Archive for the ‘Office Supplies’ Category
What is an Engineer?
Many people have heard of careers in engineering, but few people know exactly what this means. Often, the field of engineering is confused with science. While science and engineering may be closely related, these two fields are very different. A famous quote by aerospace engineer Theodore Von Karman sums up the difference between science and engineering nicely: “Scientists discover the world that exists; engineers create the world that never was.” This is not to say that engineers do not use science. Engineers apply math and science principals to develop solutions to various problems.
Engineers may do a variety of things from designing products to designing the machines that produce those products, from designing buildings and structures to designing processes to make systems work at their highest rate of efficiency and effectiveness. Engineers design, plan, and direct the construction of buildings, transit systems, and highways. Engineers develop and put into action improved ways to extract, process, and use raw materials, such as petroleum and natural gas. Engineers may also develop new materials that both take advantage of advances in technology and improve the performance of products. An engineer may also attempt to utilize the power of the sun, the Earth, atoms, and electricity for use in creating various types of power supplies. They analyze the impact of the products they develop or the systems they design on the environment and on people using them. Engineers may also use their knowledge to improve many things, including the quality of healthcare systems and procedures, the safety of food items, and the way financial systems operate.
Engineers may work in many varied environments. Engineers can be found in scientific laboratories or manufacturing plants. Engineers can work inside office buildings or in the great outdoors. Engineers work with many different types of equipment from highly specialized computers to more simple printing devices such as plotters that print engineering documents on large format engineering paper rolls.
The type of person that usually makes a good engineer is a person with a mind that is geared towards things mathematical and scientific. Most engineers are natural problem solvers and enjoy the challenges of solving new problems. Engineers are usually curious and creative people who are often characterized by their friends and peers as innovative thinkers. Often engineers work on teams, so having a team player type of personality can be advantageous to someone seeking a career in the field of engineering.
A person interested in engineering may have a hard time choosing an area of specialization because there are so many options to choose from. There are at least twenty five recognized fields in the area of engineering including aerospace engineering, architectural engineering, bioengineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, environmental engineering, industrial engineering, manufacturing engineering, materials engineering, mechanical engineering, nuclear engineering, and software engineering. Careers in engineering have a very good economic outlook as well. Engineers are generally highly sought after and they earn salaries in the high to very high range.
Storing Thermal Paper
Almost every small business with a brick and mortar sales operation that deals with individual consumers uses thermal paper. Thermal paper rolls are used in cash registers, credit card authorization machines, automated gas pumps, and a variety of other point of sale (POS) machines. Depending upon the volume of business that is conducted on a weekly basis, however, some small businesses may not use enough thermal paper in their ordinary operations to keep their supply of it turning over quickly. In those cases, the small business needs to store the excess in a manner that is going to preserve the thermal paper and keep it in good condition until needed.
Most people know that thermal paper is heat activated, but don’t realize that if it is stored in a very hot place, the ambient temperature can cause the ink to be released and darken the paper rendering it unusable. It takes quite high temperatures so this isn’t an issue for most businesses, but some need to take special precautions. Businesses like pizzerias or restaurants should take care not to store thermal paper anywhere near their ovens or stoves. This includes stacking it in storage rooms that may abut high temperature equipment and fixtures. Likewise, it is common sense to keep paper products away from furnaces, but the heat from radiators or forced hot water systems can also cause the paper to develop prematurely. Make sure that it is not placed near these fixtures either.
Another enemy of thermal paper and most other kinds of paper, as well, is moisture. Thermal paper should be stored in a dry storage area. Damp basements or rooms subject to leaks or excessive plumbing condensation should not be used. Thermal paper doesn’t need to come into direct contact with a source of water to be completely ruined. A humid storage space can cause thermal paper any most papers to absorb water directly from the atmosphere. This can initially cause the paper to lose some rigidity and tend to jam when it is being run through printers. Over time, however, too much humidity can cause paper to get moldy. Once this happens, the paper is ruined. Many thermal paper rolls come wrapped in a thin plastic covering which can help them resist damage from short term exposure to moisture, but over the long term, even that won’t help.
Thermal paper is one of those business supplies that can be much cheaper when purchased in bulk. Just because your business doesn’t use mountains of thermal paper each week, doesn’t have to mean that you can’t take advantage of bulk pricing. As long as the balance of your thermal paper is stored in a cool, dark, and dry location, it should last for many months without degradation.