Test estimation

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In my opinion, one of the most difficult and critical activities in IT is the estimation process. I believe that it occurs because when we say that one project will be accomplished in such time by at such cost, it must happen.

If it does not happen, several things may follow: from peers' comments and senior management's warnings to being fired depending on the reasons and seriousness of the failure.

Before even thinking of moving to Systems test at my organization, I always heard from the development group members that the estimations made by the Systems test group were too long and expensive. Then, when I arrived at my new seat, I tried to understand the testing estimation process.

The testing estimation process in place was quite simple. The inputs for the process, provided by the development team, were: the size of the development team and the number of working days needed for building a solution before starting systems tests.

The testing estimation process said that the number of testing engineers would be half of the number of development engineers and one third of the number of development working days.

A spreadsheet was created in order to find out the estimation and calculate the duration of tests and testing costs. They are based on the following formulas:

Testing working days = (Development working days) / 3.

Testing engineers = (Development engineers) / 2.

Testing costs = Testing working days * Testing engineers * person daily costs.

As the process was only playing with numbers, it was not necessary to register anywhere how the estimation was obtained.

To exemplify how the process worked, if one development team said that to deliver a solution for systems testing it would need 4 engineers and 66 working days then, the systems test would need 2 engineers (half) and 21 working days (one third). So, the solution would be ready for delivery to the customer after 87 (66+21) working days.

Just to be clear, in testing time, it was not included the time for developing the testcases and preparing the testing environment. Normally, it would need an extra 10 days for the testing team.

Paper making process essay 2

The Full paper making process

Timber

Timber used for papermaking comes from well managed forests where more trees are planted than harvested to ensure sustainable growth.

Papermakers usually use only the parts of the tree that other commercial industries don't want - such as saw mill waste and forest thinnings.

Go to publications for details of a Trees used for Papermaking Poster.

De-Barker

Bark is stripped from the logs by knife, drum, abrasion, or hydraulic barker. The stripped bark is then used for fuel or as soil enrichment.

Chipping Machine

Stripped logs are chipped into small pieces by knives mounted in massive steel wheels (used in chemical pulping process).

The chips pass through vibrating screens, whereby both undersized chips, dust etc and oversized chips are rejected.

Accepted chips are then stored in huge bins ready for the next process.

Chemical Pulping Process

Chips from the storage bins are fed into a digester to which chemicals have been added. The woodchips are then 'cooked' to remove lignin. Lignin is the binding material which holds the cellulose fibres together.

The chips are 'cooked' by heat and pressure in caustic soda and sulphur.

The chemical process is energy self-sufficient as nearly all by-products can be used to fire the pulp mill power plant. The chemical pulping process produces lower fibre yield than mechanical pulping, typically 50-60%.

Mechanical Pulping Process

Mechanical pulp yields over 90% of the wood as fiber is produced by forcing debarked logs, about two meters long, and hot water between enormous rotating steel discs with teeth that literally tear the wood apart. Alternatively, logs can be pressed against grindstones which is why this process is also known as ground wood pulp.

Trees contain up to 30% lignin, a material which is sensitive to light and degrades, and turns brown in sunlight, which explains why papers made from mechanical pulp will discolor. An example of this is newsprint. Newsprint is designed to have a short life span, and if left for a long period of time will lose its whiteness and strength. The special advantages of mechanical pulp are that it makes the paper opaque and bulky.

Hydrapulper

When the bales of wood pulp or waste paper arrive at the paper mill they are loaded onto a conveyor and passed into a circular tank containing water. This has a very powerful agitator at the bottom which breaks up the bales into small pieces.

The pulp mass created begins to look like thick porridge. This machine is known as a Hydrapulper. It operates automatically and when the disintegrating process is complete it discharges the pulp into large storage tanks.

Hydrapulpers used mainly for handling waste paper are fitted with special devices for removing unwanted contraries such as wire, plastic, paper clips, staples etc.

Blend Chest

The stock passes to a blend chest where numerous chemicals can be added to obtain the required characteristics to the finished paper. Dyes are also added, as necessary, to color the paper. Dyes fix themselves to the cellulose fibers and are fast to light and water.

Each grade of paper and board requires a very accurate blend of pulps and additives and the properties of the paper are continually monitored by computers during manufacture.

Waste Paper

Waste paper is collected from Waste Paper Banks and Commercial collections. When you deposit your used papers into a waste paper bank, you are sorting the paper into grades before the merchant collects it. This is why you can only put certain papers into a particular bank.

Many offices have in place an office recycling scheme. Again the waste paper is usually segregated ready to be collected.

Waste paper currently represents 67% of the raw material used in the UK to make paper and board.

The waste paper merchant collects the used paper which is then sorted by hand into different grades. Paper not suitable for recycling is removed.

The waste paper merchant will then bale the waste paper ready to be taken to the paper mill

De-inking

Before printed paper, such as office waste and newspapers, can be recycled the ink needs to be removed, otherwise it will be dispersed into the pulp and a dull grey paper would result.

There are two main processes for de-inking waste paper - these are known as washing and flotation.

Washing
The waste paper is placed into a pulper with large quantities of water and broken down into a slurry. Contraries -such as staples - are removed using centrifugal screens. Most of the water containing the dispersed ink is drained through slots or screens that allow the dispersed ink particles through, without taking the pulp. Adhesive particles, known as 'stickies' are removed by fine screening.

Flotation
Again the waste is made into a slurry and contaminants removed. Special surfactant chemicals are added which makes a sticky froth on the top of the pulp.

Air bubbles are blown through the pulp and these carry the inks to the surface. As the bubbles reach the top a foam layer is formed that traps the ink. The foam must be removed before the bubbles break or the ink will go back into the pulp. Because the ink is removed from the flotation machine in a concentrated form, the flotation system does not require a large water treatment plant.

Refining

This is where the cellulose fibers pass through a refining process which is vital in the art of papermaking. Before refining, the fibers are stiff, inflexible and form few bonds. The stock is pumped through a conicle machine which consists of a series of revolving discs. The violent abrasive and bruising action has the effect of cutting, opening up and declustering the fibers and making the ends divide. This is called fibrillation. In this state, the fibers are pliable and have greater surface area, which significantly improves the fiber bonding. The properties of the paper are directly related to the refining process. Refining used to be called beating.

Screening and Cleaning

Pulps contain undesirable fibrous and non-fibrous materials, which should be removed before the pulp is made into paper or board.

Cleaning involves removing small particles of dirt and grit using rotating screens and centrifugal cleaners.

Papermaking Machine

The Paper Machine is a very large piece of machinery. A typical machine is about the length of two football pitches and around 4 metres wide. It can run up to speeds of 2000 m per minute - or 60 miles per hour! The machine itself consists of 7 distinct sections. The flow box, wire, press section, drier section, size press, calendar and reeling up.

The first section of the machine is called the 'Wet End'. This is where the diluted stock first comes into contact with the paper machine. It is poured onto the machine by the flow box which is a collecting box for the dilute paper stock. A narrow apperture running across the width of the box allows the stock to flow onto the wire with the fibres distributed evenly over the whole width of the paper machine.

The machine is operated by computer control. The computer will monitor the paper for moisture content, weight etc and computer screens will show pictures of the process and should any adjustments need to be made, an alarm will sound.

Conversion and Printing

Once the paper is made, a great deal of it is converted into a product. Converters specialize in transforming reels and sheets of paper and board into a vast array of finished products for distribution such as boxes, cartons and stationery. Converters sell their products to the public or to other manufacturers.

Not all paper and board is processed by converters. Some papermakers do their own converting, for example, the manufacturers of soft tissues market their own products and sell directly to the public.

The printing industry converts large quantities of paper and board, much of which reaches the customer as newspapers, magazines or books.

Papermaking Process essay 1

The craft of making paper basically is still the same as it was when the whole notion of paper invention emerged in AD 105. The core of paper making involves preparation of stock, formation of the paper web, drying the sheet and finally application of coating and additives. Nowadays the only difference is the technology and new innovations involved in the craft.

The paper making process

European paper makers for instance, chose to craft it out of materials like cotton and linen fiber from rags. Initially, sorted and cleaned rags are heated in an alkali solution. This is done in an open vat before the rags are passed under steam pressure. Then the drained and seasoned rags are washed and macerated to a pulp that will be bleached as to remove the unwanted traces of dyes and residual darkening due to the cooking process.

Paper get its form when a paper mold is lifted out horizontally after being dipped into the vat of stock. This happens when the fibers gets trapped against the screen of the mold. Hand made paper molds consists of parallelly lengthen wires being laced together either by fine wires, threads or even woven wire mesh.

Removed sheet from the mold is pressed on the felts or woolen cloth. Post, a stack of paper sheets and felts placed in a large wooden screw press will then be tightened by the workers of the mill by pushing or pulling a long wooden lever. This leads to the production of an average of 6-8 inches post out of a 2- foot. Once this task is completed, the pressed sheets will be lifted and left to dry in relatively low number of groups known as "spurs". Far away from soot and dust the "spurs" are dried at the highest level of the mill.

Animal glue and gelatin is used to make the paper less absorbent, and this is particularly important for writing papers. Early 17th century witnessed the pioneer method for smoothing paper using glossy stone and a water-powered hammer as a finishing touch.

The Process of Academic Writting

Writing task one: processes

You will be given a diagram of a process. Your task is to describe the information given in the diagram by writing a 150 word report. You are not asked to give your opinion. What is being tested Task one questions asking you to describe a process rarely appear on the IELTS test. They are different from table, graph and chart description because they test your ability to: describe each important stage in the process and expand where necessary link your descriptions of each stage use the present simple passive As process tasks can vary widely, it is essential that you look at a lot of examples in IELTS preparation books. You should spend around 20 minutes on the task. Sample task You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. The flow chart below shows how national examination papers are marked in Someland. Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information below. You should write at least 150 words. Your task Complete the Task One report exercise above. Spend only 20 minutes. Then look at the notes and the sample answer below. Guidelines for a good answer Does the report have a suitable structure? Does it have an introduction, body and conclusion? Does it include connective words to make the writing cohesive within sentences and paragraphs? Does the report use suitable grammar and vocabulary? Does it include a variety of sentence structures? Does it include a range of appropriate vocabulary? Does the report meet the requirements of the task? Does it meet the word limit requirements? Does it describe the whole process adequately? Sample answers The sample task given is simplified for the sake of explaining this kind of report task clearly. In a genuine test you can expect the process to be more complex. The flow chart shows the marking procedures for national exam papers in Someland. After the papers are collected, the Reading and Listening papers are marked by an administrator and then collated. The writing papers are treated differently. After collection, the writing papers are marked by an examiner. The marks are then sent to an administrator for collation while the exam papers are sent to an examination board. The board either stores the papers or reassesses them. Strategies for improving your IELTS score Meeting the task requirements When you begin the writing test, look at the illustration (flow chart, diagram etc) and try to work out what the important stages are, the order they occur and any obvious reasons for the order. Your report must include every stage shown in the diagram or flow chart. When looking at the illustration, be careful to distinguish stages which happen concurrently. (A is performed at the same time as B) and others which are alternatives (either A or B is performed). The flow chart given in the Sample Task demonstrates this problem. Look at the stages for the writing test. In the second stage we can see that the writing paper is marked by an examiner. It is then sent to the examination board while at the same time the marks are sent to an administrator. These events occur concurrently. In the final stage, the papers are either stored or reassessed. These events are alternatives. It may happen that the diagram does not make much sense to you at first glance. Look for a starting point and follow through the stages in your mind before beginning to write. If it’s still not making sense, then go on to Task Two but make sure that you give yourself 20 minutes to complete the report before the end of the writing test time. It often happens that our brains can sort problems out for us even when we are focusing on something else. Report structure Like the line graphs, your report should be structured simply with an introduction, body and conclusion. Tenses should be used appropriately. Use one standard opening sentence to introduce the report. This opening sentence will make up the first paragraph. You should state simply what the process is. For example: The flow chart shows the marking procedures for national exam papers in Someland. Notice that the sample opening sentence does not simply copy the words used in the task instructions. Copied sentences will not be assessed by the examiner and so you waste your time including them. The body of the report will describe the process in a logical order. A conclusion will generally not be necessary in this kind of report. Grammar and vocabulary You will receive a higher mark if your writing uses a range of structures and vocabulary correctly rather than a limited number. If the flow chart is simple and linear then you may be able to link the stages together by simply using some of the following transition signals. To begin with First of all First Secondly, thirdly, etc Then Next After that Finally If the process is more complex, as in the example above, then you may need to also use these words Alternatively Otherwise In addition At the same time Concurrently Using the present simple passive The passive is associated with an impersonal formal style. It is often used in notices, announcements and describing processes. Compare the following sentences: Active: The examiner marks the test paper Passive: The test paper is marked The two sentences have the same meaning but the emphasis is different. In the active sentence we are more interested in the person or thing doing the action (the agent). In the passive sentence we are more interested in the person or thing affected by the action. If we want to mention the agent we use by: The test paper is marked by the examiner But often the agent is not important. The passive is not another way of expressing the same sentence in the active. We choose the active or passive depending on what we are more interested in. In the first sentence we are more interested in the examiner. In the second sentence we are more interested in the test paper. Subject is / are Past Participle (by agent) rapid Is marked (by the examiner)