What is GmbH, S.A, AG, PLC and Their Differences ?

GmbH, S.A, AG and PLC abbreviations represent different types of business structures used in certain countries. These companies essentially tell you who is the owner of the company,where they locate, how much financial risk need to take, and whether the company's shares can be bought by the public.

Also it gives you a clue about the company's size and legal protections. For example, "GmbH" or "Ltd." means you are dealing with a private entity, whereas an "AG" or "PLC" means a larger organization that likely answers to a board of directors and  shareholders.

Here is a details of the most common international designations:

1. GmbH (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung)

GmbH  is equivalent to small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in German-speaking countries like Germany, Austria, Switzerland. It is a private company and  shares cannot be traded on a public stock exchange.

English Equivalent is LLC (Limited Liability Company).

Liability: Owners of the company are just liable for the amount of money they invested so it means company with limited liability. Their personal assets are protected if the company goes into debt.

In Germany, a minimum of €25,000 is required to start a GmbH.

2. AG (Aktiengesellschaft)

AG abrevation is also used in countries like Germany, Austria, Switzerland and equivalent to Joint-Stock Company / Corp.

These corporations designed for large businesses that aim to raise significant capital. 

Liability is limited to the company's assets. and ownership is divided into shares. An AG can be publicly traded on the stock market —as seen with industry giants like Volkswagen or Siemens, though it doesn't have to listing and an AG is legally required to have a management board and a separate supervisory board.

In Germany, a minimum of €50,000 is required.

DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)

3. S.A. (Société Anonyme / Sociedad Anónima)

S.A is translated as Anonymous Society and widely used in France, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Latin America. English equivalent can be  Public Limited Company / Corporation. It is called anonymous due to the owners (shareholders) must not known to the public; they just hold shares.

Liability is limited to the value of the shares held.

Structure: Typically used for large companies. It can be listed on a stock exchange or stay private.

In some countries (like France), there is a smaller version called an S.A.S. (Société par Actions Simplifiée), which is more flexible for startups.

4. PLC (Public Limited Company)

PLC is widely used in United Kingdom, Ireland, and some Commonwealth countries.

 A company that has offered shares to the general public.

Liability is limited to the investment made by shareholders.

To be a PLC, a company has a minimum share capital requires usually £50,000 in the UK and at least two directors.

Only a PLC can be listed on the London Stock Exchange. (The private version in the UK is labeled as Ltd.).

The 9 principles of the Optimized Production Technology (OPT)

Optimized Production Technology is a method of production flow management. The OPT is mainly based on the identification, management and the resolution of bottle necks, root of useless stocks (mudas) in the production system. Like OPT, the Lean Manufacturing philosophy has a close relationship with the search for optimization by reducing waste. The aim of OPT is to obtain a maximum just-in-time flow through the whole chain, without producing any additional stocks.

The 9 principles of the OPT

1. Balance the flow and not the capacity

2. The use of a non-necking resource is not determined by its availability

3. Use and activation of a resource are not synonymous

4. An hour wins on a bottleneck resource, it's an hour won for the global system

5. An hour earned on a non-neck appeal is nothing, it's just a mirage.

6. The transfer batch may not be and often should not be equal to the processing batch

7. The processing batch must be variable and not fixed

8. The bottlenecks not only determine the flow of the entire system but also define their stocks

9. The programming of activities and productive capacity should be considered simultaneously and not sequentially. Lead-times are a result of programming and cannot be assumed

What is Bootstrapping ?

Bootstrapping is sampling with replacement from observed data to estimate the variability in a statistic of interest.

 A common application of the bootstrap is to assess the accuracy of an estimate based on a sample of data from a larger population. Consider the sample mean. The best way to find out how lots of different sample means turn out is to actually
 draw them.  Lacking the real universe to draw samples from, we need a proxy universe that embodies everything we
know about the real universe, and which we can use to draw samples from.

One resampling technique is to replicate the sample data a huge number of times to create a proxy universe based entirely on our sample. After all, the sample itself usually embodies everything we know about the population that spawned it, so it´s often the best starting point for creating an artificial proxy universe, from which we can draw resamples, and observe the distribution of the statistic of interest.

A shortcut is to simply sample with replacement from the original sample. By sampling with replacement, each sample observation has 1/n probability of being selected each time - just as if you were drawing without replacement from an infinitely large replicated universe. This technique is called the bootstrap.

Drawing resamples with replacement from the observed data, we record the means found in a large number of resamples. Looking over this set of means, we can read the values that bound 90% or 95% of the entries. (a bootstrap confidence interval)

For comparison: The Classical Statistics World

In classical statistics, we still invoke the concept of the larger universe. However, rather than creating a proxy universe and actually drawing from it, classical statistics works from a mathematical description of this larger universe, based on information provided by the sample (typically mean and standard deviation), and assumptions of normality.

It is important to note that both the resampling and classical approaches make inferences about the larger population starting from the same point - the observed sample. If the observed sample is way off base, both approaches are in trouble.

Reasons for using a bootstrap approach include the fact that it makes no assumption concerning the distribution of the data, and the fact that it can assess the variability of virtually any statistic.

The bootstrap procedure was suggested by Julian Simon, an economist, in a 1969 research methods text. Bradley Efron coined the term "bootstrap" in 1979, and developed and elaborated the method in the statistical literature starting in 1979.

SOURCE:http://www.statistics.com/news/47/192/Week-17---Bootstrapping/?showtemplate=true

The Scrap and Rework Reduction Road Map

In most organizations, when a manufacturer produces a product it is inspected at various stages during the production cycle. In some cases, the product is found to be nonconforming. Nonconforming means the product does not meet its drawing or specification requirements. When this occurs, the organization needs to decide what to do with the nonconforming item. The manufacturer can:

• Use it “as is” in the nonconforming condition if the product is deemed acceptable for use in its nonconforming condition and it is acceptable to the customer.

• Rework the nonconforming material such that it meets the drawing requirements. Repair the nonconforming material in a manner that doesn’t exactly meet the drawing requirements, but the repair makes it suitable for use (again, if this is suitable to the customer).

• Scrap the nonconforming item if it cannot be reworked or repaired economically.

The cost of these activities is high. Most people are surprised when they learn how high the costs of poor quality are. Informed estimates consistently place the cost of poor quality between 20 and 50 percent of the total cost of goods sold. That is a huge number, and it represents a huge opportunity. If the organization can reduce the amount of nonconforming material it produces, the cost of reworking, repairing, remaking, and administering nonconforming material will lower costs significantly.

Recommended scrap and rework reduction approach.

Source:Cost Reduction and Optimization for Manufacturing and Industrial Companies