Industrial Engineer articles from March 2008

Industrial Engineer archives from March 2008

The E word.
March 1, 2008... In his last State of the Union, President Bush urged Congress, scientists, farmers, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders to pursue the goal of reducing gasoline usage by 20 percent in the next decade. A projected 35 billion gallons of renewable...

Dear Jane.(RANTS AND RAVES)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2008... Dear Jane: I know that you will do well in your next endeavors. The improvement you brought to IIE, especially Industrial Engineer is still the main reason I maintain my membership. The change you brought to IIE publications was tremendous...

Missing the bandwagon.(RANTS AND RAVES)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2008... Thanks for providing a thought-provoking article ("Losing Momentum," January). In this case, however, not all my thoughts are perfectly positive. In the interests of transparency, let me disclose that I have taken the NUMMI Tour five times...

Tech halts injury: ergo expert creates tools to lessen computer user ailments.(Front Line)(technical)(ergonomics)
March 1, 2008... A chair that undulates, a mouse that vibrates, a monitor suspended over a desk on a movable arm... These are some of the newfangled ergonomic products that Cornell University ergonomist Alan Hedge studies to see if they can prevent repetitive...

New business in open China.(Operation China: From Strategy to Execution )(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2008... China has matured as a market and the game has changed. Yesterday, multinationals grappled with fundamental strategic choices: Do we go to China? Whom do we partner with? Where should we invest? Winning in China was all about achieving approval...

Costly and unhealthy absence.(PRIME NUMBER)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Obesity and morbid obesity are associated with increased rates of work absenteeism, with estimated costs of $4.3 billion per year in the United States, reports a study in the December issue of Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine,...

Patients fare better in hospitals using IT.(Front Line)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Patients are more likely to have better health outcomes if they are treated at hospitals using information technology (IT) systems, according to a comprehensive Florida State University study released in December. The study compared...

I want my METV.(SITE TO SEE)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Looks like YouTube doesn't have it all. Manufacturing practitioners who are bored with TV reruns and reality shows can instead turn to online videos to develop industry and technological insights. METV--Manufacturing Engineering magazine's Web...

Winemaker.(UNCOMMON IE)(Brief article)(Column)
March 1, 2008... THE TASK AT HAND: Joyce Rigby's IE skills all culminate in a bottle. Connoisseurs at Black Wolf Vineyards in Dobson, N.C., have enjoyed Rigby's red and white varietals for two years. Prior to Black Wolf, Rigby provided winery design and...

Vista turns 1; users' attitudes mixed: Microsoft's operating system poses upgrading challenges.(Front Line)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Compatibility is usually as important for the home or work office as it is for personal relationships. For Microsoft's Vista software, getting a second date with a consumer could be tricky. According to a Jan. 30 report by the Seattle...

Adhesive mimics gecko toe hairs: Berkeley engineers create gravity-defying bonding agent.(Front Line)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... A new anti-sliding adhesive developed by engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, may be the closest man-made material yet to mimic the remarkable gecko toe hairs that allow the tiny lizard to scamper along vertical surfaces and...

Dilbert.(Comic)(Cartoon)
March 1, 2008... www.dilbert.com scottadams@aol.com [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 10/28/99 [c] 1999 United Feature Syndicate. Inc. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [c] Scott Adams/Dist. By United Feature Syndicate Inc. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...

How good are you?(performance)
March 1, 2008... I FIRST LEARNED AN APPROACH TO benchmarking on a mountaintop in New Mexico years before I began my work career. Back then, I knew nothing about operational excellence or process improvement, but I was quite happy to see that golden, circular...

Considering a merger?(management)
March 1, 2008... INDUSTRIES NATURALLY consolidate as they mature. A slowing economy may accelerate consolidations. Smaller companies are merged into larger ones, or groups of smaller companies are combined to form larger entities. With the dollar at historical...

Human factors 101.(human factors)
March 1, 2008... WHILE THINKING ABOUT THIS column, it occurred to me that I've never explained some of the more interesting aspects of human perception. These properties are so fundamental that most human factors people take it for granted that everybody...

Long live work measurement.(member forum)(Viewpoint essay)
March 1, 2008... INNOVATION AND ADVANCEMENT owe their sustainable foundation to some measurement scale. We must measure work before we can improve it. This means that we still need work measurement. Like most academics, I read many things, from the...

Scalable injury prevention: safety assurance is a key business advantage.(Cover story)
March 1, 2008... PREVENTING ON-THE-JOB ILLNESSES AND INJURIES HAS always been an important goal for companies, but recent trends suggest that it is about to become an even higher business priority. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Global competition is fierce...

Built for brains: school design annotates human factors.
March 1, 2008... ARCHITECTURE CREATES SPACES FOR PEOPLE. HUMAN factors in architecture focuses on health and safety, performance, comfort, and aesthetic pleasantness. Since the beginning of the "built environment," the concern for human factors was integral to...

It's not easy being green: energy management appraises the details.
March 1, 2008... ENGINEERING MANAGERS ARE CHALLENGED TO MEET increasing energy demands while holding the line on energy costs. The $1 trillion 2006 energy cost went up $200 billion from 2005, and power consumption in the United States has increased almost...

Lions, tigers, and lean: a safari park joins the process improvement loop.
March 1, 2008... WHEN LOOKING FOR WAYS TO ELIMINATE repetitive and wasteful activities, lean thinking is viewed as the solution to track costs so as to obtain flexible and adaptive processes. Although the underlying lean philosophy can be transferred to the...

Accurate value: finding a place for inventory.
March 1, 2008... THE THEORY OF CONSTRAINTS (TOC) PROPOSES excess inventory is a liability to a company, yet on a firm's financial statements, inventory is entered as an asset. Inventory-dollar-days, a way to portray the implications of excess inventory on the...

Stricken with lean.(SOLUTIONS IN PRACTICE)
March 1, 2008... After years of training, Tony Coomer still can't get enough of lean. As the vice president of advanced manufacturing and improvement for seating systems at Lear Corp., Coomer applies years of experience under the discipline at two different...

Research.
March 1, 2008... Designing systems with the right amount of capacity and flexibility is crucial for success. This month we highlight two articles that address these issues. The first article is concerned with designing sufficient capacity into the repair...

A productive day.(ANSWERS TO YOUR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Q: What percent of a technical professional's day should be considered productive? A few clarifications and amplifications: (1) This number would be used in work force planning or forecasting departmental staffing needs. (2) This percent would...

Weathering the elements.(ANSWERS TO YOUR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Q: We load vehicles onto railcars in Hermosillo, Mexico. Temperatures during eight months of the year are higher than35 degrees Celsius. The temperature inside of railcars is sometimes up to 45 degrees Celsius. What work conditions factor...

Tracking workload.(ANSWERS TO YOUR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Q: I am an IE student working for Transnet Rail Engineering in South Africa, and I work in the coach business. I have been there for six months now and there is a serious productivity problem. We have stations that are idle for about four...

PLM software spikes efficiency.(ANSWERS TO YOUR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Q: I am hoping to learn information on the efficiency savings that can be achieved by using a software solution that incorporates workflow technologies. Specifically, I am looking at the benefits that can be achieved by using a product...

Define standard methods.(ANSWERS TO YOUR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS)
March 1, 2008... Q: When developing a time standard that involves semi-automated machinery, how much, if any, material handling should be included in the standard? Example: Operator A loads parts into a machine that performs a drilling operation, while operator...

What's in a name? Operational Excellence Conference to put two concepts into array of applications.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)(Conference news)
March 1, 2008... As the culture of lean and quality changes, so does the conference showcasing it. Based on the theme of the Lean and Quality Conference & Expo 2007, the newly named Operational Excellence Conference and Expo 2008 aims to educate attendees on...

Crossing the conference border: readiness key to successful Canada trip.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)(Conference news)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... The IIE Annual Conference and Expo 2008 is a five-day industrial engineering extravaganza of training, awards, and networking scheduled for May 17-21 at the Westin Bayshore in Vancouver, British Columbia. The event promises to be an instructive...

Industrial Engineer process map: even media can use industrial engineering approaches to spread the word.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)
March 1, 2008... Every month, editors, writers, and other contributors to Industrial Engineer share insight, data, and advice to working industrial engineers and industrial engineering students. Whether it's a case study about a company's implementation of lean...

UPS continues support of minority, women engineers: IIE expresses appreciation of partnership lasting more than a decade.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)
March 1, 2008... One of the world's most recognized names in shipping is continuing its commitment to higher education by funding IIE's UPS Women and Minority Industrial Engineer Outreach Program. Art Muniz, region engineering manager for UPS, delivered a...

Socket Communications Inc.(WHAT ENGINEERS WANT)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... For improving customer satisfaction, increasing worker productivity, and minimizing wait time, Socket suggests companies use its CF Mag Stripe Card Reader 4E. Adaptable with Pocket PC and Windows XP notebook and tablet computers, the device...

Intermec Technologies Corp.(WHAT ENGINEERS WANT)(Supply chain management software)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Intermec's IP4 Portable RFID Reader blends real-world RFID and rugged handheld device construction, making it capable of integration into supply chain management for retail operations, industrial manufacturing, and logistics applications. It is...

Honeywell Imaging and Mobility.(WHAT ENGINEERS WANT)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Honeywell's Dolphin 7900 mobile computer combines functionality and industrial-grade durability for mobile data collection applications. Featuring integrated GPS technology, the 7900 enables value-added, location-based functionality such as...

Tripod Data Systems.(WHAT ENGINEERS WANT)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... The TDS Ranger possesses features that field professionals depend on, like field-ready ruggedness, 30-hour battery, user-friendly keypad, and touch screen. It comes loaded with additional features such as Windows Mobile 5.0 and the option of...

Markem Corp.(WHAT ENGINEERS WANT)(Markem Corp. and its services)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Markem's CoLOS Enterprise is a networking and design tool that allows companies to manage and control their full production line, improving productivity and ensuring correct label formats across production. Users can access product selections...

Siemens AG.(WHAT ENGINEERS WANT)(Siemens AG. introduces Tracking systems )(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Siemens' Moby R localization system can facilitate a variety of functions, from locating vehicles in the automobile industry through tracking and separating materials in the chemical industry to complex material management and shipping systems...

Work perfect: the day we strive for.(Toni Doolen, Associate Professor)(Interview)
March 1, 2008... I teach and research. The classes I've taught in the last year are Lean Manufacturing Systems, Engineering Management Systems, Project Management, and Introduction to Engineering for our freshmen. We have a general engineering program for...