1.Product Life Cycle Product Life Cycle (PLC) is the fluctuation of a product sales from the beginning of its creation until the end of its ramp down, but some others look at the idea from macro perspective and describe it as: The most generic PLC is based on the market change during the product existence it could be the base of different strategic decisions inside the company.

Introduction: The product is new in market and the customer is not very familiar with its concept or application, even sometimes the customers do not know their potential need to the product, but by the time the demand for the product is growing.

Growth: The product is introduced to the market so there is growing number of eager customers who want to have the product, the competitors are known with the product and they are trying to enter to the market as well, Therefore the company have to keep develop its supply chain, platforms, and variations

Maturity: the peak of sales revenue is the beginning of “maturity stage” and it ends with “commercial death” which means the sales revenue reduction by 10-20% of the peak point in a monthly trend. In the stage the customers are completely familiar with the product and demand is almost constant. Though, product development, cost reduction, promotional strategies and better services or quality could gain better market share for the company, as there is still a big competition in the market area.

Decline: Saturation or decline stage is between “Commercial death” and “ Catalogue/market Death” Commercial death is the time that the sales revenue decrease with 10-20% monthly and catalogue death is the time that company stop delivering the product. The product is in obstacle stage and the company and its competitors are trying to shift to new product with as less as possible lose. In this stage the preference is to cut the cost to avoid from extra inventory level, as the number of product demand is decreasing the supply chain and number of distribution centers should be decreased. The price and non-price promotions should help to speed up withdrawn the product and decrease inventory level The concept is extremely useful. It shows how customers tend to be much more knowledgeable about the product class as the lifecycle progresses; product performance typically improves over the cycle and the relative differences in brands competing for the same segment decline as successful ideas are copied.

Technological Life cycle There are various procedures to find out the life cycle stages in an industry and the stage of any technology, as an example FTA (Future –oriented Technology Analysis) which has been applied from 1950, or the procedures of calculating Technology Readiness Level Which is very popular in US military.

The TLC may be composed of four phases:  The (R&D) phase (sometimes called the "bleeding edge") when incomes from inputs are negative and where the prospects of failure are high Since there are few purchasers in the introduction stage, the distribution does not need to be widespread. The innovators are risk takers and desire to purchase something new. Consequently, they may seek out the distributors carrying the new product, and only a few distributors will suffice. The ascent phase when out-of-pocket costs have been recovered and the technology begins to gather strength by going beyond some Point A on the TLC (sometimes called the "leading edge"). n a growing market, the company's exclusive distribution policy would limit the potential growth for the firm, and sales would go to the competition. Consequently, the company must increase its product distribution to maintain its leadership in the market The maturity phase when gain is high and stable, the region, going into saturation, marked by M, and The absence of a company's product in a location may result in lost sales during the maturity period. Widespread distribution is essential. If the company's product is not in a location, one or more of the competitors' products are likely to be there. The firm cannot risk losing sales simply because their products were not available.  The decline (or decay phase), after a Point D, of reducing fortunes and utility of the technology. Cost is also an overriding factor in the distribution of the product during the decline stage. The declining sales may not justify the widespread distribution reached during the maturity stage. Only those areas or markets that are still profitable should be covered, and the unprofitable distribution outlets eliminated. Hopefully for the last companies producing the product, the brand-loyal customers or laggards will seek out the limited locations of the products and continue purchasing it. Simultaneously, with the technological changes in the lifecycle of the product, changes also take place in the process. The changes are slow at first during the period that the product volumes increase, but are maximized during the phase that the product reaches the maturity stage.  The fact that the rates of technological affect the competitive conditions of an industry means that management should plan different strategies for different phases of the technology lifecycle. 2. Meaning of Plant Layout: After deciding above the proper site for locating an industrial unit, next important point to be considered by an entrepreneur is to decide about the appropriate layout for the plant. Plant layout is primarily concerned with the internal set up of an enterprise in a proper manner. A typical manufacturing plant has a number of diverse activities interacting with each other. Raw materials arrive at a shipping dock, they are unpacked and checked in a quality control area, they may then be processed through several processing areas, and finally the finished product again passes through the shipping dock. Facility layout Objectives of good plant layout leads to: Maximum utilization of floor space. Less supervision and indirect labour Fewer accidents Improved worker morale Avoidance of production delays Process Layout • Process layout is also known as functional layout. Similar or similar operations are located at one place as per the functions. • A process layout is characteristic of intermittent operations, job shops, or batch production, in which a variety of customers are served with different needs. Product or Line Layout: If all the processing equipment and machines are arranged according to the sequence of operations of the product, the layout is called product type of layout. In this type of layout, only one product of one type of products is produced in an operating area. This product must be standardized and produced in large quantities in order to justify the product layout. The raw material is supplied at one end of the line and goes from one operation to the next quite rapidly with a minimum work in process, storage and material handling. Fig. 8.3 shows product layout for two types of products A and B. Process or Functional Layout: The process layout is particularly useful where low volume of production is needed. If the products are not standardized, the process layout is more low desirable, because it has creator process flexibility than other. In this type of layout, the machines and not arranged according to the sequence of operations but are arranged according to the nature or type of the operations. This layout is commonly suitable for non repetitive jobs. Fixed Position Layout: This type of layout is the least important for today’s manufacturing industries. In this type of layout the major component remain in a fixed location, other materials, parts, tools, machinery, man power and other supporting equipment’s are brought to this location. The major component or body of the product remain in a fixed position because it is too heavy or too big and as such it is economical and convenient to bring the necessary tools and equipment’s to work place along with the man power. This type of layout is used in the manufacture of boilers, hydraulic and steam turbines and ships etc. Cellular or Group Layout . Cellular layout is a combination of both process and product layout and incorporates the strong points of both of these. . This layout is suitable when a large variety of products are needed in small volumes (or batches). The group technology principle suggests that parts, which are similar in design or manufacturing operations, are grouped into one family, called part-family. . Process layout is one application where the Japanese change both the physical layout and the managerial system. A Japanese innovation is the U-shaped assembly line, which is used to encourage employee involvement. . Warehouse or Storage Layout: Warehousing buffers inbound shipments from suppliers and outbound orders to customers. Customers usually order in patterns that are not compatible with the capabilities of the warehouse suppliers. The amount of storage depends on the disparity between incoming and outbound shipment patterns. . Retail Layouts: A well-planned retail store layout allows a retailer to maximise the sales for each square foot of the allocated selling space within the store. Some of the famous retail layouts are: straight floor plan, diagonal floor plan, angular floor plan, geometric floor plan and mixed floor plan.

3. Eight Building Blocks of TQM Key elements: 1.Ehtics 2.Integrity 3.Trust 4.Training 5.Teamwork 6.Leadership 7.Recognisation 8.  TQM is built on a foundation of ethics, integrity and trust. It fosters openness, fairness and sincerity and allows involvement by everyone. This is the key to unlocking the ultimate potential of TQM. These three elements move together, however, each element offers something different to the TQM concept.  Many educators believe that the Deming’s concept of TQM provides guiding principles for needed educational reform. In his article, “The Quality Revolution in Education,” John Jay Bonsting l outlines the TQM principles he believes are most salient to education reform. He calls them the “Four Pillars of Total Quality Management”.  The four pillars are Pillar 1: Synergistic Relationships, Pillar 2: Continuous Improvement and Self Evaluation, Pillar 3: A System of Ongoing Process, Pillar 4: Leadership. b. 5-S is a methodology for organizing, cleaning, developing and sustaining a productive work environment. Based on Japanese words that begin with ‘S’. ‰‰ The 5-S Philosophy focuses on effective work place organisation and standardized work procedures. It simplifies the work environment, reduces waste and non-value activity while improving quality, efficiency and safety. The safety department is usually located within the personnel department. But, the safety man should preferably report to someone senior in the organisation so as to be respected. It may be ideal for the safety man to report to the works or production manager.The safety department is usually located within the personnel department. But, the safety man should preferably report to someone senior in the organisation so as to be respected. It may be ideal for the safety man to report to the works or production manager 5-S Methodology 5-S is a methodology for organising, cleaning, developing and sustaining a productive work environment.

Seiri - SORT what is not needed. Use the red tag system of tagging items considered not needed, then give everyone a chance to indicate if the items really are needed. Any red tagged item for which no one identifies a need is eliminated (sell to employee, sell to scrap dealer, give away, put into trash).

Seiton - STRAIGHTEN what must be kept. Make things visible. Put tools on peg board and outline the tool so its location can be readily identified. Apply the saying “a place for everything and everything in its place”.

Seiso - SCRUB everything that remains. Clean and paint to provide a pleasing appearance.

Seiketsu - SPREAD the clean/check routine. When others see the improvements in the Kaizen area, give them the training and the time to improve their work area. Shitsuke - STANDARDISATION and self-discipline. Establish a cleaning schedule. Use downtime to clean and straighten area