Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Engineering Problem Solving And Sustained Learning: A Mixed Methods Study To Explore The Dynamics Of Engineering Knowledge Creation, Rachel Itabashi-Campbell

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation research explores processes by which engineering problem solving (EPS) results in sustained organizational learning. Approaching from a constructionist perspective, the study empirically examines the knowledge creation dynamics instigated by product-related problems using a mixed methods research approach. The research has identified the Japanese concept of ba, defined in this study as "shared experiential space," as a key construct that explains the phenomena of interest. A new framework that the study has developed, which interprets EPS as an epistemic journey to attain system-wide improvements, is highly complementary to the traditional structured routine based approaches to engineering operations and …

Optimization Of Strategic Planning Processes For Configurable Products: Considerations For Global Supply, Demand, And Sustainability Issues, Edward Lawrence Umpfenbach

Wayne State University Dissertations

The assortment planning problem is to decide on the set of products that a retailer or manufacturer will offer to its customers to maximize profitability. While assortment planning research has been expanding in recent years, the current models are inadequate for the needs of a configurable product manufacturer. In particular, we address assortment planning for an automobile manufacturer. We develop models to integrate assortment planning and supply chain management, designed for use by a large automaker in its strategic planning phase. Our model utilizes a multinomial logit model transformed into a mixed integer linear program through the Charnes-Cooper transformation. It …

Demand Modeling And Capacity Planning For Innovative Short Life-Cycle Products, Saman Alaniazar

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on demand modeling and capacity planning for innovative short life-cycle products. We first developed a new model in the class of stochastic Bass formulations that addresses the shortcomings of models from the extant literature. The proposed model considers the common fact that the market potential of a product is not fixed and might change during a life-cycle due to exogenous (e.g., economic- or competitors-related) or endogenous (e.g., quality-related) factors. Allowing this parameter (market potential in the Bass model) to follow a geometric random walk, we have showed that the future demand of a product in each period …

A Real Option Dynamic Decision (Rodd) Framework For Operational Innovations, Wilawan Onkham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Changing the business operations and adopting new operational innovations, have become key features for a business solution approach. However, there are challenges for developing innovative operations due to a lack of the proper decision analysis tools, lack of understanding the impacts transition will have on operational models, and the time limits of the innovation life cycle. The cases of business failure in operational innovation (i.e. Eastman Kodak Company and Borders Group Inc.,) support the need for an investment decision framework. This research aims to develop a Real Option Dynamic Decision (RODD) framework for decision making, to support decision makers for …

Systems Geometry: A Methodology For Analyzing Emergent System Of Systems Behaviors, Christina Bouwens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent advancements in technology have led to the increased use of integrated ‘systems of systems’ (SoS) which link together independently developed and usable capabilities into an integrated system that exhibits new, emergent capabilities. However, the resulting SoS is often not well understood, where secondary and tertiary effects of tying systems together are often unpredictable and present severe consequences. The complexities of the composed system stem not only from system integration, but from a broad range of areas such as the competing objectives of different constituent system stakeholders, mismatched requirements from multiple process models, and architectures and interface approaches that are …

Integrating Multiobjective Optimization With The Six Sigma Methodology For Online Process Control, Emad Abualsauod

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over the past two decades, the Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control (DMAIC) framework of the Six Sigma methodology and a host of statistical tools have been brought to bear on process improvement efforts in today’s businesses. However, a major challenge of implementing the Six Sigma methodology is maintaining the process improvements and providing real-time performance feedback and control after solutions are implemented, especially in the presence of multiple process performance objectives. The consideration of a multiplicity of objectives in business and process improvement is commonplace and, quite frankly, necessary. However, balancing the collection of objectives is challenging as the objectives are inextricably linked, and, …

A Posteriori And Interactive Approaches For Decision-Making With Multiple Stochastic Objectives, Ahmed Bakhsh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Computer simulation is a popular method that is often used as a decision support tool in industry to estimate the performance of systems too complex for analytical solutions. It is a tool that assists decision-makers to improve organizational performance and achieve performance objectives in which simulated conditions can be randomly varied so that critical situations can be investigated without real-world risk. Due to the stochastic nature of many of the input process variables in simulation models, the output from the simulation model experiments are random. Thus, experimental runs of computer simulations yield only estimates of the values of performance objectives, …

Prediction Of Foreign Object Debris/Damage Fod Type Based In Human Factors For Aeronautics Using Logistic Regression Model, David Ricardo Romo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Foreign Object Debris/Damage (FOD) has been an issue for military and commercial aircraft manufacturers since the early ages of aviation and aerospace. Currently, aerospace is growing rapidly and the chances of FOD presence are growing as well. One of the principal causes in manufacturing is the human error. The cost associated with human error in commercial and military aircrafts is approximately accountable for 4 billion dollars per year. This problem is currently addressed with prevention programs, elimination techniques, and designation of FOD areas, controlled access, restrictions of personal items entering designated areas, tool accountability, and the use of technology such …

Design Of A Biomass-To-Biorefinery Logistics System Through Bio-Inspired Metaheuristic Optimization Considering Multiple Types Of Feedstocks, Isidoro Trueba

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Bioenergy has become an important alternative source of energy to alleviate the reliance on petroleum energy. Bioenergy offers significant potential to mitigate climate change by reducing life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions relative to fossil fuels. The Energy Independence and Security Act mandate the use of 21 billion gallons of advanced biofuels including 16 billion gallons of cellulosic biofuels by the year 2022. It is clear that Biomass can make a substantial contribution to supplying future energy demand in a sustainable way. However, the supply of sustainable energy is one of the main challenges that mankind will face over the coming decades. …

Optimization Of Bioprinting Process Using Design Of Experiments (Doe) And Taguchi Method, Maria Veronica Gonzalez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

At this time there is a need for new fabrication techniques for engineering complex biological structures related to regenerative medicine, in vitro tissue analysis, and pharmaceutical testing with the purpose of placing specific cells in specific target locations. Right now, there is no enough conventional cell seeding methods that can achieve it. In order to achieve it, bio-fabrication, which is a delivery mechanism capable of placing biomaterials, cells, and bioactive macromolecules in specific target locations, comes to play an important role in this area. Among different approaches, bioprinting is one of the most useful processes that use drop-on-demand delivery mechanisms …

Simulation-Based Cognitive Workload Modeling And Evaluation Of Adaptive Automation Invoking And Revoking Strategies, Christina Rusnock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In human-computer systems, such as supervisory control systems, large volumes of incoming and complex information can degrade overall system performance. Strategically integrating automation to offload tasks from the operator has been shown to increase not only human performance but also operator efficiency and safety. However, increased automation allows for increased task complexity, which can lead to high cognitive workload and degradation of situational awareness. Adaptive automation is one potential solution to resolve these issues, while maintaining the benefits of traditional automation. Adaptive automation occurs dynamically, with the quantity of automated tasks changing in real-time to meet performance or workload goals. …

Evaluation Of Interpolation Effects On Upsampling And Accuracy Of Cost Functions-Based Optimized Automatic Image Registration, Amir Pasha Mahmoudzadeh, Nasser H. Kashou

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

Interpolation has become a default operation in image processing and medical imaging and is one of the important factors in the success of an intensity-based registration method. Interpolation is needed if the fractional unit of motion is not matched and located on the high resolution (HR) grid. The purpose of this work is to present a systematic evaluation of eight standard interpolation techniques (trilinear, nearest neighbor, cubic Lagrangian, quintic Lagrangian, hepatic Lagrangian, windowed Sinc, B-spline 3rd order, and B-spline 4th order) and to compare the effect of cost functions (least squares (LS), normalized mutual information (NMI), normalized cross correlation (NCC), …

Manufacturing Strategy & Operations: Reflections On Key Current Issues: Challenges And Associated Human Resource Implications, Lorraine Mcgrath

Books/Book chapters

This chapter evaluates the current issues and challenges in defining a company’s manufacturing strategy and its production operations in consideration of the contemporary shift to low cost manufacturing locations. Competitive priorities of cost, quality, delivery and flexibility are reviewed. The structural and infrastructure elements of a manufacturing strategy are outlined. Mitigating risks in a global arena are reviewed. Collaborative efforts, including the cultural and personality issues of being human are included in the discussion of managing diversity in such a highly competitive and challenging enterprise resource planning environment.

Analysis Of A Multi-Server Queueing Model With Vacations And Optional Secondary Services, Srinivas R. Chakravarthy

Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering Publications

In this paper we study a multi-server queueing model in which the customer arrive according to a Markovian arrival process. The customers may require, with a certain probability, an optional secondary service upon completion of a primary service. The secondary services are offered (in batches of varying size) when any of the following conditions holds good: (a) upon completion of a service a free server finds no primary customer waiting in the queue and there is at least one secondary customer (including possibly the primary customer becoming a secondary customer) waiting for service; (b) upon completion of a primary service, …

Scheduling In Mohs Micrographic Surgery Clinics, Stephen Vincent Steidle

Open Access Theses

Mohs Micrographic Surgery (MMS) is a surgical method used for the excision of aggressive skin cancers in areas of high cosmetic importance, such as the face and hands. The practice has been gaining popularity worldwide for its low recurrence rates and cosmetic results. Current clinics though are plagued by extreme wait times and an overall poor patient experience. In this paper we look to explore this problem by applying systems engineering principles including optimization and scheduling with the goal of improving the patient experience. Currently, little literature exists exploring the difficulties associated with scheduling for MMS clinic which primarily revolve …

Investor Sentiment In The Stock Market, Bayram Veli Salur

Open Access Theses

Classical finance theories neglect the impact of investor sentiment on stock returns. These theories assume that investors are rational and make decisions in a way that maximizes their wealth. However, a vast amount of research shows that investors' decisions are affected by their psychological biases and feelings. These findings suggest that investor sentiment may have an impact on stock returns. This hypothesis is the main motivation of this study. First, this study examines whether there is correlation among investor sentiment indicators, and whether sentiment indicators have an impact on stock returns in the US and other countries. Second, this study …

The Impact Of Organizations' Collaboration Strategies And Alliance Network Positions On Invention Performance, Fethullah Caliskan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates the impact of organizations' collaboration strategies and network positional variables on invention performance. Organizations, particularly those pursuing a differentiation strategy, are motivated to introduce novel products and services in order to remain competitive. Thus, two questions of interest to such organizations regarding the network dynamics of the invention process are: 1) What kind of strategies allow them to attain superior invention results? 2) What is the most advantageous structural positioning in a collaborative network of innovators? Three independent studies attempt to find answers to these questions by using three complementary study approaches.

In the first study, in …

Predicting The Clinical Outcome In Patients With Traumatic Brain Injury Using Clinical Pathway Scores, Jennifer Lorena Mendoza Alonzo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Polytrauma/TBI Rehabilitation Center (PRC) of the Veterans Affairs Hospital (VAH) treats patients with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). These patients have major motor and cognitive disabilities. Most of the patients stay in the hospital for many months without major improvements. This suggests that patients, family and the VAH could benefit if healthcare provider had a way to better assess or "predict" patients' progression. The individual progress of patients over time is assessed using a pre-defined multi-component performance measure Functional Independence Measures (FIM) at admission and discharge, and a semi-quantitative documentation parameter Clinical Pathway (CP) at weekly intervals. This work uses …

A Methodology For Scheduling Operating Rooms Under Uncertainty, Marbelly Paola Davila

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An operating room (OR) is considered to be one of the most costly functional areas within hospitals as well as its major profit center. It is known that managing an OR department is a challenging task, which requires the integration of many actors (e.g., patients, surgeons, nurses, technicians) who may have conflicting interests and priorities.

Considering these aspects, this dissertation focuses on developing a simulation based methodology for scheduling operating rooms under uncertainty, which reflects the complexity, uncertainty and variability associated with surgery.

We split the process of scheduling ORs under uncertainty into two main components. First, we designed a …

Steam, Electricity & Gas : Historical Perspectives On What We Drive Today And Why, Michael Edward Flinton

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

ABSTRACT

A Mathematical Modeling Framework For Phlebotomist Scheduling And Blood Draw Assignments In Laboratory Medicine, Laquanda T. Leaven

Dissertations

Laboratory services in healthcare delivery systems play a vital role in inpatient care. Studies have shown that laboratory data affects approximately 65% of the most critical decisions on admission, discharge, and medication. Laboratory testing accounts for approximately 10% of hospital billing. Reducing laboratory costs would contribute to reducing total healthcare cost, which is one of the major goals for the U.S. healthcare delivery system. This research focuses on improving the performance of the hospital laboratory in a large hospital system. The intention of this study is to identify and then optimize the most critical stage to improve the entire laboratory …

Quantitative Analyses Of Acceptable Noise Level For Air Conduction Listening, Bankole K. Fasanya

Dissertations

This study was conducted to develop quantitative models for Acceptable Noise Level (ANL) under air conduction (AC) listening conditions. Experimental results on the effects of frequency bandwidths on ANL under two listening conditions involving earphones and loudspeaker (sound field) with high and low frequencies and babble noise and white noise revealed: (a) there are statistically significant interactions among the background noise types, the background noise frequency bandwidths and signal source; (b) background noise and noise frequency bandwidths have effects on listener discriminability bias toward the noise and the signal intensity; (c) different listening conditions had different ANL thresholds; and (d) …

An Augmented Interaction Strategy For Designing Human-Machine Interfaces For Hydraulic Excavators, Joseph Akyeampong

Dissertations

Lack of adequate information feedback and work visibility, and fatigue due to repetition have been identified as the major usability gaps in the human-machine interface (HMI) design of modern hydraulic excavators that subject operators to undue mental and physical workload, resulting in poor performance. To address these gaps, this work proposed an innovative interaction strategy, termed “augmented interaction”, for enhancing the usability of the hydraulic excavator. Augmented interaction involves the embodiment of heads-up display and coordinated control schemes into an efficient, effective and safe HMI. Augmented interaction was demonstrated using a framework consisting of three phases: Design, Implementation/Visualization, and Evaluation …

The Effect Of Curriculum Organization On The Acquisition Of Abstract Declarative Knowledge In Computer Based Instructions., Saleh Al-Foraih

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The United States of America has dropped behind many countries in terms of the Science and Engineering university degrees awarded since the beginning of the nineties. Multiple studies have been conducted to determine the cause of this decline in degrees awarded, and try to reverse the trend in US education. The goal of these studies was to determine the proper instructional methods that facilitate the knowledge acquisition process for the student. It has been determined that not one method works for all types of curriculum, for example methods that have been found to work effectively in curriculum that teaches procedures …

Investigating The Relationship Between Adverse Events And Infrastructure Development In An Active War Theater Using Soft Computing Techniques, Erman Cakit

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The military recently recognized the importance of taking sociocultural factors into consideration. Therefore, Human Social Culture Behavior (HSCB) modeling has been getting much attention in current and future operational requirements to successfully understand the effects of social and cultural factors on human behavior. There are different kinds of modeling approaches to the data that are being used in this field and so far none of them has been widely accepted. HSCB modeling needs the capability to represent complex, ill-defined, and imprecise concepts, and soft computing modeling can deal with these concepts. There is currently no study on the use of …

Total Ownership Cost Modeling Of Technology Adoption Using System Dynamics: Implications For Erp Systems, Behzad Esmaeilian

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Investment in new technologies is considered by firms as a solution to improve their productivity, product and service quality and their competitive advantages in the global market. Unfortunately, not all technology adoption projects have met their intended objectives. The complexity of technology adoption along with little consideration of the long term cost of the technology, are among the factors that challenge companies while adopting a new technology. Companies often make new technology adoption decision without enough attention to the total cost of the technology over its lifecycle. Sometimes poor decision making while adopting a new technology can result in substantial …

Success In Technology Organizations, Joseph Bass

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In today’s economic environment, it is advantageous for technology organizations to be cognizant of prevalent influences on success and failure and to incorporate this knowledge into their business and innovation strategies. Technology organizations were defined within this research as those in the business of created competence which is expressed in terms of entities consisting of devices, procedures, and acquired human skills (Clarke, 2005). Although, no organization contains the ideal mix of culture and ideological emphases, some have amassed impressive track records of great success. A literature review was used to identify factors relevant within similar contexts such as influences on …

Exploring The Innovation Environment Within The Systems Engineering Context Of A Defense Organization: A Preliminary Framework, Khaled Odeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Innovation may involve the introduction of ideas for designing or producing new products, or introducing improvements to products, processes, services or any other aspect of an organization to the market place. A major element for measuring organizational strength is its perception of innovation and the ability of the organization to build on and sustain such strength. While there is no shortage of research and study materials on innovation, there is, however, a shortage of thorough and realistic analysis of the intersection of innovation management, and measurement of innovation within the systems engineering context of defense organizations. In addition, while most …

Employing Quality Management Principles To Improve The Performance Of Educational Systems: An Empirical Study Of The Effect Of Iso 9001 Standard On Teachers And Administrators Performance In The Indonesian Vocational Education System, Andreas Kuncoro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ISO 9001 has been world widely implemented in both manufacturing and service organizations. A lot of studies have been conducted to investigate the effects of ISO 9001 implementation on the performance of these organizations. Most of these studies show that ISO 9001 implementation realized positive operational improvements and financial success. Building on the merits of successful implementation of ISO 9001 quality management system in manufacturing and service, educational institutions have been attempted to adopt it in their operations. Even though there are studies relating ISO implementation to education, no research has been done to investigate the effects of ISO 9001 …

A Framework For Measuring The Value-Added Of Knowledge Processes With Analysis Of Process Interactions And Dynamics, Jose Cintron

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The most known and widely used methods use cash flows and tangible assets to measure the impact of investments in the organization’s outputs. But in the last decade many newer organizations whose outputs are heavily dependent on information technology utilize knowledge as their main asset. These organizations’ market values lie on the knowledge of its employees and their technological capabilities. In the current technology-based business landscape the value added by assets utilized for generation of outputs cannot be appropriately measured and managed without considering the role that intangible assets and knowledge play in executing processes. The analysis of processes for …