Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Leanness And Agility In Job Shops: A Framework For A Survey Instrument Developed Using The Delphi Method, Zaki Kuruppalil

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Manufacturers are facing new challenges as competition has become global. Manufacturing companies arc looking for strategies which would help them gain an edge over their competitors. In the United States, lean manufacturing and agile manufacturing have been gaining importance among industries. Agile manufacturing was developed when the United States Department of Defense (DOD) requested Iacocca Institute at Lehigh University to develop a manufacturing framework that could give US companies an edge over their worldwide competitors whereas lean manufacturing has its roots tied to the Toyota Production System (TPS). This raises the questions: what is the clear difference between the two …

Correlation Of Numerical Ability And Quality Technician Best Performers In Manufacturing Quality Control Applications, Charles Wesley Shelton

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The occupation of Quality Technician has many duties requiring numerical operations. Business and industry place considerable emphasis on numerical ability when evaluating the performance of a Quality Technician. In this study, the numerical ability and performance classification of Quality Technicians were analyzed using a correlation analysis. lll A single case study was used to investigate this relationship. A modified Delphi Method was used to determine characteristics of a Quality Technician. Quality Technicians were evaluated by their direct supervisor and completed a standardized numerical ability test. The evaluations by the supervisor were used to classify each technician based on their performance. …

Applying Lean Manufacturing Techniques To Improve The Performance Of An Emergency Department, Ramesh Pondhe

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The research was an attempt to apply lean manufacturing (LM) techniques, to the healthcare setting specifically to Emergency Department (ED) of a local hospital and to improve its performance. An ED is meant to attend/provide immediate care to a patient who needs medical care immediately and also balancing the care to patients with lesser acuity who arrive at the ED for treatment. The data was collected from the ED by direct observation. The data was statistically analyzed to find out the bottlenecks in the process during the course of a patient's treatment to further provide solutions and improve the performance …

Conceptual Simulation Modeling For Regional Distribution Center Systems, Kitti Setavoraphan

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the simulation modeling of warehousing operations commonly seen at general merchandize distribution centers. The key operational processes and modeling requirements related were identified and analyzed through a pattern and knowledge-based approach to capture the structural and behavioral characteristics of general distribution centers to support simulation study for performance evaluation and process improvement. Robust representations and patterns were developed to represent the elements and logic of the simulation models for these processes to facilitate efficient and effective construction of models. The issues of conceptual modeling such as synthesis, abstraction, decomposition, and specialization were addressed.

A Case Study On Implementation Of Quality Function Deployment Into The Design Process Of A Small Job Shop, Benjamin A. Thomson

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The majority of research involving Quality Function Deployment (QFD) was focused on large consumer based companies and not small job shop business-to-business companies. This case study involved the implementation of QFD into the design process at Reynolds & Co., a small job shop in Terre Haute, IN. The specific objectives of the research were to find the QFD concepts that apply to the improvement of Reynolds & Co.'s (small job shop) design process. The next objective was to reduce the average design time associated with Reynolds & Co.'s design process. The final objective of this case study was to reduce …

Why Toyota And Honda Topped The 2002 J.D. Power Quality Study, Susan Lightle, Kenneth Yale Rosenzweig, John Talbott

Accounting Faculty Publications

Toyota again topped the annual J. D. Power and Associates quality study released in late May of 2002. Toyota scored the highest mark ever with l 07 defects per l 00 vehicles, while Honda came in second with 113 defects. The study was based on responses of approximately 65,000 new car owners queried during their first 90-days of ownership.

These results do not surprise us, as we have been fortunate to make numerous sojourns to the Toyota plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, and observe the manufacturing processes. These trips were normally facilitated by a former Japanese student of ours, Minako Yanke, …

Incorporating E-Commerce Technologies Into Small And Medium Manufacturing Industries In Tanzania, M. A.M. Victor

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Businesses worldwide are making use of the new opportunities which have been brought up by the developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), particularly the Internet. Big businesses, especially those multinationals in the developed nations have invested heavily on these technologies and they are reaping their benefits. This paper reports on a study conducted to look at the key issues to be considered in order for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Tanzania be able to position themselves technologically in what is termed as E-commerce. Cost and benefits, policy, training and infrastructure issues are looked at in this study.

Semester Project For Engineering Entrepreneurship, Paul Savory

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Instructional Materials

This is the semester, team-based, student project required for my special topics course on Engineering Entrepreneurship. The semester project focuses on developing a preliminary business plan for a company. This will entail coming up with an idea, exploring the marketability of the idea, and developing preliminary plans for the business.

Aligning Hierarchical Goals In An Organization: The Path From Training To Performance, Jeanette Denise Selby-Lucas

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Training is a multi-billion-dollar industry, and with the advent of the training technology revolution and the possibilities it provides to business and government, as well as to the academic community, it is important to determine if the money invested in training by these communities is providing the expected performance on the part of those who are trained. This can be done by quantitatively evaluating the relationship between training and performance.

This study extends the scholarly literature by developing the concept of organizational alignment through a combination of Human Performance Technology literature and traditional engineering methodologies. Organizational training and performance is …

The Quality Problem Solving Method And Its Effectiveness At Nortech Inc., Jeffrey Henderson

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

A Comparative Study On Projected And Actual Manufacturing Times To Identify The Source Of Customer Delinquency, Zaki Kuruppalil

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was an investigation of the projected lead time and the actual lead time for a part manufactured at Tri-Industries Inc., Terre Haute, Indiana. The research was focused on a single part produced in Tri-Industries. The problem was that there is a difference in the projected lead time and the actual lead time of the part under investigation. The actual lead time was longer than projected lead time, which resulted in the company being delinquent in customer delivery. This investigation was conducted to find out the source for customer delinquency for a single part in Tri-Industries. The conclusion was …

Re-Engineering Of The Quality Assurance Process Using Work Study Methodology, Yew Hoong Chia

Student Works (2000-2009)

This project paper explores the application of Work Study methods to improve the manufacturing processes in the current semiconductor manufacturing environment. The scope of the project is narrowed down to the Quality Assurance Out-going Final Inspection (QA OFI) Gate process step at the End-Of-Line (EOL) Operations in Motorola Malaysia Sendirian Berhad. This QA OFI Gate process step had recently become a bottleneck to the total EOL operations and in need of productivity improvement. It was observed that Work Study methods were not being used extensively or applied in a systematic manner in the company being studied. Many changes were made …

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

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

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.

Meta-Ethnographic Development Of A Dialogue Methodology Applied To Organization Discourse, Shelley P. Gallup

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A gap exists between theoretical stances that acknowledge the importance of dialogue as a dynamic within socially constructed structures, and "steersmanship" of those constructs--e.g., directing, intervening or transforming organizations. A "mechanism" which links theory with practice is missing, leaving practitioners with an acknowledgment of dialogue's central position, but without tools to enact this centrality in practice or research. This research constructs a conceptual model of dialogue, derived from the literature. Using this model as a base, the research seeks to generate a dialogue methodology bridging theory and practice with respect to organizational dialogue. The model, methodology, and research results are …

A Comparison Of Consistent Versus Inconsistent Scheduling Rules In A Flow Shop Environment, Nicola Gismondi

Theses and Dissertations

A consistent scheduling rule is one which will ensure a job's priority (relative to all other job's) will remain constant as it moves from queue to queue in a production system. Previous research concerning flow shop priority scheduling rules focused on comparison of either consistent or inconsistent rules. Conversely, this study sought to provide additional insight by comprising consistent and inconsistent rules in a flow shop environment The Air Force uses both types of rules in maintenance and logistics scheduling. Time and money can be saved if the scheduling managers can better understand the effect of consistency on a system. …

Just In Time Manufacturing: A Migration From Materials Requirements Planning, Scott A. Koehler

Theses and Dissertations

Manufacturing planning and control systems play an important role in an organization's effectiveness. Over the past twenty to thirty years, U.S. manufacturing companies have faced increasing competition for market share from Japanese and other Pacific rim countries. This thesis will investigate the evolutionary path followed by manufacturing companies that have implemented various manufacturing planning and control systems. Specifically, Materials Requirements Planning (MRP) and Just In Time (JIT) production will be analyzed. MRP is a means of convening demand for the final product into a requirements schedule for the various components comprising that product. The JIT philosophy calls for continuously improving …

An Evaluation Of The Implementation Of Total Quality Management In A Service Organization, Charles Stanford Stevens

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This research consists of a formative evaluation designed to identify the steps necessary to revitalize a formerly successful Total Quality Management (TQM) process at a U.S. Navy engineering and logistics support organization. The research also developed a methodology to account for the fact that the investigator is a well-informed insider who served as one of the principle change agents for the TQM implementation.

The research is based on the researcher's observation that the major cause for the waning implementation was due to senior management and leadership issues and the organization-wide processes with which they interface. The investigation consisted of an …

Repair Process Improvement At The Ogden Air Logistics Center, Landing Gear Division: A Case Study In The Application Of The Theory Of Constraints, David A. Maddox, Susan L. Martz

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the nature and extent of success that resulted from the implementation of the Theory of Constraints (TOC) in a depot repair environment. The actions taken to implement TOC were determined. Performance measures which defined success were identified and data were collected and summarized to demonstrate performance before and after implementation of TOC concepts. Improvements in flowdays and work-in-process (WIP) were determined to be attributable to the TOC effort. In addition, the unique characteristics of probabalistic repair and supply system variability were noted as those characteristics that posed the greatest challenges to implementing TOC in a remanufacturing environment. …

Scheduling A Medium-Sized Manufacturing Shop: A Simulation Study, Daniel J. Mcfeely

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the application of simple-to-use, low cost scheduling methods to the operating environment of a medium-sized manufacturing shop. Computer simulation was used to evaluate eighteen different scheduling algorithms, each the result of the combination of a loading and a sequencing rule; due date setting was not considered since due dates are exogenously set. The loading rules investigated were Minimum Machine Required, Lowest Average WIP, and Lowest Average Aggregate Priority Level. The sequencing rules investigated were Priority, EDD, FIS, SPT, Slack, and Slack Ratio. The scheduling algorithms were evaluated against performance measures of mean tardiness, mean flowtime, mean percentage …

A Comparison Of The Disaster™ Scheduling Software With A Simultaneous Scheduling Algorithm For Minimizing Maximum Tardiness In Job Shops, Barak J. Carlson, Christopher A. Lettiere

Theses and Dissertations

The Theory of Constraints (TOC) is the foundation for a computerized scheduling system called DISASTER. Although this system has proven successful in many manufacturing settings, it has potential limitations due to the sequential heuristic process by which it schedules constraints. The objective of this thesis was to determine the extent to which these limitations impact the due date performance of schedules created by DISASTER. This objective was addressed by developing an algorithm to simultaneously schedule multiple constraints in a job shop environment and provide the optimal schedule for minimized maximum tardiness. This algorithm was used to obtain solutions for a …

Benchmark Production Scheduling Problems For Job Shops With Interactive Constraints, Stewart W. James, Bruno A. Mediate Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

United States Air Force (USAF) depots have expressed interest in utilizing DISASTER production scheduling software to schedule their maintenance operations. DISASTER attempts to increase system throughput by building effective schedules for system, constraint resources. However, when a system contains multiple, interactive constraints, DISASTER builds the constraint schedules one at a time. Since each successive schedule must adhere to timing restrictions imposed by previous constraint schedules, the quality of the schedules produced by DISASTER is dependent upon the sequence in which the constraints are scheduled. This thesis first developed a set of benchmark problems which provide a diversity of scheduling scenarios. …

Diffusion Of Total Quality Management: An Organizational Self-Production Perspective, Baizhong Zhao

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

American industries are in the process of a quality revolution. Most companies are busy implementing Total Quality Management (TQM) programs. However, the experience of both Japanese and American companies indicates that successful TQM implementation depends on an understanding of implementation processes, which itself relies on an understanding of organizational self-organizing, for it is through this process that TQM gets diffused and becomes a core component of an organization's culture. Self-organizing is a so-called process-oriented approach, based on theory from cybernetics (Ashby, 1962; Steier & Smith, 1985; von Foerster, 1960), dissipative structure theory (Prigogine & Stengers, 1984), and chaos theory (Gleick, …

A Sugar Movement Planning System For Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation, Nirmala Hindupur

IIMB Management Review

Public distribution of essential commodities is a vital sector of the Indian
economy. This sector, with its diverse activities, has tremendous scope for
efficiency improvement and cost control through the implementation of
Computer-Aided Management (CAM) Systems. Because of its vital importance,
this area is one of the thrust areas selected by CAM Centre, ASCI, Hyderabad
for the development of CAM systems.
The Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd. (KSCSC) is one of the
organizations identified for the development of CAM systems.
This paper describes the Sugar Movement Planning System designed
and developed under the GAM project by the author at …

Electric Power Transmission & Purchases : Report Of A Study By The Joint Standing Committee On Utilities, 112th Maine Legislature, Maine. Legislature. Joint Standing Committee On Utilities

Maine Collection

Electric Power Transmission & Purchases : Report Of a Study By the Joint Standing Committee on Utilities, 112th Maine Legislature

Maine Legislature. Joint Standing Committee on Utilities.

Augusta, Maine (December 2, 1986).

Contents: Introduction / Issues & Recommendations / Review of 1986 Legislation / Maine's Electric Power Picture / Technical Analysis of Transmission & Wheeling / Economic Implications of Transmission & Wheeling /. Legals Analysis of Transmission & Wheeling / Proposed Legislation / Appendices / Tables & Figures

The Relationship Between Management Training And Other Predictor Variables And Managerial Performance Among Selected Industrial First-Line Supervisors, Joseph Thomas Martelli

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a relationship exists between industrial first-line supervisors' participation in management training programs and subsequent job related performance as assessed by the subjects' overall management by objectives (MBO) performance appraisal rating .

Also, the relationship between managerial performance and predictor variables (age, years of supervisory experience, formal education level, self development, prior management training, and professional society involvement) was assessed.

Twenty-three first-line supervisors from a medium sized manufacturing organization participated in the study. A questionnaire was designed which extracted measures on the predictor variables from the subjects. Corporate management supplied the measure …