Industrial Engineer articles from April 2006

Industrial Engineer archives from April 2006

No clothes, no service.(editor's desk)(Editorial)
April 1, 2006... In the well-known fable "The Emperor's New Clothes," we learn about the perils of vanity, deceit, and the pretensions of powerful people. Pointing out the facade of a well-oiled machine, like the child who so plainly pointed out the emperor's...

Cutting the middle kills productivity: middle managers are front-line communicators.(Front Line)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Cutting middle managers jeopardizes company productivity more than it saves costs, a study from McMaster University suggests. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "Middle managers are the front-line communicators with employees," according to Rick...

Fork truck training simplified: simulator preparation aimed at minimizing workplace risks.(Front Line)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Researchers in Spain are working on the implementation of a fork lift truck simulator aimed at minimizing workplace risks through training. The research is led by Public University of Navarre mechanical engineering department member Jesus...

Immigration officials posing as OSHA: professional associations object to impersonations.(Front Line)(Occupational Safety & Health Administration (US government))(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... At least two national professional associations have lodged complaints over reports that the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) may continue the practice of allowing agents to pose as Occupational Safety and Health...

Serious workplace injuries decline: financial consequences slowing but remain high.(Front Line)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... A new Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index reports a 6.2 percent drop in the number of serious workplace injuries. However, the financial impact remains high. In 2003, U.S. workers' compensation benefits totaled $50.8 billion for the most...

Dangerous influence.(Workplace alcohol use )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Workplace alcohol use and impairment directly affects an estimated 15% of the U.S. work force, or 19.2 million workers, according to a University of Buffalo study.

Policy changes could reduce injuries; Report: job rotation, other techniques help poultry workers.(Hispanic poultry workers injuries)
April 1, 2006... A survey of Hispanic poultry workers in western North Carolina suggests that policy changes such as encouraging job rotation and creating worker safety committees could result in fewer worker injuries. "Policy changes are needed to improve...

Ecological investment officer.(UNCOMMON IE)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... THE TASK AT HAND: The EcoEnterprises Fund--a joint initiative of The Nature Conservancy and the Inter-American Development Bank--uses the principles of venture capital to protect natural areas in Latin America and the Caribbean. The fund...

Supply chain superiority.(DON'T-MISS EVENT)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Promising "measures, metrics, and methodologies to synchronize your supply chain," Supply Chain Excellence 2006 offers two days of educational sessions under six umbrella categories plus a day of post-conference workshops. Topical areas include...

EDU briefs.(Front Line)(East Carolina University financed by North Carolina Biotechnology Center.)(University of Miami is launching Johnson A. Edosomwan Leadership Institute )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... New biomanufacturing-related bachelor's degrees in industrial engineering and industrial technology will debut at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C. The planning is being funded by a $15,000 grant from the North Carolina Biotechnology...

Mass casualty logistics planning: research partnership will aid disaster support.(Front Line)
April 1, 2006... Cornell University and Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC) are partnering with Lockheed Martin to develop a computerized system to help hospitals nationwide plan for and deal with mass casualties from disasters such as hurricanes, a flu...

Signs of respect.(SITE TO SEE)
April 1, 2006... Before grabbing your laptop and heading to the airport for your next international business meeting, make a quick stop at Aquent's Business of Touch (www.businessoftouch.com). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The site presents a succinct...

Recurring habit.(QUOTE, UNQUOTE)
April 1, 2006... "Business process re-engineering, which turned from fad to flop a few years ago, has rebounded and is now utilized by some 61 percent of companies," according to the Bain & Co. survey Management Tools 2005.

Safety and health competition open.(Front Line)
April 1, 2006... Organizations worldwide are eligible to participate in a National Safety Council competition for business excellence in safety, health, and environmental management. The call for Robert W. Campbell Award applications seeks successful...

Dilbert.(Cartoon)
April 1, 2006... www.dilbert.com scottadams@aol.com [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 8-23-05 [c]2005 Scott Adams, Inc./Dist. by UFS, Inc. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [c]Scott Adams/Dist. by United Feature Syndicate, Inc..

National safety through simulation: Sandia researchers use systems-level operations modeling.(Front Line)(United States. Department of Energy. Sandia National Laboratories)
April 1, 2006... Sandia National Laboratories' recent work on border security is on its way to providing federal agencies with simulation capability that lets officials test various security solutions prior to investing in them, according to Carolyn Pura. Pura...

Think like Toyota.(BOOK OF THE MONTH)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Toyota recently announced its plans to produce a record 9.06 million cars this year, a 10 percent increase over 2005. While many manufacturers have imitated the Toyota Production System or lean manufacturing, few have approached the efficiency...

Patent quality makeover: IBM hopes improvement initiative will drive U.S. innovation.(Front Line)(International Business Machines Corp.)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... IBM, the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and Open Source Development Labs will undertake an initiative focused on improving U.S. patent quality. The partnership, which will also involve members of the open source software community...

Are you afraid?(performance)(fear in workplace environment)
April 1, 2006... ARE THERE THINGS YOU ARE reluctant to do or say at work because of what the ramifications might be? I have had the experience of working in a few fear-based workplaces myself. It's obvious that fear in the workplace hinders personal, team,...

The elusive silver bullet.(management)
April 1, 2006... OUR CLIENTS REQUEST ASSESSMENTS from time to time, normally prompted by problems that management can't solve. Management typically believes that a single initiative will put the company back on track to meet sales growth and profit goals....

Making a good thing better.(supply chain)(optimam useage of supply chain)
April 1, 2006... DON'T LOOK NOW, BUT IT APPEARS your company's supply chain could use a little improvement. In fact, so could the supply chains of the companies located all around you. That's the essence of supply chain optimization, the process of seeking and...

Making a metric.(member forum)(managent of Software industry )
April 1, 2006... WHEN IT COMES TO PRODUCT support, everyone wants data. Customer service is the measure of a software company's performance and the key to its existence, yet it is often the first budget area to be cut because it is so difficult to measure and...

A clean, green set of wheels: an Indiana auto plant goes completely waste-free.(Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc.)
April 1, 2006... It had a humble beginning. First, it was newspapers, soda cans and bottles, and corrugated packaging--the things people typically throw into recycling bins in their own homes. At Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. in Lafayette, Ind., the process...

All-out kaizen: a continuous improvement plan delivers change to the production floor ... and dollars to the bottom line.
April 1, 2006... The philosophy of kaizen (continuous improvement) is the starting point and driver for all lean initiatives. Kaizen events are opportunities to make focused changes in the workplace, but they require solid planning and smart implementation. A...

The gold standard: work measurement remains infinitely valuable in the manufacturing landscape.
April 1, 2006... When standard hours aren't realistic, production schedules fail. Setting standard hours isn't just a major challenge for today's industrial engineer, it's critical. Some operations require high-cost, high-tech, traditional work measurement, but...

The need for speed: following NASCAR racing teams to a winning maintenance program.(National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)
April 1, 2006... Did you ever wonder how a NASCAR race was like a manufacturing plant? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Robert Williamson has spent more than 15 years drawing conclusions from that query. As a consultant for Strategic...

A telling fortune: supply chain demand management is where forecasting meets lean methods.
April 1, 2006... A company thought it had a forecasting problem. Many of its products were slow movers with spiking demand. It's a daunting forecasting problem when four units sell in one week, three the next, five the next, 10,000 the next, three the next, six...

Drawing up the best remedy.(SOLUTIONS IN PRACTICE)(hospital services)
April 1, 2006... The successes of the Toyota Production System have been widespread in the manufacturing sector for nearly half a century. The philosophy that powered the Japanese automaker into one of the 10 largest companies in the world--which became the...

Research.(Maintenance engineering)
April 1, 2006... This month we highlight research papers on equipment maintenance and quality assurance. The first paper is concerned with optimizing maintenance schedules when maintenance temporarily improves the equipment's performance but may not return the...

Setting a line standard.(ANSWERS TO YOUR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS )(method of assembly line productin)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Q: In an assembly line, should the line standard be set on the sum of the individual workstation standards or should it be set using the formula (Neck process time X Number of processes)? A: If by standard you mean the time required to...

Simulation options.(ANSWERS TO YOUR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Q: I am working for an insurance firm and would like to know if there are any packages that can integrate flowcharting with simulation. If so, can you tell me their cost and their functions? A: For a listing of all commercially available...

Vacation production.(ANSWERS TO YOUR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS)(effect in production when workers go on vacation)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Q: Production decreases when employees go on vacation, whether they are managers, supervisors, or production workers. Does production decrease according to one's position in the company? If so, by what percent? Would production decrease less if...

Grad school prep.(ANSWERS TO YOUR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS)(preparation for higher education)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Q: I am in my final year for completing a mechanical engineering bachelor's degree in India. I have applied for a graduate degree in industrial engineering in the United States and am confident of getting an admission. These are my...

Creating an IE department.(ANSWERS TO YOUR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS)(Industrial engineering)
April 1, 2006... Q: We are building the case to have an industrial engineering department within the organization and trying to locate resources to help us sell the idea to upper management and the operations people. Currently, there are about seven IEs in the...

Off-line accountability.(ANSWERS TO YOUR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS)(time management of working hours )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Q: My plant struggles with off-line activities: We lose the accountability on the workers that we have when they are tied to the line speed. Do you have any suggestions for how to ensure the workers are keeping an appropriate pace other than...

Magic city: enchanting Orlando awaits the IIE Annual Conference.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)(Institute of Industrial Engineers)(Calendar)
April 1, 2006... The foremost annual gathering of industrial engineers is just around the corner. The IIE Annual Conference, to be held May 20-24, is set amid one of the world's biggest attractions: SeaWorld--the Renaissance Orlando Resort at SeaWorld, to be...

Meet the team: introducing IIE's newly elected officials.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)
April 1, 2006... Board of Trustees President-Elect Louis Martin-Vega, Ph.D., P.E. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Senior Vice President -- Publications Joe Hartman, Ph.D. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Senior Vice President-at-Large -- Academic...

Scholarly gift.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)(Harold and Inge Marcus)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Harold and Inge Marcus recently made a generous donation to IIE to create an endowment and annual scholarship. The first $1,000 Marcus Scholarship will be awarded next year to a full-time student and current member of IIE who exhibits academic...

Chicago school wins IIE award.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)(Institute of Industrial Engineers)(St. Barnabas School of Chicago)
April 1, 2006... St. Barnabas School of Chicago won the IIE Award for Excellence in Systems Integration at the 2006 Future City competition for their urban city called West Destiny. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The award is given to the project that best...

Industrial Engineering at the University of Arkansas.(KUDOS CELEBRATING MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... C. Richard Cassady, Ph.D., was named the John L. Imhoff Chair in Industrial Engineering at the University of Arkansas. In 2005, he was named Industrial Engineering Faculty Member of the Year by the Arkansas Academy of Industrial Engineering....

CarlChang LLC.(KUDOS CELEBRATING MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS)
April 1, 2006... Carl Chang, Ph.D., P.E., president of CarlChang LLC and adjunct professor of industrial engineering at the University at Buffalo, has published a new text called Engineering Management: Challenges in the New Millennium, which has been adopted...

Leadership Institute at the College of Engineering.(KUDOS CELEBRATING MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS)(Edosomwan Leadership Institute)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The University of Miami recently launched the Johnson A. Edosomwan Leadership Institute at the College of Engineering. Edosomwan is an alumnus of the university's College of Engineering. The institute will offer leadership courses, master's...

STV Group.(KUDOS CELEBRATING MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS)(William F. Matts)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... William F. Matts, P.E., has been promoted to executive vice president of STV Group and director of the firm's national transportation and infrastructure division. In his new position, Matts directs more than 500 STV employees engaged in all...

National Science Foundation.(KUDOS CELEBRATING MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The National Science Foundation awarded Andrew Schaefer, Ph.D., the Faculty Early Career Development Award, its most prestigious honor for junior faculty members. Schaefer is an assistant professor and Wellington C. Carl Faculty Fellow in the...

Picture of health: Society for Health Systems Forum attracts record number.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... More than 240 registrants flocked to sunny San Diego to attend the 18th annual Society for Health Systems Forum in February. Forty-five presenters shared their experiences in topics such as Baldrige tenets, ISO 9001, lean, Six Sigma, labor and...

Kensington Computer Products Group.(WHAT ENGINEERS WANT)(PilotMouse Wireless Mini's )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Kensington's PilotMouse Wireless Mini's advanced laser tracking works precisely on almost any surface and uses 2.4 GHz wireless technology for ultra high-speed performance. An attached RF receiver automatically shuts down power, eliminating...

Saelig Co. Inc.(WHAT ENGINEERS WANT)(TrackStick )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... TrackStick by the Saelig Co. is a lipstick-sized tracking device that uses the latest in low-power GPS receiving technology to record dates, time, locations, speed, heading, and altitudes at pre-set intervals configured from a PC setup. The...

Central Tools Inc.(WHAT ENGINEERS WANT)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The Ultimate Worklight uses the latest in LED technology and optics to provide enough light to illuminate an entire work area. The thin profile and flexible neck allow the light to be directed anywhere. Powerful Neodymium magnets on the back...

Ideal Industries Inc.(WHAT ENGINEERS WANT)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The Mini Magnetic Laser Level by Ideal Industries has a working range of 650 feet in indoor conditions, 325 feet outside, and up to 1,500 feet in darkened rooms. Features include a cast aluminum body with rare earth magnets to provide secure...

Numina Group.(WHAT ENGINEERS WANT)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The Numina Group's One-Step Fulfillment System communicates with existing warehouse management systems, scans existing bar codes, and then generates and verifies every packing slip and shipping label. The system is designed to run continuously...

BioFit Engineered Products.(WHAT ENGINEERS WANT)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Visitors to BioFit Engineered Products' Web site can build their own chair with the company's Build Your Own Chair Configurator. Choose from a list of upholstery material or urethane for the seat and backrest, the type of chair base, and the...

J.W. Speaker Corp.(WHAT ENGINEERS WANT)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... With rugged aluminum die-cast housing, the LED Work Lamp Model 700 by J.W. Speaker Corp. is suited for construction and material handling applications. The compact oval unit features a 12 V to 48 V lamp and is available with optional...

Atdec Pty Ltd.(WHAT ENGINEERS WANT)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The Telehook Multi by Atdec employs an articulated swing arm and mounts directly to the wall. The telehook suits LCD and plasma flat-panel displays from 12 inches to 30 inches and all 12-inch-to-30-inch video and Electronics Standards...

Work perfect: the day we strive for.(Jaggers, Mark)(Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation of America)(Interview)
April 1, 2006... I get a great sense of satisfaction from improving our operation, and my perfect day would be geared toward creating continuous improvement at the plant. Here in Newnan, we manufacture golf carts, ATVs, wave-runners, and Rhinos--a new line...