Alternative Recycling Materials For Bricks Production Construction Essay

Alternative Recycling Materials For Bricks Production Construction Essay 2.1 Introduction In this chapter, it will discuss and study into the commonly used which is conventional and traditional materials for bricks production in current construction industry, as according to Thomas (1996), currently in over the world, there got multiple types of choice in bricks manufactured from wide range of material, but yet in western world, bricks are usually produced by these common material such as fired clay, calcium silicate which known as sand lime and flint lime or concrete. Hence 3 types of commonly traditional material in term of properties and details will be highlighted in this chapter which is calcium silicate bricks, concrete bricks and clay bricks. Moreover, this chapter will also further discuss and look into several types of recycling materials which is potential for bricks production such as bottom ash and fly ash, recycled fine aggregates and sea sand and etc. In accordance to that, comparison in all aspect between the traditional and alternative recycling materials used to produce bricks will be discuss and describe in order to find out the difference in between their characteristic. 2.2 Conventional and traditional materials for bricks production 2.2.1 Clay Bricks According to Yvonne (1996), she mentioned that these clay bricks are consider as one and only most efficient materials which has been widely used in terms of their energy consumption. Clay brick can be consider as the one of the type that are most commonly used bricks and application by contractors in construction industry nowadays, in Malaysia construction these type of clay bricks in term of usage and application has to be refer to BS 3921:1895. By referring regard with BS 3921:1895, the work size dimension of clay brick had been set to 215102.5x65mm while coordination size is 225112.5x75mm, work size is consider as the actual size of brick that should conform within specified permissible deviation while coordination size provide the meaning of the size of coordinating space allocated and specified to a brick including allowances for joints and tolerances (Horng 2010). Clay bricks are mainly produced from the natural material which is fired clay that consist a wide range of different colour and textures. They can be manufactured in many different shapes, sizes and strengths, in fact in term of properties such as water absorption, suction rate and compressive strength also can be control and produce. These properties are determined mainly by the kiln, method of forming the bricks in specific shape whether by manually moulding or extrusion and also type of clay used (Thomas 1996). Basically there are three varieties of clay bricks available which are Common bricks, Facing bricks and Engineering bricks. According to Taylor (1994), common bricks are ordinary bricks which have no special claim and design to give an attractive good finished appearance and high strength, which in fact in general also consider as the cheapest bricks available. While for facing bricks are specially designed and made to give an attractive appearance which was free from imper fection that require extra rendering or plaster to the surface such as cracks. Whereas engineering bricks was consist the most highest density and well fire which are designed primarily with strong vitreous body for strength and durability, due to the more complicated process to produce these bricks hence it price also cost higher than the other types. Figure 2.1: Common bricks Common Brick Product Code: Mbc2002Common Brick Product Code: Mbc2011Common Brick Product Code: Mbc2024Source: The Matching Brick Company (1991) , viewed 15 July 2012, Figure 2.2: Facing bricks Stock Facing Brick Product Code: Mbc4006Waterstruck Facing Brick Product Code: Mbc5001Waterstruck Facing Brick Product Code: Mbc5016Source: The Matching Brick Company (1991), viewed 15 July 2012, Figure 2.3: Engineering bricks Engineering Brick Product Code: Mbc1001 Engineering Brick Product Code: Mbc1002 Engineering Brick Product Code: Mbc1008Source: The Matching Brick Company (1991), viewed 15 July 2012, Manufacturing technique for the production of clay bricks have been evolving from initially which is by hand moulded processes to modern mechanization. At present according to Bas (1999), brick productions consist of five basic stages that can be found and allocate everywhere around the world, each of the operations are interdependent and brick will follow through these stages in a way designed specifically to suit raw material used and the final product. Figure 2.4 illustrate the main stages in clay brick manufacture. Figure 2.4 General flow of materials in brick production Source: (Bas 1999, p. 5) As show in Figure 2.4, the first stage is clay preparation, during this stage when clay are being digging out, it is prepare by crushing and mixing until uniform consistency and in order to make clay suitable for brick making, it must be mixed with water so that to increase plasticity, before it is transfer toward brick moulding machine, few day resting and left alone is necessary. Bricks moulding technique is designed to suit the moisture content of clay, bricks can either be moulding through hand or machine, normally the usually used method used to increase moisture content as stated by Taylor (1994) are semi-dry process, stiff plastic process, wire cut process and soft mud process. After moulding, the brick will undergo the second stages which is Drying stages, it is carried out to let the humidity or moisture content inside the bricks to run free or escape in order to prevent the wet brick cracks inside when temperature is rapidly increase during fire, in fact the process also en ables and assist the firing temperature rises and increased smoothly without problem such gases and vapour are trapped within the bricks that are namely Bloating. Then following stage is pre-heating where the bricks are heated constantly but slowly mainly to avoid cracking, during the firing stages, the purpose is to let the brick increase in strength and decrease the soluble salt content by ensure localized melting sintering of the clay, there are 4 main processes which are clamps, continuous kilns and tunnel kilns. The last stage which is cooling stages, the bricks are stack and cooled down in kiln after fired, this stages is necessary because bricks can result in crack inside which will indirectly cause loss of strength when temperature is rapid rise and then rapidly cool down. According to Richard and Kreh (1990), all properties of structural clay product such as brick are affected by the composition of the raw material use and the manufacturing process. The important properties are strength, durability, colour, texture and absorption. In fact, each brick used in construction are required to be tested first before proceed to the next stage in masonry construction. Sadek and Roslan (2011) stated that compressive strength of brick is important as an indicator of masonry strength and indirectly brick strength become an important requirement in brickwork design. Strength is known as resistance of brick needed to increase in term of load when stress constantly appeared on it before it breaks. For the properties of durability of clay brick is much more likely to be a problem than its strength since in most situation, clay bricks are very much stronger than is required structurally (Taylor 1994). Colour and finished of the clay brick are determine by the chemical composition of natural clay and mineral which added to the natural clay, another factor that influences or affect it colour is depends on how well the temperature during firing being control in kiln clay burned period (Richard and Kreh 1990). Whereas for texture properties in bricks, it is the arrangement of particles of raw materials in brick such as hard and smooth finish should had fine f inish or texture, normally many textures can be achieve or obtained during the stiff mud process. Lastly for absorption, it may be an important property of clay bricks, since bricks that have very low absorption are invariably of high durability, Richard and Kreh (1990) argues that the water content of bricks must be correct to obtain the best result from combining of brick and mortar to form a wall. It is frequently ignored and forgot in construction which indirectly cause the strength and durability of the wall are affected. According to William (2001) Fire Bricks which is also one of the clay mould bricks which using the refractory clay to produce is consider as a special bricks which can withstand and resist much more higher of heat and temperature. The bricks are mainly application for builder to construct lining chimney shafts, boilers and kilns or for those work activities or building which require excessive resistance toward heat. Eeydzah (2010) mentioned that even though these bricks are much weaker, but compare to other the advantage is much lighter, easier to form and produce and also insulation properties is way much better than dense bricks. 2.2.2 Concrete Bricks According to Hafiz (2010), the concrete bricks are usually and one of the most used in the construction industry as wall panel and partially drains. Concrete brick are produced from a controlled mixture of Portland cement and aggregates in sizes, colours, and proportions which are similar to clay bricks that can be served as a purpose of loadbearing or non load bearing (Beall 1993). Normally these concrete bricks production need to fulfill and comply with all the appropriate requirements as stated in BS6073: Part 2 1981 specification for precast concrete masonry unit (Thomas 1996). Horng (2010) stated that the concrete is hardened by conventional water curing process or special compression method whereas BS 1180 mentioned that the minimum requirements and the classification of these types of bricks are common with sand-lime bricks. William (2001) stated there have another type of concrete brick which is different in term of material of production, instead of cement and sand, it is actually made with cement and furnace clinker or fly ash. These bricks are built into various positions in walling mainly to help and allow those especially internal housing decoration such as picture rails, skirting, serving hatches and door frame can be secured by using nailing and nailed into them. Normally the natural colour of concrete bricks are cement colour which is greyish, but nowadays pigments are allowable which then give a range of colour such as of brown and reds are produced (Yvonne 1996). Taylor (1994) also mentioned that concrete bricks BS 6073 are relatively one of the concrete brick that are recently introduced, these bricks are comprising well compacted, low workability concrete mixes of appropriate aggregates size, leading to products of high strength and durability. In fact the properties such as colour and textures can be control which can give a final appearance very similar to clay bricks, and are most important are it is free from efflorescence but due to different movement characteristic, these type of bricks are suggested not to bond with other brick types as it will affect their structural strength and dulability. 2.2.3 Calcium Silicate (Sand-Lime) Bricks According to Taylor (1994), these bricks are made by combine and blending the finely ground sand or flint and lime together uniformly in the approximate ratio of 10:1. After that the semi dry mixture is then pressed into mould in shape and cured in an autoclave for two or three hour to speed the chemical hardening. The finished of these bricks are quite natural and uniform, the colour of the bricks is darker when wet than when dry. Thomas (1996) specified that all these bricks requirements are required to comply to BS 187:1978. Beall (1993) defines that calcium silicate brick are the most widely and extensively used by contractors in industrialized countries such as Europe, Russia, Australia and United States, the main reason is because the suitable siliceous sands are more readily available compare to clay in their country, in fact it has been broadly manufactured and produces in United States in the early year of 1900s. Taylor (1994) stated that the main properties of calcium silicate bricks are: A high degree of regularity, with a choice of surface texture ranging from smooth to rustic. A wide range of colour as pigment can be added which then available to produced various type of colour Very low soluble salt content, hence is fine with efflorescence Relatively higher moisture movement compare to other bricks Compressive strength with range 7-50 N/mm2 (BS187) Good overall durability in clean atmosphere, but they may deteriorate slowly in polluted sulphur containing atmosphere. 2.3 Recycling materials for bricks production 2.3.1 Bottom ash and fly ash According to Safiuddin (2010), Fly ash (FA) and bottom ash (BA) are produces as a by-product from municipal solid waste incinerators and coal fuelled power stations, it is a highly dispersible powder which contain mainly aluminosilicare and derriferrous glassy spherical particle and irregularly shaped grains of amorphous clay, mullite quartz and unburned metamorphic fuel whereas BA consists of irregular particles that can be add up to 10-15mm in size. The chemical compositions of both ashes from same power plant are similar. Fly ash which obtained from coal combustion is frequently used in add into concrete due to cost saving by substitute the material of portland cement, the pozzolanic properties of fly ash can improve the strength of concrete which can be found during curing at 38 Degree Celsius that it greatly accelerates its contribution to the strength of concrete (Orchard 1979). Lingling, Wei, Tao and Nanru (2005) found out that fly ash can actually improves the compressive strength of bricks and increase their resistant toward frost attack whereas Cicek and Tanriverdi (2007) also realized the positive effect of fly ash on the compressive strength of bricks during his studies research. According to Kumar (2002), he clearly stated that sufficient strength which comply to the minimum requirement of bricks can be achieve in produce brick by using these fly ash hence it have potential to use as substitute of conventional clay bricks and blocks. Naganathan et al (2012) also defined that the strength of bricks increase with the increase in fly ash, in fact he conclude that bricks of good quality can be made by using bottom ash and fly ash whereby contributing to sustainable building. Figure 2.5 clearly illustrate that the evidence and application of both of fly ash and bottom ash in real construction, from here we tend to believe that both fly ash and bottom ash since years ago already is one of the waste materials that can be trusted and widely apply by other country to recycled and apply back to construction to produce various type of material such as bricks. Figure 2.5: Application of waste material in real construction. Souce : (Safiudin 2010, p. 1960) According to Naganathan (2012), there got a lot of advantages of using bottom ash and fly ash in brick making, mainly can consuming large volume of waste which then indirectly reduced the environmental problem which cause by dumping these waste in landfill and ash pond, moreover it also help enhance the properties and performance of bricks, in fact it do contribute to sustainable development and assist developers to get green building index points. 2.3.2 Recycled fine aggregates According to Ismail and Yaacob (2010), the initially and inventive use of recycled fine aggregates began and start at the end of World war II during the time when the nation of European fed problem in rubble material disposal. Which then the RILEM Technical Committee take an important steps of publishing in promoting the recycling aggregates which finally end up followed by several number of researchers around the world. In the studies research of Ismail and Yaacob (2010), it stated that brick dimension is influenced by material content and the density of constituent materials, their study focus on average brick dimension which was calculate and evaluated from 10 samples each group regarding length, width, depth, area and volume. Figure 2.6 show the summarized of average brick dimension and clearly stated and summarized that bricks with recycled fine aggregates had an uniform size and surface area similar to bricks with conventional materials. Figure 2.6 The dimensions of brick specimens Source : (Ismail and Yaacob 2010, p. 880) 2.3.2.2 Brick Density The density of brick specimen was calculated by dividing the weight with volume. In figure 2.7 stated that the density of control bricks was 2032.3 kg/m3 which mean the result of the density for brick content 50% recycled fine aggregate slightly increase 1.7% if compared with control brick. Conclusion in the figure show average density of brick by using recycled fine aggregates are much lower compare to control brick, even the most lower can be observed in brick with 100% content of recycled aggregates which reduce 3.5 % ( Ismail and Yaacob 2010). Figure 2.7 The average density of bricks with recycled fine aggregates Source : (Ismail and Yaacob 2010, p. 880) 2.3.2.3 Compressive strength The compressive strength of a material determines its load carrying capacity before stress apply on it and become failure. British Standard Institution states that the compressive of bricks should not be less than 7N/mm2 (Ismail and Yaacob 2010). The figure 2.8 illustrated the detailed result of compressive strength of all bricks types Figure 2.8 The average compressive strength of bricks with recycled fine aggregate Source : (Ismail and Yaacob 2010, p. 881) It can be seen from the figure, the result of compression strength of control brick is 12.32N/mm2 which mean the overall finding reveal that with additional of recycled fine aggregate can instantly increase the compressive strength. In the report, (Ismail and Yaacob) conclude that based on the test result, the bricks produced with recycled fine aggregates show positive result in each test and some even similar to brick with conventional natural material hence overall it can be utilized in brick mixture as good substitute for natural sand. 2.3.3 Sea Sand According to Hafiz (2010), use of river sand in Malaysia is very widespread in construction industry, in order to protect the environment of river and prevent erosion or flooding, seas sand are suggested to be one of the substitutions to replace river sand. The composition of sand varies from place to place depends in the sources and condition of the local rocks. Sand is classified as a unique raw material for construction industry due to allocation for obtaining bulk loads of sand for construction work. Sea sand has become a potential resource yet also consider as waste material which are capable to supply fine aggregates for domestic construction usage, in accordance to that, applications of sea sand is more economic by using river sand. Sea sand mostly contain more content of salinity or sodium chloride which may directly cause or affected the durability of structural if being ignored and without treated which then result in swilling, precipitation, sulfating and other adverse consequences. Hence precautions must be taken to eliminate to avoid unwanted hazard (Hafiz 2010). Rahman (2010) argues found out that sea sand contains significant à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“impuritiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  such as magnesium and sodium chlorides which lead to corrosion in iron, in fact in past research, sea sand is considered unsuitable for construction industry because of its small size and unless the chloride content that caused rusting is extract or reduced. 2.3.3.1 Sieve Analysis Sea Sand The sieve analysis of sea sand is to determine the gradation of sea sand such as the distribution of aggregates particles, by size within a given sample. There are many types of sieves depends on different sieve size. The figure 2.9 show the analysis of sea sand that use as concrete aggregate. Figure 2.9 Average Granulometric Curve of typical sea sand used as concrete Source: (Hafiz 2010, p. 8) The figure show that percentage of passing sea sand to get 100% on sieve analysis and sieve size is quicker than other material. This happen due to sea sand is a fine aggregate that less retain in sieve size. As a basic material in brick mixture, a classification of aggregate is very important as it will affect the strength of brick, the advantages of this process ensure the size of apertures decrease in logarithmic fashion. 2.5 Summary During current situation, enormous quantities of domestic, industrial and construction waste are generated annually throughout the country, instead disposing all of them, this research and chapter is actually give an further detail and look into several types of potential recycling material which able to used as substitution or replacement of natural resources in brick productions. After go through this chapter, it can be noticed that even though many alternative potential recycling waste solid has been introduced but yet the awareness of public toward scarcity of natural resources is still very low, it proved by most of the traditional material such clay brick, calcium silicate bricks and concrete bricks are still among the favourite choices of construction industry, bulk by bulk quantities of these material are being produced which indirectly caused depletion of related natural resources. This chapter not only showed many advantages such as avoid negative impact toward environment by using the recycling waste solid to produce bricks instead of dumping them in open fields,in fact it also prove that the result and properties of brick manufactured by recycling material is comparative, some even prove more better in term of economic and strength, so why still hesitate on the choice ?

Birthmark Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Mark of Ugliness   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birthmark, there is indeed a representation of a submerged personality in Aylmer. Although the other underlying personality is not represented within himself, it is rather portrayed through his assistant Aminadab. Since Aylmer is lacking so much within himself, he is unable to appreciate his wife even she was dying. Basically if Aylmer had the sensibility of Aminadab he could have realized how beautiful she was even with her birthmark.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the portion of the rising action we discover what type of man Aylmer is. He is a man of science, and held with high regards by other scientists. His love for science is first priority; anything else means nothing compared to his studies.Even though he decided to search for a wife, he does so with hardly any enthusiasm, â€Å" He had left his laboratory to the care of his assistant, cleared his fine countenance from the furnace smoke, washed the stain of acids from his fingers and persuaded a beautiful women to become his wife.† Two points are brought up; first he leaves his assistant in the lab with all the dirty work to be done, while Aylmer cleans himself up and just decides he needs a wife, pointing out that Aminadab, although only an assistant, has a great deal of responsibility. Second due, to his non chalante attitude towards finding a woman, we find that he wonders if he could love a woman more than his science, â€Å" His love for his young wife might prove the stronger of the two; but it could only be by intertwining itself with his love of science and uniting the strength of the latter of his own.† Right then we see he could not marry and be truly in love unless he could some how combine it with his science.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Luckily for Aylmer, he discovers a birthmark on his wife that makes him look at his wife in disgust. The birthmark which he calls a flaw to perfection, becomes more intolerable after every glance at it. He can not ignore... ... of time,and,living once all in eternity, to find the perfect future in the present.† Basically saying the missing part of him, which was shown through Aminadab, was the key to see that he had everything he could possibly want. That is when he no longer fights with this inner struggle. What is even more tragic is that even with the passing of his wife, he is unable to learn from this expierence because his own wife basically says, dont feel guilty it is going to be ok. This totally disturbs the possiblility of learning from this horrible incident, because his wife eases the guilt.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aylmer doesnot incorporate his missing characteristics from Aminadab. Although if he would have he would have been able to totally appreciate his wife, and even if he would have portrayed Aminadab’s way of thinking even at the end when she dies he could have learned at least the hard way. But the fact that he did not even learn anything from this expieerence and still has a seperation within himself is the saddest part. If only he had the mentality of his counterpart Aminadab, he wold have realized his wife, Georgiana was in fact a beautiful creature who need not be changed.

Kohls 2013 Annual Report Essay

The decision to buy, sell or hold Kohl’s stock is a difficult one. Their 2012 financial statements reflect a descending trend in cash, which may be a positive indication of the company reinvesting funds back into the company and distributing dividends to shareholders. However, their financial statements also reflect an increase in total liabilities, which may be a negative indication of more leverage being used to finance the company. The more leverage the company has the greater the financial risk. In the final analysis, investors should buy Kohl’s stock. Kohl’s stock is affordably priced and the company has extraordinary growth potential. Outlined below are the factors that were taken into consideration before deciding if this was a financially healthy company to invest in. DuPont return on investment (ROI) can simply be defined as: â€Å"A primary measure of a firm’s profitability. † (Berman, 2006) DuPont ROI is an â€Å"expansion of the basic ROI calculation that factors in profitability from sales and the utilization of assets to generate revenue. † (Marshall,2011) Calculations of Kohl’s ROI revealed that the firm gained an 8% profit for every one dollar invested and slightly reduced to 7% in 2012. This illustration of ROI is demonstrated in exhibit 1. 1. The gradual decrease in the DuPont ROI is primarily driven by the shifts in net income and average total assets. Net income for Kohl’s slightly dwindled from 2011-2012. This calculation of net income is illustrated in exhibit 4. 1. As the cost of goods sold and expenses increased net income reduced. The contributing factors directly related to these factors will be further explained. After the United States emerged from a recession, sales increased 2% from 2010-2011 to $18 billion dollars. The incline was attributed to the growth of Kohl’s online E-Commerce shopping site. The site experienced $ 1 billion in revenue, a $269 million increase from 2010. The Huffington Post reported shoppers spent an estimated â€Å"$1 billion dollars in the week following Thanksgiving†, breaking previous online shopping sales. (Barr, 2012)Kohl’s E-commerce shopping sales increased because of the optional size availability and merchandise selection not offered in the retail store. The sales of their â€Å"private and exclusive brands† consisted of 50% of net sales. These items have higher margins; therefore the company makes a greater profit on them. Increased spending on marketing and advertisement contributed to the increase in sales. Moreover, in 2012 revenue numbers reflected continued growth that was cultivated by strong E-commerce sales. Despite strong E-commerce sales retail stores produced less than stellar results. The sluggish retail store sales were brought forth by the slow holiday shopping season in 2012. Shoppers were cautious on spending during the holiday season, as the government’s â€Å"fiscal cliff† raised concern. (Barr, 2012). Retail locations in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region suffered a loss due to hurricane Sandy that caused destruction to the area. Finally, throughout the United States warmer climates caused the retailer to experience a decline in the sales of seasonal apparel, due to increased temperatures. In addition, as mentioned above the COGS also affected the firm’s net income. The COGS began to steadily trend up from 2010-2012. This calculation of COGS is illustrated in exhibit 4. 1. During the first six months of 2012, the company experienced a hike in apparel cost from manufactures. The hike in apparel cost was contributed to higher cotton prices. In June 2012, the price of cotton increased as â€Å"demand outpaced supplies† (Laya, 2012) these costs were passed along to shoppers resulting in mark-ups on merchandise. In addition, distribution expenses also increased from $187 million in 2010 to $245 million in 2012. The additional expense is a direct result of higher gas prices and the expansion of their E-commerce site. According to the U. S Energy Information administration, â€Å"the average price per gallon of gas in the United States in 2010 was $2. 70†. â€Å"The average price per gallon of gas in the United States in 2012 was $3. 54. † (U. S. Energy Informantion Administration, 2012)Oil prices continued to increase as the demand for crude oil intensifies. Moreover, the slight increase in Kohl’s average total assets has impacted their Du Pont ROI. Attributing to the decrease is the increased inventory and significant shrinkage in cash. Inventory turnover â€Å"measures how many times inventory turns over in a year. † (Berman, 2006) On average Kohl’s turned inventory 3. 81 times in 2010, as compared to 3. 53 times in 2012. This calculation of inventory turnover is illustrated in exhibit1. On average, the higher the ratio the better the company is at managing inventory it also gives them a better cash position. However, the company anticipated higher sales, but due to external factors mentioned above the company was unable to quickly convert inventory into sales as expected. To move inventory Kohl’s offered discount pricing on merchandise in the last six months of 2012. In anticipation of the 2012 holiday season, Kohl’s spent $523 million on inventory. This investment contributed to the reduction of cash, which adversely impacted average total assets. However, additional factors that aided in the depletion of cash will be explained below. The company has been successful in the past at managing inventory; however it is important to understand because it is a significant driver in the ROI ratio. Kohl’s ROI is important because it is a positive indication that the company is profiting from investments. Additionally, an analysis of the cash flow statement revealed Kohl’s has maintained a positive cash flow over the past three years, despite significant changes in operating, investing and financing expenses. Cash flows in operating activities considerably reduced from $2,139 million in 2011 to $1,265 in 2012. Impacting operating cash flow was the increased spending on inventory to meet anticipated seasonal demand, which has been explained above. Also affecting operating activities was the additional spending towards depreciation and amortization. The inclination of depreciation and amortization can be accredited to computer software and hardware for new stores, remodels and the E-commerce center in Texas. The decline in income from operations due to the factors mentioned is a positive indication to investors that the company is reinvesting profits to promote future growth. Furthermore, investing activities have weakened although Kohl’s has continued to invest in the acquisition of property and equipment. The common size financial statement in the appendix illustrates that property and equipment consisted of 63. 80% of Kohl’s total asset. In 2011, Kohl’s invested $927million dollars into the acquisition of property and equipment and only invested $785 million in 2012. In 2012, Kohl’s had fewer remodels and store opening, however the company continued to expand. Acquiring property and equipment is important to investors because it implies future growth. As Kohl’s continues to expand, so will their potential for growth in production and revenue. This will ultimately increase the value of the company and the profitability potential for the investor. Finally, financing activities has affected cash flows due to the increase in treasury stock, debt repayment and payment of dividends. Kohl’s repurchased 46 billion shares of common stock for $2. 3 billion in 2011 and 26 million shares for $1.2 billion in 2012. The repurchase of stock depleted the amount of cash and increased treasury stock, which in turn impacted financing activities. Treasury stock repurchase is important to investors because it increases earning per share (EPS). EPS has increased throughout 2012, which means more money for investors. Also the issuance of dividends a ffected financing activity. In 2012, Kohl’s paid cash dividends of $300 million dollars during. This is important to investors because it is an additional source of income, in addition to the increased stock value or capital appreciation. Furthermore, investing activities were also affected by the repayment of $400 million dollars of long term debt in 2011, which shows the company’s efforts to pay down debt and reduce interest payments on long term debt. Following the economic recession in 2011 banks were eager to extend credit with reduced interest rates to help encourage consumer spending. After the repayment of $400 million in long-term debt, Kohl’s was granted $650 million of debt with a lower interest rate. The statement of changes of shareholder’s equity displayed in exhibit 5.1 illustrates the increased dependency on debt to finance the company. In 2012, 57% of Kohl’s assets were financed throughcredit and 43% of the assets were financed by investors. As compared to 2011, 54% of the company’s assets were financed through credit and only 46% was financed by investors. The increase in liabilities directly resulting from the increase in long-term debt, increase in treasury stock which impacted shareholders equity and the decline in total assets all contributed to the percentage changes in 2012. Based on the statement of shareholders equity it is indicated that the company is relying more on credit to finance the company. In addition, the debt to equity ratio (measures how much debt the company has for every dollar of shareholder’s equity) for Kohl’s in 2010 was 0. 89 and significantly increased to 1. 30 in 2012, which shows that the company has more debt than equity. According to the Financial Intelligence text, â€Å"debt to equity ratios considerably larger than one has more debt than equity. † (Berman, 2006) This high debt to equity ratio in 2012 could present the company with difficulties acquiring more debt to raise cash. However, the increased amount of leverage taken on by Kohl’s comes as no surprise as â€Å"more companies are being forced into high financial leverage positions to survive competitive pressure. † (Marshall, 2011) Despite the amount of leverage, based on the current ratio Kohl’s will have the ability to meet its obligations with vendors and creditors. According to Marshall, McManus and Viele, â€Å"Well managed corporations have made the efforts to streamline operations by reducing current ratio to 1. 0-1. 5 or even lower. † (Marshall, 2011) Target’s declining ratio shows that Kohl’s is meeting industry standards in terms of the current ratio. The current ratio according to the Authors of Financial Intelligence, the current ratio â€Å"measures the company’s current assets against their current liabilities† to see how quickly they will be able to pay off their short-term debt. (Berman, 2006)In 2010, Kohl’s had a current ratio of 2. 03 and in 2012 a current ratio of 1. 86. The slight decrease in the current ratio is due to a smaller cash balance, which has been explained above. Kohl’s is not the only retailer experiencing a declining current ratio. Competitor Target had a current ratio of 1. 70 in 2010 and 1. 16 in 2012. Target’s current ratio increased because of the significant amount of cash on hand . Illustrated in exhibit 6. 1 In the midst of the recession retailers were clinging to cash to avoid bankruptcy or financial loss as most business were experiencing during this time. Based on the scale of Kohl’s operations the current ratio in comparison to Target demonstrates the retails growing dependency on leverage to remain competitive in the market. In 2010, Target invested $1,729 million dollars in expenditures for property and equipment. In 2011, the company increased spending to $2,129 million. The increase in 2011 is due to acquisition of 189 â€Å"Zeller sites† totaling $1,861 million. (10-k, 2012) Target also sold 54 Canadian sites for $225 million and invested $74 in start-up for Target stores in Canada. These investments impacted cash. The firm reported a cash balance of $1712 in 2010, which declined to $794 million in 2011 and remained flat in 2012 after the investments. In comparison to Kohl’s, the company operates on a much larger scale. Target has expanded their operations to groceries, electronics and other household items not available for sale at Kohl’s. Target also includes â€Å"highly liquid short-term investments† in their cash balance. (10-k, 2012), on the other hand Kohl’s does not include these items in the cash balance. The depletion of cash is primarily due to investments, which in turn decreased the total current assets for Target. However Target has account receivables, which is something that Kohl’s does not have. Target accounts receivable has contributed to the Target’s current assets. In addition, Target paid $869 million in dividends in 2012 and $750 million in 2011. The repayment of dividends reduced the firm’s cash and current assets. Target has a significant amount of current liabilities, due to an incline in accounts payable. Accounts payable increased from $6,857 million in 2011 to $7056 million in 2012. The significant increase can be attributed to â€Å"book overdrafts. † Based on Target and Kohl’s ratio it is clear that more firms are depending on leverage to finance operations and promote future sales growth. Moreover, after a careful assessment the estimated growth rate for Kohl’s department 2012 is 2. 5%. This projection was determined by subtracting 2011 revenue from 2012’s revenue then dividing the sum by 2012’s revenue. Sales are expected to grow based on historical sales trends. In addition, retail sales are up 10% in the United States. The growth in sales can be contributed to the creation of jobs and reduction in unemployment in the United States. According Bloomberg, retailers are expected to see a â€Å"3. 9% increase in sales over the holiday season, with majority of the sales being generated online. † (Rupp, 2013) With continued investments in the expansion of the E-commerce online shopping site Kohl’s will experience a significant growth in sales. Cost of goods sold for 2013 is estimated to account for 63.8% of sales. The estimate is relatively consistent with the previous years. As the cost of fuel continues to increase in the United States, the cost to transport goods will also increase for Kohl’s, as explained above. Operating expense is estimated to remain consistent with the previous years, declining slightly. The company plans to continue increasing marketing effor ts to increase sales. The increased sales would offset the increase in distribution cost that’s trending up as gas prices climb and store payroll as the company continues to grow. Income tax rates will remain fairly consistent with previous years Furthermore, after carefully reviewing Kohl’s financial statements, management discussion, financial statements and balance sheet it was revealed that non-reoccurring or extraordinary items did not apply to the firm. The decision to encourage the purchase of Kohl’s stock was discovered during the research of the company’s 10-k. After carefully reviewing financial statements and balance sheet I accurately calculated the firm’s ratios to help determine the financial health of the company. Using the information from the company’s income statement and balance sheet I manually calculated and composed a common size financial statement to better analyze and pinpoint value changes over the past three years. After identifying the driving factors that contributed to the fluctuation in values using the materials reviewed, I was able to make a sound decision on the investment in the company. In conclusion, the purchase of Kohl’s stock will be a valuable asset as time progresses. Kohl’s has managed to increase revenue each year through strategic planning and robust marketing efforts. The increase has awarded them with a return allowing them to reinvest in the growth of the company. The growth potential has been exhibited through the acquisition of property and equipment and the expansion of the E-commerce shopping site. Despite an unexpected upset in the sales forecast, which depleted cash and increased inventory the firm maintained a positive cash flow. This is a great stock to purchase low with the potential to sell high or hold to reap the benefits of increased EPS and additional income from dividends. Kohl’s has the proven capabilities to continue to invest in the future of the company and in its shareholders

Animal Experimentation Is The Cruel Silent Animal

Animal Experimentation No doubt, we all love our products whether it be beauty, medicinal, or cleaning purposes. Of course they satisfy our needs and maybe even go above and beyond and just make the smallest difference or the biggest in our lives by improving or making things easier. Ever wonder how these products go about being made? Probably not. This however is something we should consider paying close attention to. Behind the scenes of our most favorite products is the cruel, silent methods of animal experimentation. What is animal experimentation exactly? Animal experimentation is when animals are used for scientific research. It has played a huge role in biomedical history, but it’s also been one of the most controversial discussions. In most cases, they are used for cosmetic products or medicine. A wide variety of animals are used which include rabbits, dogs, cats, guinea pigs, monkeys, birds, mice, and fish. Several laws have been passed to make this kind of practice more â€Å"humane† (Hajar). In today’s time, animal organizations and rights groups have taken this to be one of their main priorities to stop this. Even in the past people have been disturbed by the painful and unnecessary treatment of the animal subjects. Throughout history, animal experimentation occurred in many ancient cultures, mostly for the purpose of testing products for human use. Animal experimentation dates back to the early periods as scientists became more interested in anatomy.Show MoreRelatedThe Ethical Treatment Of Animal Testing1199 Words   |  5 Pagesnot animals such as mice and rats should be experimented on. The organization Psychologist for the Ethical Treatment of Animals believes in observing animals instead of experimenting on them (Meyer). Another known organization is People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). 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