Industrial Engineer articles from July 2006

Industrial Engineer archives from July 2006

Outside information.(editor's desk)(Editorial)
July 1, 2006... There's a commercial airing these days that features a man hiking along a mountain trail with another man who looks just like him but wearing a suit. Presumably, the second man is his alter ego or an incarnation of his conscience that rambles...

Misleading trust.(RANTS AND RAVES)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2006... The basic premise of The Trust Factor (March)--that trust reduces waste--is excellent and I agree completely. However, I think that the "Exercising Faith" sidebar that lists trust-building exercises is at best useless and at worst damaging. ...

Promoting U.S. automakers.(RANTS AND RAVES)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2006... For the first time since becoming a member of IIE in 1995, I feel that my professional society does not support my work as an industrial engineer. The recent Industrial Engineer articles featuring foreign automobile companies such as BMW,...

Logistics pro renews transport warning: APL exec says U.S. economy will suffer from outdated infrastructure.(Front Line)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... America's aging transportation infrastructure can't keep up with relentless world trade growth. If it isn't overhauled, consumers and the U.S. economy will pay a steep price. That was the warning issued by John Bowe, president of the...

Making innovative facilities fly: national Airport Design Competition.(Front Line)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The Federal Aviation Administration is sponsoring the national Airport Design Competition for Universities to engage undergraduate and graduate students in addressing design challenges related to airports. The competition seeks to identify...

Summer camp recruitment: encouraging kids to engineer.(Front Line)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The University of Houston is addressing the impending shortage of engineers in the United States by tapping into an underutilized resource: women. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Now in its fourth year, the Girls Reaching and Demonstrating...

Science, engineering careers start early: future of U.S. competitiveness may depend on early education.(Front Line)
July 1, 2006... What do eighth-graders want to be when they grow up? Youngsters who say they are interested in science-related careers are two to three times more likely to earn science and engineering degrees than other students. In recent years, many...

Manufacturers: workplaces are safer; Employers report decrease in the rate of worker injuries.(Front Line)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Nearly three out of four U.S. manufacturers (74 percent) believe their workplace is safer than it was a year ago, according to a new survey. The nationwide survey, conducted by The Marlin Co. and Occupational Health & Safety magazine, also...

Call in the IES.(PRIME NUMBER)
July 1, 2006... Intel Corp. President and CEO Paul S. Otellini intends to cut company costs by more than $1 billion this year. He foresees a sweeping reorganization that will result in leaner and more efficient operations. The announcement came in April after...

Engineering a musical analysis.(OUTLIER)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Music can express and elicit emotion. But how? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] An industrial and systems engineering professor and her graduate students are using computational and other engineering tools to look for answers. Elaine Chew,...

Beautiful MTM.(BOOK OF THE MONTH)(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... MTM: First Time Right is a beautifully designed and illustrated book published by the International MTM Directorate. IMD makes its ambitious mission clear in the book's forward: to promote the use of MTM--methods time measurement--and to share...

Too good to compete: quality overkill in Japanese computer chips.(Front Line)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Japan is falling behind Korea, Taiwan, and the United States in producing low-cost dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips for personal computers, according to a report on the Japanese semiconductor industry. The report was written by...

Visa grievance.(QUOTE, UNQUOTE)(Quotation)
July 1, 2006... "The misuse of the H-1B program's intent dilutes the salaries of American engineers and injures their ability to support their families.... Congress should adopt reforms that allow small companies like mine--that employ U.S. engineers--to...

Assessing international risk.(SITE TO SEE)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The international market is hot, so much so that many small businesses are wanting in on the action. But many smaller organizations don't have prior expertise in doing business across borders, putting them at potential risk for a host of...

Realtors' Web partner.(UNCOMMON IE)(Maxwell Coomer )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... THE TASK ATHAND: A self-described nerd who began writing computer programs before he was a teenager, Maxwell Coomer eschewed a computer science education in favor of industrial engineering. "I knew eventually I would want to have my own...

Ergo abroad.(MUST-DO EVENT)
July 1, 2006... If you're planning a trip to Europe this summer and happen to be an ergonomics enthusiast, consider stopping by the Netherlands for the 16th World Congress on Ergonomics. The event is held once every three years and features five days of the...

Dilbert.(Cartoon)
July 1, 2006... www.dilbert.com scottadams@aol.com [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 9-10-05 [c]2005 Scott Adams, Inc./Dist. by UFS, Inc. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [c]Scott Adams/Dist. by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The need for C?(performance)
July 1, 2006... HAVING TAUGHT AND USED FIVE-step, seven-step, and even 12-step problem-solving processes over the past 25 years, I have settled on an improvement process I really like. It's simple, contains the essence of all of the other approaches, and it is...

Congress takes aim.(management)
July 1, 2006... THE FOLLOWING IS AN EXCERPT from an article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal Monday, May 1: "Even as the oil industry has remained largely protected from new levies, domestic manufacturers find themselves suddenly targeted under a...

Costs across the land.(supply chain)
July 1, 2006... AN ASTERISK NEXT TO A PRICE TAG is a clear indication that extra charges are in store. Global sourcers probably wish they had a similar symbol because many costs associated with international manufacturing can be greater than they appear. ...

Making the numbers work: using the data purveyors of industrial engineering to rescue health care systems.(Cover story)
July 1, 2006... Health care leaders struggle with effective use of data more than leaders in any other industry do. A large part of this problem stems from the overabundance of data surrounding all aspects of health care and the lack of alignment among key...

Ergo makeover: Intel Israel goes injury-free and hazard-free.
July 1, 2006... The Intel facility in Qiryat-Gat, Israel manufactures computer microprocessors used in advanced technologies. From its establishment in 1999, Intel Israel sought to implement procedures used by Intel facilities worldwide to create an injury-...

Maintaining maintenance: how smart managers plan and execute successful CMMS implementations.(Computerized Maintenance Management System )
July 1, 2006... Thousands of maintenance departments are adding a new computerized maintenance management system or upgrading their current systems with new features for processing work orders. This may seem like a fairly complicated project, but it need not...

Lean government (is not an oxymoron): a Connecticut agency in efficiency's court.(Connecticut. Department of Labor)
July 1, 2006... The demand for customer-driven waste reduction is as characteristic of public-sector government operations as it is of private-sector manufacturing. As in the private sector, government agencies are increasingly operating in a competitive...

Test pilots.(SOLUTIONS IN PRACTICE)
July 1, 2006... Developing a software tool used in the tactical training of aircrew members for the United States Air Force isn't ordinarily a job for interns. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] While interning as operations analysts last summer with the Air...

Research.
July 1, 2006... The July issue of IIE Transactions (Vol. 38, No. 7) highlights scheduling and logistics topics. Here, we summarize two articles from that issue. The first is concerned with pickup and delivery of ocean-going containers at the interface between...

Takt time too small?(ANSWERS TO YOUR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS)
July 1, 2006... Q: Some days ago I received an order to design and construct a new assembly line. The takt time is calculated at around seven seconds. We're working three shifts six days per week. I'm worried about it because it is too fast. In spite of...

Updating labor standards.(ANSWERS TO YOUR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS)
July 1, 2006... Q: How often should you have a mass update of labor standards after you have measured improvements? Since the standards are used to calculate productivity (earned hours), when do you establish a new baseline after the improvements have been...

Video benefits.(ANSWERS TO YOUR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS)
July 1, 2006... Q: I am interested in using video cameras to record production activities. My goal is to record both time and motion of production workers for the purpose of improving cycle time and documenting ergonomic improvement opportunities. I do not...

Productivity analysis.(ANSWERS TO YOUR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS)
July 1, 2006... Q: I am preparing to perform a productivity analysis to predict manpower requirements and resize buffers between work cells. The work cells are highly automated processes in which workers are primarily supervising and feeding parts to machines....

Simply the best: IIE honors the best and brightest of 2006.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)(Institute of Industrial Engineers)
July 1, 2006... Award for Technical Innovation in Industrial Engineering Yuan-Shin Lee Captains of Industry Award John A. Scott David F. Baker Distinguished Research Award Bhaba Sarker Fred C. Crane Distinguished Service...

Hail to the chiefs.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)
July 1, 2006... Unique to IIE's 2006 award presentations, the Presidents Awards recognize benefactors who have made significant commitments to leading industrial engineering programs that have resulted in named industrial engineering departments at...

Solid chapters: winners of the 2006 excellence awards.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)
July 1, 2006... Gold Dallas Greater Detroit Manitoba Mississippi Valley National Capital (D.C.) Pittsburgh Rochester (N.Y.) South Jersey Silver Columbus (Ohio) Dayton (Ohio) Greater Kansas City ...

The power of teamwork: Industrial Engineer takes top awards at magazine conference.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)
July 1, 2006... The Magazine Association of the Southeast recognized the IIE publications staff's achievements with Industrial Engineer by awarding the magazine five of its top awards in the business-to-business category for 2005 issues. The winning...

Past and future progress.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... IIE's Applied Ergonomics Conference is approaching its 10th incarnation. In keeping with this milestone, the theme of next year's event is "Celebrating the Past, Shaping the Future." Attendees can look forward to traditional conference...

Green and simple.(IN OTHER PUBLICATIONS)
July 1, 2006... The May/June issue of Industrial Management features a bevy of informative articles touching on themes of environmental policy and clarity in decision making. Consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious, and they are expecting...

Invitrogen Corp.(KUDOS CELEBRATING MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS)(Gregory Lucier)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Gregory Lucier, president and CEO of Invitrogen Corp., received the 2006 Penn State College of Engineers World-Class Engineer Alumni Award. The award honors the achievements of a Penn State engineering graduate in early or mid-career who is...

Mack-Blackwell National Rural Transportation Study 'Center.(KUDOS CELEBRATING MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS)(Heather Nachtmann)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Heather Nachtmann, Ph.D., was appointed associate director for the Mack-Blackwell National Rural Transportation Study Center. Nachtmann, who holds a Ph.D. in industrial engineering, is an associate professor of industrial engineering at the...

Northwestern University.(KUDOS CELEBRATING MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS)(Barry Nelson)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Barry Nelson earned a three-year term as a Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence at Northwestern University. Nelson, a professor of industrial engineering and management sciences at Northwestern, is editor-in-chief of Naval...

Ergonomia.(KUDOS CELEBRATING MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS)(Gavriel Salvendy)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Ergonomia, an international scientific publication, named Gavriel Salvendy, Ph.D., one of the world's top three researchers in ergonomics and human factors based on a survey of national ergonomics societies. Salvendy is a professor in Purdue...

Pennsylvania State University.(KUDOS CELEBRATING MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS)(Susan Sinclair )(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Pennsylvania State University named Susan Sinclair its 2006 Outstanding Engineering Alumnus. After earning a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering, Sinclair embarked on a varied career with The Hershey Co., culminating in her current post...

Remstar.(On the move)(Remstar International Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Remstar's new cantilever shelving option improves on the company's horizontal carousels to deliver stored items in less time and with more organization. Multishelf systems--designed to carry material weighing 600 to 2,500 pounds--rotate on an...

Industrial Data and Information Inc.(On the move)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... With research collected from around the world, Industrial Data and Information Inc. has narrowed down the best software available for third-party logistics. The company's report, "Selecting 3PL Warehouse Management System Software," seeks to...

Cat Lift Trucks.(On the move)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Cat Lift Trucks' AC-powered lift trucks aim to weather the demanding elements in manufacturing, industrial, and commercial environments. Designed for long-term reliability, the nine models operate on an alternating current control system and...

PSI Engineering.(On the move)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... In an attempt to take the "man" out of the mailman, PSI Engineering has developed software that works with automation equipment to optimize order fulfillment processes. FICS Suite, or Fulfillment Integration & Control Software, is designed to...

Click Commerce.(On the move)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Click Commerce provides real-time management of product inventory and distribution with its MOVE 7i WMS software. The program allows for monitoring, managing, and coordinating among individual warehouses. MOVE 7i allows managers to measure...

Work perfect: the day we strive for.(George Molish)(Mizuno Corporation of America)(Interview)
July 1, 2006... There is nothing more motivating than hearing from a customer that they cut six strokes off their game and played the best round of their life with their new Mizuno clubs. Since I'm responsible for all engineering and quality control processes...