Is market research necessary for start-up-business Discuss Essay

Is market research necessary for start-up-business Discuss - Essay Example 1998.Marketing Research, P.106, Tata McGraw-Hill ). Business is a very fluid state; its states will never be constant, ever changing from time to time. Because of these constant changes Organizations are always posed with a question, what do I do next? Little can be answered with out any data to support. The collection of such relevant data gathers high importance especially for beginners because before organizations can launch their products they can understand the feasibility of their efforts through market research. 1. Formulating the problem: The very purpose of any marketing research is to identify the problem and its relevance to the organization. An ill defined problem can mislead the entire market research because of poorly defined research objectives. Initially for beginner, problems are plenty in understanding his/her own business and the general market conditions. Question such as whom to market? What to market are the real challenges for an entrepreneur? Marketing research helps in finding solutions for these and also many other issues. The concept of four ‘p’s (product, place, price, people) needs to be answered. 2. Developing Objectives of the research: The objectives of the research should be clear and specific. The objectives should cover the questions regarding the purpose of the study, Method in which the study is to be conducted, the information needs and the sources of information. The concept to be launched into the market whether it is a product or a service needs to be tested. However it is important to decide at which phase of market research the testing can be done. Normally while launching a startup business, businessmen use market research as a launching board for the product or service. Data collected has to be collated in such a way it yields information and the information so gathered can be utilized for preparation of a research report. Normally research analysis will be based on data depicted in the form of graphs and

Discuss whether the company is moving away from its core competency of Essay

Discuss whether the company is moving away from its core competency of being a leading online retailer. Present areas where Amaz - Essay Example Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3): According to Amazon Web Services (2010); S3 is an online data storage service that enables the users to store and retrieve data from anywhere in the world. Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2): Engleman (2010) stated that initially, Amazon had started selling individual users computing resources from their own data hubs but now they are trying to compete with tech giants, Google and Microsoft, to offer extensive cloud computing power to federal agencies. Microsoft and Google have been in the market for offering web services over a longer period of time as compared to Amazon. Amazon has been a market leader in the field of e-commerce and has possessed the core competency in online retailing since over a decade. Hiner (2009) stated that the respective retailer company acquired technical expertise after developing the infrastructure for their online retailing service; this expertise cannot be compared or competed with the technical skills and experience that are possessed by the high profile teams at Google and Microsoft. The main objective and mission of the two tech giants have been web services or technical products whereas Amazon has always focused on the retailing business. The Amazon’s shift of focus to web services will affect their position as the market leader in online retailing. An

Market structure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Market structure - Essay Example The Spangles candy was a fruity boiled sweet with a slight fix about it, the packaging letters were big fat bottomed font, and they came in several flavors. These candies were popular enough that they made their way into pop culture through songs, and cultural references. â€Å"They were launched a few years ago, but didn't seem to take off. The wording on the packaging was in that big fat-bottomed font, the same one that The Goodies used on their opening titles.† (BBC h2g2, 2011) Available market segments include, persons who were born 5 years prior to the initial release of these candies through persons who were born in the late 1960’s, this would include the ages of 63 – 45. Another market segment could be a foreign market base, the youth market, and potential additional markets like comedy fans. Basic objectives for marketing the Spangles branded candy would be to increase product awareness by 20% in the first year, revive the popular side within the first 6 months, decrease customer resistance to buying our product, which would lead to a 50-100 percent increase in sales within the first year. To accomplish these goals we will need to introduce a valid marketing strategy. In the case of this candy we will want to use focused insertion, and narrow advertising structures. It will be important to introduce the product as a special historical re-launch. An additional objective should be the raised awareness of the Mars ® brand name as a result of the campaign, increases of between 10-15% should be realized in the entire Mars ® line which will make the re-launch a success regardless of the eventual outcome of the Spangles line itself. The price should be approximately what it was at the time of its peak popularity for the initial marketing phase; advertising should be done during the most popular hours of television and radio use for the target market. Distribution should be completed at the popular shopping destinations that already car ry other Mars ® products. One potential approach is to use displays that focus on Spangles as the â€Å"Candy you grew up with.† Another possible approach would include different flavours as well as less boisterous yet still â€Å"retro† looking label on the candy itself. Possibly the â€Å"green† approach can be utilized by promoting the use of recycled materials in the wrappings. Another approach could be the use of popular comedians as personalities promoting the cultural aspects from a comedic point of view on television and radio. If the product is marketed with current pop culture icons as spokespersons the additional benefit would be the appeal to the younger generation. By generating a potential new market and by using easily recognized pop culture icons Mars ® could potentially increase their market share not only through the re-launch of the Spangles boiled sweets but also increased interest in current products. If the marketing approach is followe d the potential for name recognition and additional sales of other popular Mars ® products should increase by 15% or more. Additional approaches can be looked to when the initial launch is complete and sales numbers have been returned. A successful re-launch could mean expanded markets in countries where retirees

Management Accounting Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Management Accounting - Assignment Example Each of the method has a different approach to evaluating the worth of an investment or project for an organization. Whereas the last three techniques focus on cash flow, the first technique (the accounting rate of return (ARR) also called return on investment (ROI) uses accounting profit during its appraisal calculation, offering a view of the general profitability of the investment project. 1. The accounting rate of return The accounting rate of return also referred to as the return on investment method calculates the estimated general profit or loss concerning an investment project and connects that profit or loss to the amount of capital injected in the project as well as the period for which that investment is required to go. The profit referred to in the appraisal process here is the one that is directly linked to the investment project and, therefore, costs or revenues made elsewhere in the business are not included. There is a minimum rate of return required for any investmen t that a business wants to undertake. This is connected to the business’s cost of capital. ... r the years of life of the investment project and dividing the total life of the investment project in years and the average investment is found by adding the investment in the first year to the remaining value at the end of life of the project and dividing by two. With these two values, we can comfortably calculate the ARR. This calculation gives the uniqueness of product as well as its drawbacks as we can see in the subsequent discussions and comparisons. The main advantages of accounting rate of return are: Accounting rate of return considers the general profitability of the investment project. The method is simple to understand as well as easy to use. The method’s end outcome is expressed in form of a percentage, permitting projects of varying sizes to be compared. The major drawback is: The method is based on the accounting profits and not the cash flows. Calculation of profit as well as capital employed is based on expenditure items, which are treated as revenue (those a ppearing on the profit & loss account) and as capital (appearing on the balance sheet). Even though there are guidelines relating to this area, this practice can be quite subjective. Various accounting policies, for instance, relating to depreciation can generate different figures of profit and capital employed, therefore permitting the profit as well as balance sheet numbers to be manipulated in some way. This is why capital projects are also appraised in terms of cash flows. Accounting rate of return method does not consider the timing of cash flows of the project. For instance, we may have two projects M, and N. Project M may result in an accounting rate of return of 19 percent whereas project N may have ARR of 17 percent. Nevertheless, investment M may be a six year investment whilst

Market structure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Market structure - Essay Example The Spangles candy was a fruity boiled sweet with a slight fix about it, the packaging letters were big fat bottomed font, and they came in several flavors. These candies were popular enough that they made their way into pop culture through songs, and cultural references. â€Å"They were launched a few years ago, but didn't seem to take off. The wording on the packaging was in that big fat-bottomed font, the same one that The Goodies used on their opening titles.† (BBC h2g2, 2011) Available market segments include, persons who were born 5 years prior to the initial release of these candies through persons who were born in the late 1960’s, this would include the ages of 63 – 45. Another market segment could be a foreign market base, the youth market, and potential additional markets like comedy fans. Basic objectives for marketing the Spangles branded candy would be to increase product awareness by 20% in the first year, revive the popular side within the first 6 months, decrease customer resistance to buying our product, which would lead to a 50-100 percent increase in sales within the first year. To accomplish these goals we will need to introduce a valid marketing strategy. In the case of this candy we will want to use focused insertion, and narrow advertising structures. It will be important to introduce the product as a special historical re-launch. An additional objective should be the raised awareness of the Mars ® brand name as a result of the campaign, increases of between 10-15% should be realized in the entire Mars ® line which will make the re-launch a success regardless of the eventual outcome of the Spangles line itself. The price should be approximately what it was at the time of its peak popularity for the initial marketing phase; advertising should be done during the most popular hours of television and radio use for the target market. Distribution should be completed at the popular shopping destinations that already car ry other Mars ® products. One potential approach is to use displays that focus on Spangles as the â€Å"Candy you grew up with.† Another possible approach would include different flavours as well as less boisterous yet still â€Å"retro† looking label on the candy itself. Possibly the â€Å"green† approach can be utilized by promoting the use of recycled materials in the wrappings. Another approach could be the use of popular comedians as personalities promoting the cultural aspects from a comedic point of view on television and radio. If the product is marketed with current pop culture icons as spokespersons the additional benefit would be the appeal to the younger generation. By generating a potential new market and by using easily recognized pop culture icons Mars ® could potentially increase their market share not only through the re-launch of the Spangles boiled sweets but also increased interest in current products. If the marketing approach is followe d the potential for name recognition and additional sales of other popular Mars ® products should increase by 15% or more. Additional approaches can be looked to when the initial launch is complete and sales numbers have been returned. A successful re-launch could mean expanded markets in countries where retirees

The One Scene That Sealed Titanics Fate Essay Example for Free

The One Scene That Sealed Titanics Fate Essay Titanic is thought to be one of the most iconic films to ever hit theaters. According to the film industry, the film by James Cameron falls into the realm of an epic romance/disaster genre. Released in 1997, Titanic was an international box office sensation, due to the director providing equal importance to history, fiction, and romance. The film is set in April of 1912, where Jack Dawson played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Rose DeWitt Bukater played by Gloria Stuart and Kate Winslet share a love story that cannot be broken. The movie also gives a historical overview of what happened that dreadful night. This critical analysis of the film Titanic provides an overview that the innovative mode of storytelling (flash back and other techniques) can portray both a love story and the historical background while using a dissolve editing method, in which â€Å"the end of one shot gradually merges into the beginning of the next. The effect is produced by superimposing a fade-out onto a fade-in of equal length of imposing one scene over another† (Petrie and Boggs 160). This editing effect was used at the beginning of the movie, in which at 21:03, the wreckage of the Titanic is seamlessly and effortlessly transformed into the beautiful masterpiece of a ship that it once was. This effect is also used when Jack and Rose are standing together â€Å"flying† on the edge of the Titanic, later to be transformed back into the ship wreck. This scene brings the audience back into the present and shocks them back into the harsh reality that the scene was merely a memory from Rose, and no longer the reality (Titanic1997). The editing in Titanic is truly remarkable, bringing the audience from the future into the past, shocking the audience by showing both first-class and lower-class struggles, and showing not only the love story between Rose and Jack, but the life and death of the Titanic and the two thousand people aboard. Through the use of other film techniques such as editing and camera work, set design, imagery and color, James Cameron created one of the most influential and moving works of art the film world has seen. The editing style and technique brings new life to the cinematography world, and â€Å"rejects the norms of modern Hollywood style† (Butka). In all film elements, visual effects, cinematography, color palette, editing, sound design, and music, contributes to the film as a whole. Cameron, â€Å"who has been pushing the boundaries of the Hollywood classical cinema since The Terminator, finally reached a career high point with Titanic’s synthesis of compelling storytelli ng and dexterous style and technique† (Butka) Visual effects, color, imagery, and set design play an important role in all forms of movie and television. These elements are the core foundation of the overall feeling that the audience experiences when watching a particular film. One particular element of film that impacts the story line is the setting of the scenery. Setting may â€Å"often seem unobtrusive or be taken for granted, it is an essential ingredient in any story and makes an important contribution to the theme of total effect of the film† (Petrie and Boggs 82). The setting of a film should be carefully analyzed because of the effects it has on the interrelationships of the characters, plot, and overall general feeling that the movie brings out in its audience. In Titanic, the setting plays a major role in the fact that the first class citizens were held to a higher standard that the lower class citizens. This set the mood for the rest of the film and sets up the segregation that separates Jack and Rose. The col ors also provide a strict divide between the upper and lower classes aboard the Titanic. The royalty wore brighter, more vibrant colors, as well as more flashy materials, whereas the lower class wore much more torn clothing, all of which were dark and dirty colors. These elements ultimately set the tone for the rest of the movie, and would be a constant struggle for Rose and Jack to keep their bond strong. James Cameron put an emphasis on the difference between these classes in order to give the audience the sense of segregation. James Cameron is a critically acclaimed film director known for some of the biggest box-office hits of all time. A science-fiction fan as a child, Cameron â€Å"went on to produce and direct films including The Terminator, Aliens and Avatar. He has received numerous Academy Awards and nominations for his often large-scale, expensive productions† (Biography Editors). His most noted work, 1997\s Titanic, became the first film â€Å"to earn more than $1 billion and landed 14 Academy Award nominations. Cameron took home three Oscars himself for the project: Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Picture† (Biography Editors). To re-create one of the greatest disasters at sea in history, â€Å"James Cameron had a special studio built in Mexico, which featured a 17-million-gallon water tank and the 775-foot replica of the Titanic,† this proved to help the film be a successful blockbuster hit (Biography Editors). James Cameron’s techniques used in Titanic becam e immensely popular as the film became popular. Cameron’s own â€Å"documentary urge was so intense, that he created new diving and photographic equipment – at an extraordinary expense for his studio – to achieve textural authenticity by recording and presenting the eighty-five-year-old wreck of his subject. The film, then, like so many other fictional films, says the ultimate compliment to the documentary form: Cameron uses the real thing to inform his reel thing† (Petrie and Boggs 468). The main purpose behind editing a film is to keep the film in continuous motion, regardless if the time periods switch rapidly, much like in Titanic, where Rose goes from being a seventeen year old girl, to a one-hundred year old woman explaining the history of the Titanic as she remembers it. The editing techniques that were used were ultimately used to shock the audience through â€Å"sudden, jarring cuts between the third- and first-class, [which] build the antithesis between the classes and accentuate the conflicts. Some of the examples include: the cut between the steer get berthing space when Jack and Fabrizio (Danny Nucci) first arrive on the ship and Cal’s private promenade deck; the cut between Rose and Jack dancing in the steerage party scene and the first-class smoking lounge (which is such an abrupt change of atmosphere and energy that it comes as quite a cinematic shock to the viewers); the cut between the flooding in the steerage with rats on the run and the pro priety of a first-class corridor that does not even hint at the impending tragedy† (Butka). Throughout the movie, the film consists of scenes mainly from the Jack and Rose era, however in the beginning of the film, the director made use of flashback technique to unearth the romantic story of the lovers in the film. To be specific, the plot moves from present condition (say, 1996) to past (say, 1912) and to present (1996). In the opening scene, the director portrays the effort of Brock Lovett (say, a treasure hunter) to unearth the secret behind a necklace sunk with RMS Titanic in 1912. Gradually, the director portrays the love affair between Rose and Jack. In the end, Rose drops the necklace into the Ocean and returns. The film ends with a fictional reunion between the lovers. Dissolves are very important to the film, â€Å"particularly those between different time periods, and even fades are used occasionally to mark important points in the film (e.g., when Rose finishes her story)’ (Butka) Cameron also uses â€Å"establishing shots regularly, thus preserving a locale orientation for the viewers: not only do we always know exactly where we are, but these establishing shots also help us grasp the ship’s enormous dimensions† (Butka). Even in the period section of the film, â€Å"there is a separation between two distinct photographic styles: â€Å"In the first part, the camerawork is rather polite, graceful and even eloquent. [Carpenter] was trying to reinforce the opulence and beauty of the time with lighting,† (Butka). This eloquent style gives a feeling of tranquility and perfection to the first class shipmates, providing deep segregation to the boat, thus bringing about the conflict of Jack and Rose’s love. This camera and editing style let the audience feel the same way that the characters were feeling, eloquent and fashionable. When looking at the color of the first class section of the boat, â€Å"there is also use of amber, a color Ca meron has not used before; in addition, the first-class sections of the ship are even more colorful, which is undeniably helped by the exquisite costuming† (Butka). In the second part of the film, the camera work and editing becomes much more violent and choppy, showing the struggle the passengers endured as the ship hit the iceberg and ultimately began to sink. The camerawork â€Å"quickly loses that polite edge and segues into this very kinetic, sometimes violent movement. It’s jarring and bumpy, which suggests the panic of the situation. This is a point that Cameron, Carpenter, and Muro worked on together; later in the film, initial smooth and refined camera movements transform into â€Å"less elegant and more nervous. There’s a lot more handheld work and Steadicam, and its rough† (Butka). The overall production of the Titanic came at quite a cost but was a tremendous success, to say the least. Titanic’s production was a â€Å"famously difficult and complex one, a shoot on an almost unprecedented scale which featured tough technical challenges and which was overseen by a director who knew exactly what he wanted and who demanded the utmost from everyone until he got it, but it was a tough journey to get there† (Braund). Production of the film began in 1995, when â€Å"Cameron shot footage of the real wreck of the RMS Titanic. He envisioned the love story as a means to engage the audience with the real-life tragedy. A shooting took place on board the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh which aided Cameron in filming the real wreck for the modern scenes, and a reconstruction of the ship was built at Playas de Rosarito, Baja California. Cameron also used scale models and computer-generated imagery to recreate the sinking. At the time†, the picture became the m ost expensive film ever made, costing approximately US$200 million with funding from Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox (Butka). â€Å"Principal photography for Titanic began in July 1996 at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. In September 1996, the production moved to the newly built Fox Baja Studios in Rosarito, Mexico, where a full-scale RMS Titanic had been constructed (Marsh). Special effects played an important role in how the movie filmed. Many critics were skeptical about how Cameron would portray such a disastrous scene, including the deaths of all of the people aboard the ship. Cameron then went on to say that \the people were all computer graphics. The way we did it was, we had people act out all of those individual behaviors in what we call a \motion capture environment.\ So, a steward pouring tea for a lady seated on a deck chair that was all acted out and then that motion file was used to drive and animate those figures. The end result is like you said: We pull back down the full length of Titanic, and you see 350 people all over the decks, doing all those different things. The same technique was used for the sinking when you see hundreds of people on the ship jumping off or rolling down the decks\ (Ebert). Cameron also did not want to cut corners in regards to the props and sets used. In addition to the life-size model of the Titanic, Cameron also had â€Å"construction crews build two huge water tanks. One was 90 foot deep and over 800 foot wide in which the model could slowly sink into 17 million gallons of water fed directly from the Pacific Ocean. The second tank was 30 foot deep. It contained 5 million gallons of water and housed the elegant first class dining saloon and the three story Grand Staircase† (Titanic and Co). One of the most impressive interior sets was the recreation of the famed Grand Staircase the most famous room Titanic contained. Additionally, the Staircase, â€Å"as mentioned by one of the film crew personnel, ended up acting almost as a character in the film, due to it being the location of several pivotal scenes, including the ending scene. Interestingly, the staircase presented in the film is slightly larger than the one on the real ship. The reason for this was because people in 1912 were shorter than they are today. As a result, the staircase was scaled up to make the actors look smaller† (IMDB). For the exterior shots of the ship sinking, the almost â€Å"full-scale ship was placed in a 3 foot deep, 17 million gallon tank and tilted using a crane. For the interior shots of the sinking ship, the sets were enclosed in a 5 million gallon tank and again tilted in the water using a crane. This was the method used for the Grand Staircase. However, to make the destruction of the Grand Staircase more dramatic, Cameron and his team dropped 90,000 gallons of water onto it. Because the Staircase would be destroyed, there would be only one attempt to get it right. Unexpectedly, the massive volume of water ripped the Staircase from its steel-reinforced foundations, collapsing certain sections of it† (IMDB). This destruction of the stair case was relatively dramatic and saddening to the characters and audience because it had become such a vital work of art in the movie. These stairs were much more than just stairs; they were the place in which Jack fell in love with Rose, the place Rose and Jack embraced in their final kiss in the final scene; a true masterpiece that had become one of the characters, gone in an instant. Roger Ebert became â€Å"film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times in 1967. He is the only film critic with a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame and was named honorary life member of the Directors\ Guild of America. He won the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Screenwriters\ Guild, and honorary degrees from the American Film Institute and the University of Colorado at Boulder† (Ebert). He then went on to interview James Cameron on his success and struggles with the making of the Titanic. The footage of the sunken ship was mainly real footage of the actual sunken Titanic. James Cameron believed that in order for the movie to have a more authentic feel, that he should take actual film himself with his own camera. Cameron wasn\t content to buy footage from documentaries about the search for the Titanic; he shot the film\s undersea footage himself, new for this film: \It\s all our own. I made the dives and operated the camera and we lit it and everything† (Ebert) Cameron then went on to explain the struggles that appeared when creating the interior of the Titanic. â€Å"It\s consistent with what Titanic looks like† Cameron mentioned. â€Å"We couldn\t explore the whole interior of the ship. We could only get a glimpse into some areas. We went down some corridors to the D-deck level and saw a lot of the remaining hand-carved woodwork, the wall-paneling, and the beautiful ornate carved doors. A lot of it is still there. It\s very, very cold, which helps preserve things. There are marine organisms that will eat wood, but in certain areas the wood was covered with white-leaded paint that protected Titanic† (Ebert). As morbid as it sounds, it was important to display the fear and anguish on the faces of the people trapped on and inside the sinking vessel. Even though this was a Romeo and Juliet type of love story, the overwhelming message was to portray the absolute disaster the Titanic was and to show the terror on the faces of those involved. Cameron goes on to say that many died in terror, you know, when you look at the numbers, if you were a third class male on Titanic you stood a 1-in-10 chance of survival. If you were a first class female, it was virtually a 100 percent survival rate. It broke down along lines of gender and class. If you were a first-class male, you stood about a 50-50 chance of survival. And the crew took it hardest.\ Of the 1,500 who died, 600 or 700 of them were crew members. The people who stayed in the dynamo room and the engine room, to keep the lights on so that the evacuation would not become panicked who stayed till the end and missed their opportunity to leave t he ship that\s something you\d see less of today† (Ebert). This just goes to show that Cameron felt very passionate about the way he needed to portray this type of despair in his movie, and in order to do that he needed have the film crew work extremely hard in order to portray that same anguish. \That was our most dangerous work,\ Cameron said. \The stunt team worked for weeks in advance, videotaping each one of those stunts and rehearsing it and showing me the tapes. It was all intensely pre-planned and the set was made about 50 percent out of rubber at that point, all padded up. But there\s always an X-factor. We had 6,000 stunt person days on this film the equivalent of one man doing stunts seven days a week for 16 years. But it was all happening at once. We did have a guy break his leg, which I hated. I don\t think anybody should get hurt for a film. So I decided to do more of it with computer graphics† (Ebert). This made it more apparent that special effects had to be made more in order to keep the cast and crew safe. Therefore, the scene in which the Titanic is actually sinking was almost entirely CGI when the camera was sweeping over the boat in a birds eye view. Cameron goes on to talk about the importance of human nature and how the story of Titanic is iconic not because of the class struggles, but once tragedy strikes, we are all on the same level fighting for survival. Cameron goes on to state that the â€Å"great lesson of Titanic for us, going into the 21st century,\ he said, \ is that the inconceivable can happen. Those people lived in a time of certainty; they felt they had mastered everything mastered nature and mastered themselves. But they had mastered neither. A thousand years from now Titanic will still be one of the great stories. Certainly, there have been greater human tragedies during this century, but there\s something poetically perfect about Titanic, because of the laying low of the wealthy and the beautiful people who thought life would be infinite and perfect for them.\ What would you have done? Anyone seeing this movie, I said, will have to ask them this question: Would I have fought to get on a lifeboat? Would I have pushed a woman or a child out of the way? Or would I have sat down in the lounge and called for a brandy, like Guggenheim, and faced the inevitable with grace† (Ebert)? In conclusion, Titanic taught the general public that the human race is not invincible and that nature does not care whether you are rich or poor, perfect or imperfect, or nothing at all. Through the masterful works of camera angles, visual imagery, editing, and specific scenery, director and writer James Cameron was able to recreate the tragedy of the unsinkable Titanic through the camera lens. Cameron was able to display the struggles of love, life, death, and historical understanding through the eyes of Jack and Rose, and through the magic of filmmaking, teach an incredible lesson that will live on through eternity.

Casting Engine Blocks Automotive Manufacturing Processes Engineering Essay

Casting Engine Blocks Automotive Manufacturing Processes Engineering Essay There are several different types of manufacturing processes to choose from out there and many different alloys that are at ones disposal to be used. Some processes include: sand casting, die casting, and lost-foam casting. In this report, sand and die casting will be discussed with the focus on sand casting. Also, choosing a suitable alloy will be discussed. Is the alloy going to be ferrous or non-ferrous and what qualities does the alloy chosen have, to make it a good choice to use with the manufacturing process is a question to ask oneself. In this case, sand casting has the capability of using any alloy whereas; die casting is generally limited to non-ferrous alloys. Aluminum is a very common alloy to use and it can be used for almost any process. Although, this alloy possesses some qualities that would be desired by most, gray cast iron was decided by us to possess even stronger qualities that led us to choose it for the material used in the design of a cast iron block. Sand cas ting is now and has been for some time one of the most commonly used manufacturing processes and the use of gray cast iron fits very well with this process. The reasons for choosing sand casting as the manufacturing process and gray cast iron as the alloy will be discussed further in the report. Problem Statement: To select a suitable casting process and material that will be as per the requirement of efficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly engine block production. Objectives: To discuss the various casting processes that can be used to manufacture an engine block. To select a suitable alloy for the part. To select a suitable casting process. To justify the above selection. To design the selected process to cast an engine block. To discuss the defects in the casting and challenges to be faced while using the selected process and the methods to overcome these. To discuss the cost consideration and environmental impact of using the selected process. The Identification of Suitable Casting Processes The manufacturing of cast engine blocks out of cast iron involves the consideration of what manufacturing process to use as well as a suitable alloy. The alloy chosen for our company is gray cast iron and the process of selecting this particular alloy will be discussed further in the next section. This section will discuss how our company came to choose sand casting as the manufacturing process by comparing this process with other processes. There are several factors involved in choosing a suitable casting process for manufacturing cast engine blocks. Some of these factors include the type of material that can be used in the casting process, the type of part that can be cast, the finish of the product, the amount of time it takes for the process, and the cost involved. In this section, sand casting will be compared with die casting. Although both are good processes to use, the results vary depending on what process is chosen. There are some similarities between the processes, while there are mostly differences in most aspects of the processes. Selecting a Suitable Alloy An engine block is the main part of an engine which holds all most all the parts of the engine. It should house the internal moving parts, fluids and also withstand the forces and pressure developed during combustion. It should have high strength, wear resistance, good machinability, good vibration absorption capacity, corrosion resistance, low thermal expansion, good thermal conductivity and manufacturability and should have less manufacturing cost. In general, most of the industries use cast iron for manufacturing the engine blocks because of the following reasons: It is cheaper, excellent damping capacity, good wear and high temperature resistant, easily machinable, inexpensive to produce, and can tolerate high pressure and RPM. Other materials which are considered for manufacturing engine blocks are aluminum alloys and magnesium alloys. But, after considering the above factors using cast iron is the feasible option. For choosing the right alloy from cast iron variants, their material properties are compared. Table 1.1 compositions of the different cast irons Name Nominal composition [% by weight] Form and condition Hardness [Brinell scale] Grey cast iron (ASTMA48) C  3.4, Si  1.8,  Mn  0.5 Cast 260 White cast iron C  3.4, Si  0.7, Mn  0.6 Cast (as cast) 450 Malleable iron (ASTM A47) C  2.5, Si  1.0, Mn  0.55 Cast (annealed) 130 Ductile or nodular iron C  3.4, P  0.1, Mn  0.4,Ni  1.0, Mg  0.06 Cast 170 Ductile or nodular iron (ASTM A339) cast (quench tempered) 310 Ni-hard type 2 C  2.7, Si  0.6, Mn  0.5, Ni  4.5, Cr  2.0 Sand-cast 550 Ni-resist type 2 C  3.0, Si  2.0, Mn  1.0, Ni  20.0, Cr  2.5 Cast 140 Table1.2 comparision of the strengths of the cast irons alloys Table 1.3 castability of the different metals. As we need a material which is hard enough, having good strength and good castability, from Table 1.1 we can find gray cast iron having enough and nominal hardness. There are materials which are harder than grey cast iron but as hardness increases material can wear the internal components and will be brittle in nature which is not a preferable property. From Table 1.2 we can observe that elongation is less with good yield strength for gray cast iron which is one of the desirable properties. Both pearlitic and martensitic gray cast irons have less elongation with high yield strength but martensitic gray cast iron has more hardness which is against our requirements and Table 1.3 tells that castability is excellent for gray cast irons compared to other metals and alloys. For desired properties like castability, fluidity, resistance to deformation, relatively low melting point and cost On the whole from the above mentioned tables 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and above desirable properties gray cast iron matches our requirement. So we finally decide to go for the pearlitic gray cast iron. The Effect of Manufacturing Processes on the Product Sand casting and die casting both consist of the pouring of molten metal into a mold, allowing the metal to cool until it solidifies. The type of mold used in these processes usually varies drastically from one another. Die casting uses the molten metal that gets forced into a mold and is subjected to high pressures so that it solidifies very nicely into the die cavity. Sand casting generally uses silica sand as its material for the mold. Sand is generally chosen as the mold material because of the characteristics that it possesses and the fact that its relatively inexpensive. The strength of the mold is critical in the manufacturing process and using the right type of grains in the sand can improve the strength. A specific type of sand is commonly used for sand casting, and that type is called green molding sand. Green molding sand uses a mixture sand, clay, and water. This mixture provides a moist sand to be present in the mold when the metal is poured into the mold. This moist sand then becomes easily reusable, which contributes to lowering the expenses in the process. Sand casting is an efficient process to use because of the flexibility in what can be done as part of the process. There is no limitation to what material can be used, which means that gray cast iron is available to be used when sand casting engine blocks. There is also no limitation to the type of part that can be cast. The part can also be of any size or shape or weight. Another reason for using sand casting is the minimal costs when compared to other manufacturing process, the amount of time required for production of the parts, and the number of parts required in a production cycle. Sand casting allows for the production of one part at a time if necessary, with no limit to the number of parts to be produced. All costs, including mold material, tooling, and labor costs are relatively low compared to other processes. Although, sand casting has many good qualities that persuade us to use this process, there are a few deficiencies in using the process too. These deficiencies include the finish of the material, porosity, and dimensional tolerance. The dimensional tolerance is much greater than that of other manufacturing processes which causes a greater rate of shrinkage. This shrinkage increases the porosity of the material, which results in a rough surface finish. Die casting is an efficient process to use because more precise results. The die casting process allows for the production of solid, fine parts at a high rate. No additional machining should be necessary on these parts since the dimensional accuracy is so good to begin, with that these parts are ready for use after one cycle of the process. Although the types of materials that can be used are limited, which is mentioned in the next paragraph, experimental results show that gray cast iron is a very workable material for die casting. Even smaller sized parts like pins and fasteners can be casted using die casting, but the smooth surface finish and precision of the parts allow for them to be put to good use. Similar to sand casting and any other casting process, die casting has its disadvantages too. Generally, only nonferrous materials can be casted using die casting. The materials work very well, but that still limits the resources out there for the process which could potentially cause some problems. Also, since the parts produced are small, this limits the potential uses of the part. Another problem that could arise is that even though the labor costs are very low since the process is mostly run on automated systems; these systems and all other equipment are relatively expensive. This is the one major difference between sand casting and die casting that cannot be ignored. Ways to lower the costs are still being worked on, but there is still some work left to do to bring these costs down a sufficient amount. It takes a long time to produce these parts, but being able to produce a large quantity at a time helps to make up for the long lead time. These deficiencies will be looked at in greater detail in a later section. The Sand Casting Procedure Sand casting Sand casting is one of the oldest techniques of manufacturing. In this form, molten metal is poured into a mould made of sand. When the metal is hardened and cooled, the part is removed. In sand casting, the mold is made of packed sand. Mold preparation In the process, we chose green sand casting as our casting process. The sand mixture consists of sand, clay binder, water and additives. The sand also includes zircon(ZrSiO4), olivine(Mg2SiO4), iron silicate(Fe2SiO4), chromite(FeCr2O4). Zircon, olivine and iron silicate have low thermal expansion, and chromite has high heat transfer. During the process, all the ingredients are mixed together and the sand should be moist and not dry. Figure 1. Green Sand Casting Mold Sand casting procedure During the process, patterns and cores are made; sand is thoroughly mixed and then formed about the patterns as per our need. The patterns are removed and the two halves of the molds are put together and are thus ready for pouring the molten metal. The preheated metal is then poured slowly into the mold until the mold is full. The part is then cooled and after the part solidifies thoroughly, the sand mold is removed by striking the part. Lastly, we machine the casting to give it its final shape. Defects Sand castings have many defects such as inclusion, shrinkage, air holes, sand holes, cold shut and cracks. In this procedure, the granule shape, granule size and collapsibility of sand mold effect sand mold casting. Quality inspection Quality inspection of sand casting can be done by sharp impact test, x-ray inspection, pressure test, magnaflux inspection and ultrasonic test. Whereas, to inspect the casting in the foundry itself; visual inspection, dimensional inspection, chemical component inspection and testing to figure out the physical properties by doing the hardness or tensile strength test are commonly used. Casting products and mass production The sand used in making the mold can be used again and again(reclaimed), thus the green sand casting process is cheap and widely used compared to other casting process. Due to this mass production of this process in a cost effective manner is possible. CASTING DEFECTS Some of the possible defect that may arise during the sand casting process Shrinkage defects: These defects mainly occur when feed metal is not available to compensate the shrinkage as the metal solidifies. These defects can be avoided by providing proper gates, vents and risers in the mold. Gas porosity: They are formed as bubbles on the casting after it is cooled. This is due to the presence of large amounts of dissolved gas in the molten metal. To prevent this, the metal is melted in vacuum or in the presence of specific low solubility gases such as argon or carbon dioxide. To minimize gas solubility, the super heat temperature can be kept low. Misruns and cold shuts: They are the empty cavities in solidified metal, due to the lack of fluidity, narrow cross sections, back pressure and turbulence. These are rectified by reducing the pouring temperature, adding sprue and proper gates. Metal penetration: This is the presence of rough surface finish because of the liquid metal penetrating the sand mould. This penetration is due to high pouring temperatures. Lowering the pouring temperature will avoid this phenomenon. Hot Spots: They are formed on the surface that is very hard because of the quick cooling compared to the surroundings. Changing chemical composition and providing proper cooling methods like using chills, these can be avoided. Inclusions: These are metal impurities generally oxides, sulfides, nitrides and carbides formed from the material that is eroded from furnace or impurities present in the mold. These inclusions can be reduced by using ceramic filters or melting the metal in vacuum Hot tears: Also called as hot cracking, these are the failures in the casting that are formed while cast metal starts cooling because of the weak strength of the metal when it is hot and the internal stresses. These can be prevented by proper mold design. Mold erosion: Erosion of the mold sand occurs while filling molten metal into the mold, caused due to sand having less binding strength or high pouring velocity of metal. This can be avoided by redesigning the gating system or by using large runners. Identifying challenges in the process and how they are being addressed An engine block has a very complex geometry. The engine block has internal recesses for the coolant, i.e., water to circulate and the cylinders for the piston to reciprocate. So casting such an intricate shape is always challenging. First, the pattern for making the mold must be very carefully designed because the quality of our casting is as good as the quality of our pattern. For such a complex machined part, we must carefully monitor the cooling of the casting; as such a complex part is bound to cool in an uneven manner. We all know that the major problem concerned with sand casting is the poor surface finish, but in an engine block the only important surface is the cylinder where the piston will reciprocate and it is not important for the cooling water to flow through highly machined surfaces. In sand casting, the surface finish can be substantially improved by using finer sands and we are adding zircon to the sand which will result in a better surface finish. Another challenge in sand casting an engine block is the pouring of the molten metal. Since an engine block is huge and has a complicated geometry, the pouring rate of the metal should be carefully monitored. We should not pour it at such a slow rate that the metal solidifies in the pouring vessel itself and it should not be so fast that molten metal could not reach some regions resulting in voids. In fact, the metal should not be poured. It should be pumped against the gravity so as to avoid gas entrapment. As said earlier, an engine block, due to its geometric complexity will tend to cool irregularly. So the risers should be properly placed to take into account this irregular cooling. Addressing the cost consideration The cost associated with sand casting can be divided into three broad categories: Material cost, Production cost and Tooling cost. Material cost As the name suggests, material cost includes the cost of all the materials used in the sand casting process. These materials include the metal, the mold sand and the core sand. The cost of the metal will depend on a number of factors such as cost of the alloy, purity of the alloy and the castability of the alloy. For more pure alloys, the cost will be higher. For alloys with lower castability, additional metal will be required in order to fill the flow channels and the feed heads to assure a good casting, so in such cases, the cost will be higher. The cost of the mold sand and the core sand will depend on the shape and size of the mold and the core respectively. In this case, since our part is an engine block, due to its size and geometric complexity, the cost is bound to be high. Production Cost Again as the name suggests, production cost will include the cost of all the operations that will take place during the process of sand casting. These will include core making, mold making, pouring, and cleaning. The addition of cores to the casting will increase its cost because it will slow the process down. An engine block, a very complicated part, will definitely have cores which will increase the overall production cost by slowing down the production. Pouring and cleaning costs are determined by the size and weight of the casting. So these will be high for an engine block as it is a big and heavy component, and the mold will take longer to fill and the cast block will take longer to be cleaned. Tooling Cost Tooling cost is the cost associated with the tools used during the sand casting process. These include the patterns used to make the molds and the core-boxes to make the cores. Since an engine block is huge and geometrically complicated, tooling cost will be high. Also, since we are designing for mass production, the patterns as well as the core-boxes will have to be used more frequently. The constant use of the tool will result in the wearing down of the tool at a high rate, which in turn will increase the overall cost as the tool will have to be replaced. A solution to this problem will be to use patterns and core-boxes of a better quality material, but again the cost will be high. Environmental Impact of using Sand Casting: Foundries are generally regarded as being dirty and unfavorable to the environment. The primary issues being faced by the casting industry are the excessive volumes of by-products that are to be sent to landfills, and the Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) which are released during the process. Of all the by-products generated by volume, sand is the largest. Even in processes which involve a high level of sand recovery, some amount of new sand is always required to maintain the optimum quality of sand in the system. This in turn will result in loss of sand from the system. After its use, the sand is either sent to a landfill for disposal, resulting in soil pollution, or it is reclaimed off-site. Not all foundry sands are considered hazardous, especially the ones from ferrous foundries, which pass the TCLP (Toxic Characteristic Leaching Procedure), which, after use can be sent to unlined landfills for disposal. Some non-ferrous sands on the other hand contain high levels of metal because they have to be sent to secured landfills and not the unlined ones. Chemical binders inwaste sand can become a crucial issue if resin-coated sands are wasted in large volumes before the pouring stage as most of the binder in the mold is burnt off during the pouring stage. Hence, the binder level should be carefully monitored so as to prevent it from reaching unacceptable levels over a period of many reclamation cycles. The second largest by-product by volume in the sand casting process is the baghouse dust. It is typically formed when the sand is reclaimed multiple times, which results in the sand grains breaking down to dust particles. Not only will it affect the quality of the casting, but it will also result in health issues such as silicosis. Slag is yet another by-product which is formed during the sand casting process. When flux is added to the molten metal to remove impurities, it reacts with the impurities to form slag which floats to the surface and is to be removed before pouring the metal. The slag so formed has a glass like appearance and is not really hazardous as it can be easily disposed of in unlined landfills. Apart from these solid wastes, there is also a substantial amount of gaseous waste (emissions) produced during the sand casting process. These include benzene, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulphide, sulphur dioxide, phenols, nitrous oxide and other HAPs. Of all the pollutants, benzene is the most emitted. Conclusion In many ways the job of an engineer is not simple, because to choose between one material or one process over another is never easy. There is no process or material which can be considered as perfect. Each process has its advantages and disadvantages. An engineers job is to find an optimum solution so that the huge amount of investment in this industry is justified. In this project we, as engineers have done a similar job. We have selected sand casting for manufacturing the engine blocks and have justified our decision by discussing various aspects, both good as well as bad, of the selected process.