Monthly Archives2018 September

[ad_1]

2011 Toyota Sequoia

For one of the most reliable manufacturer names in the industry, style and class, and a great safety packed SUV, the 2011 Toyota Sequoia is a great choice for all consumers looking for a top of the line SUV today. Although it is a little on the pricier end, with the base model coming in at $ 40,030, it is well worth it if you want a quality and powerful SUV. It features a massive interior space with roomy seating, even in the third row seats, an extremely quiet and smooth ride on the highway, offers quick acceleration, and offers a high towing capacity.

The SR5 base model offers a powerful 4.6 liter, V8 engine, with an automatic transmission. Although not the best in gas mileage, getting 14 miles per gallon in the city and 20 miles per gallon on the highway, it is still comparable with other SUVs as far as gas mileage. It features Bluetooth wireless technologies, a 4 wheel drive, iPod input connections, satellite radio, side and curtain airbags, a navigation system, stability and Traction control, and fold-down third row seats. So, although it is at a high price range, the features on the inside are luxurious features, and the safety features are at the top of the industry standards.

There are several prices for the 2011 Toyota Sequoia starting with the base, and going all the way up to the Platinum FFV model, with a price tag of $ 60,405. This model offers a much more powerful engine at 5.7 liters, V8 flex-fuel engine, with an automatic transmission. It also adds in a DVD player, leather interior seats, additional cargo space, all-season tires, touch-screen navigation system, heated and adjustable front seats, automatic transmission, and all the interior class you can imagine. So if you want luxury, class, style, and most importantly optimal safety for you and your family, the Platinum FFV may come at a cost, but you will not be sorry about the purchase. Not only that, it offers a great re-sale value on the market as well.

With a more powerful 310 horsepower engine than its previous 2010 model, additional safety features added in, the ability to reach 60 miles per hour in 6.7 seconds, which is comparable to a sedan style car, the 2011 Toyota Sequoia will not disappoint consumers; either in style, interior luxury and the roomiest interior seating, style, the safest and smoothest ride available, and the ever trusted Toyota named backing up its performance features. So, when considering your next new SUV purchase, the 2011 Toyota Sequoia should be a great contender for any consumer searching for a new SUV, especially if you want luxury features, for much less than most luxury SUVs (Lexus, BMW, or Mercedes) today; and still, you get the luxury features those vehicles offer.

[ad_2]

Source by Todd Rip

[ad_1]

[ad_2]

Source by

[ad_1]

Supply Chain Management (SCM) as defined by Tom McGuffog is “Maximising added value and reducing total cost across the entire trading process through focusing on speed and certainty of response to the market.” Due to globalization and ICT, SCM has become a tool for companies to compete effectively either at a local level or at a global scale. SCM has become a necessity especially for manufacturing industry when it comes to deliver products at a competitive cost and at a higher quality than their competitors. Here are some of the reason SCM has become important to today’s manufacturing industry:-

Competitive Edge through Core Competencies

Today’s business climate has rapidly changed and has become more competitive as ever in nature. Businesses now not only need to operate at a lower cost to compete, it must also develop its own core competencies to distinguish itself from competitors and stand out in the market. In creating the competitive edge, companies need to divert its resources to focus on what they do best and outsource the process and task that is not important to the overall objective of the company. SCM has allowed company to rethink their entire operation and restructure it so that they can focus on its core competencies and outsource processes that are not within the core competencies of the company. Due to the current competitive market, it is the only way for a company to survive. The strategy on applying SCM will not only impact their market positioning but also strategic decision on choosing the right partners, resources and manpower. By focusing on core competencies also will allow the company to create niches and specialization of core areas. As stated in the Blue Ocean Strategy outlined by Chan Kim, in order to create a niche for competitive advantage, companies must look at the big picture of the whole process, and figuring out which process can be reduce, eliminate, raise and create.

As an example stated by Chan Kim, the Japanese automotive industries capitalise on its resources to build small and efficient cars. The Japanese automotive industries gain competitive edge by utilising their supply chain to maximise their core competencies and position itself in a niche market. The strategy works and now Toyota Motor Corporation, a Japanese company, is considered to be the number one auto car maker in the world beating Ford and General Motors of the United States.

Value Advantage

SCM has allowed business nowadays to not just have productivity advantage alone but also on value advantage. As Martin Christopher in his book, Logistics and Supply Chain Management: Strategies for Reducing Cost and Improving Service’ states, ‘Productivity advantage gives a lower cost profile and the value advantage gives the product or offering a differential ‘plus’ over competitive offerings.’ Through maximizing added value and also reduce the cost in the same time, more innovation can be added to the product and process. Mass manufacturing offers productivity advantage but through effective supply chain management, mass customization can be achieved. With mass customization, customers are given the value advantage through flexible manufacturing and customized adaptation. Product life cycles also can be improved through effective use of SCM. Value advantage also changes the norm of traditional offerings that is ‘one-size-fits-all.’ Through SCM, the more accepted offerings by the industry to the consumers would be a variety of products catered to different market segments and customers preferences.

As an example, the Toyota Production System practiced in Toyota, evaluates its supply chain and determines what is value added activities and what is not value added activities. Non added value activities are considered to be ‘Muda’ or waste and therefore must be eliminated. Such non added value activities are overproduction, waiting, unnecessary transport, over processing, excess inventory, unnecessary movement, defects and unused employee creativity. The steps taken to eliminate waste are through Kaizen, Kanban, Just-in-time and also push-pull production to meet actual customer’s demands. The Toyota Production System revolutionise the Supply Chain Management towards becoming a leaner supply chain system that is more agile and flexible towards meeting the end users demands.

[ad_2]

Source by Razamith Sovereign

[ad_1]

Todays sophisticated European engines produce higher horsepower densities per cubic inch and subject the engines oil to severe operational conditions. Throw in all the emissions control equipment on these cars and the oils used must demonstrate exceptional anti-wear performance and meet the strict formulation requirements needed to meet the most current European motor oil specifications.

Those specifications at this writing are VW 504/00/507.00, VW, 502, 505 and 505.01, BMW LL-04, Porsche C-30, ACEA C-3, ACEA A3-B3/B4, Mercedes Benz 229.31 and 229.51 etc. Since most European car makers specify oil change intervals that are considerable longer than those of U.S car makers, oils meeting these specifications need to demonstrate excellent high temperature/high shear performance (HT/HS) to maintain viscosity and provide adequate engine protection.

In addition, turbocharged direct injection (TDI) engines are common in European vehicles. Motor oils used in these applications must be very thermally stable to handle the high operating temperatures and resist deposit formation while providing adequate turbocharger cooling. Thermally stable oils help keep oil passages clean and promote fluid circulation so turbocharger bearings stay cool and lubricated

Because of the sophisticated and extremely efficient pollution control equipment used on European vehicles, almost all European car makers require oil used in these applications to be formulated with lower amounts of sulphated ash, phosphorous and sulfur. (SAPS) SAPS is a commonly used anti-wear additive in motor oils.

The problem is that oils with excessive sulphated ash, phosphorus and sulfur (SAPS) can harm modern exhaust treatment devices. Diesel particulate filters (DPF’s), for example, require low-SAPS motor oil to help prevent filter plugging. This is why using motor oil that does not meet the correct specification can cause engine problems and that annoying check engine light to come on!

Because SAPS additives provide a high degree of wear protection, its reduction has caused some motor oil formulators considerable difficulty in producing a engine oil that both provides outstanding protection and meets the car makers requirements for use with their engine advanced pollution control equipment. The most ideal motor oil for European engine is high grade synthetic oils engineered for the above specifications. Synthetic oils have very low pour points protecting the engine from oil starvation and providing immediate oil pressure when the outside temperature is low while its thermal stability withstands high-temperature/high-RPM breakdown to resist deposit formations that starve TDI systems of lubrication.

This is why some of the biggest names in European cars such as Mercedes and Porsche are factory filled with synthetic oil and many require the use of synthetic oil to maintain the cars warrantee.

Amsoil Inc. introduced the first American Petroleum institute rated motor oil in 1972. Today Amsoil is considered the world leader in high grade synthetic lubrication and offers synthetic motor oils specifically engineered for the most demanding European car applications.

[ad_2]

Source by Larry Crider