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To introduce blockchain in simple terms for business lawyers to be able to spot the right issues and ask the right questions.

This article provides an overview of blockchain, identifies two example use cases, and highlights some of the most pressing legal issues, including issues to address in on-chain programming, off-chain agreements and other issues when determining whether to implement a blockchain solution.

This article concludes that there has been a significant growth in investment and interest in blockchain. Numerous companies across different sectors have developed blockchain proof-of-concepts, with some heading towards production deployments. At this point, commercial blockchain is largely in the pilot or proof-of-concept stage across a wide range of use cases, with payments and supply chain being two of the most promising use cases. This article also identifies possible legal issues associated with blockchain.

Despite the growing interest in blockchain, it is still a novel topic to many business lawyers. It is very important that lawyers are able to identify the right issues and ask the right questions.

Practical guidance from experienced lawyers in the Technology Transactions and Financial Services Regulatory & Enforcement practices.

Lean manufacturing (LM) concepts have been widely adopted in diverse industrial sectors. However, no literature review focusing on case studies describing LM implementation is available. Case studies represent the actual implementation and provide secondary data for further analysis. This study aims to review the same to understand the pathways of LM implementation. In addition, it aims to analyse other related review questions, such as how implementing LM impacts manufacturing capabilities and the maturity level of manufacturing organisations that implemented LM, to name a few.

A literature review of case studies that discuss the implementation of LM during the last decade (from 2010 to 2020) is carried out. These studies were synthesised, and content analyses were performed to reveal critical insights.

The implementation pattern of LM significantly varies across manufacturing organisations. The findings show simultaneous improvement in manufacturing capabilities. Towards the end of the last decade, organisations implemented LM with radio frequency identification, e-kanban, simulation, etc.

Reviewing the case studies documenting LM implementation to comprehend the various nuances is a novel attempt. Furthermore, potential future research directions are identified for advancing the research in the domain of LM.

The purpose of this work was to modify the surface of parawood sawdust (Hevea brasiliensis) microcrystalline cellulose (PW-MCC) used as reinforcing agent in polypropylene composites with benzoyl chloride under a mechanochemistry process.

The acetylated PW-MCC was produced from heterogeneous condition using planetary ball mill process at a rotation speed of 400 rpm. Before the esterification reaction, PW-MCC was pre-treated with pyridine at 60°C for 1 h in order to penetrate and swell the cellulose structure. The optimum condition of esterified PW-MCC with various molar ratios of benzoyl chloride/anhydroglucose unit (AGU) was studied. The degree of substitution, functional group, thermal stability and morphology of esterified cellulose were characterized by ¹H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

The functional group from FTIR confirmed that PW-MCC was successfully esterified with benzoyl chloride. The optimum condition which gave the maximum degree of substitution at 3.00 was achieved by using benzoyl chloride/AGU at 5 for 1 h. SEM analysis revealed that the modified PW-MCC surface became rougher than the unmodified PW-MCC surface. The polypropylene composites with 5-30 wt% PW-MCC and esterified PW-MCC were prepared without compatibilizer.

The composites with esterified PW-MCC enhanced water resistance and thermal stability when compared to composites with PW-MCC.