IIE Solutions articles from January 2001

IIE Solutions archives from January 2001

Phases of a project.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... 1. Exultation 2. Disenchantment 3. Search for the guilty 4. Punishment of the innocent 5. Praise for the uninvolved

In a sleepy stupor.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Scott Adams After 17 to 19 hours of staying awake -- a normal working day for many people -- reaction times are up to 50 percent slower than they are after drinking alcohol, shows research in occupational and environmental medicine from...

New pricing structure for international members coming.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... After considering the cost-benefit ratio of international membership, the IIE Board of Trustees has developed a new pricing structure for members located beyond the United States' borders. The rate change was enacted to promote diversification...

A very productive series.
January 1, 2001... IIE's Fall Productivity Series, which featured 10 seminars, yielded 33 new members. The work-shops included topics such as work measurement, facility design, IE fundamentals, lean manufacturing, and P.E. exam review. The Spring...

Online returns software.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Return Central.com's virtual returns desk helps e-businesses facilitate Online returns. Because the software is integrated into the company's e-commerce storefront, customers can make arrangements for returns via the site where the merchandise...

Cordless phone meets two-way radio.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... The Telario is a communication system that uses digital technology to integrate cordless telephones with two-way radios. Users can take calls while away from their desks and use the handset to communicate immediately with other users. The...

Building supervisory skills.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Prentice Hall's self-study program, "Get a Grip on Supervisory Skills," offers a way for supervisors to develop the skills they need through a series of lessons. Once readers have completed all the lessons in the workbook, they are invited to...

Supply chain in a box.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... PeopleSoft Supply Chain in a Box is a pre-assembled Internet supply chain solution that offers integrated applications for customer management, e-commerce, order fulfillment, planning, and supply chain analytics. The software automates...

New version of forecasting software.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Time Trends Forecast Warehouse version 2.5 is a Windows-based system for middle-tier manufacturing and distribution companies. Version 2.5 enhancements include better support for automation of redundant, periodic, and batch operations; faster...

Edge-belt conveyors.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Quick Edge edge-belt conveyors are suitable for transporting both large and miniature items within electronic assembly, test, and inspection equipment. Features include standard or low-profile extruded rails, zone control or product metering,...

Making fewer mistakes.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Mistake-Proof It is a computer-based training program that helps organizations learn a systematic way to avoid mistakes. Its mistake-proofing log feature, an electronic performance support system that helps users apply their training to...

Flexible hardware housing.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... EasyChassis is a convertible chassis built to house computer hardware components. It can be configured as a rack-mount, desktop, or a tower, and can be converted to fit in hundreds of applications. EasyChassis features the ability to...

Physics for the real world.(Review)
January 1, 2001... Factory Physics: Foundations of Manufacturing Management by Wallace J. Hopp and Mark L. Spearman is a textbook industrial engineers can refer to while doing jobs in the real world. It places a mathematical framework around the behavior of...

Tribute to an inventor.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Say "Rube Goldberg" and what springs to mind are images of complicated, laboriously contrived contraptions that perform simple operations. To most people, the words also convey a spirit of wild originality with a twist of wry humor. The...

Familiarity breeds mistrust.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Managers responsible for assigning employees to project teams may find that people with similar job backgrounds don't trust each other as much as they do co-workers with other backgrounds, a University of Missouri-Rolla researcher suggests. ...

The American Society of Safety Engineers Foundation.(grant to study industrial safety)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... * The American Society of Safety Engineers Foundation is partnering with the American Industrial Hygiene Foundation to offer a $12,000 grant to explore the development of safety cultures in industry.

A chair with sense.(posture-sensing chair)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Are you slouching? Leaning? Crossing your legs? If so, you're not sitting in an ergonomically correct posture -- and a new sensing chair may be able to set you straight. Purdue University engineers have developed a chair that can determine a...

Manufacturing education for high school students.(Ford Academy of Manufacturing Sciences courses)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... High school kids in southwest Pennsylvania will have a chance to learn about science, math, technology, communications, and business at the Ford Academy of Manufacturing Sciences, a project that partners with the schools to reach students. The...

The next new and improved fad.(business books criticized)(Brief Article)(Critical Essay)
January 1, 2001... I used to bean avid reader of business books. But a few years ago I went through a phase of avoiding the business aisle in the bookstore altogether. I was fed up with seeing the same concepts repackaged with catchy new titles and fancy covers....

Bait-and-switch ergonomics.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... I recently experienced the joy of pre-owned automobile shopping. I wondered if there is any other thing so fraught with misdirection and slight of hand as the buying of a used car. Yes: ergonomics. A background in engineering goes a long...

Winning over the boss.(effective business presentations)
January 1, 2001... Presenting ideas and proposals to senior executives can be intimidating. Fortunately, you can improve your briefings by applying a few principles and techniques that smooth the process. Below are eight principles culled from a survey of...

The Next Big Thing.(forecasts for the industrial engineering profession)
January 1, 2001... Industrial engineers weigh in with what they believe the future holds for their profession It depends on perspective: Simulation gurus tend to think the next big thing for industrial engineering will be a simulation-related breakthrough,...

Optimizing economic order quantity.(inventory control)
January 1, 2001... Inventory models for calculating optimal order quantities and reorder points existed long before the arrival of the computer. When the first Model T Fords were rolling off the assembly line, manufacturers were already reaping the financial...

Advanced memory and lean change.(Memory Corp. management principles)(bibliography included)
January 1, 2001... How a contract manufacturer of advanced memory solutions used lean concepts to reduce cycle times Often, implementing change requires only simple mechanics, offering no greater challenges than to find someone who's already walked the...

The search for ABET evaluators.(The Institute of Industrial Engineers trains members as evaluators)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Being ABET evaluator allows IEs to serve their profession The Institute of Industrial Engineers has the responsibility for recruiting and training members to act as program evaluators to participate in the accreditation process for...

The passing of 'a legend'.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... IIE life member and Fellow Mitchell Fein, P.E., died of Parkinson's disease Aug. 12. He was 84 years old. According to his friend and colleague Jerome D. Wiesenberg, Fein had served more than 300 companies as an industrial engineering...

Lear Corp.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... * Lear Corp.'s molding operations facility in Peru, Ind., has been awarded the State of Indiana Quality Improvement Award. The 164-employee Lear Peru plant produces plastic components for electrical junction boxes and related wiring connectors,...

University of Tennessee.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... * Engage, a freshman engineering fundamentals program at the University of Tennessee, received a three-year, $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop and maintain the initiative. Engage is a project-oriented approach to...

Amazon.com.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... South Carolina entrepreneur and IIE member James Abbott's book SPC: Practical Understanding of Capability by Implementing Statistical Process Control has reached the top of Amazon.com's listing of mast popular statistical process control...

F. Everett Williams.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... * The family of the late F. Everett Williams has established a scholarship fund with the Georgia Southern University Foundation. The $250,000 gift supports undergraduate students majoring in civil engineering technology, electrical engineering...

Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... * Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America celebrated the production of the company's 150,000th forklift in October.

Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... * The Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association reported that the number of booked orders and shipments may significantly exceed the record-setting results of 1999. CEMA estimates industry totals of $4 billion in new conveyor orders and $3.6...

SeeCommerce and Statware Inc.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... * SeeCommerce and Statware Inc. have formed a technology partnership to integrate Statware's graphical analysis engine into the SeeChain supply chain visibility and performance measurement applications. The integration will give SeeCommerce...

What you see is what you ... hear?(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... A combination of visual and audio stimulation may be the best way to get workers' attention, according to a study conducted by scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. Researchers John J. McDonald, Ph.D., Steven...

DaimlerChrysler FastCar.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... DaimlerChrysler Corp.'s new FastCar program is an Internet-based project that links product creation and volume production processes to the procurement and customer network to gain maximum efficiency. FastCar will connect the company's design,...

Holding a job, having a life.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... How to pursue a career and still have time left for family, leisure, and rest? To many workers, it seems impossible. But a study conducted by the nonprofit Work in America Institute shows how some companies are pursuing a "dual agenda" -- that...

Making the grade and the game.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... NAIA Division II Academic All-America Scholar-Athlete South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Rapid City, S.D. Playing games isn't the best way to succeed... unless you're an athlete. Amy Wilson, a senior industrial engineering major...

Study reveals targets for health care cost reductions.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... An analysis of medical claims done for the Institute for Health and Productivity Management suggests that employers can realize large cost savings -- and potential productivity gains -- by strategically targeting their disease management...

Free tools you can use.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... With the new-year shopping hangover pounding in your wallet, it's time to delete the bookmarks for Amazon.com, eToys, and Banana Republic, and get back to business, How about a short list of tools that can make work a tad bit easier? *...

Baldrige winners announced.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... The winners of the 2000 Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award -- the highest honor for quality performance in the United States -- have been named. Four organizations were chosen by a panel of quality experts: * Dana Corp.-Spicer Driveshaft...

NEWSMAKERS.(executive appointments and awards)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... * Airwire.net Inc. appointed Jon M. Knight, Ph.D., to its technical advisory board. A renowned economist and financial expert, Knight is the president of Sentinel International Asset Management Ltd. He earned his IE bachelor's degree from the...

Manufacturing technology's contributions.(role in economic growth)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... What impact have manufacturing technology improvements had on the U.S. economy? A new study titled "Producing Prosperity -- Manufacturing Technology's Unmeasured Role in Economic Expansion" suggests that the contributions rival those of...

Human factors for better ballots.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... The same principles that human factors experts use to ensure user-friendly designs in consumer products should be applied to the design of both paper and machine election ballots, according to a State University of New York-University at...

Firsthand tour of manufacturing software.(Review)
January 1, 2001... If you've wondered how the manufacturing software industry got to be the powerhouse it is today, look no further than The Road to Manufacturing Success: Common Sense Throughput Solutions for Small Business by Richard T. Lilly with Frank O....

OSHA ergo standard released.(Occupational Safety and Health Administration, ergonomics)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has released its ergonomic standard, a new set of rules for handling work-related injuries and illnesses that has been hotly debated among ergonomists, business owners, and workers. According to...

A new look at engineering.(an engineering and travel web site)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... As part of National Engineers Week's 50th anniversary celebration, the National Society of Professional Engineers and its partners are creating "A Sightseer's Guide to Engineering," a Web-based travel guide that will encourage adults and kids...

Toyota bestows Quality Alliance Gold Award.(Toyota Motor Corporation)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... The Toyota Quality Alliance Gold Supplier Award was presented to Collins and Aikman's North American Automotive Interior Systems Division's Accessory Mat Operations during Toyota Motor Sales' yearly supplier award ceremony Steve Sehmer, product...

Mechanical and psychological factors key to forearm pain.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Is forearm pain caused purely by repetitive movements of the arms or wrists? Maybe not, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal suggesting that several other factors -- such as high levels of psychological distress and...

Rangers need posture control, too.(ergonomics for Yellowstone National Park's rangers)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Yellowstone National Park's rangers must greet millions of visitors each year who arrive in tour buses, cars, motorcycles, and everything in between. The result is that the rangers assume a number of awkward and potentially hazardous postures...

Haiku, do you?(poetry contest for engineers)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... If you have retained any random bits of literary trivia from your high-school English courses, one of them might well be the wonder of haiku. Think back, and you can probably dredge up vague memories of this traditional Japanese form of poetic...