Good Industrial Practice Research Articles

Developments in Testing and Mechanical Properties of Hard Materials

AbstractMethods for the measurement of the physical and mechanical properties of hard materials are reviewed. Current standards are assessed together with good industrial practice, including both routine procedures and research requirements. It is shown that key future development directions for test procedures include a requirement for improved ability to discriminate clearly between products under conditions similar to those in which the product will be used. PM/0741

Automatic resistor-generation and thick film circuit layout using the Magic layout editor

Abstract A technology file for the Magic layout editor has been developed to show the possibility of a design route which uses a CAD package not intended for hybrids, and as such it is considered to be a low cost approach to thick film CAD. Layout with design rule checking of multilayer hybrid circuits may be performed, consisting of two (or more) different metallization patterns with the possibility of using up to eight different resistor pastes, dielectrics, protective coating and solder paste. The thick film technology described is not meant to be indicative of good industrial practice, since the intention is to show how the technology file may be altered. The alterations performed provide for automatic resistor generation, device placement and automatic routing techniques in thick film circuits. Also, in single-layer technology, dielectric tiles are automatically created at metal crossings when an electric contact is not desired.

A high containment polymodal pilot-plant fermenter--design concepts.

A 225 dm3 pilot-plant bioreactor system has been designed and constructed that is suitable for biohazardous fermentations. The design enables operation at containment levels above the requirements of good industrial large-scale practice (GILSP) without secondary containment of the whole plant. The main biosafety features of the systems include the use of steam barriers on O-ring seals, supply lines and stirrer seals, multiple O-ring seals, piping of condensate lines and pressure relief systems to a 'kill tank', double filtration of inlet and off gases and a mobile isolation unit that allows localised containment of sample valve and probe entry ports. The fermenter can, with minor modifications, be operated as a bottom-or top-stirred reactor for the culture of microbial or animal cells, or as an airlift reactor. The design offers considerable flexibility that could prove cost-effective for process development and production. The relevance of the various design features to enable bioreactor operations at pilot-plant scale to be carried out in compliance with current guidelines for large-scale culture of recombinant microorganisms and microbial pathogens is discussed.

A Life Sentence to Unemployment: Unfair Dismissal in Northern Ireland

Dismissal from employment is a severe sanction everywhere, but particularly so in Northern Ireland where high unemployment is endemic'. Since the establishment of a Northern Ireland government in 1921 unemployment rates for the province have generally been twice the British average.2 One of the consequences of high unemployment is a low-profile trade unionism coupled with a workforce in which and industrial issues are much less a matter of political controversy and discussion than in most other parts of the western world.3 In the 1976 Quigley Report on economic and industrial strategy for Northern Ireland, this image of an acquiescent workforce appeared as a selling point for the attraction of industrial investment. However the subsequent decade has seen a massive decline in employment in the private sector. As the fate of De Lorean and Learfan exemplifies, attempts to create jobs by attracting inward investment have not been outstandingly successful. Moreover, between 1960 and 1980 the majority of job losses occurred in those industries which are dominated by large firms (such as Textiles and Man-Made Fibres).4 Employment has only been maintained by an abnormally large growth in public-sector services:5 therefore the opportunities of those whose qualifications or experience do not fit them for public service are increasingly dependent upon small firms whose knowledge of good industrial relations practice may leave much to be desired.