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/.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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