbitrage

Labor arbitrage--the ability to pay one labor pool less than the other--has definitely modified the fundamentals of outsourcing. Also, the availability of a greater number of equally qualified people--India produces 75,000 IT graduates every year as compared to 26,000 in the United States--has played a big part in the growth and efficacy of offshore outsourcing.

However, there is more to outsourcing then just lower HR expenses. There are many areas including vendor selection, communications, technical oversight, security/privacy and specialization, which all need to be considered while outsourcing work offshore. Studying best practices in these areas is a must if you want to be successful. Five things will help you achieve that.

Select the Right Vendor

As an industry, outsourcing has matured. There are many documented benefits and pitfalls of outsourcing. The general awareness has reached such a level that the case for outsourcing has been pretty much made. Now the prevalent question has changed from "Why outsource?" to "Outsource to whom?"

How you select your vendor will have a significant impact on your success. There are a host of questions that you need to get answers to. You need to establish selection criteria to evaluate vendors. You need to understand your core competencies, your business needs and how they relate to the core competencies of the vendor. You need to evaluate the industry knowledge of each vendor and their processes and methodologies, including CMM, ISO9000 or TQM certifications. You need to understand the cultural diversity and the impact that it may have on communications and development efforts.

One startup company that tied up with an outsourcing company in India had to constantly answer this question while seeking outside investment: "How are you going to assure that you have this effective development organization in India with all of the negative things going on around the world?" It was able to address this concern easily because it wasn't the only company using Indian development centers. Its vendor was also supporting a number of other U.S. companies that were much larger and prominent than the startup. The vendor had enough redundancy and resources for backup and recovery to ensure continuous operations in emergency situations.

Do Your Homework

An entrepreneur that is using outsourcing to build his startup venture said, "Outsourcing is not going to be an easy process, but it can be relatively simplified if you know what you're getting into." Outsourcing is quite different than contracting, more specifically time and material (T&M) contracting.

T&M contracting--the more prevalent form of IT contracting--usually entails getting people to join your team to complete the work. The client keeps the control and tells the contractors what is needed, when it is needed and how it will be done. The project management, resource planning, scheduling etc., are all done by the client.

On the other hand, in the case of outsourcing you ask the vendor to deliver you something and it is responsible for the complete development and the delivery of the final product. In this case the vendor is responsible for project management, resource planning, scheduling etc., hence it calls for a different type of preparation than T&M contracting.

In outsourcing, the completeness and thoroughness of business analysis is very critical. You need to ensure that your analysis specifies each and every aspect of the proposed job.

The lessons learnt mentioned by a panel of CEOs discussing outsourcing in a recently held Washington, D.C. event included requirement specifications and documentation. These companies spent a large amount of time writing the specs and completing the documentation that they then handed over to the vendor. They broke their specs in multiple modules, which could be much easily communicated to the development team as compared to the complete system. They developed elaborate matrices to measure the final product. They communicated this matrix to the vendor well in advance. Their suggestion? Don't even think about outsourcing if you are not willing to develop detailed specs and the measurement matrix.

It's the Process

In outsourcing projects, even though the project management, resource planning and scheduling is done by the vendor, the client still has to monitor the vendor. The lack of proximity to the vendor puts a greater importance on the process that is employed to communicate the work, to get the work done and to report back the progress.

That is why many companies are putting greater emphasis on the certification like CMM, ISO900, TQM, etc., as compared to the technical resources of the vendors. The vendor must deploy a consistent and high quality process for analysis, design, development, QA, reporting, project monitoring and management. The client and vendor must have a clear understanding about the process. Otherwise, the project will fail.

Other than SDLC processes and certification, another critical aspect is the outsourcing contract. The contract should be flexible enough to be able to address various late-stage concerns and modifications.

Protect Your IP

When the software is developed in a far-away place that you do not visit very often and where you do not have control, it can raise doubts about the protection of your intellectual property rights. How you go about protecting your IP will have a great impact upon the success of your company, not just the success of your outsourcing initiative.

One company split its system into multiple pieces and worked with multiple companies, finally integrating all pieces and coming out with the eventual product. This way none of the outsourcing vendors have a clear idea about the eventual product. They only knew about the modules that they worked on, not the whole picture.

Communicate Well

A common problem that the software people face is the miscommunication of requirements. A CEO of a company that outsourced work to India once mentioned that while developing software in� the United States, he had same communication issues while developing software in India. However, when the development is in a different country, the problem can be exacerbated. How you address this will have critical bearing over the success of your project.

You need to develop thorough communications that address all foreseeable issues, including the time difference between different locations, the language and cultural differences, whether video conferencing capabilities exist, etc. Such a plan should specify how often you communicate, who will set up the agenda, who will initiate the discussion, etc.

IT outsourcing has been gaining momentum for some time. The industry has matured to a very good level. A number of big and small companies have consciously made an effort to pursue outsourcing on a strategic level and they have set up many good and bad examples. Getting your IT work done offshore has many advantages, but it also comes with a number of risks. If you do not address those risks and take care of all the areas mentioned above, then your outsourcing project may become a nightmare for you.

B2B Software | Content Management System | Wireless Application Development | Mobile Application Development

Tapioca ingredient tweaked for lower fat pastry

Ulrick & Short is launching an adapted version of its Delyte F fat replacer for tapioca to reduce the fat content in both sweet and savoury shortcrust pastry.

The UK ingredients supplier has previously enabled fat reduction in sponge cakes and cream fillings using other products in its Delyte range, but pastry has presented a particular challenge.

Company director Andrew Ulrick told FoodNavigator.com that attempts to reduce fat by 10 to 15 per cent resulted in a pastry that was unacceptably tough. For this reason, the Delyte F product has until now been used to retain moisture and increase shelf life in fruit-rich tea loaves.

But following requests from customers for lower fat pastry solutions, the team revisited the ingredient and has now found a way to allow up to 25 per cent fat reduction, mostly from butter but also some shortening.

Ulrick explained that the granulation has been increased to increase the surface area and increase water binding activity.

�When you reduce fat in processed meats, bakery fillings etc you use high levels of water. In pastry you use low levels, so we have to change the granulation top bind lower levels of water,� he said.

Although 25 per cent fat reduction is not enough for manufacturers to make a low fat claim on products, Ulrick called it a �significant reduction� � and it fits in with industry wide efforts to reduce the levels of saturated fats in packaged products.

Pies to please the eyes

Another benefit the company has found is that use of the revised Delyte F can help improve final product quality.

Lack of elasticity in the dough can cause cracking, and conversations with large industrial pie-makers have confirmed that cracking can be a problem, even in full fat versions of products.

However Ulrick said Delyte F has been seen to increase the elasticity, and repeated tests have turned out pies with un-cracked tops.

Reducing the amount of butter would bring cost savings to manufacturers too, as butter is a relatively expensive commodity.

The company is currently conducting trials on using the ingredient in puff pastry, and Ulrick said a version suitable for the products like croissants could be available in the coming months.

More Food Link : Potato Starch | Tapioca Pearls | Tapioca Flour | Gluten-Free Flour | Potato Granules | Potato Flour | Potato Flakes | Tapioca Granulated | Modified Food Starch | Onion Salt | Minced Onion | Chopped Garlic | Minced Garlic | Bulk Spice Company | Wholesale Spice | Food Thickening Agent | Native Potato Starch | Tapioca Starch | Modified Tapioca Starch | Tapioca Granulated

The latest in capacitance level measurement

Great ideas are timeless, and the new Liquicap M, combining the tried and trusted capacitance level principle with leading-edge technology, is ideal for food, chemicals, viscous media and hydrocarbons

Great ideas are timeless, and the principle behind the capacitance level probe - the very first instrument we made - is still as sound as ever.

More than 50 years on, Endress+Hauser presents the new Liquicap M, combining this tried and trusted principle with leading-edge technology.

With its variety of housings, certifications, approvals and process connections (from 0.5''), you can tailor Liquicap M to exactly what you need - no more, no less.

Available in both rope and rod versions, Liquicap M can accurately measure level up to
10metres.

It offers outstanding performance in storage, buffer and process tanks and features two-stage over-voltage protection to safeguard against electrostatic discharge.

It can also be used in viscous media, thanks to active build-up compensation.
Ideal for the food industry, Liquicap M is suitable for both CIP and SIP systems, and combines a wide range of hygienic process connections with FDA and EHEDG approvals.

It is also designed for the real world: in applications with strong build-up, Liquicap M has cutting-edge algorithms to safeguard stable measured values.

And its short response time means it is particularly suitable for use in small tanks, where rapid level changes occur and the measurement range must cover the entire contents of the tank.

Also ideal for the chemical industry, Liquicap M offers a SIL 2 rating according to IEC61508 for both low and high demand mode, and is ATEX certified to EEx ia and EEx d for hazardous area use.

It features a gas-tight feedthrough for protection against aggressive or toxic media, often found in solvent or hydrocarbon applications.

Best of all, the device continuously monitors the probe insulation, so that any rod breakage or damage to insulation is immediately detected to minimise measurement errors and plant downtime.

GTMS | Feedthrough | Hermetic Packages | Match Seals

Valcor's New Micro Pump Series Offers Reduced Envelope, Multiple Configurations

SPRINGFIELD, NJ - Valcor Scientific, a division of Valcor Engineering Corp. is offering its new SV700 Series of inert, solenoid operated micro pumps. Celebrating its 50th year, Valcor Scientific has been a leader in the design and manufacture of a broad range of pumps and valves for analytical chemistry, biomedical, medical instrumentation, and light industrial applications.

Typical applications for Valcor's new SV700 Series are dispensing reagents in clinical instrumentation, dispensing dilutants in analytical instrumentation, dispensing lubricants in various other industry-specific applications.

The SV700 Micro Pumps feature:

• Small size to meet market demands
• Compatibility with wide range of fluids and standard materials
• Positive shut-off to prevent siphoning when not in use
• Easy to set required dispense volumes.

Less than 3" high, with a diameter of 1.10", and a dispense volume of 50 to 250 �l, Valcor's new SV700 Series is specifically designed to meet the demands of the instrumentation marketplace.

It can reliably dispense small volumes of low-density fluids with a low wattage solenoid (5.3 watts). A broad selection of standard materials of construction is available to allow for a wide range of fluid compatibility.

Manufactured with a glass-filled polypropylene pump head, and either EPDM or Viton Elastomers, the SV700 is available with a variety of fluid connections. These include: �-28 flat bottom ports, tube stubs, and a surface mount manifold configuration. Offered in both 12 and 24 VDC, the standard electrical connection is 10" TFE insulated flying leads. Amp and Molex connections can be provided.

Valcor's SV700 series of Micro Pumps was specifically designed to be user friendly in both its ease of installation and settability. Several configurations of the SV700 Micro Pump-Series are being offered, all versions based on a core group of components. This allows for ease of field service and conversion between both elastomeric compounds and port configurations.

Product Details:
Plastic Valve | Solenoid Valve | Metering Pump | Diaphragm Valves | Miniature valve | Pinch Valves | Cryogenic Valve | Instrument Valve

Five Ways To Offshore Proof Yourself

The need of the hour is to seize the power of web and streamline the technology potential to your business needs. Commerce and business are often used interchangeably; here the prefix ‘e-’ is used for electronic means electronic commerce and electronic business. But in this business world both hold completely different meanings. E-commerce is a subset of e-business, and is an e-business segment that holds the financial change within the business boundaries. E-commerce is e-business but e-business may or may not be e-commerce.

To promote your business, i.e. sell your product or services online you maintain a website, just having a web site online won’t work, starting from online visibility to brand awareness and ultimately maximizing ROI is the main aim behind running an online storefront. E-commerce is all about buying and selling over the internet. Apart from buying and selling of products online, a business analyst needs to implement other business strategies to run a successful business, this is the vertex where e-business begins. It is a business ambience created by integrating all the business systems. Here, all the business elements are connected to each other and web also. This requires 100% collaboration among each element and network. Have you ever thought that to buy and sell products online what all are essential??? Would having a great product do all? Obviously No!! Effective marketing strategies, excellent customer service, solid infrastructure, real time information systems are required to make complete utilization of available internet resources; you must not confuse with E-commerce and E-business.

An E-business platform helps companies to provide good customer services, strong marketing presence, prompt delivery, reliable inventory control and access to real time information. E-business includes following segments: eCommerce, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management, Knowledge Management, Business Intelligence, Collaborative Technologies.

Benefits from having right e-business strategies are you improve your business performance, additional revenue in form of new business, new customers, new products by opening new channels and connectivity at low cost (by reducing complexity) utilizing the latest technologies in the value chain to connect the value chains across businesses. You also gain productive insight and strong brand awarness.

Offshore Services :
Offshore Software Outsourcing | Custom Application Development | E-Business Applications | Product Management solution | E-Commerce systems Development | B2B Software | Content Management System | Wireless Application Development | Mobile Application Development

USDA NASS: US 2009 fall potato acreage up slightly

Area planted to fall potatoes in 2009 is estimated at 932,900 acres [=377,540 hectare], up slightly from the 2008 crop year [930,500].

Harvested area is forecast at 922,700 acres, also up slightly from 2008.

Idaho potato growers increased planted area 5 percent from last year but these [last year] are the lowest acres planted since 1986. As of July 5, crop conditions were rated 95 percent good to excellent.

Washington potato producers planted 6 percent fewer acres than a year ago. Cool, wet conditions delayed planting throughout the State. Significant planting did not begin until early-April but high temperatures late in the month enabled progress to advance quickly. By late-May, virtually the entire crop was in the ground.

Oregon potato growers increased planted area 2 percent from last year. The crop got off to a good start without any widespread delays to planting. In Colorado, planted area dropped 2 percent from the previous year as growers continued to voluntarily limit acreage for water conservation and supply management. Planting finished slightly ahead of schedule and the crop was rated in mostly good condition.

Fall potato planted area remained unchanged from last year in California, Maine, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. Potato growing areas in Maine received frequent and intense rain events during June after a cool, dry planting season. Northern areas of Aroostook County did not receive as much rain as southern locations and excellent crop conditions were reported. Further south, conditions ranged from fair to good, depending on moisture levels.

Michigan’s planted area increased 5 percent from 2008. Plants were in good to excellent condition, benefitting from above normal rainfall this season. Planted area also increased in Nebraska, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, and New Mexico.

Growers in North Dakota planted 2 percent fewer acres than last year. Planting began later than normal and remained behind average throughout the planting season. As of June 28, crop condition was rated 63 percent good to excellent.

Planted area also decreased from last year in New York and Minnesota.

Potato Starch | Tapioca Pearls | Tapioca Flour

New valves provide complete hermetic separation

Miniature fluid isolation valves are designed to control acids and basic fluids and reagents in applications where the fluid must be completely separated from the valve control mechanism

The new Asco Scientific 110 Series of miniature fluid isolation valves is designed to control acids and basic fluids and reagents in applications where the fluid must be completely separated from the valve control mechanism.

Rated for a minimum of 1 million cycles operating life, the Series 110 valves are designed high levels of reliability in equipment such as medical and gas analysers and also biotechnology operations.

The 110 Series are direct acting type valves, a design that enables hermetic separation between the fluid and valve parts to prevent contamination, and also ensures reduced heat exchange between the valve coil and fluid.

Ideal for both shut-off and fluid diversion tasks, the 110 Series valves are available in both 2/2 normally closed and open versions and also 3/2 universal types.

The 110 series achieves high levels of reliability via a direct acting rocker design, which is both highly efficient and ensures a very small internal volume within the valve to deliver maximum accuracy in analytical operations.

In addition, the combination of the stainless steel rocker mechanism and an EPDM diaphragm poppet means that no metal parts that could cause contamination come into contact with the fluid.

To enable them to resist the corrosive mediums with which they are used, the 110 Series valves have Trogamid bodies and covers: the latter being transparent, enabling the flow of fluid within the valve to be observed.

In addition all internal valve parts, excepting the diaphragm poppet, are manufactured from stainless steel.

Integration of the 110 Series into analytical machines is simplified by the availability of plain, push-on connections for flexible tubing.

Electrical connection is also simplified by the use of spade connectors on the moulded solenoid coil.

The coils themselves offer the reliability benefits of class "F" installation, and the bonus for mobile use of operation on both 12V and 24v DC.

In addition to providing the Series 110 valves as discrete units, Asco Scientific also provides the valves as a pre-assembled system, mounting up to five of them on support plates.

This is part of wider service designed by Asco Scientific to provide bespoke multi-function modules for use in application areas such as dentistry, microbiology, analysis and respiratory control.

This approach, with assemblies designed and delivered as fully functional units, both reduces costs and speeds-up the overall construction time of the equipment to which the pre-engineered systems are applied.

Further information regarding the Asco Scientific new medical and analytical range of valve products is contained within a new 80-page catalogue produced by the company.

Free copies of the catalogue are available on application to Asco Joucomatic.

Glass to Metal Seals | RF Connector | Precision Metal Stamping

What is the difference between E-commerce and E-business?

The need of the hour is to seize the power of web and streamline the technology potential to your business needs. Commerce and business are often used interchangeably; here the prefix ‘e-’ is used for electronic means electronic commerce and electronic business. But in this business world both hold completely different meanings. E-commerce is a subset of e-business, and is an e-business segment that holds the financial change within the business boundaries. E-commerce is e-business but e-business may or may not be e-commerce.

To promote your business, i.e. sell your product or services online you maintain a website, just having a web site online won’t work, starting from online visibility to brand awareness and ultimately maximizing ROI is the main aim behind running an online storefront. E-commerce is all about buying and selling over the internet. Apart from buying and selling of products online, a business analyst needs to implement other business strategies to run a successful business, this is the vertex where e-business begins. It is a business ambience created by integrating all the business systems. Here, all the business elements are connected to each other and web also. This requires 100% collaboration among each element and network. Have you ever thought that to buy and sell products online what all are essential??? Would having a great product do all? Obviously No!! Effective marketing strategies, excellent customer service, solid infrastructure, real time information systems are required to make complete utilization of available internet resources; you must not confuse with E-commerce and E-business.

An E-business platform helps companies to provide good customer services, strong marketing presence, prompt delivery, reliable inventory control and access to real time information. E-business includes following segments: eCommerce, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management, Knowledge Management, Business Intelligence, Collaborative Technologies.

Benefits from having right e-business strategies are you improve your business performance, additional revenue in form of new business, new customers, new products by opening new channels and connectivity at low cost (by reducing complexity) utilizing the latest technologies in the value chain to connect the value chains across businesses. You also gain productive insight and strong brand awarness.

Valcor's Offers New 2-Way Inert Balanced-Poppet Valve

Valcor Scientific, a division of Valcor Engineering Corp. of Springfield, NJ, has just introduced its new SV72 Series of 2-way inert balanced-poppet solenoid valves. Celebrating its 50 year, Valcor Scientific has been a leader in the design and manufacture of a broad range of pumps and valves for analytical chemistry, biomedical, medical, scientific instrumentation, and light industrial applications.

Valcor's new SV72 Series is specifically designed for the control of corrosive fluids by isolating all the metal components from the operating media. It employs two rolling diaphragms, which act as both isolating barriers and balancing areas.

Suitable for such applications as chemical dispensing, water treatment, medical equipment, control of wash or buffer solutions and other general industrial uses, the new SV72 features:

• Inert construction
• High flow and pressure capability
• Bubble tight shut-off
• Mountable in any position

Valcor's new SV72 is 7" H x 3 /4"W x 1 '/2"D and offers a pressure rating of 100 PSIG with a s Cv of 4.0. The series is available with 1 15VAC, or 12 and 24 VDC coils.

Valcor specializes in the design and manufacture of Solenoid Valves and control components for liquids and gases in critical applications in the aerospace, nuclear, light industrial and scientific industries.
Several thousand designs are available to select from. If one of them is not ideally suited to your specific application, a valve can be custom engineered with unmatched speed.
Our heritage of more than four decades of technical innovation and reliable performance is brought to bear on each and every valve. Valcor's professional and production staffs take pride in applying their skills, with the latest technology and equipment, to create truly superior products.
Thus, the millions of diverse valves we've made have one basic thing in common: QUALITY.
Product Details:
Plastic Valve | Solenoid Valve | Metering Pump | Diaphragm Valves | Miniature valve | Pinch Valves | Cryogenic Valve | Instrument Valve

The University of Idaho wants you to have richly colored potatoes, even after storage

Harvest a red, yellow or purple specialty potato and its skin color will be shiny and bright. That’s paramount, because skin quality drives buyers to put a particular potato in their shopping cart. Store that potato for a month or two, and its skin color will be noticeably duller. It may even have developed unappealing blemishes that prompt consumers to leave it in the store.

Across southern Idaho this year, University of Idaho agricultural researchers will be investigating the in-season, harvest, storage and packing processes that affect skin color and quality in specialty potatoes. They will examine the potentially positive or negative effects of growth regulators, in-season and post-harvest fungicides, harvest timing, disinfectants and storage conditions. Roy Navarre, a research geneticist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service at Prosser, Wash., will add a nutritional twist—studying the impacts of these factors on the healthful phytonutrients in potato skins.

Project leader Mike Thornton, a University of Idaho potato physiologist at Parma, expects the results of the multi-year effort to be a comprehensive set of recommendations for skin quality-enhancing practices. “I think we can make some progress with some fairly simple treatments,” he said.

At Kimberly, colleague Nora Olsen, a University of Idaho Extension potato specialist, will concentrate on the critical, early-storage “wound healing” period when potatoes temporarily need higher humidity and temperatures. She will also evaluate disinfectants and other compounds that are applied as potatoes enter the storage shed or leave the packing shed. Olsen hopes to identify strategies for putting the shine back on the spuds and for keeping appearance-marring diseases and disorders from getting a foothold.

“A bright, beautiful color and top-quality appearance are very important to marketing specialty potatoes: they need to catch the buyer’s eye,” said Olsen.

At Aberdeen, potato pathologist Phillip Wharton will address silver scurf—a blemish-producing disease that leaves only a slightly noticeable silvery sheen on thicker-skinned russet potatoes but very evident dry patches on specialty spuds.

And in Prosser, Navarre will tease out the relationships among the various management approaches and the healthfulness and hue of two sizes of potatoes—tiny one- or two-ounce “baby” potatoes harvested in June and a second crop harvested later and larger in August. Previous research has shown that very small, immature and deeply colored specialty potatoes are exceptionally rich in phytonutrients and that these phytonutrients do not decrease after steaming, boiling, baking, microwaving or stir-frying.

“We have two very desirable goals—higher amounts of phytonutrients and an even more visually appealing potato,” Navarre said. “Hand in hand, that’s a very good combination to have.”

The trial will include Yukon Gem, a white-skinned potato with yellow flesh; All Blue, a purple-skinned potato with purple and white flesh; Red LaSoda, a red-skinned potato with white flesh; Purple Pelisse, a purple-skinned fingerling potato with purple flesh; Bintje, a white-skinned potato with light-yellow flesh, and POR01PG20-12, a red-skinned potato with red and white flesh. Purple Pelisse is a recent release from the Tri-State Potato Variety Development Program, in which the University of Idaho participates.

The project is funded by both the Idaho Potato Commission and the USDA Agricultural Research Service.

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Hermetic Pumps seal-less design for CO2 pumping

When pumping CO2 in a liquid form, installers and users must be aware of the difficulties that this liquid presents: Cliff Warne of Axflow explains the potential problems in pumping CO2

Firstly, CO2 is a very low viscosity product, so with a conventional mechanical seal pump, leakage can occur across the faces of the mechanical seal resulting in gas escaping into the atmosphere.

Secondly, ice forms on the pump components and this can cause the mechanical seals to freeze, resulting in pump failure.
For these reasons the optimal approach should be by the installation of a seal-less or canned pump.

The double containment design, free of a shaft sealing device, makes the canned motor pump one hundred percent leak free.

Furthermore, the absence of mechanical seals and the employment of maintenance free slide bearings, as opposed to roller bearings, ensure optimised MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure).

Hermetic Pumps is a specialist in the design and manufacture of hermetically sealed centrifugal pumps for difficult pumping applications.
Recognized worldwide by all major chemical manufacturers, its pumps can be relied upon to contain some of the most toxic chemicals.
Hermetic has taken decades of experience in handling toxic liquids and applied this technology to its refrigeration pump range.

Its refrigeration pumps are of mono-bloc design (pump and motor share a common shaft) and as such are quieter, more compact and easier to install than conventional pumps.

They do not require a base plate, couple or coupling guard, nor is there a need for alignment of motor and pump to ensure totally leak-free operation.
Where applications require a low flow, high differential pressure Hermetic offer its CAM and CAMR models, which are built with multiple impellers to accommodate such duties.

For high flow and low differential pressure applications Hermetic has the CNF series, which differs in that it is a single stage pump.

With the use of high tensile tie bolts and high pressure casings, system pressures in excess of 1000 bar can be contained by Hermetic pumps.

Product Link : Hermetic Seals | Hermetic Sealing | Glass to Metal Seals | Glass to Metal | Feedthrough | feed thru | feedthru | GTMS | GTM | Sight Glass | Sightglass | Compression Seal | RF Connector | Precision Metal Stamping | Hermetic Connectors | Hermetic Packages | Match Seals | Lithium Battery Headers | Multi Pin Headers

OmniMD EMR Receives SureScripts®’s Certification for Electronic Prescribing

CCHIT Certified OmniMD ™ , a developer of HIPAA compliant Internet-based enterprise healthcare , Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Practice Management solutions, is pleased to announce its certification by SureScripts®, operator of the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange™. SureScripts ® 's certification allows for interoperability with the nation's community pharmacies , which improves the safety and efficiency of the prescribing process and the quality of patient care. Physicians using Omni MD 's EMR application can now connect directly with local pharmacies connected to the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange, operated by SureScripts ® .

Starting 2009, providers will be able to earn additional money from Medicare if they use electronic prescribing systems, U.S. health officials said Monday.

The bonus program, which will continue for four years, is designed to streamline the prescription process and cut down on errors. In 2009 and 2010, Medicare will give doctors an additional 2 percent bonus on top of their fee for "e-prescribing." In 2011 and 2012, the bonus will drop to 1 percent, and in 2013, the bonus will drop again to 0.5 percent, officials said.

"There are terrific human and financial costs to illegible prescriptions," Mike Leavitt, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said during a Monday afternoon teleconference.

According to the Institute of Medicine , 1.5 million Americans are injured every year by drug errors, Leavitt said. Another study found that each year pharmacists make more than 150 million phone calls to doctors to clarify what was written on the prescription, he added.

"We are dedicated to providing solutions that improve the efficiency of medical practices and the quality of patient care. Omni MD 's Prescription Writer already has a functionality to check for drug interactions, print patient medication sheets, create favorite prescriptions and check prescription coverage at the point of care. Surescripts ® electronic prescribing will certainly improve the efficiency, safety and overall quality of the prescribing process for our customers. “ said Divan Dave, CEO , Omni MD ™ .

This certification will allow providers to establish a two-way computer-to-computer connection with the majority of pharmacies in their area. Using this connection, providers can send prescriptions electronically to the patient's pharmacy of choice before the patient leaves the provider's office. Patients will no longer need to worry about losing paper prescriptions or pharmacies having to call offices to verify illegible prescriptions. When a patient needs a prescription refilled, a pharmacy will be able to send the request to the provider's office electronically, eliminating the need for time consuming phone calls and faxes. This will also reduce potential errors with prescriptions due to misread handwriting.

About SureScripts®

Founded by the pharmacy industry in 2001, SureScripts® operates the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange™, which facilitates the secure electronic transmission of prescription information between physicians and pharmacists . This also provides access to lifesaving information about patients during emergencies or routine care. Working collaboratively with health plans, health systems, technology vendors and health policy leaders, SureScripts ® is committed to improving the safety, efficiency, and quality of the prescribing process.

More information about SureScripts ® is available at www.surescripts.com .

About Omni MD ™

CCHIT Certified Omni MD ™ is a developer of HIPAA compliant Internet-based enterprise healthcare practice solutions, designed to fully automate the work-flow of contemporary healthcare organizations. The company is a division of Integrated Systems Management, Inc. – ISM- ( www.ismnet.com ) a leader in Internet consulting and e-business development since 1989 .

Omni MD ™ 's suite of products and services empowers hundreds of clinics with the ability to efficiently automate and manage clinical processes and patient information electronically. With its comprehensive and flexible product modules, the suite allows you to choose a customized solution that grows with your practice needs and electronic readiness over a period of time. For additional information, please visit www.omnimd.com

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