Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Design Of A New Suturing And Knot Tying Device For Laparoscopic Surgery, Sinan Onal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Minimally invasive or laparoscopic surgery has completely changed the focus of surgery becoming an alternative to various types of open surgery. Minimally invasive surgery avoids invasive open surgery as the operation is performed through one or more small incisions in the abdomen and using a small camera called laparoscope. Through these incisions, surgeons insert specialized surgical instruments to perform the operation resulting in less postoperative pain, shorter hospital stay, and faster recovery. However, the main problems during minimally-invasive surgery are the limited space for operating instruments and the reduced visibility and range of motion inside the patient’s body. During minimally-invasive …

Remote Usability Testing - A New Approach Facilitated By Virtual Worlds, Kapil Chalil Madathil

All Theses

Synchronous remote usability testing, involves a facilitator conducting a usability test in real time, interacting with a participant who is remote. This study proposes a new methodology for conducting these studies using a three-dimensional virtual world, Wonderland, and compares it with two other commonly used synchronous usability test methods: the traditional lab approach and WebEx, a web-based conferencing and screen sharing approach.
The study involved 48 participants in total, 36 test subjects and 12 test facilitators. These 36 were equally divided among the three environments with the 12 test facilitators being paired with one participant in each of the environments. …

Simulation And Mathematical Modeling To Support Community-Wide Evacuation Decisions For Multiple Population Groups, Jun Duanmu

All Dissertations

Evacuating a large population from an at-risk area has been the subject of extensive research over the past few decades. In order to measure trip completion and total evacuation times accurately, most researchers have implemented some combination of simulation and optimization methods to provide vehicular flow and congestion data. While the general at-risk population comprises the majority of travelers on the road network, there are often specific groups to consider when assessing the ability to evacuate an entire population. In particular, healthcare facilities (e.g., hospitals) may require evacuation, and the trip times may become an important health issue for patients …

Prioritizing Patients For Emergency Evacuation From A Healthcare Facility, Ashley Childers

All Dissertations

The success of a healthcare facility evacuation depends on communication and decision-making at all levels of the organization, from the coordinators at incident command to the clinical staff who actually carry out the evacuation. One key decision is the order in which each patient is chosen for evacuation. While the typical planning assumption is that all patients are to be evacuated, there may not always be adequate time or resources available to move all patients. In these cases, prioritizing or ordering patients for evacuation becomes an extremely difficult decision to make. These decisions should be based on the current state …

Investigation Into Current Efficiency For Pulse Electrochemical Machining Of Nickel Alloy, Yu Zhang

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

INVESTIGATION INTO CURRENT EFFICIENCY FOR PULSE ELECTROCHEMICAL MACHINING OF NICKEL ALLOY

Yu Zhang, M.S.

University of Nebraska, 2010

Adviser: Kamlakar P. Rajurkar

Electrochemical machining (ECM) is a nontraditional manufacturing process that can machine difficult-to-cut materials. In ECM, material is removed by controlled electrochemical dissolution of an anodic workpiece in an electrochemical cell. ECM has extensive applications in automotive, petroleum, aerospace, textile, medical, and electronics industries.

Improving current efficiency is a challenging task for any electro-physical or electrochemical machining processes. The current efficiency is defined as the ratio of the observed amount of metal dissolved to the theoretical amount predicted from …

Determination Of Cap Model Parameters Using Numerical Optimization Method For Powder Compaction, Cong Lu

Dissertations (1934 -)

Many advantages are inherent to the successful powder metallurgy (P/M) process especially in high volume manufacturing. The strength/density distribution of the compacted product is crucial to overall success. The finite element analysis (FEA) method has become an effective way to numerically simulate strength/density distribution in a P/M compact. The modified Drucker-Prager cap (DPC) model has been shown to be a suitable constitutive relationship for metal powder compaction simulation. The calibration of the modified DPC model involves a procedure known as a triaxial compression test. Equipment for completing a triaxial compression test on metal powders is neither readily available nor standardized …

Development Of A Task Assignment Tool To Customize Job Descriptions And Close Person-Job Fit Gaps, Bryan W. Booker

Dissertations

Does the knowledge worker fit the job or should the job fit the knowledge worker? This research developed a methodology and a tool to customize a knowledge worker’s job design to better fit their knowledge, skills, abilities and characteristics. The research outcomes support the customization of the job design to improve person-job fit, the documentation of the customized job design as a position description, and the use of a structured person-task assignment process. The recommended task assignment process includes a job aid that uses multivariate equations to predict expected task performance. Data were collected from two knowledge worker sub-groups: lean …

A Methodology To Evaluate Obsolete Inventory In Health Care, Rama Thummalapalli

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

Many organizations are currently facing inventory management problems such as distributing inventory on-time and maintain the correct inventory levels to satisfy the customer or end users. Organizations understand the need for maintaining the accurate inventory levels but sometimes fall short leading a wide performance gap in maintaining inventory accurately. The inventory inaccuracy can consume much of the investment on purchasing inventory and many times leads to excessive inventory. The research objective of thesis is to provide a decision making criteria to the management for closing or maintaining the warehouse based on basic purchasing and holding cost information. The specific objectives …

Optimizing And Benchmarking Returnable Container Processes Within An Automotive Distribution System, Camille Chism

Theses

An analysis of Reusable Packaging in automobile manufacturing facilities, as well as a comparison to other industries, shows that returnable container systems are not being fully utilized.

In this study, methods to return and track packaging materials for reuse are examined. Issues identified through surveys and interviews are summarized, and a recommendation to more fully utilize systems currently in place is proposed. An evaluation based on utilizing the current system will enable us to assign a cost to current operations, and may support an investment in improved systems and technologies.

Most of the companies surveyed gauge functionality based on whether …

Post-Project Risk Perception And Systems Management Reaction, Baqer Alali

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this research is to identify whether risk management in projects has any role in risk management in systems. Projects, systems, and risk management are three integral concepts in the management of various enterprises and agencies. Risk management is a common concept in systems and project processes. To avoid failures or crisis during their life cycles, projects and systems managers practice risk management. Projects and systems have well defined life cycles during which the risk is defined, controlled, and managed. Risk management is conducted in each phase of projects and systems. Projects are initiated to close certain operational …

The Influence Of Network Factors On Network Centric Operations, Mehmet Fidanci

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

As Information Age changes the lifestyle of all humankinds, it also changes the way how to defense and secure the borders are secured and defended. The Information Age is about information superiority. It evolves the command and control concept, proactively, to optimize the size of the units and their connections within a combat force for effective mission accomplishment. The biggest issue is how big a unit will be and how they will arrange and connect it to the command and control structure in order for the unit to be effective on the battlefield. While some arrangements connect to each other …

Testing The Test: Validity And Reliability Of Senior Exit Exam, Lizabeth Schlemer, Daniel Waldorf

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

A senior exit exam is considered an excellent direct measure of student learning for ABET assessment, but the usefulness of the information gathered is related to the validity and reliability of the test itself. The Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo has used a content exam for several years. This paper will discuss test development, administration, and the role it plays in the assessment process. In addition, the test is evaluated using the standard psychometric techniques of reliability and validity. The results of the evaluation are used to refine the test. The importance …

Lean Inventory Management System For Boeing Missile Defense, Danielle Partridge

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Lean inventory management is influential for business. One of the wastes businesses aim to reduce, using lean principles, is inventory. Inventory management provides the essential tools for eliminating extra inventory and cost that is tied up in capital.

Boeing’s Ground Based Missile Defense inventory area was failing at meeting their proprietary lean manufacturing goals. There was a need for an inventory system that included: lean principles, inventory management and user-friendly capability. The goal of this project’s inventory management database process was to minimize inventory investment while still meeting functional requirements. The deliverables for this project met the needs of Boeing’s …

Ergonomic Methods To Improve Safety In The Construction Sector And Reduce Costs, Mona Barjasteh

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Many small construction companies have difficulty providing a safe working environment for their employees because of their lack of resources. There is a need to provide a manual for small construction companies employing 10 or fewer workers with the best ergonomic solutions of the top most common injuries. Accidents in the construction field are very high with nearly 175,00o nonfatal injuries and 1,121 deaths in 2002. The nonfatal cases occur 7.1 times per 100 full time workers, while serious injuries occur 2.8 times per 100 full time workers. This information reveled the importance of focusing on minor injuries in order …

Statistical Quality Control In The Health Care Industry, Roberto Arce

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

In recognition to the increased length of stay of discharge patients, deteriorating patient care and staff satisfaction in a emergency department (ED), this project was set to improve these measures without reducing staff, adding new workers, and without increasing the number of beds. Lean methods such as value stream mapping (VSM) formed the basis of the project. This tool helped identify the patient process flow through the (ED) as well as the valued added and non-value added steps of the process. This project describes value stream map development in the emergency department at a community hospital. A current-state value stream …

Development And Assessment Of A Pcb Layout And Manufacturong Laboratory Module In Introductory Electric Circuits For Ee And Non-Ee Majors, Albert Liddicoat, Jianbiao Pan, James G. Harris, Gary Perks, Linda Shepherd

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

In standard introductory electric circuits laboratories for electrical engineering (EE) majors and non-EE majors, prototype boards are typically used to construct and test electric circuits. Students typically do not learn how to design and manufacture Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) that are commonly used in more sophisticated design projects and other engineering applications. This paper will present the development and assessment of a PCB layout and manufacturing laboratory module that has been used in introductory electric circuits laboratories for EE and non-EE majors. The feasibility of integrating the new PCB layout and manufacturing module into the electric circuit course will be …

Assessing Curriculum Improvement Through Senior Projects, Jianbiao Pan, Albert Liddicoat, James G. Harris, Linda Shepherd

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Senior project and/or capstone design courses are intended to provide a culminating design experience for students and to demonstrate their understanding of engineering knowledge and their ability to apply that knowledge to practical problems. It is expected that the quality and attributes of students’ senior design projects can be used as a good measure of determining how well the curriculum prepares students to engage in engineering design as well as a measure of faculty teaching and student learning. This paper reports the results of a study designed to assess whether the new computer engineering curriculum implemented at Cal Poly over …

Increasing Production Capacity At A Start Up Biomedical Company, Traci J. Otsuji

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The following senior project was first introduced during a summer internship at a biomedical company called Asthmatx Inc. Asthmatx is responsible for the development and manufacturing of a catheter‐based device for moderate to severe cases of asthma. Upon the approval of FDA, Asthmatx had planned to ramp up their production capacity significantly in order to accommodate the potential growth.

The first step in the process improvement was a facility reconfiguration that involved the adjustment of process sequencing and the implementation of ergonomic catheter channels. Next, time studies were conducted to gain more accurate time standards of the production process. After …

Process Improvement For The Department Of Surgery Sierra Vista Medical Center, Jessica Paz

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

This report proposes and analyzes process improvement methods for the Surgical Services Department at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center. The department currently operates with an average of 25% of elective cases starting on time. This can be attributed to a number of inefficiencies that occur throughout the hospital.

The following Industrial Engineering methods were utilized to improve patient flow:  creation of a data collection system to quantify delays  use of simulation and facility redesign techniques to determine feasibility and benefits of moving towards a surgical center model  development of a user interfaced database to record and analyze …

Police Operations Simulation, Robert Mcgee

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

In this report, the author explains the process of creating the Police Operations Simulation, shows step-by-step how it works, and statistically analyzes the results from SLOPD’s own proposed and current schedules. The data-gathering from the department and the simulation itself will receive the bulk of the coverage in this report, followed by sample results from SLOPD and a business plan for future sale to other departments.

Using the given numbers, it appears that the proposed schedule will result in significantly improved coverage for the city of San Luis Obispo. While any increase in the number officers on patrol tends to …