IIE Solutions articles from December 1999

IIE Solutions archives from December 1999

The Y2K-complacent editor.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Time will tell soon enough whether I've been coolly nonchalant or naively foolhardy: The only year-end provisions I've managed to stash in the pantry are four jugs of water, a dozen cans of Healthy Request soup (it was on sale last week), and...

Letters to the Editor.
December 1, 1999... Recruitment by bumper sticker? "Industrial engineering: The one best way." That recently selected slogan for an IIE bumper sticker is ill informed. It will not win us any brownie points when trying to recruit future IE students. I tried it...

Correction.(Brief Article)(Correction Notice)
December 1, 1999... Author David Poirier's name was misspelled in the byline of the October issue feature "Get Better Results." Our apologies for the error.

Inventory turnover on the rise.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Companies have made significant strides in improving inventory turnover since 1995 and they expect further improvement by the end of 2000, according to a new report published by the Warehousing Education and Research Council. The report,...

Where business is best.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... North Carolina the best place in the United States to do business. So says Site Selection magazine in its annual business climate comparisons. The top 20 states were: 1. North Carolina 2. Texas 3. Ohio 4. Florida 5....

NACME: Funds will help retain minority engineering students.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 1999... Privately funded financial aid from foundations, individuals, and corporations, as well as aid from colleges and universities and increased federal funding may help improve minority graduation rates in engineering, according to the National...

Internship program gives students logistics practice.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... An internship program sponsored by the Council of Logistics Management puts logistics employers in touch with college students who are interested in exploring careers in logistics management. Typical assignments for the upper-class...

How green is green?(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 1999... Conserving natural resources is one goal of "green manufacturing." But an analysis by Tillman Gerngross of the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College has revealed that in some cases, green manufacturing may be more energy-consuming...

Excellent forklift.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Productive Plastics Inc., a custom thermoforming company specializing in large parts, took home first prize in a competition sponsored by the Society of Plastics Engineers. The distinction was given for part design and processing excellence in...

Jump-starting the problem-solving mentality.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... The National Science foundation has unveiled an effort designed to encourage U.S. students to identify and solve real problems. The competition, called JumpStart 2000, challenges students in kindergarten through grade 12 to use science and...

NEWSMAKERS.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... John Briant has been appointed vice president of materials, quality, and process management at EFTC Corp., an electronics manufacturing services provider. Briant joined EFTC in 1998 as director of process and quality management. He was...

Engineering fun.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... When Kari Novatney says her job is fun, she means it. As the vice president and general manager of Metreon, a theme park and shopping mall in San Francisco's South of Market district, Novatney -- an industrial engineer -- leads the crew that...

Concurrent design addresses responsiveness.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... The 1980s saw the manufacturing industry focused on reducing manufacturing cycle times. But as the industry became satisfied with cycle times and began to cope with issues of market demands, another bottleneck surfaced: Long product and process...

More employers conducting safety self-audits.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 1999... More than 85 percent of employers in a recent Occupational Safety and Health Administration survey said they conduct voluntary self-audits of safety and health conditions in their workplaces. This is approximately a 60 percent increase from...

Research journals join to offer online service.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Twelve publishers of scientific and scholarly journals are collaborating on an innovative reference-linking initiative that will enable online research. The reference-linking service is a cooperative effort among Academic Press; the...

Federal Research Investment Act.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... An October news conference in Washington found Rep. Heather Wilson, Sen. Bill Frist, and Sen. Pete Domenici in support of the Federal Research Investment Act. The bill would increase financial support for federally funded civilian research and...

The Consolidated Edison Company.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... The Consolidated Edison Company of New York and The DuPont Co. were named winners of the second annual Leadership Circle Award for outstanding achievement in promoting diversity in the engineering enterprise. The awards are given annually by...

University of Wisconsin-Madison.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... William Zinsser, author of such popular books as On Writing Well and Writing to Learn, delivered a series of presentations at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in November. Among the groups he spoke to were three engineering classes....

Small Business Technology Transfer Research program.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... The Department of Defense Small Business Technology Transfer Research program, which will provide $30 million in research and development funding in FY2000, will launch its solicitation program Jan. 4, 2000. Small business applicants interested...

GE Appliances.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... GE Appliances' Decatur, Ala., refrigerator production plant was recognized by the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration for the excellence of its health and safety programs. Formal STAR status was conferred on the facility,...

American Society for Quality.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... The largest U.S. quality organization and a staffing provider have announced an alliance. QualityPower will combine the resources of the American Society for Quality with those of Manpower Professional to provide staffing solutions for...

Deneb.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... A grant of approximately $1.4 million was awarded to Ohio Northern University to purchase Deneb's Virtual Manufacturing software.

Don't leave your metrics at the office.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Many engineers lead data-driven work lives. They use this data to make decisions and track progress against objectives. They use metrics to determine the success or failure of operations. However, once they leave work, engineers tend to forget...

Secretary of Defense Quality Management Office.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... http://web5.whs.osd.mil/ Among the offerings of this DoD quality management site is an extensive best practices database, a searchable library, and information on government-sponsored quality awards.

American Indian Science and Engineering Society.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... http://www.aises.com This home page for AISES provides a wealth of information for American Indians about education in technological areas. Scholarship listings and a career center will be of special interest to students.

OpsResearch.com.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... http: //www.opsresearch.com Though the main purpose of the site is to promote software sales, anyone interested in operations research will find something of interest. A newsletter on operations research and a list of links round out the...

Engineering Net.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... http://www.jets.org/engnet.htm Engineering Net is a student resource that explains what engineering is, what engineers do, and how to prepare for an engineering career. Visitors will find suggestions for activities and how to involve...

Reliability Analysis Center.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... http://rac.iitri.org The mission of the center is to provide technical expertise and information in the engineering disciplines related to reliability and to facilitate cost-effective implementation throughout all phases of the product or...

Office Ergonomics.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... http://www.ur-net.com/office-ergo This site, hosted by a company that specializes in ergonomics training, contains information for both office workers and ergonomics professionals.

The Community Quality Page.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... http://www.worldtrans.org/comqual.html This selection of articles from the Journal for Qualify and Participation focuses on total quality management as it relates to building better communities.

Annals of Operations Research.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... http://www.baltzer.nl/anor/anor.html The electronic version of this OR journal is fully accessible as PDF files. Submission instructions, an order form, news, and searching capabilities are also available.

EEOC's Employer Liability for Unlawful Harassment.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... http://www.eeoc.gov/docs/harassment.html Within the Web site of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is this Set of guidelines about situations in which an employer can be held liable for supervisors' behavior.

Verite.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... http://www.verite.org Verite is dedicated to eliminating human rights abuses from the supply chains of U.S companies that outsource production globally. One news item lists disturbing trends in global production.

New Grange Center for Project Management.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... http://www.newgrange.org New Grange's mission is to further the discussion of project management as a professional discipline. Its focus is a hands-on, practical approach to project management.

World Engineers' Convention 2000.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... http://www.vdi.de/wec Next year's World Engineers' Convention takes place in Germany June 19-21. This site is chock-full of information about topics, presentations, speakers, and forums slated for the event.

High-performance paradoxes.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... I began preaching to the general public about the need for total quality in the early 1990s. At that time, "If Japan Can, Why Can't We" was a popular video, and the threat of Japanese market domination was an effective motivator for encouraging...

An unpredictable path.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Phylipp Dilloway has held many titles in his unpredictable career: Navy officer, printer, labor arbitrator, politician, industrial engineer, and professor. Though he is now semi-retired, Dilloway says, "I'm not ready for the funny farm yet. I...

The ergonomics puzzlement.
December 1, 1999... Why accountants, attorneys, and politicians play as large a role in American ergonomics practices as ergonomists, engineers, and physicians Ergonomics is like a puzzle. Some business people consider it a simplistic, brightly colored...

Count your parts.(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 1999... Improving storeroom accuracy for maintenance customers Those of us in the business of supplying spare parts to maintenance customers have an obligation to maintain accurate inventory balances in our storerooms. We do this because an...

Sell your project.(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 1999... How cost benefit analysis and a little psychology can help get your project funded You are a highly skilled professional. You face the toughest integrals with impunity, install software without blinking an eye, balance a free-body...

Time study certification in the works.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... "Many universities have stopped requiring work measurement courses in their undergraduate programs, so industrial engineers are graduating without these skills, even though they are among the core skills that underlie the IE philosophy," said...

Grossman set to lead publications.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... "I want to make IIE Solutions the ultimate industry publication in the country -- the definitive source for industrial engineers," said Michael Grossman, the new director of publications at IIE. "We're going to raise the level so that the...

A lifetime of leadership.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... In 1958, when the Institute of Industrial Engineers was just 10 years old, Purdue University industrial engineering department head Harold Amrine told his newest faculty member to join IIE -- then called the American Institute of Industrial...

Ammons signs on as secretary of the Board.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... The IIE Board of Trustees welcomed Jane Ammons as secretary of the Board. "I'm honored to be asked," noted Ammons. "I hope I can make a worthy contribution to the BOT and our profession." Ammons began her term at the BOT meeting that was...

Success for SWS.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... The third annual conference of the Society for Work Science was deemed a rousing success by coordinators. The conference, which was held Oct. 18-19 at Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, Ga., boasted a record attendance of 86,...

Simulation update.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... The Simulation Solutions Conference in Hilton Head, S.C., is just around the corner: March 20-22, 2000. Attendees can look forward to three preconference workshops, keynote speakers, and a golf tournament to be held at the Shipyard Golf Club,...

Aerospace conference taking off.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... A conference on Achieving Excellence in Aerospace, Aviation, and Airline Operations is in the works at IIE. The conference, which will be held Oct. 16-17, 2000, at the Airport Hilton Hotel in Atlanta, will provide a chance for IEs in the...

Support for Ergo conference grows.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Several technical groups are supporting IIE's Applied Ergonomics Conference, which will be held March 14-16, 2000, in Los Angeles. Co-sponsors include the American Association of Operating Room Nurses, the Society for Work Science, Ergonomic...

Mapping continuing education.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... IIE staff met with Board of Trustees Senior Vice President-at-Large Bob Chasse Oct. 22 to continue mapping key processes. "Bob is excellent to work with," commented Ellen Vaguer, director of continuing education. "He keeps asking, 'What can we...

BOT moving forward.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... "The recent Board of Trustees meeting was incredibly productive," noted IIE Director of Member Programs and Benefits Terry Clements. "A tremendous amount of work got done, including detailed plans." Topics discussed during the meeting,...

Don't miss out on e-mail.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... E-mail is an efficient and economical means of communication, so IIE headquarters continues to make increasing use of electronic messaging to the membership. If your e-mail address is not part of your member record or if you have changed your...

Tool caddy for storage and transport.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... With 60 to 192 tool holders, the six-shelf mobile tool caddy from Command Tooling Systems organizes and transports tool holders from a machining center to another cell or to a tool set-up area and tool crib. With a capacity of up to 2,000...

Forecasting software for small and midsize manufacturers.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Business Forecast System's Forecast Pro software has been integrated into the Made2Manage Demand Planning Module. The system automatically generates forecasts using a library of forecasting algorithms. The user can access a fully interactive...

Paperless MES.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... iBASEt has developed a shrink-wrapped version of is Solumina paperless manufacturing execution system software. Solumina is an integrated manufacturing software system for discrete, complex engineer-to-order, and make-to-order organizations in...

Data collection terminals for manufacturing.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Intelli-Track, a new line of data collection terminals from Accu-Time Systems, is designed for both discrete and process applications. The terminals come with software utilities that allow users to configure the application and transfer data to...

Manufacturing add-on for accounting.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... User Solutions Inc. has released Peachtree Accounting Link (PAL), which runs with Resource Manager for Excel. Resource Manager PAL allows Peachtree Accounting users to manage manufacturing operations without having to learn a new system or...

Print-and-apply labeler.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... The Little David VersaLabel system allows message information supplied by a host computer to be printed on labels by thermal transfer printing. The labels are then applied automatically or semi-automatically to products or cartons. Printing...

Small collision sensor.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... The QuickStop QS-7 collision sensor, slightly larger than a half-dollar and weighing only 0.24 pounds, can detect the collision of components weighing only a few ounces and then stop automation equipment to protect it from damage. The QS-7 can...

Upgraded business software.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... HarrisData Business Application Software version 8.0/02 for manufacturing, distribution, financial, and human resources management, focuses on leveraging the IBM Integrated Language Environment (ILE). ILE allows HarrisData applications to...

Interactive training series.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... The Essentials of Leadership series, designed specifically to train industrial supervisors in effective managerial skills, consists of eight programs that cover the fundamentals of effective management using examples from typical on-the-job...

Lift truck for narrow aisle storage.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... The Crown TSP Series Turret Stockpicker is designed to work in a very narrow aisle. It features a lift height of up to 530 inches and a load capacity of up to 2,000 pounds. The truck's four point suspension distributes truck and load weight...

Virginia Tech.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Faculty Openings in Human Factors and Ergonomics Engineering, General Industrial Engineering, and Operations Research Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering The Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) Department at Virginia...

When engineers think too much.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... No known species of reindeer can fly, but there are 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified. While most of these are insects and germs, this does not completely rule out flying reindeer, which only Santa has seen. There...