Industrial Engineer

Browse past and current articles from this publication.

Raise your hands.(editor's desk)
While an estimated 2 million people were navigating events in Washington, D.C., surrounding the U.S. presidential inauguration during the first week of January, a contested debate in the state of Mi . . .

Modernized IE.(RANTS AND RAVES)
In the upcoming years, the value of good industrial engineering talent and knowledge becomes immeasurable, but we have to step up to the plate, market and deliver our talents to the world. I belie . . .

Energy should be the entree.(RANTS AND RAVES)
In 2009, I would like to see how industrial engineers can contribute more to the energy saving, efficiency improvement of energy systems, clean energy system design, implementation and management. I . . .

Let it be.(RANTS AND RAVES)
It seems to me that we go through this discussion every year about what to call ourselves. Having been an IE for 38 years and always called an industrial engineer, I'm satisfied with that descriptio . . .

Lost in terminology.(RANTS AND RAVES)
Please leave out the word "systems" from our organization name. I am a graduate of the Department of Systems Design Engineering at University of Waterloo and proud of it. From all our training, I am . . .

Name alternative.(RANTS AND RAVES)
I frequently tell students of process improvement that "everything involves a process." One way to define a system is "a collection of one or more processes." Today's IEs are involved in both the de . . .

Toyota's shutdown foreboding? Eleven-day production halt in Japan worries auto industry experts.(NEWS, TRENDS & TACTICS)
Toyota Motor Co.'s announcement of a three-day shutdown of 12 domestic plants in Japan came days before the United States Congress passed a $13.4 billion emergency bailout proposal in December to st . . .

Georgia: home to innovation: survey reveals that innovative products and processes are abundant.(NEWS, TRENDS & TACTICS)
Did you know that innovative companies are more likely to conduct research and development, work with customers and suppliers, get information from public knowledge sources such as universities, inv . . .

Adventure guide.(UNCOMMON IE)
THE TASK AT HAND: Not many individuals, let alone entire companies, can say that they've taken the challenge of climbing snow-covered mountains in Nepal, Tibet, Ecuador or Peru. However, if you cros . . .

Automated lab excites third largest state: new biomanufacturing pilot plant set to advance technology.(NEWS, TRENDS & TACTICS)
Recognized as an academic enterprise for advancing sustainable development through five strategic areas--research, teaching, working with partners to create environmental solutions, reducing its car . . .

Design notes.(SITE TO SEE)
Coatings, molding and gaskets are often in a specialized category of made-to-order manufacturing. Understanding the types of processes and materials that make up this category is no easy task. Decid . . .

Driving directions.(BOOK OF THE MONTH)
Many factors are important in location decision making, including transportation infrastructure, ease of regulatory procedures, existing work force skills, city and state incentive programs, higher . . .

Tracking death: natural hazard mortality map helps emergency management.(OUTLIER)
Emergency response workers and contingency planning experts have an important aid when it comes to creating policy for natural events. University of South Carolina geographers Susan Cutter and Kevin . . .

Dilbert.(Cartoon)
OUR BOSS ASKED ME TO MAKE SOME COPIES. BUT I FEAR DOING SUCH A MENIAL TASK WILL BRAND ME AS UNIMPORTANT. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I WAS HOPING YOU COULD MAKE THE COPIES FOR ME SINCE YOUR CAREER . . .

The core of apple.(QUOTE, UNQUOTE)
"Supply chain management, which seems so incredibly unsexy, is very sexy when you look at your bank account and you have managed the product transitions perfectly. That's the thing that Tim is absol . . .

No-cost change.(performance)
MANY PEOPLE SEEM SURPRISED about the types of cost-cutting measures they are seeing in their organizations these days, but I'm not. In my first eight years of employment, I experienced three annual . . .

Evaluate customers and suppliers.(management)
HAVE YOU BECOME YOUR CUSTOMERS' banker? How about your suppliers'? As companies face the most challenging business and credit environment seen in many years, they may see their business partners a . . .

Going holistic.(ergonomics)
THE WORD HOLISTIC, APPROPRIATELY or not, has been used to describe an approach to everything from health food to achieving Nirvana. Holistic is defined as "emphasizing the importance of the whole an . . .

Return to work measurement.(member forum)
A JAPANESE COMPANY THAT produces refrigerators and cubic ice machines has achieved tremendous productivity improvement. Its secret: engineered standard time and a labor performance control system. T . . .

Sphere of safety: moving ergonomics programs forward.
Are you worried that your ergonomics program is not going to survive the economic downturn of 2009? Focus instead on how to make it thrive. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One of the challenges with the . . .

Expertise on demand: the supply chain world needs industrial engineers now.
An article by Louis Martin-Vega published in the December 2008 issue of Industrial Engineer listed four challenges and opportunities for the industrial engineering profession. These matched concerns . . .

Following strategies less traveled: originality and courage should not be used sparingly.
FOR ANY BUSINESS, STRATEGIC PLANNING IS A necessity. It's the key to looking to the future and creating a direction intentionally as opposed to simply reacting to the marketplace on a daily basis. I . . .

Twin fates: partnerships will keep manufacturers' doors open.
"UNITED WE MANUFACTURE" IS A CLICHE THAT APTLY describes how to enhance manufacturing in a tight economy. Survival of all as a group means survival of each and every entity in the group. We need a h . . .

Keeping the promise of efficiency: RFID's trends and its renewed popularity.
RFID technology has been around for decades; however, the promise of simple, low-cost tags about five years ago energized hundreds of companies to start looking at potential uses. It also spawned th . . .

Cleanest of the clean.(SOLUTIONS IN PRACTICE)
It's been said that cleanliness is next to godliness, and at a Cintas Corp. facility in Westland, Mich., that's just about creed. The company, based in Cincinnati, specializes in corporate identity . . .

Research.
These challenging economic times call for innovative thinking that could generate big productivity gains. This month in the Design and Manufacturing segment of IIE Transactions (Volume 41, No. 3), w . . .

Ask the expert: answers to your technical questions.(Interview)
Media matters Q: Our client is a major metropolitan newspaper and the goal is to boost profit by improving circulation. The plan is to use some form of the newsvendor problem to predict sales at n . . .

Workspace comfort.(INNOVATIVE TOOLS OF THE TRADE)
The New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health reports that 50 percent of all employees in office settings are often so engaged in computer work, they forget to take breaks. Typing at a c . . .

Putting on a new face: assistant professor at Missouri recognized during engineers week.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)
Kalyan Pasupathy is an engineer for tomorrow. IIE nominated the assistant professor of health management and informatics at the University of Missouri as one of the New Faces of Engineering for the . . .

Testing, testing ... 1, 2, PE: IIE offers comprehensive preparation for October exam.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)
For many industrial engineers, two letters can make a world of difference in both career and accomplishment. In October, those letters could be P and E. But before the dream of gaining a professiona . . .

Healthy hospitals need healthy IEs: Florida hospital system CEO to appear at annual conference.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)
Great things can be accomplished when knowledge and passion are intertwined. It's a practice that Ralph Aleman encourages to others. "If you have a sound, basic knowledge and you find something th . . .

Industrial engineers go to Washington.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)
IIE is one of 27 engineering organizations joining the National Academy of Engineering and the United Engineering Foundation to sponsor the "Engineering Public Policy Symposium" April 21 in Washingt . . .

Aft awarded Grant Medal as training leader: quality group to honor IIE continuing education director.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)
Larry Aft, IIE director of continuing education and program development, received the American Society for Quality (ASQ) 2008 Grant Medal in January. The award recognizes outstanding leadership in t . . .

SHS goes viral: registration now open for 'webinar' series on health care industry practices.(KEEPING PACE WITH IIE)
After a year of planning and consolidation of health care industry knowledge, the Society for Health Systems has relaunched its 'webinar' series for 2009, and the organization wants the whole world . . .

Canadian IEs explore environmental ties: student regional conference draws record attendance.(CHAPTER CHECK-IN)
The 2009 IIE University Region Conference in Canada, held in January at Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres (UQTR), had a successful gathering of more than 350 visitors attending speaker sessions . . .

Work perfect: the day we strive for.
Intracom is Greece's largest manufacturer of defense electronics products, systems and applications. The company focuses on the armament programs of Greek and foreign defense ministries and NATO. We . . .

Keeping the doors open.(editor's desk)
What would you do for your company? This is a loaded question, but conversations about loyalty are varied and frequent. Across industries and businesses, company loyalty as an essential message or . . .

Turning off the lights: Office Depot and University of Miami cap energy use.(Front Line)
"Buy green. Be green. Sell green." These are Office Depot's three environmental aspirations. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, instead of breaking out champagne, the executive team forged a partner . . .

Don't mess with Texas (Tech): College of Engineering named after IE grad, former AT&T CEO.(Front Line)
"Texas Tech has no better friend or loyal supporter than Ed Whitacre," Kent Hance, system chancellor at the university, told Forbes after the announcement of a $25 million gift from AT&T and allianc . . .

Sick pay.(PRIME NUMBER)
According to a recent study conducted by human resources consulting firm Mercer, the total cost of planned and unplanned absences in the workplace is at least 36 percent of the cost of payroll, or a . . .

War's honorarium: consortium helps veterans start businesses.(front line)
Purdue University's Krannert School of Management has joined a consortium that has more than textbooks on the syllabus when it comes to cultivating business minds. Created at Syracuse University's W . . .

Recession's perks.(BOOK OF THE MONTH)(Collapse of Distinction)(Brief article)(Book review)
With all the depressing news about the economy, a book about the recession being good for business is refreshing and intriguing. At minimum, Collapse of Distinction by Scott McKain is expected to ha . . .

Art meets industry: donation to the Smithsonian pays tribute to manufacturing.(front line)
Engineering history in the form of 36,000 drawings and photographs has a place among treasured art collections thanks to a donation by CH2M Hill, a global engineering, procurement, construction and . . .

Dilbert.(Cartoon)
DO YOU HAVE THE APPROVED VENDOR LIST? HMMM, ALICE AND ASOK ASKED FOR THAT LIST TOO. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ARE YOU ONE OF THREE PEOPLE ASSIGNED TO THE SAME PROJECT BECAUSE YOUR BOSS BELIEVES N . . .

Wall St investment revolution.(QUOTE, UNQUOTE)
"The world of international investment is now on the cusp of a revolution more profound than anything it has witnessed in literally decades. Hard-nosed Wall Street investment bankers, not a species . . .

Real estate transaction coordinator.(UNCOMMON IE)
THE TASK AT HAND: "For sale" is a familiar phrase in communities every where, but in the state of Illinois, The Doyle Team is three equally recognizable words. Karen Doyle coordinates with clients, . . .

FedEx breaks ground again.(Front Line)
Scoring a new manufacturing or distribution hub these days is like striking gold for any city. When big brands are attached to the site, increased employment, traffic and revenue is a great expectat . . .

Where's the BBQ?(performance)
COST PERFORMANCE MAY GET A LOT of attention at the middle- and upper-management levels, but we make greater efforts to engage our people in an effort to improve safety performance. This distinction . . .

Treading lightly.(management)
THE ECONOMY LOOKS quite different today than it did just 12 months ago. At that time, companies worried mainly about the ever-rising prices of energy and the increased cost of nearly every commodity . . .

Innovation overseas.(manufacturing)
A LIVELY TOPIC OVER THE YEARS during lunch has been outsourcing, offshoring and product innovation in Asia and the United States. Most of my team has worked with Asian manufacturers and suppliers ex . . .