Engineering Commons^™

Guidelines For Using Process Mapping To Aid Improvement Efforts, Paul Savory, John Olson

John Olson

Process mapping is an easy-to-visualize method for people to analyze and agree on the most efficient routes for reengineering or improving a process. It aids in determining redundant tasks, uncovering hidden interactions between processes and people, and focusing on the processes that serve customers, improve quality, and generate income. This paper presents guidelines for using process mapping as an improvement tool. It is based on the authors’ experiences in aiding a variety of healthcare, service, and manufacturing companies.

Cracking The Shell To Student Learning: An Innovative Instructional Approach, John Olson, Paul Savory

John Olson

Management and Industrial Engineering courses is motivating students to learn and apply the quantitative and managerial aspects of the material. The aim of our educational methodology is to not only teach and reinforce the core principles of the disciplines, but to have students develop a set of skills that will make them competitive in the classroom and the workforce. Teaching is why a university exists. As a result, the objective of our instructional approach is to attract and retain dedicated students to the fields of Operations Management and Industrial Engineering and to keep those students competitive and in focus with …

Road Rescue Implements A Continuous Process Improvement Framework, John Olson, Paul Savory

John Olson

Continuous improvement programs traditionally focus on making small incremental improvements to a system. Unfortunately, their success can be limited due to the rapid changing environment within which most small companies operate. Improvement efforts should be flexible enough to capitalize on incremental and radical changes to a system. This paper presents a case analysis of how Road Rescue, an ambulance manufacturer, uses a continuous improvement framework to capitalize on both radical and incremental improvement opportunities. Results include a 10% increase in throughput, reduced cycle time of 44%, increased customer satisfaction, and higher quality.

Making The Case For Crew-Centered Design (Ccd) In Merchant Shipping, Aditi Kataria, Gesa Praetorius, Jens-Uwe Schröder-Hinrichs, Michael Baldauf

Michael Baldauf

Since 2003, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has emphasised the need to address and integrate ergonomics knowledge in a concerted manner. However, there is little guidance on the application of this knowledge in the design of merchant vessels. Utilizing a mixed methods approach, the paper identifies the need for crew-centered design (CCD), highlighting the importance of using concepts derived from Human-Centred Design (HCD) to be able to design work spaces and operational procedures that facilitate the work of the crew on board. Drawing upon results obtained from accident analysis (utilising the Technique for the Retrospective and predictive Analysis of Cognitive …

Exploring Bridge-Engine Control Room Collaborative Team Communication, Aditi Kataria, Eric Holder, Gesa Praetorius, Michael Baldauf, Jens-Uwe Schröder-Hinrichs

Gesa Praetorius

The EC funded CyClaDes research project is designed to promote the increased impact of the human element in shipping across the design and operational lifecycle of ships. It addresses the design and operation of ships and ship systems. One of the CyClaDes’ tasks is to create a crew‐centered design case‐study examination of the information that is shared between the Bridge and Engine Control Room (ECR) that helps the crew coordinate to ensure understanding and complete interconnected tasks. This information can be provided in various ways, including communication devices or obtained from a common database, display, or even the ship environment …

Making The Case For Crew-Centered Design (Ccd) In Merchant Shipping, Aditi Kataria, Gesa Praetorius, Jens-Uwe Schröder-Hinrichs, Michael Baldauf

Gesa Praetorius

Since 2003, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has emphasised the need to address and integrate ergonomics knowledge in a concerted manner. However, there is little guidance on the application of this knowledge in the design of merchant vessels. Utilizing a mixed methods approach, the paper identifies the need for crew-centered design (CCD), highlighting the importance of using concepts derived from Human-Centred Design (HCD) to be able to design work spaces and operational procedures that facilitate the work of the crew on board. Drawing upon results obtained from accident analysis (utilising the Technique for the Retrospective and predictive Analysis of Cognitive …

Decision Science For Housing And Community Development: Localized And Evidence‐Based Responses To Distressed Housing And Blighted Communities: Wiley Interview, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Jeffrey Keisler, Senay Solak, David A. Turcotte, Armagan Bayram, Rachel B. Drew

Michael P. Johnson

This is an interview with staff at John Wiley & Sons regarding my book "Decision Science for Housing and Community Development: Localized and Evidence‐Based Responses to Distressed Housing and Blighted Communities" that was published by Wiley in 2015. It describes the motivation for the book, essential knowledge my co-authors and I would like each reader to take away from the book, and our assessment of the book's contribution to research and practice.

Decision Science For Housing And Community Development: Localized And Evidence‐Based Responses To Distressed Housing And Blighted Communities, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Jeffrey Keisler, Senay Solak, David Turcotte, Armagan Bayram, Rachel B. Drew

Michael P. Johnson

Modelling Vessel Traffic Service To Understand Resilience In Everyday Operations, Gesa Praetorius, Erik Hollnagel, Joakim Dahlman

Gesa Praetorius

Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) is a service to promote traffic fluency and safety in the entrance to ports. This article׳s purpose has been to explore everyday operations of the VTS system to gain insights in how it contributes to safe and efficient traffic movements. Interviews, focus groups and an observation have been conducted to collect data about everyday operations, as well as to grasp how the VTS system adapts to changing operational conditions. The results show that work within the VTS domain is highly complex and that the two systems modelled realise their services vastly differently, which in turn affects …

A Novel Evolutionary Engineering Design Approach For Mixed-Domain Systems, Z. Fan, K. Seo, Jianjun Hu, E. Goodman, R. Rosenberg

Jianjun Hu

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Between Single And Dual Monitor Productivity And The Effects Of Window Management Styles On Performance, Alex Stegman, Chen Ling, Randa Shehab

Dr. Chen Ling

Several research studies have been published on user opinion and productivity of using dual monitor systems. These studies found that users typically enjoy using multiple monitors, but none found a strong increase in performance and productivity. Other researchers have focused on improving multiple monitor usability, but often without any statistical framework. This study compared single and dual monitor productivity measures: task time, cursor movement, and number of window switches. Additionally, window management styles (WMS) were studied in order to help designers understand user behavior better. WMS were broken into two categories, toggler and resizer, and then compared to the WMS …

Control And Resilience Within The Maritime Traffic Management Domain, Gesa Praetorius

Gesa Praetorius

This article presents research conducted within the Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) domain. VTS is a service that is provided close to ports and geographically challenging areas to support merchant vessels in their navigation. Although VTS is legally an advice and assistance service, applying concepts from Cognitive Systems Engineering and Resilience Engineering can highlight how the joint human-machine system works to promote safe and efficient traffic movements. The VTS is a Joint Cognitive System that maintains control through a mixture of opportunistic and tactical control. Strategic control is only partially supported by the higher levels of system aggregation that provide the …

Electronic Supplement: Value Focused Thinking For Community-Based Organizations: Objectives And Acceptance In Local Development, Jeffrey Keisler, David A. Turcotte, Rachel B. Drew, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

This is an electronic supplement to the manuscript "Value Focused Thinking for Community-Based Organizations: Objectives and Acceptance in Local Development", published by the EURO Journal on Decision Processes.

Tactical Allocation And Acceptance Of Multiple Patient Classes In The Presence Of No-Shows, Lauren Davis, Husniyah Abdus-Salaam

Dr. Lauren B Davis

Clinics that provide pediatric care are frequently confronted with family group appointment requests, where parents desire their children to be scheduled simultaneously or consecutively. This is potentially beneficial to the family by minimizing the number of trips to the provider’s office. However, offering prescheduled group appointments have the risk of reducing provider utilization, particularly if the entire group fails to meet their scheduled appointment. Similarly, reserving appointment slots for same day group appointment requests may also decrease utilization and impact profitability. This paper explores the impact of family group appointments on clinic performance in terms of provider utilization and profit. …

Scheduling Food Bank Collections And Deliveries To Ensure Food Safety And Improve Access, Lauren Davis, Irem Sengul, Julie Ivy, Luther Brock, Lastella Miles

Dr. Lauren B Davis

Food banks are privately-owned non-profit organizations responsible for the receipt, processing, storage, and distribution of food items to charitable agencies. These charitable agencies in turn distribute food to individuals at risk of hunger. Food banks receive donated food from national and local sources, such as The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and supermarkets. Local sources with frequent high-volume donations justify the use of food bank vehicles for collection. Food bank vehicles are also used to deliver food to rural charitable agencies that are located beyond a distance safe for perishable food to travel without spoilage. Due to limited funds, food …

A Review Of Parallel Operation Of Active Power Filters In The Distributed Generation System, Shafiuzzaman Khadem, Malabika Basu, Michael Conlon

Dr. Shafiuzzaman Khan Khadem

In this paper a technical review of parallel operation of Active Power Filter (APF) for harmonic power compensation in distributed generation (DG) network has been presented. Controlling methods and connection topologies with their pros and cons are described. Recent improvements in controlling and future trends for the application of APFs in distributed mode are also identified.

Maritime Traffic Management: A Need For Central Coordination?, Fulko Van Westrenen, Gesa Praetorius

Gesa Praetorius

Traffic management is not formally organised in the maritime domain. Ships are autonomous and find their own way. Traffic is organised through rules, regulations, and “good seamanship”; it is a distributed system. In areas of high traffic-density support is proved by vessel traffic service (VTS) to promote traffic safety and fluency. VTS does not take control. This organisational structure has proven itself in situations with sufficient resources. When resources become insufficient (e.g. not enough sailing space), the traffic needs an organising mechanism. In this article, the authors argue that the most promising way to do this is by organising centralised …

Communicating Intended Routes In Ecdis: Evaluating Technological Change, Thomas Porathe, Margareta Lützhöft, Gesa Praetorius

Gesa Praetorius

Misunderstanding each other's intentions is one of the most common causes of shipping accidents. By sending out a number of waypoints ahead and displaying them on the Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) a ship's intentions would be clearly visible for other ships. Displaying ships’ intentions would be a major change compared to navigation today. It could be very beneficial but it could also have unintended consequences. This paper reports on findings from an evaluation looking for unintended consequences of change using system simulation. During the simulation an unanticipated behavior was observed. Bridge crews started to click and drag …

Mle+: A Tool For Integrated Design And Deployment Of Energy Efficient Building Controls, Willy Bernal, Madhur Behl, Truong Nghiem, Rahul Mangharam

Truong X Nghiem

We present MLE+, a tool for energy-efficient building automation design, co-simulation and analysis. The tool leverages the high-fidelity building simulation capabilities of EnergyPlus and the scientific computation and design capabilities of Matlab for controller design. MLE+ facilitates integrated building simulation and controller formulation with integrated support for system identification, control design, optimization, simulation analysis and communication between software applications and building equipment. It provides streamlined workflows, a graphical front-end, and debugging support to help control engineers eliminate design and programming errors and take informed decisions early in the design stage, leading to fewer iterations in the building automation development cycle. …

Decision Diagrams And Dynamic Programming, John Hooker

John Hooker

No abstract provided.

Mixed Integer Programming Vs Logic-Based Benders Decomposition For Planning And Scheduling, John Hooker, Andre Cire

John Hooker

No abstract provided.

Prepositioning Commodities To Repair Maritime Navigational Aids, Jessye Bemley, Lauren Davis, Luther Brock

Dr. Lauren B Davis

Purpose - As the intensity of natural disasters increase, there is a need to develop policies and procedures to assist various agencies with moving aid to affected areas. One of the biggest limitations to this process is damage to transportation networks, in particular waterways. To keep waterways safe, aids to navigation (ATONs) are placed in various areas to guide mariners and ships to their final destination. If the ATONs are damaged, then the waterways are left unsafe, making it difficult to move supplies and recover from a disaster. The aim of this paper is to explore the effectiveness of prepositioning …

A Decision Support Model For The Location Of Hand Sanitizer Dispensers In Hospitals, Laila Cure

Laila Cure

Compliance with hand hygiene practices is directly affected by the accessibility and availability of cleaning agents. Nevertheless, the decision of where to locate these dispensers is often not explicitly or fully addressed in the literature. In this paper, we study the problem of selecting the locations to install alcohol-based hand sanitizer dispensers throughout a hospital unit. We investigate the relevant criteria in selecting dispenser locations that promote compliance with hand hygiene practices, propose metrics for the evaluation of various location configurations, and formulate a dispenser location optimization model that incorporates such criteria. A complete methodology to collect data and obtain …

Planning For Meals-On-Wheels: Algorithms And Application, Hakan Yildiz, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Stephen Roehrig

Michael P. Johnson

Home-Delivered Meals provision, also known as Meals-on-Wheels, is a volunteer-staffed activity for which little strategic planning is performed. We develop a Memetic Algorithm to solve the Home Delivered Meals Location Routing Problem. This planning model addresses facility location, allocation of demand to facilities, and design of delivery routes, while balancing efficiency and effectiveness considerations. The case study presented on a large data set shows how trade-off curves, which are very useful for decision making, can be obtained by the method developed.

Conversations Around Design Sketches: Use Of Communication Channels For Sharing Mental Models During Concept Generation, Nik Shahman Nik Ahmad Ariff, Petra Badke-Schaub, Ozgur Eris

Ozgur Eris

In this paper, we present an exploratory protocol study on the use of different communication channels during design sketching. We focus on how individual designers share their mental models with other designers in a group, and analyse their use of graphical, textual, and verbal communications during concept generation.

Our findings suggest that verbal communication plays a role in the sharing of individual mental models during sketching, and complements graphical and textual communication channels. However, design teams can still function without verbal communication in that respect, and address design problems. They seem to compensate for the absence of the verbal communication …

What Is A Strategic Acquisition? Decision Modeling In Support Of Foreclosed Housing Redevelopment, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Rachel B. Drew, Jeffrey Keisler, David Turcotte

Michael P. Johnson

This paper describes and develops a model for calculating location-based strategic values of foreclosed properties considered for acquisition and redevelopment by community development corporations (CDCs). A property’s strategic value refers to its proximity to site-specific neighborhood amenities and disamenities (e.g. schools, public transit, distressed properties), given the relative importance of that proximity to CDC organizational and community objectives. We operationalize the concept of strategic value, and apply this concept to a salient public sector decision problem. Using data and value assessments from a CDC engaged in foreclosed housing redevelopment, we compute measures of strategic value for a set of acquisition …

The Effect Of Streamwise Vortices On The Frost Growth Rate In Developing Laminar Channel Flows, Brian Storey, Anthony Jacobi

Brian Storey

An experimental study is presented to assess the influence of streamwise vortices on frost growth in a steady, developing, laminar channel flow. Using a simple model and scale analysis, frost growth rate (ablimation) data are normalized with respect to temperature, humidity and time. Measurements from baseline experiments in a rectangular channel are found to be accurately correlated using the proposed scaling relation. Upon introducing streamwise vortices in the channel flow, frost growth still follows the scaling relation, but local growth rates were observed to increase by more than 7% in regions where the streamwise vortices induce a surface-normal flow toward …

Rules And Limitations Of Building Delay-Tolerant Topologies For Coupled Systems, Rifat Sipahi, Wei Qiao

Rifat Sipahi

This paper investigates the equilibrium behavior of broadly studied synchronization dynamics of coupled systems, among which shared information is delayed. The underlying relationship is established between graph structures and the largest amount of delay the dynamics can withstand without losing stability. In particular, based on Cartesian product of graphs, we present the rules and limitations for synthesizing the graphs of large-scale systems that can remain stable for as large delays as possible. Examples are provided to demonstrate the results.

An Alternative Characterization Of Robust Stability And Stability Radius For Linear Time Delay Systems, Bahram Shafai, Hanai Sadaka, Rifat Sipahi, Jie Chen

Hanai Sadaka

No abstract provided.

Integrated Methods For Optimization, 2nd Ed, John Hooker

John Hooker

No abstract provided.