Engineering Commons^™

Mrp, Jit, And Opt: A Comparison On The Production Floor, Donna M. Denicole Christopher

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

In order to compete in manufacturing, industry realizes it must work more efficiently with its resources. Three manufacturing techniques have been developed to assist industry in this challenge --MRP, JIT, and OPT. This paper compares these three techniques. It concentrates on the factors that affect production after vendor materials are in-house. A brief discussion of some of the implementation difficulties a company may face during the transition to a new philosophy is also addressed. Finally, a case study of a low volume, highly technical military project is evaluated and analyzed.

Management Considerations Of Productivity Issues For Local Government, Scott M. Gilbertson

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

This report examines the issues needed to be addressed by a municipal manager and provides guidelines to follow when establishing a productivity measurement and improvement program. Examined in detail is the relationship of the municipality's quality of service delivery in relationship to productivity. The concerns of productivity in the public sector at the national and local levels are also identified.

Numerous difficulties are encountered when attempting to measure and improve productivity. Many of these difficulties are presented and several are discussed in detail. To overcome the identified difficulties, there are a number of techniques available, some of which are recently …

A Student Performance Evaluation Method For An Intelligent Simulation-Based Tutoring System, Camille Marie Dixon

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Intelligent simulation-based tutoring systems (ISTS) present intriguing and complex environments for the training of high performance skills. These skills involve the manipulation of objects within time and space constraints.

As with any tutoring system, there must exist a performance measurement methodology. Within an ISTS there is a module which functions as a tutor and a module which functions as a student modeler. These fundamental modules are required to make effective individualized tutoring decisions. However, each of these modules rely on information from a performance measurement system or evaluation system.

The objective of this research was to establish a performance evaluation …

Some Reasons Why New Technologies Are Not Always Successful - Specifically Directed Toward Cim, Shuk Fong Lai

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

To keep the competitive edge, many companies constantly implement new technologies. However, the implementation of these new technologies are not always successful. Why?

Problems with implementation of new technologies can be either technical or managerial. This paper presents research limited to management problems and suggests the necessary changes. It also outlines the important factors in the decision-making process and the criteria for a successful implementation of a Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) system. Many experts believe that CIM is the ultimate solution to slow and reverse the decline of the U.S. global manufacturing market. However, some companies that have implemented CIM …

An Overview Of Machine Vision, Juan C. Telchi

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this paper is to examine new ideas and other useful information on the most recent advances in the robotic vision field. A visual system model was introduced and the basic components of this model were explained. The principal areas in robotic vision were researched. This included two dimension and three dimension vision sensors. Industrial applications and future developments of machine vision systems were addressed. A survey was done to summarize the vision system market and the robot market share worldwide.

Geographic Information Systems: The Developer's Perspective, Johnn B. Henris

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Geographic information systems, which manage data describing the surface of the earth, are becoming increasingly popular. This research details the current state of the art of geographic data processing in terms of the needs of the geographic information system developer. The research focuses chiefly on the geographic data model--the basic building block of the geographic information system. The two most popular models, tessellation and vector, are studied in detail, as well as a number of hybrid data models.

In addition, geographic database management is discussed in terms of geographic data access and query processing. Finally, a pragmatic discussion of geographic …

Efficient Algorithms For The Fixed Charge Problem, Ahmad Abdulah Moreb

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The main thrust of this research is to develop four solution procedures for the Fixed Charge Problem. All are based on approximating the fixed charge component by strictly polygonal linear components. The first procedure uses the functions technique to approximate the fixed charge; then linear programming with the restricted-basisentry technique is used to arrive at the final solution. Although this method starts with an approximated version of the fixed charge component, it arrives at an exact value to the objective function without the need for re-evaluating the objective function. The other three solution procedures are based on approximating the fixed …

Dynamic Performance-Based Student Model For An Intelligent Simulation Training System, Jenifer M. Sargeant

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Student modeling has been the subject of research since the mid-1970's. A student model is an evolving description of what the student knows about the subject domain. Much of the previous research has concentrated on evaluating a student in performing cognitive tasks. The Intelligent Simulation Training System (ISTS) applies the techniques of Artificial Intelligence, Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Expert Systems to simulation-based training. The ISTS Student Model is unique in that it evaluates the student in performance-based tasks. It monitors and records the student's ability to maintain relationships between objects in space and time. The scope of this research was …

Economic Design Of Lot-By-Lot Acceptance Sampling By Attributes, Michael S. Wall

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Risk-based sampling plans have long been the accepted standards in the practice of acceptance sampling for quality control. Usually the economic consequences of a given sampling plan are assessed by experience and intuition at best. With the availability of high speed computers and well-proven statistical methods, economically-optimal sampling pl a ns can now be developed so that much of the guesswork is removed. This study first surveys these methods for deriving economically-optimal sampling plans. Then, recognizing the reluctance in government and industry to abandoning ris k-based design of sampling plans, a method is explored which poses a compromise between the …

Learning Curve Model For Interrupted Production, Behzad Zarkoob

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Traditionally the learning curve technique has been applied to the case of continuous production. In such cases the cost par unit declines by a constant or staged percentage due to the learning phenomenon. Although this technique has been an important management tool to predict cost and productivity, there are other factors that wil~ affect the learning curves and its forecasts. One of these factors is "forgetfulness," which is caused by program interruptions for a significant period of time. It is expected that due to the interruption a relearning process may have to take place. The objective of this report is …