Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Modeling And Analysis Of Patient Care Assistants’ Workflow, Ewing Tiong

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

Background

While there is a considerable amount of research on medium-to-long decision support models for healthcare systems, little emphasis is placed on research that focuses on short-term operational decisions made by healthcare providers. Patient care assistants (PCAs) provide both indirect and direct patient care under the supervision of a registered nurse (RN). Main responsibilities include:

• Gathering patient data
• Assisting patients with activities of daily living (ADLs)

Detecting Air Traffic Controller Interventions In Recorded Air Transportation System Data, Yul Kwon

Open Access Theses

In this study, I propose a systematic method of detecting aircraft deviation due to air traffic controller (ATC) intervention. The aircraft deviations associated with ATC interventions are detected using a heuristic algorithm developed from analyzing the actual positions of an aircraft to its filed flight plan when the aircraft trajectories were identified as having an encounter in a loss-of-separation incident. An actual (closed-loop) flight trajectory of the Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZOB ARTCC) was collected from the FlightAware database. This was compared with the corresponding planned (open-loop) trajectory dataset generated by the Microsoft© Flight Simulator X (FSX). I …

Modeling And Optimization Of Care Transitions, Yuming Mo

Open Access Theses

More than 145 million people live with at least one chronic condition, and almost half of them have multiple conditions. As a result, many managed care and integrated delivery systems have taken a great interest in alleviating the many deficiencies in managing the current care system that spans across various care delivery settings. In addition, many Americans have to rely on some social health insurance plan to cover her care expenses. As a result, these patients often may not been sufficiently cured but have to be transitioned to less expensive but less medically intensive facilities, due to the increasing pressure …

Nanohub Database Analysis: Using Anomaly Detection Method And Principal Component Analysis, Mengyang Qi

Open Access Theses

This thesis analyzes usage data from nanoHUB.org, which is a web-based infrastructure for e-collaboration among nanotechnology simulation community. Previous analysis of nanoHUB database showed he nanoHUB usage data follows an unknown, heavy-tailed distributions. This thesis extends the analysis and develops an automatic anomaly detection method based on piece-wise linear approximation. The anomaly here refers to collective user behaviors different from others. The result shows that the method can accurately detect the anomalies in the unknown, heavily detailed distribution. This thesis also applies anomaly detection method and principal component analysis to other databases in nanoHUB and successfully reveals differences between different …

A Comparative Analysis Of An Original And A Post-Hoc Application Of Lean Six Sigma Methodology, Jin Qiu

Open Access Theses

Current society develops faster and faster every day with customers' demands increasing rapidly. Decreasing time for product development and enhancing customer satisfaction are becoming more significant. In the business world, there is no industry that could exist without an efficient supply chain. In the fierce competitive environment of today, the supply chain must address potential problems and risks that may exist and assure continuous improvement.

One common supply chain management practice in many industries is to apply lean methodology to the supply chain model in order to maximize the customers' value and eliminate waste. By eliminating waste, the process can …

Modeling Preventive Maintenance In Complex Systems, Jessica Rivas

Open Access Theses

This thesis presents an explicit consideration of the impacts of modeling decisions on the resulting maintenance planning. Incomplete data is common in maintenance planning, but is rarely considered explicitly. Robust optimization aims to minimize the impact of uncertainty--here, in contrast, I show how its impact can be explicitly quantified. Doing so allows decision makers to determine whether it is worthwhile to invest in reducing uncertainty about the system or the effect of maintenance. The thesis consists of two parts. Part I uses a case study to show how incomplete data arises and how the data can be used to derive …

A Lean Logistics Assessment Tool For Smes In The Manufacturing Sector, Diana Lorena Sanchez Ramirez

Open Access Theses

This study developed an assessment tool to rate the maturity of the current and desired states of lean logistics operations in small and medium enterprises. The tool consists of 48 best practices classified into 8 critical factors: Inventory, Transportation, Administration, Information Systems, Warehouse, Forecasting, Packaging and Supplier Network. Each of the best practices and critical factors were identified throughout a thorough literature review and comparative analysis between authors to define commonalities among them. Using gap analysis; this tool results in a SWOT matrix providing a roadmap for lean implementation. The resulting model was evaluated by subject matter experts in different …

Exploratory Study In Container Loading Embraer 190 Aircraft, Ryan H. Auyeung

Open Access Theses

Since the dawn of aviation, cargo loading on aircraft has remained virtually constant. A person and a baggage cart together have been the primary method of loading baggage on to aircraft, and this practice has virtually remained unchanged, especially for narrow body aircraft. This study explores the question of whether a loading device, designed for Embraer 190 aircraft, can increase economic efficiency by reducing aircraft turnaround times, increasing aircraft utilization and reducing work hours. In the course of designing a theoretical loading device for an Embraer 190, various literature ranging from elaborate articulating conveyor belts, to the use of LD3-45W …

The Effect Of Job Performance Aids On Quality Assurance, Erik David Fosshage

Open Access Theses

Job performance aids (JPAs) have been studied for many decades in a variety of disciplines and for many different types of tasks, yet this is the first known research experiment using JPAs in a quality assurance (QA) context. The objective of this thesis was to assess whether a JPA has an effect on the performance of a QA observer performing the concurrent dual verification technique for a basic assembly task. The JPA used in this study was a simple checklist, and the design borrows heavily from prior research on task analysis and other human factors principles. The assembly task and …

Systems Theory Based Framework For Competency Models, Joseph M. Bradley

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to develop and apply a systems theoretic framework for design, analysis and transformation of competency models using an inductive research design. This research examines the origins and development of competency models from a systems theoretic perspective. Competency models have been largely developed by a comparative method first proposed by McClelland, or the use of Delphi method survey techniques. The assumption that a population containing an exemplar and fully successful members would enable population of a holistic competency model has reported numerous failures. Similarly, reporting on the use of Delphi methods has focused on attempting …

An Investigation Into The Analysis Of Truncated Standard Normal Distributions Using Heuristic Techniques, John Walter Ralls

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Standard normal distributions (SND) and truncated standard normal distributions (TSND) have been widely used and accepted methods to characterize the data sets in various engineering disciplines, financial industries, medical fields, management, and other mathematic and scientific applications. For engineering managers, risk managers and quality practitioners, the use of the standard normal distribution and truncated standard normal distribution have particular relevance when bounding data sets, evaluating manufacturing and assembly tolerances, and identifying measures of quality. In particular, truncated standard normal distributions are used in areas such as component assemblies to bound upper and lower process specification limits.

This dissertation presents a …

Position/Speed Sensorless Control For Permanent-Magnet Synchronous Machines, Yue Zhao

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Permanent-magnet synchronous machines (PMSMs) are widely used in industrial applications owing to their distinctive advantages, such as high efficiency, high power density, and wide constant power region. To achieve high-performance field oriented control, accurate rotor position information, which is usually measured by rotary encoders or resolvers, is indispensable. However, the use of these sensors increases the cost, size, weight, and wiring complexity and reduces the mechanical robustness and the reliability of the overall PMSM drive systems. The goal of the research for this dissertation was to develop a rotor position/speed sensorless control system with performance comparable to the sensor-based control …

Statistical And Prognostic Modeling Of Clinical Outcomes With Complex Physiologic Data, Monica A. Puertas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Laboratory tests are a primary resource for diagnosing patient diseases. However, physicians often make decisions based on a single laboratory result and have a limited perspective of the role of commonly-measured parameters in enhancing the diagnostic process. By providing a dynamic patient profile, the diagnosis could be more accurate and timely, allowing physicians to anticipate changes in the recovery trajectory and intervene more effectively.

The assessment and monitoring of the circulatory system is essential for patients in intensive care units (ICU). One component of this system is the platelet count, which is used in assessing blood clotting. However, platelet counts …

A Control-Chart Based Method For Solder Joint Crack Detection - Conference Proceeding, Jianbiao Pan

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Many researchers have used different failure criteria in the published solder joint reliability studies. Since the reported time-to-failure would be different if different failure criteria were used, it would be difficult to compare the reported reliability life of solder joints from one study to another. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of failure criteria on the reported thermal fatigue life and find out which failure criterion can detect failure sooner. First, the application of the control-chart based method in a thermal cycling reliability study is described. The reported time-to-failure data were then compared based on four …

Design Of Transportation Process For Band Equipment, Marissa N. Blustein, Chris M. Kaye

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The following report documents the attempt to design a safe and reliable process for transporting Louder Space’s musical gear that requires minimal physical demand. Design specifications were derived from customer requirements as well as human factors principles. The transportation process was broken down into systematic process steps and standardized, making use of lean methodologies in order to reduce the number of non-value steps involved. Furthermore, a model portable storage unit for miscellaneous gear was developed to the specifications determined by the band using 3D modeling, as well as certain limiting constraints. Once the customer approved the prototype, the product was …

Extracting Product Development Intelligence From Web Reviews, Ismail Artun Yagci

Dissertations

Product development managers are constantly challenged to learn what the consumer product experience really is, and to learn specifically how the product is performing in the field. Traditionally, they have utilized methods such as prototype testing, customer quality monitoring instruments, field testing methods with sample customers, and independent assessment companies. These methods are limited in that (i) the number of customer evaluations is small, and (ii) the methods are driven by a restrictive structured format. Today the web has created a new source of product intelligence; these are unsolicited reviews from actual product users that are posted across hundreds of …

Performance Analysis And Scheduling Strategies For Ambulatory Surgical Facilities, Xuanqi Zhang

Dissertations

Ambulatory surgery is a procedure that does not require an overnight hospital stay and is cost effective and efficient. The goal of this research is to develop an ASF operational model which allows management to make key decisions. This research develops and utilizes the simulation software ARENA based model to accommodate: (a) Time related uncertainties – Three system uncertainties characterize the problem (ii) Surgery time variance (ii) Physician arrival delay and (iii) Patient arrival delay; (b) Resource Capture Complexities – Patient flows vary significantly and capture/utilize both staffing and/or physical resources at different points and varying levels; and (c) Processing …

Optimal Dredge Fleet Scheduling Within Environmental Work Windows, Heather Nachtmann, Kenneth N. Mitchell, Chase Rainwater, Ridvan Gedik, Edward A. Pohl

Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers oversees dredging in hundreds of navigation projects annually, through its fleet of government equipment and through individual contracts with private industry. The research presented here sought to examine the decision to allocate dredge resources to projects systemwide under necessary constraints. These constraints included environmental restrictions on when dredging could take place in response to the migration patterns of turtles, birds, fish, and other wildlife; dredge equipment resource availability; and varying equipment productivity rates that affected project completion times. The paper discusses problem definition and model formulation of optimal dredge fleet scheduling within environmental …

A Framework For The Development Of A Model For Successful, Sustained Lean Implementation And Improvement, Julie Sisson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lean is a business philosophy focused on shortening lead times by removing waste and concentrating on value-added processes. When implemented successfully, it not only allows for cost reduction while improving quality, but it can also position a company to achieve tremendous growth. The problem is that though many companies are attempting to implement lean, it is estimated that only 2-3% are achieving the desired level of success. The purpose of this research is to identify the key interrelated components of successful lean transformation. To this end, a thorough literature review was conducted and the findings indicate six key constructs that …

Facilitating Information Retrieval In Social Media User Interfaces, Anthony Costello

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the amount of computer mediated information (e.g., emails, documents, multi-media) we need to process grows, our need to rapidly sort, organize and store electronic information likewise increases. In order to store information effectively, we must find ways to sort through it and organize it in a manner that facilitates efficient retrieval. The instantaneous and emergent nature of communications across networks like Twitter makes them suitable for discussing events (e.g., natural disasters) that are amorphous and prone to rapid changes. It can be difficult for an individual human to filter through and organize the large amounts of information that can …