IIE Solutions articles from December 1998

IIE Solutions archives from December 1998

Times, they are a changin'.(changes in engineering profession)
December 1, 1998... Yesterday, I took an informal poll of the people who were assembled around a meeting table and asked participants what image was conjured up by the word "engineer." Serious. Practical. Nerd. Problem solving. Introverted. Focused. Stud muffin....

The power of information graphics.(part one)
December 1, 1998... Looking for ways to effectively handle the sometimes overwhelming amount of information that you must analyze, manage, and communicate? Thanks to developments in PCs, software, and peripherals, information graphics are becoming essential tools...

Evaluating the maintenance process: 21st-century management strategies for maintenance process improvement.
December 1, 1998... Maintenance will soon become the largest indirect operating cost, second only to direct cost of operations. The cost of maintenance is already in the hundreds of billions of dollars annually in the United States. It is many times that amount...

Calculating safety stock: simple solutions aren't the best ones.
December 1, 1998... Inventory is a huge expense for manufacturing companies, one that often exceeds annual profits. Much of this inventory is held in the form of safety stock. A division of one well-managed U.S. manufacturing company recently analyzed its $6...

Facilities design for lean manufacturing.(includes terminology)
December 1, 1998... As manufacturers strive to become more competitive in the global marketplace, they look at emerging concepts such as lean thinking that might have the potential to focus their operations on significant bottom-line improvements. Lean thinking...

The great data grab: automatic data collection techniques enhance maintenance management.
December 1, 1998... Like any other mission-critical activity, maintenance management is driven by information. Computer systems automate many aspects of maintenance operations, usually relying on keyboard input and paper output to collect and disseminate...

The upside of process improvement.
December 1, 1998... The individual insurance group of a Fortune 500 insurance company knew that its process for settling death claims had been suffering from too many hand-offs, lengthy cycle times, a high cost structure, and numerous complaints from...

A smart way to improve maintenance management.
December 1, 1998... CHALLENGE: Find a way to eliminate the burdens of paperwork while enhancing the precision of capturing data for preventive and corrective maintenance procedures. STRATEGY: Implement a handheld data collection and mobile computing solution...