The aim of this paper was to estimate the return on investment in QMS (quality management systems) certification undertaken in Portuguese firms, according to the ISO 9000 series. A total of 426 certified Portuguese firms were surveyed. The response rate was 61.03 percent. The different payback periods were validated through statistical analysis and the relationship between expected and perceive...

The research literature on gambling behavior indicates that American Indians (AIs) suffer from pathological gambling at a greater rate than the majority population. The literature also suggests that dispositional factors, such as sensation seeking, can influence gambling. However, situational factors, such as the payback percentage of a slot machine, may not. The present study recruited 12 AI a...

About 10 years ago, Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) carried out a feasibility study on businesses using Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) for cold power generation, air separation, cryogenic crushing, frozen food storage, and carbonic acid. Recently, an air liquefaction plant started operations near Pyungtaek Receiving Terminal (R/T) and a cryogenic crushing plant is now partially operating near Tongyo...

To assess tradeoffs between environmental sustainability and changes in food production on agricultural land in Canada the Unified Livestock Industry and Crop Emissions Estimation System (ULICEES) was developed. It incorporates four livestock specific GHG assessments in a single model. To demonstrate the application of ULICEES, 10% of beef cattle protein production was assumed to be displaced w...

In the design and operation of cold storage systems, the problems of saving operation cost and improving global economics of whole systems are equally important. Based on optimal control, yearly dynamic cooling loads and payback period, a method to design an optimal scheme is proposed. An approach to calculate and choose the chiller and cold storage tank for the optimal scheme is provided in th...

For many years, the photovoltaics (PV) community has relied on the concept of energy payback time (EPT) as a means of quantifying the ratio of energy generated from a PV panel or system over its lifetime, compared to the energy that was required to fabricate it. Few other energy technologies are so judged and this paper argues that the EPT concept is obsolete, misleading and may possibly even c...

This paper presents the life cycle cost analysis of the single slope passive and hybrid photovoltaic (PV/T) active solar stills, based on the annual performance at 0.05 m water depth. Effects of various parameters, namely interest rate, life of the system and the maintenance cost have been taken into account. The comparative cost of distilled water produced from passive solar still (Rs. 0.70/kg...

Soybean oil production is the basic process for soybean applications. Cash flow analysis is used to estimate the profitability of a manufacturing venture. Besides capital investments, operating costs, and revenues, the interest rate is the factor to estimate the net present value (NPV), break-even points, and payback time; which are benchmarks for profitability evaluation. The positive NPV and ...