Autonomous Waste Characterization in Environmentally Conscious Decision Making

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Weinert ◽  
Vijitashwa Pandey ◽  
Sara Naranjo Corona ◽  
Aleksander Danielewski
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Autonomous Systems ◽  
The United States ◽  
Design Decision ◽  
Environmental Legislation ◽  
Environmentally Conscious ◽  
Electronic Products ◽  
Human Ability ◽  
Take Back ◽  
Collection Practices

Product take-back and reuse is an effective way to reduce the environmental footprint of products. Millions of tons of waste are disposed in landfills in the United States, electronic products being of particular concern. While constituting a small fraction of landfilled waste, electronic components account for a majority of the environmental impact. The major challenge in addressing this issue is that the components are functionally obsolete and in a state where their numbers and type are not known. Even with concerted efforts to solve this problem through better design or collection practices, a major unknown is how much actually falls through the cracks and makes it to landfills. Human sorting and identification is impractical, while automating this process has been difficult because of limitations of algorithms to match human ability to discern objects. Deep learning promises to change this. This paper discusses the use of autonomous systems that can scan unorganized heaps of products to identify and catalog components, particularly electronics. This approach can fill an important gap in our knowledge. This paper discusses the testbeds created by the authors which shows promise in accomplishing this task. The paper also discusses the repercussions of such a study and cataloging on design decision-making as well as environmental legislation.

Preference Aggregation in Lifecycle Decision Making

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Naranjo ◽  
Vidya Patil ◽  
Vijitashwa Pandey
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Preference Aggregation ◽  
Environmentally Conscious ◽  
Customer Preferences ◽  
Take Back ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Viable Model ◽  
Proper Analysis

Rapid innovations in technology lead customers to frequently upgrade to new products. Their current products, now obsolete in terms of technology, aesthetic features and performance, leave behind an ecological footprint that is harmful to the environment. Product take-back systems and remanufacturing methods that promise to minimize the environmental impact are gaining attention among researchers and practitioners in the manufacturing field. A common objective is to find the best option for end of lifecycle (EOL) decisions on whether a product and the components comprising it should be reused, recycled, remanufactured, or disposed. These decisions must entail proper analysis while taking into account customer preferences, which can vary considerably from customer to customer. Mass customization, considered a plausible solution for this problem, is not viable model for many products. In this paper, therefore, we approach this problem from a preference aggregation perspective, particularly, the benevolent dictator model. Using this understanding of aggregated preferences, we address the take-back and possible remanufacturing of products. Once collected, it is questioned whether efficiency enhancing new technology or features should be added in take-back products to improve its performance or add any value. If that is the case, will these remanufactured products, with new technology or features, help in cost-effectively reducing the lifecycle environmental impact of the product, compared to a remanufactured product with original specifications? A home HVAC system was selected to exemplify the design and reuse problem, and show the benefit of favoring environmentally conscious customers in lifecycle decision making.

scholarly journals Framework for the Packaging Supply Chain of an Automotive Engine Company

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 191 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Vöröskői ◽  
P Böröcz
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Automotive Industry ◽  
Environmentally Conscious ◽  
Automotive Engine ◽  
Automotive Engines ◽  
Take Back ◽  
Network Process ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Industrial Groups

Automotive industrial groups consider the impacts of packaging very important, mainly focusing on the cost effectiveness and environmentally conscious nature thereof. In the literature, the packaging supply chain is not a significantly researched area as regards the supply of the complete automotive engines. But the selection of packaging and the relevant development process in engine production are among the main elements of the extensive automotive industry, because participants sometimes have the same interests and considerations. This way, decision-making and strategies on using different packaging solutions and systems can be very varied. The reason is that each automotive group practically produces its own engines and transports them to their assembling subsidiaries all over the world. These groups often apply similar logistics policies and supply systems to use, take-back and recover their packaging. This is being driven as much by group strategies as it is by the need to reduce costs and increase efficiency in supply chains. The focus of this paper will be on the components and elements of packaging supply chain management in the field of engine supply for automotive industry groups, and on how the decision-making framework is determined. This paper shows models defining the network process for decision-making within the automotive groups as regards the packaging supply chain.

The United States and the Iranian Nuclear Programme

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Hurst
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nixon Administration ◽  
Comprehensive Plan ◽  
The Us ◽  
Nuclear Issue ◽  
The Relationship

The United States, Iran and the Bomb provides the first comprehensive analysis of the US-Iranian nuclear relationship from its origins through to the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015. Starting with the Nixon administration in the 1970s, it analyses the policies of successive US administrations toward the Iranian nuclear programme. Emphasizing the centrality of domestic politics to decision-making on both sides, it offers both an explanation of the evolution of the relationship and a critique of successive US administrations' efforts to halt the Iranian nuclear programme, with neither coercive measures nor inducements effectively applied. The book further argues that factional politics inside Iran played a crucial role in Iranian nuclear decision-making and that American policy tended to reinforce the position of Iranian hardliners and undermine that of those who were prepared to compromise on the nuclear issue. In the final chapter it demonstrates how President Obama's alterations to American strategy, accompanied by shifts in Iranian domestic politics, finally brought about the signing of the JCPOA in 2015.

Ban Ki-moon, 2007–2016

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Gowan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Central African Republic ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cautious Approach ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Council Decision ◽  
The Face

During Ban Ki-moon’s tenure, the Security Council was shaken by P5 divisions over Kosovo, Georgia, Libya, Syria, and Ukraine. Yet it also continued to mandate and sustain large-scale peacekeeping operations in Africa, placing major burdens on the UN Secretariat. The chapter will argue that Ban initially took a cautious approach to controversies with the Council, and earned a reputation for excessive passivity in the face of crisis and deference to the United States. The second half of the chapter suggests that Ban shifted to a more activist pressure as his tenure went on, pressing the Council to act in cases including Côte d’Ivoire, Libya, and Syria. The chapter will argue that Ban had only a marginal impact on Council decision-making, even though he made a creditable effort to speak truth to power over cases such as the Central African Republic (CAR), challenging Council members to live up to their responsibilities.

Product Innovation and Price Measurement

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Stoneman ◽  
Eleonora Bartoloni ◽  
Maurizio Baussola
Keyword(s):  
Product Innovation ◽  
Common Knowledge ◽  
Consumer Price Index ◽  
The United States ◽  
Electronic Products ◽  
Quality Adjustment ◽  
Price Indexes ◽  
Price Measurement ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Methodological Guidelines

This chapter addresses how innovation may affect price measurement—a key issue for the accuracy of measures of principal economic indicators and a long-discussed one. Two main changes related to product innovation are important in this context: new goods (which are often cheaper) are driving old goods out of the market; and new products often offer improved quality. The literature suggests that a failure to properly account for these has added 0.8 percentage points per year to the measured Consumer Price Index in the United States. Quality adjustment approaches in all OECD countries have converged towards general methodological guidelines that represent a common knowledge base. The hedonic methodology is applied in a significant number of countries and for specific categories of goods, in particular electronic products. The use of this approach is exemplified and the impact on price indexes evaluated.

scholarly journals 307 A systems approach to understanding biosecurity decision-making

2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (Supplement_4) ◽  
pp. 43-43
Author(s):  
Scott C Merrill ◽  
Christopher Koliba ◽  
Gabriela Bucini ◽  
Eric Clark ◽  
Luke Trinity ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
African Swine Fever Virus ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Livestock Industry ◽  
Diarrhea Virus ◽  
Operational Level

Abstract Disease and its consequences result in social and economic impacts to the US animal livestock industry, ranging from losses in human capital to economic costs in excess of a billion dollars annually. Impacts would dramatically escalate if a devastating disease like Foot and Mouth Disease or African Swine Fever virus were to emerge in the United States. Investing in preventative biosecurity can reduce the likelihood of disease incursions and their negative impact on our livestock industry, yet uncertainty persists with regards to developing an effective biosecurity structure and culture. Here we show the implications of human behavior and decision making for biosecurity effectiveness, from the operational level to the owner/managerial level and finally to the systems level. For example, adjustments to risk messaging strategies could double worker compliance with biosecurity practices at the operational level. The improvement of our risk communication strategy may increase willingness to invest in biosecurity. Furthermore, the adaptation of policies could nudge behavior so that we observe a short disease outbreak followed by a quick eradication instead of a pandemic. Our research shows how the emergence of now-endemic diseases, such as Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus, cannot be adequately modeled without the use of a human behavioral component. Focusing solely on any one sector or level of the livestock system is not sufficient to predict emergent disease patterns and their social and economic impact on livestock industries. These results provide insight toward developing more effective risk mitigation strategies and ways to nudge behavior toward more disease resilient systems.

“Little Plants in the Country”: Henry Ford's Village Industries and the Beginning of Decentralized Technology in Modern America

Prospects ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 181-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard P. Segal
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
New York ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Real Estate ◽  
New York Times ◽  
The United States ◽  
Physical Proximity ◽  
The World ◽  
Word Processors

“Technology Spurs Decentralization Across the Country.” So reads a 1984 New York Times article on real-estate trends in the United States. The contemporary revolution in information processing and transmittal now allows large businesses and other institutions to disperse their offices and other facilities across the country, even across the world, without loss of the policy- and decision-making abilities formerly requiring regular physical proximity. Thanks to computers, word processors, and the like, decentralization has become a fact of life in America and other highly technological societies.

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