Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Evaluation Of Team Quality, Shiva Rama Krishna Murthy Bhagavatula

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The ever-increasing competitive pressure and sizes of the global markets have forced organizations from both manufacturing and healthcare sectors to rely more on teams. Therefore the success or the failure of an organization depends largely on the overall quality of the teams within that organization. This increased attention towards teams has forced many organizations to focus on improving the overall quality of their teams. This study has three main objectives. The first objective is to structure a comprehensive list of attributes affecting the overall quality of a team in manufacturing and healthcare sectors. The second objective is to use a …

Entropy Applications In Industrial Engineering, Saeed Zamiri Marvizadeh

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Entropy is a fundamental measure of information content which has been applied in a wide variety of fields. We present three applications of entropy in the industrial engineering field: dispatching of Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGV), ranking and selection of simulated systems based on the mean performance measure, and comparison between random variables based on cumulative probability distributions.

The first application proposes three entropy-based AGV dispatching algorithms. We contribute to the body of knowledge by considering the consequence of potential AGV moves on the load balance of the factory before AGVs are dispatched. Kullback-Leibler directed divergence is applied to measure the …

The Evaluation Of Software Quality, Dhananjay Gade

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Software Quality comprises all characteristics and significant features of a product or an activity which relate to the satisfaction of given requirements. The totality of characteristics of a software product depends upon its ability to satisfy given needs: for example (a) the degree to which software possesses a desired attribute or combination of attributes. (b) The degree to which a customer or user perceives that software meets their expectations, (c) the characteristics of software that determine the degree to which the software in use will meet the customer expectation. This study has three objectives. The first objective is to identify …

Machining Stability Of Wire Edm Of Titanium, Farnaz Nourbakhsh

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This work presents an experimental investigation of wire electro-discharge machining (WEDM) of titanium alloy. The outstanding characteristics of titanium alloys such as their compatibility and noticeable physical, mechanical and biological performances has led to increased application of them in various industries especially in biomedical industries over the last 50 years. However, due to low thermal conductivity of titanium and its alloys and their reactivity with cobalt in most tool materials, there are some difficulties in machining titanium and its alloys by conventional machining. On the other hand, unconventional machining processes especially Wire Electrical Discharge Machining (WEDM) are more appropriate techniques …

Three-Dimensional Indoor Rfid Localization System, Jiaqing Wu

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is an information exchange technology based on radio waves communication. It is also a possible solution to indoor localization. Due to multipath propagation and anisotropic interference in the indoor environment, theoretical propagation models are generally not sufficient for RFID-based localization. In fact, the radio frequency (RF) signal distribution may not even be monotonic and this makes range-based localization algorithms less accurate. On the other hand, range free localization algorithms, such as k Nearest-Neighbor (kNN), require reference tags to be spread throughout the whole three-dimensional (3D) space which is simply not practical. In this work, a hybrid …

Healthcare Quality: Waiting Room Issues, Vineeth R. Yeddula

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In today’s hyper-competitive market, customers are faced with many different options when deciding on a specific healthcare provider. Due to the varying options, quality and service stand out as two essential elements that influence the selection process. If the quality is not met, the healthcare organizations have to face several issues such as customer retention, value, safety, litigation, and reputation. Patient satisfaction has emerged as an increasingly important parameter in the assessment of health care quality. Waiting time is considered to be an important determinant of patient satisfaction. As patients experience a greater squeeze on their time, short waits seem …

A Model For Optimizing The Allocation Of Ethanol Production In The U.S., Anali Huggins

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In the last five years, fuel prices have fluctuated from 2.86$/gallon to 3.87$/gallon which represents an increase of 35%. This situation has collocated the ethanol manufacturing in an advantageous situation. However, a major problem that is faced by the ethanol producers is the high cost of transportation. The objective of this thesis study is to determine the optimal allocation of ethanol production in the U.S. in 2009 that minimizes the transportation cost. This thesis is based on the application of a linear programing model. The thesis is focused on two questions. The first is the optimal allocation of ethanol between …

Simulation Of Tax Revenues From Individuals Receiving Advanced College Degrees, Dejing Kong

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

State governments always want graduates who received higher education in universities and colleges to stimulate the economic growth of the state. Many state universities want to contribute more to the state’s economy as well, and state universities frequently have relevant economic development activities and offices. The state universities normally receive annual budgeted financial support and occasional special funding from the state government while the state expects contributions to the economic growth and an educated citizen in return. In this research, the economic impact of a graduate degree funded by the state government was considered in the state of Nebraska.

Simulation …

An Investigation Of Medical Device Design And Physical Ergonomics In Healthcare, Adam E. De Laveaga

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Human factors and process engineering are becoming a prominent area of research and application for industrial engineering principles as healthcare providers seek to improve patient safety, quality the optimization of resources. Human factors engineering and ergonomics play a crucial role in the pursuit of operational excellence and patient safety in healthcare. These disciplines contain the tools required to develop instrumentation, technology and training that can improve the usability of medical technology and the quality of care that patients receive. Designing tasks, tools and processes for optimal human use can enhance performance, reduce errors and improve safety. This thesis encompasses three …

Experimental Investigation Of Hard And Brittle Materials Machining Using Micro Rotary Ultrasonic Machining, Amey V. Patwardhan

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The demand for miniaturized device and components is rapidly increasing in fields of aerospace, energy, optics, electronics and communication, automation and medical. Rotary Ultrasonic Machining (RUM) is capable of machining hard and brittle materials such as advanced ceramics, glass and silicon used in many industries. Rotary Ultrasonic Machining (RUM) is a hybrid machining process in which material is removed by conventional grinding and ultrasonic machining. Micro RUM is a downscaled version of a macro RUM and is similar to micro Ultrasonic Machining (micro USM), where the vibration takes place in work piece instead of tool.

The goal of this thesis …

Quantity And Capacity Expansion Decisions For Ethanol In Nebraska And A Medium Sized Plant, Mahsa Khoshnoud

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Corn-based ethanol is the leader of sustainable sources of energy in the United States due to the abundance of corn and the popularity of ethanol-gasoline mixes. Over the past decade, ethanol production has risen from 1.5 million gallons in 1999 to 13 million gallons in 2011. This increase in production requires expansion of ethanol plants. Since Nebraska is the second highest producer of ethanol, we focus our research on the expansion of ethanol plants in Nebraska.

The aim of this study is to develop an optimization model for capital investments in ethanol in Nebraska and a medium sized ethanol plant …

Economic Impact On Annual Profit Of A Retail Inventory Management System When Using Rfid And Considering Discrepancy Ratio, Inaccuracy Ratio, Backorders, And Federal Income Tax, Liyuan Zhang

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) emerged as an important technology with the ability to improve the efficiency and accuracy of object tracking. It has brought cost savings and added value to a wide variety of fields. Retail inventory management system is one of the beneficial fields. In order to better satisfy customers and to improve profit, retailers demand high accuracy in inventory management to service customers without redundant on-hand inventories. The RFID technology, which provides more accurate tracking, can improve retailers’ profit.

Two accuracy factors were proposed to determine the difference in the profit of a retailer inventory management system caused …

Development And Validation Of A Model For Granular Material Volume Measurements, Pourya Fasounaki

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Keeping inventory record of packed grains in silos poses challenges since the bulk material’s different segments do not discharge uniformly, leading to formation of random peaks and valleys on the surface. To facilitate obtaining accurate volume measurement of the grains by taking into account this non-linear behavior on the surface, laser or plumb-bob level-sensing devices are employed at different part of the surface to probe the level of material under those regions.

The main goals of this research is to study the behavior of granular material in silo while discharging downward and by doing so, differentiate certain flow patterns formed …

An Energy Cost Optimization Method For A Large Scale Hybrid Central Cooling Plant With Multiple Energy Sources Under A Complex Electricity Cost Structure, Yin Guo

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The cooling energy cost could be a significant portion of the total energy cost for a large organization or building complex during summer. A hybrid system or thermal energy storage system is usually applied to reduce the energy cost. However, without proper integration and operation, the advantage of using such systems could be limited.

This study presents a general energy cost optimization methodology and mathematical model for a hybrid cooling system under a complex electricity cost structure. The model considers the efficiency of the hybrid cooling system and multiple energy sources. The energy cost evaluation reflects a complex cost structure …

System Selection Based On Controlled Risk, Lina Wang

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The studies of using computer simulation to address stochastic systems selection problem prevail currently. Ranking and selection procedures are statistical procedures that can be used in the field of computer simulation to select the best system or the subset that includes the best system based on a performance metric of the interest with a guaranteed correct selection. The best system is defined in the majority of selection problems as a system with the largest (or smallest) mean value. However, mean is only a measure of the average behavior. Risk, which influences the stability of a system to a large extend, …

Study Of Grinding Burn Using Design Of Experiments Approach And Advanced Kaizen Methodology, Kiruthika Devi Sundarrajan

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Grinding burn has been one of the re-occurring issues at a leading automotive manufacturer. Historically when grinding burn occurred, trial and error was used to delicately find a set up process settings that provided good-enough-to-get-by results, but not optimal. Some changes include changing the coolant manifold to improve the coolant flow and rate, changing the grinding wheel, changing the type of coolant. The experiments have proved to introduce some improvements, however the occurrence of grinding burns have not been reduced or quantified and the cause of the grinding burn has not been identified or quantified. Grinding is a complex phenomenon …

Ethnic Difference In Healthcare Delivery, Benny Mathew Varghese

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Quality in healthcare is a very important aspect; this is obtained when there is proper care provided to the patients without any discrimination. The healthcare system in the US can be improved in the fields of patient’s care, the amount of money spent and proper advice, if proper responsibilities are taken. Quality has been improving over the years, but the median by which there is an increase is too small. The other main factor is access to the healthcare system, which has over the year, has not progressed. Studies in healthcare quality should be conducted on a regular base, so …

Economic Analysis Of Continuous Monitoring Of Commercial Truck Tire Pressure Using Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (Tpms) And Rfid Technologies., Afolabi A. Ogunwemimo

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The trucking industry is a major contributor to the US economy. By providing the essential services of transportation and distribution needed in today’s dynamic industry, the transportation industry has evolved into an integral player in various supply chains. The trucking industry is the largest transportation provider for other industries and employs 10.1 million workers in the United States (ATA, 2003).

This research is an analysis of the economic impact of maintaining proper air pressure in the tires of commercial trucks. Various studies have been carried out on understanding the relationship between tire pressure and fuel consumption (National Research Council, 2006). …

Electronic Monitoring Of Hand Hygiene Compliance In An Inpatient Hospital Setting, Christopher M. Masek

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Proper hand hygiene is known to reduce hospital acquired infections. Currently the most widely accepted method used to measure hand hygiene compliance is through direct observation. This method often provides data that may not accurately represent true hand hygiene compliance due to such factors such as the Hawthorne Effect. Perhaps a better approach is to use counting devices to capture hand hygiene opportunities and activities. This thesis focuses on the measurement of hand hygiene activities of all individuals that either work or visit an inpatient medical ward including healthcare workers, patients and visitors at the patient’s bedside for non-isolation patients. …

Influence Of Process Parameters On Health Outcome, Vijaya K. Musunuru

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In the recent years, healthcare organizations have realized that quality in providing service is critical for their survival in this competitive world. This increased attention to service quality has forced many health care providers to reevaluate their systems to stay in business. The main purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis “Process Quality predicts the Product quality (patient satisfaction) in the healthcare domain”. The objective of this study was three- fold. The first objective is to analyze historical data both on patient satisfaction and on provider attributes to yield process parameters for a particular area in a hospital. …

Investigation Of Rfid Readability For License Plates In Static And Motion Testing, Srinivasan Venkatesan

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The most important function of RFID in vehicle tracking is to store information concerning tagged elements in order to improve the overall performance of movable asset management. There is a need to discover an RFID system for the tracking of vehicles, as existing vehicle tracking systems are undependable. Experiments were performed with SIRIT, SAVI, and RF code RFID systems under differing conditions, attaching the tag to the license plate instead of the windshield. Different spacers were also tested to reduce the effect of metal surfaces on RFID signals.

Preliminary experiments were performed before stationary and motion testing in order to …

Integration Of A Real Option Of An Environmental Project, Qi Yang

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis explores a problem of how to evaluate environmental projects under the Carbon Cap-and-Trade Scheme (CCTS) from the perspective of an individual firm. The focus is the integration of a real option approach for project investment timing and financial carbon option approach for carbon credit management. The real option is for a mid or long term decision on when to invest on the environmental project, and the financial option is for a supplementary decision to hedge short-term residue risks. Two uncertainties (the carbon price and carbon credit demand) are considered, and their changes are represented by a lattice of …

A Study On Facility Planning Using Discrete Event Simulation: Case Study Of A Grain Delivery Terminal., Sarah M. Asio

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The application of traditional approaches to the design of efficient facilities can be tedious and time consuming when uncertainty and a number of constraints exist. Queuing models and mathematical programming techniques are not able to capture the complex interaction between resources, the environment and space constraints for dynamic stochastic processes. In the following study discrete event simulation is applied to the facility planning process for a grain delivery terminal. The discrete event simulation approach has been applied to studies such as capacity planning and facility layout for a gasoline station and evaluating the resource requirements for a manufacturing facility. To …

Innovating Continuous Review Policies With Rfid, Angela Garza

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Inventory accuracy is critical for NASA astronauts in space. In 2004, astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS) nearly had to de-man their outpost due to the fact the replenishment of consumables were uncertain. Automated Identification Technologies (AITs) such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) can be utilized to minimize the occurrence of situations like this one. RFID has been used to aid inventory management systems by providing real time availability of the item information including location and status. The benefit of RFID over barcodes is immense as it allows users to employ continuous review models. Barcodes are only capable of …

Evaluating Obselete Inventory Policies In A Hospital's Supply Chain, Maurice D. Cavitt

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Numerous organizations are currently facing inventory management problems including distributing inventory on time and maintaining the appropriate inventory level to satisfy the end user. Organizations understand the importance of inventory accuracy as any error will increase the purchasing and holding costs affecting investment decisions. Lack of information about effective measures that will allow management to make important business decisions motivated this research to identify a decision criterion for warehouse management. A feasible solution of calculating the carrying cost ratio from purchasing and holding cost is the main objective of this thesis. The carrying cost ratio will allow managers to make …

Evaluation Of Optimization Algorithms For Improvement Of A Transportation Companies (In-House) Vehicle Routing System, Jian Han

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Vehicle routing problem (VRP) is the main issue of the transportation. It is becoming more and more popular. Trucking companies play an important role in the transportation industry. Most trucking companies are developing their own software to make profit. Often, the software is used for routing optimization models to minimize cost because the first work is organized over the road.

Linear Programming and saving heuristics are traditional algorithms for solving the vehicle routing problems. However, none of the companies want to make a decision of routing by calculating with mathematics models in their companies. So the vehicle routing software is …

A Predictive Modeling For Water Consumption And Wastewater Flow Management For A Food Processing Manufacturer, Jairo A. De Jesus

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The City of Cumming, GA, issues special permits for industrial users of sewer services, who meet one or more criteria of discharge regulations. The criteria includes discharge of 25,000 gallons per day or more of processed wastewater, the presence for the potential to inhibit the Advanced Water Reclamation Facility (AWRF) treatment processes, the potential to cause AWRF’s bio-solids to be contaminated, and other regulations. The Food Processing Manufacturer in this study is a meat processing facility (processes pork cooked sausage) and its operation and associated wastewater treatment plant meets at least one of the criteria requiring a special sewer service …

Design Of Assembly Lines With The Concurrent Consideration Of Productivity And Upper Extremity Musculoskeletal Disorders Using Linear Models, Zhan Xu

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The productivity of assembly lines is considerably affected by the health condition of assembly workers, and work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are common occupational diseases among assembly workers due to repetitive motions or heavy working loads. The conventional approaches to decreasing WMSD risks in the assembly lines include slowing the work-pace or applying job rotations. These adjustments usually focus on individual assembly workers at the station level but not the work allocation among the workers at the whole assembly line level, and thus may decrease the line productivity. To avoid these negative effects, some research started considering ergonomic characteristics at the …

Information Quality On The World Wide Web: A User Perspective, Jaikrit Kandari

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Information Quality has emerged as an important measure for the success of Information Systems. At the same time the World Wide Web has established itself as the key infrastructure for information administration, exchange, and publication. Users are getting information from the web at the click of a button however they must filter sub-standard information before they can use quality content. Researchers have aimed to address this problem by suggesting various information quality frameworks. Research till date has seen twenty important Information Quality (IQ) frameworks emerge. These models though varied in their approach and application share a number of characteristics regarding …

Estimation Of Mechanical Properties Of Soft Tissue Subjected To Dynamic Impact, Mohamed R.S Amar

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study attempted to estimate the damping properties of human tissue by using spring and damper system as a model. Data of impacting human tissue at the deltoid area was used to obtain a continuous, second order system to represent the mass-spring-damper system. A discrete ARMA(2,1) model was fitted using the data obtained from experiments in which the deceleration of a pendulum impacting human shoulders in the area of the deltoid muscle was measured. The data of the deceleration was integrated twice to obtain estimates of displacement. The integration was done until the maximum displacement occurred at zero velocity.

An …