Industrial Engineer articles from February 2008

Industrial Engineer archives from February 2008

Sound of cooperation.(evluating active listening process)(Editorial)
February 1, 2008... One of my favorite undergraduate professors taught acting classes that were very popular. Emphasizing "listening appreciation" techniques in which everyone learned to mimic animal sounds and movie lines, his curriculum appealed to students from...

Power in threes.(RANTS AND RAVES)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... I am an IE undergraduate at Arizona State University. I will be finishing my degree in May 2008 and am currently working as a simulation consultant in the health care industry. I just wanted to comment on the excellent article "Prestigious...

Featured fluff?(RANTS AND RAVES)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... As a consultant, having performed a significant amount of work in the alcoholic beverage distribution business, I was excited to see the cover of my November issue of IE. However after reading the feature article, "A Taste for Perfection," I...

Information management.(RANTS AND RAVES)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... After reading "Simplification Effects Not So Simple" (November), my first reaction as a management engineer was to freak out and consider burning this article as quickly as possible so my hospital administrators would not see it. As someone who...

Ergo tech boosts Ford quality: virtual manufacturing studies predict ergonomic effects.(Front Line)(Ford Motor Co.)
February 1, 2008... Ford Motor Company's virtual ergonomic technology is a key reason the company's quality performance increased in 2007, improving 11 percent in the United States versus 2 percent for the industry average, according to a study conducted for Ford...

New standard for 'green' carpet: involving the entire supply chain.(Front Line)(least energy used in carpet manufacturing)
February 1, 2008... A new standard for assessing the environmental-friendliness of carpet has been approved by the American National Standards Institute. It addresses chemicals and materials used in manufacturing carpet, the energy used in production, the use of...

Process improvement: check.(PRIME NUMBER)
February 1, 2008... "The fundamental problem with the quality of American medicine is that we've failed to view delivery of health care as a science. The tasks of medical science fall into three buckets. One is understanding disease biology. One is finding...

Constructable stuff.(SITE TO SEE)(www.instructables.com)(Website overview)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Describing itself as "the world's biggest show and tell," Instructables germinated at the MIT Media Lab as a way to share projects. The Web-based documentation platform allows people to share instructions about things they know how to do and...

Best practices improvement.(BOOK OF THE MONTH)(Best Practices in Lean Six Sigma Process Improvement)(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2008... Lean and Six Sigma are among the most popular and recognized improvement methods in business today. The strategies they offer for achieving corporate goals are well documented, but many organizations have found lean and Six Sigma initiatives...

Unhealthy stat.(PRIME NUMBER)
February 1, 2008... 1 in 3 nurses' workloads are so heavy that they miss important changes in their patients' conditions. Source: The State of the Nursing Workforce in New Jersey: Findings from a Statewide Survey of Registered Nurses

Laptops speed through security: longer lines mean quicker inspections.(Front Line)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Long lines of passengers have an effect on the speed with which airport security screeners do certain aspects of their jobs, according to a study by researchers in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University at Buffalo. ...

Athletic director.(UNCOMMON IE)(Debra Gore-Mann of University of San Francisco)(Occupation overview)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... THE TASK AT HAND: One might say that finance runs through Debra Gore-Mann. For although her career trajectory appears twisted--with corporate assignments ranging from materials science to investment banking to international business followed by...

Green machine.(Front Line)(Automobiles Citroen S.A. receives award)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... For the second year in a row, Citroen was named Car Manufacturer of the Year at the 2007 GreenFleet Awards in London. The company was specifically commended for its continuing efforts to reduce the environmental impact of its vehicles. ...

Dilbert.(Cartoon)
February 1, 2008... www.dilbert.com scottadams@aol.com [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 5/22/99 [c] 1999 United Feature Syndicate, Inc. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [c] Scott Adams/Dist. By United Feature Syndicate Inc. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Too little change?(performance)(Column)
February 1, 2008... THIS IS THE 100TH COLUMN I HAVE had the privilege of writing for this magazine. A significant amount of change has taken place in my life since I began this column more than eight years ago. When I started in 1999, I was the director of quality...

Ready for the downturn.(management)(cost and inventory control)
February 1, 2008... CLASSIC PREDICTORS OF AN economic downturn are visible on the horizon. Is your company ready? Economic expansions cannot last forever: Sooner or later, they come to an end. The current period of expansion has lasted more than five years in...

Unsung stars of lean.(manufacturing)(industriess rely on lean manufacturing to control cost and inventory)
February 1, 2008... THE MANY PUBLISHED STORIES about lean often include examples, typically, how a certain company, having started lean implementation three years ago, has slashed its cycle times, flow distances, inventories, and so on. Not getting their due are...

Lean changes mindsets.(member forum)
February 1, 2008... LEAN THINKING HAS A GREAT influence on people's mindsets, including the following seven aspects. Lean thinking challenges habits. People do not adapt well initially to changes in the workplace. Lean thinking is a challenge (or terminator)...

Direct from the source: to maintain value in global supply chains, managers get personal.(Cover story)(Company overview)
February 1, 2008... "WHEN THERE IS A PROBLEM, WE should investigate it." These are the words of Li Changjiang, the head of China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine. They came following 2007's summer of numerous gaffes in...

Lean made your way: one method does not fit all.
February 1, 2008... TOYOTA DIDN'T START OUT MAKING CARS ON A CONVEYOR line or establishing a groundbreaking production system, though today most lean thinking is based in some way on this model of high volume with basic variations on the same base product. Still,...

Pride in profit: Boise Cascade CEO Tom Stephens seeks balance in business.(Boise Cascade L.L.C. uses renewable resources)
February 1, 2008... A LARGE EMPLOYER OF INDUSTRIAL engineers and other supply chain professionals, the forest products industry is one of the largest renewable resource users in the world. The industry endorses forest management practices that impact wildlife...

Picture of health: Denver Health uses 5S to deliver quality, safety, efficiency.
February 1, 2008... CONCERNS CONTINUE TO GROW WITH REGARD TO American health care in terms of quality, safety, and cost. The public demands that health care institutions address these issues, but there are no simple solutions. As health care leaders consider...

On display: effective graphical representation of data drives results.
February 1, 2008... BUSINESS MANAGERS FACE A SEEMINGLY ENDLESS stream of data. Charged with making complex decisions based on incomplete and imperfect information, today's managers must quickly sift through vast arrays of complex facts and figures, separating the...

Contribution management.(SOLUTIONS IN PRACTICE)(James Salapatas of provided his service for project management of St. Nectarios Greek Orthodox Church )
February 1, 2008... When planning a new addition to their building, some members of St. Nectarios Greek Orthodox Church may have considered it a sign from above that a fellow member has an extensive background in project management. By the end of construction,...

Research.(product specification and management)
February 1, 2008... Sometimes it's difficult to predict the moral of the story, which is true of quality-related decisions. In the first article highlighted below, the moral is that most of the time, a simple approach (Shewhart charts) works nearly as well as a...

Engineering economy.(ANSWERS TO YOUR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS)(engineering school curricula)
February 1, 2008... Q: Is the subject of engineering economy important to the engineering curriculum? What is the importance of engineering economy to computer engineering courses? A: Most engineers design solutions. This is a difficult process since an...

OEE in bulk.(ANSWERS TO YOUR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS)(Overall Equipment Effectiveness used in pharmaceutical industry)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Q: I work at a pharmaceutical company and want to implement an overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) metric in a bulk manufacturing area. The equipment in this area does not have a production speed because they are mostly tanks and columns. I...

Lean cornerstone.(ANSWERS TO YOUR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS)(quality control in engineering process)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Q: If you had to pick one tool or methodology as the cornerstone of lean, what would it be? I've heard people say flow, 5S, etc. With all of the tools out there, I'm wondering where to put my emphasis. A: 5S is the cornerstone of lean. It...

Simulation reuse.(ANSWERS TO YOUR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS)(managing computer simulation)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Q: We have been using a simulation model to do some short-term projection (one to seven days) on work-in-process and throughput of the machines. The model has been validated for that purpose and proved to be quite accurate (+/- 5 percent). ...

Heavy pallets.(ANSWERS TO YOUR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS)(movement of engineering units by handling equipments)
February 1, 2008... Q: I'm a student, and I'm doing an internship. I'm trying to improve a power distribution system assembly line by implementing lean concepts. Because we need to implement flow, I must find a simple and cheap way to move units between...

Executives put IE lessons to work: speakers for 2008 Annual Conference emphasize broad-based knowledge.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)(Institute of Industrial Engineers conference on skills of industrila engineers)
February 1, 2008... Even the most unsuspecting industrial engineers can be surprised when they find new areas to use their knowledge and skills--even if that new area happens to be a baseball diamond. Chuck Armstrong, president and COO of Major League...

'08 conference season begins: SHS members, Ergo attendees gather separately in Florida.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)(American Hospital Association. Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society)(Society for Health Systems Conference and Expo)(Applied Ergonomics Conference and Expo)(Conference news)
February 1, 2008... Society for Health Systems Conference and Expo When: Feb. 21-24 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Where: Rosen Plaza Hotel, Orlando, Fla. Who should attend: Management engineers, health care administrators, physician leaders, quality or...

Michael Deisenroth, Ph.D., a professor of industrial and systems engineering at Virginia Tech, was conferred the "professor emeritus" title by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.(KUDOS CELEBRATING MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Michael Deisenroth, Ph.D., a professor of industrial and systems engineering at Virginia Tech, was conferred the "professor emeritus" title by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. A member of the Virginia Tech community since 1984, Deisenroth...

Sunderesh S. Heragu, Ph.D., the Mary Lee and George F. Duthie Chair in Engineering Logistics and IIE Fellow, was recently appointed director of the Logistics and Distribution Institute at the University of Louisville.(KUDOS CELEBRATING MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Sunderesh S. Heragu, Ph.D., the Mary Lee and George F. Duthie Chair in Engineering Logistics and IIE Fellow, was recently appointed director of the Logistics and Distribution Institute at the University of Louisville. The institute is in the...

Waldemar Karwowski, Ph.D., P.E., was recently named chairman of the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems at University of Central Florida.(KUDOS CELEBRATING MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS)
February 1, 2008... Waldemar Karwowski, Ph.D., P.E., was recently named chairman of the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems at University of Central Florida. His areas of expertise include human-systems integration, activity theory, work...

Susan O. Schall, president of SOS Consulting LLC, was named a Fellow of ABET at the organization's annual awards ceremony in November.(KUDOS CELEBRATING MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS)(Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Susan O. Schall, president of SOS Consulting LLC, was named a Fellow of ABET at the organization's annual awards ceremony in November. The ABET Fellow Award is presented annually to recognize individuals who have given sustained quality service...

Casio.(WHAT ENGINEERS WANT)(Casio PhoneMate Inc.'s G'zOne mobile phone)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... A cell phone user shouldn't have to worry if they drop Casio's G'zOne Type-V mobile phone. The device has superior dust and vibration proofing and is resistant to water, shock, humidity, salt fog, and solar radiation, all of which maintain a...

Bob Vila Tools.(WHAT ENGINEERS WANT)(digital measuring tape)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Reputable handyman Bob Vila has combined a rugged and practical tool with intuitive technology to make size and scale measuring 10 times easier. The Digital Tape Measure includes a built-in voice recorder that lets the user record up to two...

Kinco International Inc.(WHAT ENGINEERS WANT)(rubber gloves )(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Kinco International's Latex-Dipped Gloves provide solid protection for hands amid harsh weather and climate conditions. The gloves can be washed multiple times while retaining shape and gripping ability to handle various tools and materials....

TerraLogic.(WHAT ENGINEERS WANT)(laptop computers)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Need to stay connected to the world via computer in the harshest conditions? TerraLogic's Toughnote Series M rugged laptop is built to perform in the most extreme environments. It's covered with rubber corners and covers for each port that...

Onguard Industries.(WHAT ENGINEERS WANT)(Injection-Molded Boots)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... For the right step indoors and out, Onguard Industries' Injection-Molded Boots can work out to be the most suitable footwear. Thanks to the injection molding process, the boots include a softer, more flexible upper combined with an...

Tecra Tools Inc.(WHAT ENGINEERS WANT)(Roto-Rugged Tool Cases)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Tecra Tools' Roto-Rugged Tool Cases keep tools safe and secure in rough environments. Rotational molding adds strength to the corners and edges. Steel hardware covers a tough, high density polyethylene shell on the outside. An oversized padded...

Work perfect: the day we strive for.(Karin Barsness of 3M Co.)(Interview)
February 1, 2008... Corporate ergonomics at 3M is responsible for ergonomics anywhere in the corporation. It encompasses the globe. I'm responsible for overseeing ergonomics in our manufacturing facilities and distribution centers, our R & D laboratories, QA...