Industrial Engineer articles from December 2008

Industrial Engineer archives from December 2008

Action!(editor's desk)(Conference news)(Column)
December 1, 2008... When I was informed about The Group of 20 (G20) meeting on the economy hosted by outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush in November, the message came in the form of a rather cynical e-news alert. Hours later, a second news clip took on the same...

Homes on demand: caterpillar recognizes he fellow's invention.(Behrokh Khoshnevis)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Caterpillar, the worlds largest manufacturer of construction equipment, is supporting research led by Behrokh Khoshnevis, professor of industrial and systems engineering and civil and environmental engineering at the University of Southern...

India honors profession: industrial engineering organization rewards 'best brains'.(National Institute of Industrial Engineers)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... In the city of Mumbai, India, where you'll find a population of approximately 18 million, there is a surge of industrial engineers in transportation and infrastructure, government and economics. The demands of such a large city have fueled the...

Safe role model: century-old manufacturer celebrates perfect safety record.
December 1, 2008... Three is the magic number for Colson Caster Corp., the worlds largest manufacturer of standard and custom application caster and wheel products. With three years of reporting no lost work due to accidents or on-the-job injuries, employees have...

A kid's ideal living: future city competition returns with greater challenges.
December 1, 2008... It takes an entire semester to build a city - at least for the middle school students in 40 regions across the country who are participating in the Future City Competition in January. In conjunction with National Engineers Week 2009, Future...

The leader in you.(BOOK OF THE MONTH)(Lead By Example )(Brief article)(Book review)
December 1, 2008... John Baldoni, author of Lead By Example, offers a simple definition of leadership: making good things happen. As chapter after chapter in his book demonstrates, the best way to show leadership is to give people a reason to believe and follow by...

The hours.(PRIME NUMBER)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... A call for work-life balance may push manufacturers in Hong Kong to reconsider their operating hours. A survey of 1,011 residents by the nonprofit organization Community Business found that Hong Kong's full-time employees work an average of...

Dilbert.(Cartoon)
December 1, 2008... CATBERT: EVIL DIRECTOR OF HUNAN RESOURCES I LIKE TO USE ROLE PLAY TO EVALUATE JOB APPLICANTS. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] PRETEND YOU'RE AN UNQUALIFIED LOSER. WOW. YOU'RE TOTALLY NAILING IT.

Planet, not just plant: Toyota's Tundra production workers beautify San Antonio.
December 1, 2008... Toyota Motor Corp.'s three-month production halt of its Tundra series turned out to be an eco-friendly move. Not only were more than 2,000 employees still paid during the delay, but some of them continued to he productive in the fresh outdoors....

Financial software designer.(UNCOMMON IE)(Citadel Investment Group L.L.C's David Sieger )(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... THE TASK AT HAND: As David Sieger says, the global financial marketplace is probably the most publicized industry today (e.g., there's a cable TV channel devoted to it). He's in the center of it all at Citadel, one of the largest hedge funds...

Burn rubber.(SITE TO SEE)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... While purchasing tires, there's a common scenario among novices. You walk into the showroom with recorded information like the tire size, tread and brand from your existing set; yet you become mesmerized when you see those shiny,...

Containing danger: imaging technology could detect harmful material inside cargo.
December 1, 2008... According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, more than 11 million cargo containers enter U.S. ports annually, and this number is expected to soar in the next 20 years with relaxed export taxes and extended supply chains worldwide....

'Conventional' is not a bad thing.(QUOTE, UNQUOTE)
December 1, 2008... "Based on my over three decades of material handling system experience spread over a variety of project settings, I have found that a high degree of automation does not necessarily equate to high performance. In fact, a high degree of...

Escaping reactive world.(performance)
December 1, 2008... An ORGANIZATION THAT FOCUSES on process improvement should be a proactive safe haven, a place where we can go to escape Reactive World. Unfortunately, this is not the case. In spite of our best efforts to escape Reactive World, we remain...

Low-volume lean.(management)
December 1, 2008... A COLLEAGUE INQUIRED HOW HIS company might be able to implement and benefit from lean manufacturing techniques despite a broad product line where they produced only two to three units of some models per month. This company experiences...

Infamous computer glitch.(human factors)
December 1, 2008... DO YOU REMEMBER THE SCENE IN the movie Robocop when the newest armed robot kills one of the people attending a meeting in a high-rise conference room? One of the characters offers the explanation that the problem is likely to be a "computer...

Befriend a podium.(member forum)(Conference news)(Column)
December 1, 2008... OVER THE COURSE OF MY 30-YEAR career, I have focused on improving my technical and managerial skills in a variety of ways. As I progressed professionally, I found that the best way for me to grow was by embracing the idea that to help others...

Better British hospitals: improving health care with whole systems thinking and simulation.
December 1, 2008... A FEW MONTHS AGO, MURAT GUNAL WAS IN PAIN AND visited his general physician (known as a GP in the United Kingdom). The physician was unsure whether the pain was serious, so she suggested a referral to a hospital-based specialist. Gunal feared...

What engineers want.(Wish List)
December 1, 2008... Be found SPOT, the world's first satellite messenger, provides safety and peace of mind for anyone who spends time in the outdoors or just wants to stay connected with a dedicated line of communication. Reliable in the water, at high...

Making cereal not cars.(A PRIMER ON PROCESS INDUSTRIES)
December 1, 2008... INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERS HAVE ALWAYS HAD TO ADAPT to diverse work environments ranging from automotive assembly plants to steel-making foundry operations. One work environment that has been historically challenging to IEs has been within what are...

Leading the way: the future of industrial engineering is in our hands.
December 1, 2008... On Feb. 15, 2006, a group of industrial engineering leaders convened at the University of Michigan to discuss the future of industrial engineering. One of the workshop exercises was called "Imagining the Future" and the assignment was as...

Striving for warehouse excellence: savvy material handling tools are helping in Europe.
December 1, 2008... Warehouse operations today must be flexible enough to meet constant changes in market requirements and customer demands. Autonomous vehicle storage and retrieval systems (AVS/RS) represent a relatively new and flexible technology that has been...

Keeping an eye out.(Case Study)(Worthington Industries Inc.)
December 1, 2008... Manufacturers and distributors are pressured by the nature of customer demand to complete on-time deliveries and maintain this performance for each future purchase. And while producers configure ways to meet such expectations efficiently, many...

Research.(managing advertising inventory )
December 1, 2008... Manufacturing firms have been using analytical IE techniques to improve their operations for a long time, but businesses in the service sector are now rapidly adopting advanced methodologies to improve their bottom lines. This month, we...

Ask the expert: answers to your technical questions.
December 1, 2008... Adding IE to IT Q: I did my master's degree in industrial engineering, but I am currently working as a software quality engineer. I am thinking of a career change. I would like to explore the possibilities of industrial engineering in the...

Innovative tools of the trade: rooms for improvement.(Emerging Technologies)
December 1, 2008... At British Petroleums (BP) England headquarters, inefficient methods in facilities planning frustrated the company's administrators. It took up to 20 hours a day to coordinate demands for the 140 meeting rooms located on BP's campus. ...

Log the vote: Polls open for board and regional elections, name change.(FOCUS)(Institute of Industrial Engineers)
December 1, 2008... As one of the most significant elections in the United States passes, a global election begins for the Institute of Industrial Engineers. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Online voting begins Dec. 15 for the election of HE Board of Trustees...

The day we strive for.(Work Perfect)
December 1, 2008... Through growth and acquisitions, Boston Scientific has become one of the biggest companies dedicated to less-invasive medicine. I have both a direct reporting relationship to our St, Paul, Minn., operations director and a dotted-line...