Industrial Engineer articles from July 2008

Industrial Engineer archives from July 2008

Are you human?(editor's desk)(World Science Festival)(Editorial)
July 1, 2008... Perhaps you're wondering the same about me (even if you did meet me at the Annual Conference). A panel of scientists gathered to discuss what it means to be human at the World Science Festival in June. Myriad answers were shouted from the...

Healthy writing.(Mail RANTS AND RAVES)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2008... Thank you for the wonderful feature about MedShare in your May issue. As we continue to expand our operations and reach out to more people in need of improved health care, the emphasis on the efficiency of our supply chain will continue to grow...

Highered options.(Mail RANTS AND RAVES)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2008... While Tim Greene responded well to the query on whether to obtain a master's degree in IE or an MBA ("Ask the Expert," April), I would like to add that students don't necessarily have to choose one or the other. At Auburn University, about...

Which belt notch?(Mail RANTS AND RAVES)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2008... In reference to the question on if the Fundamentals of Engineering exam is more valuable than the Six Sigma green belt certification ("Ask the Expert," May), the advice noted that it depends on the potential employer. I would like to...

Taking notice.(Mail RANTS AND RAVES)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2008... The article "Inside Minds" (April) with the statement, "IE departments represent compelling mix of knowledge" has very useful and interesting information. Information on IE departments of RIT, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and the University...

Correction.(Mail RANTS AND RAVES)(Correction notice)
July 1, 2008... Information in "The Aloha Tracker" (Case Study, May) was incomplete. According to an October 2006 statement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a 2006 outbreak of food-borne E. coli in spinach had been traced back to Natural Selection...

Glaring at globalization: study suggests strong connection to low productivity, low wages.(NEWS, TRENDS & TACTICS)
July 1, 2008... Globalization has been blamed for everything from environmental woes and unfair business practices to illegal immigration. But the economy in the United States tops the chart for the argument against rather than for globalization--at least in...

Event planning 411.(BOOK OF THE MONTH)(The Kaizen Event Planner: Achieving Rapid Improvement in Office, Service and Technical Environments)(Book review)
July 1, 2008... Employees who go through the experience of improving a process for their organization often think of the journey as being contagious and invigorating. According to authors Karen Martin and Mike Osterling, everyone with a natural mindset to do...

Dilbert.(Cartoon)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I THWARTED THE HOSTILE TAKEOVER BID, BUT YOUR CEO DIED IN THE PROCESS. I'LL FIND YOU SOMEONE ELSE TO BLATHER ABOUT QUALITY WHILE BEING GROSSLY OVERPAID. I LIKE YOUR LOOK, BUT CAN YOU BLATHER? QUALITY IS...

Quality conference to debut in India; Notable associations target c-level attendees with locale's allure.(NEWS, TRENDS & TACTICS)(Conference news)
July 1, 2008... Boasting alliances with companies such as Microsoft India, Texas Instruments, and Powertec Engineering Pvt. Ltd., along with the Government of India and the Committee on Urban Infrastructure, two organizations have joined forces to promote...

Weighing freight.(PRIME NUMBER)
July 1, 2008... Unless an item comes from the ground beneath you, it's almost impossible to deem it local. Among other goods, clothes, food and water travel in 5 million freight containers at any given time from country to country before reaching their...

'Be all the engineer that you can be': U.S. Army funds pre-college engineering summer camps.
July 1, 2008... According to the U.S. Department of Labor, in 2006, engineers held about 1.5 million jobs--201,000 of them being industrial engineers. Those numbers are expected to grow within three to five years with a big push from early industry training...

Industry picture book.(SITE TO SEE)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... For a company that has been mistaken for a bleach supplier and a security lock specialist because of its name, Chromalox may not have had an easy time creating a Web site that pays tribute to what it really is--one of the world's eading...

A love for learning: Farmer Houston professor championed education for all.(NEWS, TRENDS & TACTICS)(Obituary)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... For Scott Poage, who died May 13, learning was an inherent right, obligation and passion. The former professor and past chairman of the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Houston marked his academic career by tutoring,...

Don't swim alone.(QUOTE, UNQUOTE)
July 1, 2008... "In every society, the individual who fits in--'the team player'--is highly valued. Such a person does what is expected, can be counted on to behave, conforms to everyday customs and norms and acts cooperatively to achieve a goal. By contrast,...

Forecasting manager.(UNCOMMON IE)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... THE TASK AT HAND: Advil, Chapstick, Robitussin and Centrum are the brands that could tumble from your medicine cabinet at this very moment. As a brand forecaster for Wyeth Consumer Healthcare, Milan Milatovic performs the duty of predicting...

Did it really work?(performance)(Continuous improvement (Management))
July 1, 2008... IT IS AMAZING HOW THE SIMPLEST question can really make you think. Someone recently asked me about the cost savings that could be expected from a 5S implementation. He wanted to spend money up front to set up visual workplaces, do line taping...

Benchmarking competition.(management)
July 1, 2008... A MID-SIZED MANUFACTURER OF processed foods experienced challenges in controlling selling expense and supply chain planning and execution. Management requested that we take a closer look at their business processes supporting these two areas....

The value of green.(supply chain)
July 1, 2008... REMEMBER WHEN GREEN WAS JUST another color? Those days are gone thanks to a movement that's rapidly gaining momentum: sustainability. As a logistics engineer in a transportation-centric industry, I'm often at the forefront of this powerful...

Projecting human potential.
July 1, 2008... HISTORICAL HUMAN FACTORS RESEARCH AND EARLIER industrial engineering studies focused on human perception, such as vision and audition, and motor-control capabilities in information processing and manual handling tasks. This work was conducted...

An IE's guide to NAFTA.(North American Free Trade Agreement)(Industrial engineering)
July 1, 2008... THE WORLD IS INTERTWINED THROUGH TRADE, commerce, commuication, education, transportation, culture and social order. A systems view of the world can help us to see how we are mutually interdependent in our international trade. There are...

Lean's last hand: information technology ready to lead manufacturing.
July 1, 2008... BEING A MANUFACTURER IS TOUGH during changing times. For almost 50 years, help has traditionally been at hand in the form of a multiplicity of manufacturing information technology solutions, yet the past decade has seen a newcomer enter the...

Secret treasurer: RFID puts suppliers in charge of inventory.
July 1, 2008... AS MORE COMPANIES ADOPT THE PRACTICE OF ADAPTIVE manufacturing, suppliers must learn to adapt and adjust to changes in customer demands quickly. The push for suppliers to adapt to changes in customer requirements creates the need for real-time...

Get with the change program: strive for maintenance best practice.
July 1, 2008... Managers efforts to achieve maintenance best practice are sustained by specific guidelines, guidelines that also suggest the maintenance improvement direction to obtain longtime maintenance effectiveness. The basic requirement of managing...

Containing the digital age.(Case Study SOLUTIONS IN PRACTICE)(Regional Computer Recycling and Recovery LLC)(Company overview)
July 1, 2008... The 1990s were a busy time for planting fertile ground for sustainability in Rochester, N.Y. The University of Rochester established the Waste Minimization Committee and began tracking solid waste generation and recycling. Mobil piloted a...

Research.(Facilities management services)(Feasibility studies)(Editorial)
July 1, 2008... As manufacturing processes become more complicated, firms are discovering that using real-time data in more sophisticated ways and developing better statistical process control techniques for multivariate data can have significant payoffs. This...

Ask the expert answers to your technical questions.(usage engineering knowledge in entertainment industry)(labor standard to this new machine)(Employee motivation )(relationship between industrial engineering and nanotechnology)
July 1, 2008... Going Hollywood Q: I'm studying industrial engineering and I love the entertainment business--music, movies, etc. I'd like to know how I could use my industrial engineering knowledge and skills to be productive and successful in the...

Monitoring humans: innovative tools of the trade.(Emerging Technologies)(Biometrics Ltd.'s DataLOG W4X8 )(joint venture between Vicon Motion Systems and Peak Performance Inc.)
July 1, 2008... Technological advancements have allowed many industrial processes to be come automated, but machines still need human operational input. The best models are those that consider the human element in all situations. Biometrics Ltd....

Critical thinking in the great white north: hundreds of IES invade vancouver for the LIE annual conference.(FOCUS KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)(Indian engineering Services)(Conference news)
July 1, 2008... Outside, the cool weather had been nurtured by the island of high rises and snow-topped mountains. But as hundreds of industrial engineers quickly learned in May, the heat of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, could only be found in the...

Industrial engineer maintains winning streak: competition judges say IIE's magazine speaks to professionals, general public.(focus)(Institute of Industrial Engineers)(Conference news)
July 1, 2008... Industrial Engineer garnered three gold Gamma awards at the Magazine Association of the Southeast (MAGS) Conference in May. The magazine has received honors from MAGS in several categories for more than a decade. "This is certainly a great...

Membership dues up starting in August; IIE raises annual cost for first time in a decade.(focus)(Institute of Industrial Engineers)(Conference news)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Change can be good, even if it means more change out of your pocket. Annual membership dues for the Institute of Industrial Engineers will rise for the first time in 10 years beginning Aug. l. Professional dues will now be $139. The rate...

Sustainability on the syllabus: IIE offers training course in cost-effective strategies.(Institute of Industrial Engineers)
July 1, 2008... Because carbon neutrality is becoming a prerequisite to success in a "greenminded" economy, IIE is offering members a chance to learn more about the true nature of sustainability through its "Sustainability for Industrial Engineers" course,...

Katie Kuster.(KUDOS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Katie Kuster, an industrial engineering undergraduate at the University of Missouri--Columbia, was awarded a GEICO Scholarship for the 2008-09 academic year by the fellowship board of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society. Kuster was among...

Kim LaScola Needy.(KUDOS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Kim LaScola Needy will become head of the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Arkansas Aug. l. She will be awarded a 21st Century Professorship in Engineering. Her primary research interests are engineering management,...

B. Fielding Rolston.(KUDOS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... B. Fielding Rolston was inducted into Virginia Tech's College of Engineering's Academy of Engineering Excellence. He graduated in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Virginia Tech. In 2001, Rolston received the...

Gavriel Salvendy.(KUDOS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Gavriel Salvendy received the American Society of Engineering Education's 2008 John L. Imhoff Global Excellence Award for Industrial Engineering Education. He is a professor of industrial engineering at Purdue University and chair professor and...

Work perfect: the day we strive for.(Candi S. Cross)(Interview)
July 1, 2008... My division includes digital cameras and digital photo frames. I have been based in Shanghai for almost 12 years. My group is responsible for ramp-up delivery of all of the cameras and frames sourced in Asia. This is very challenging. The...