Systems Engineering Commons^™

A Value-Stream Mapping Success Story: Mba Recruiting Process Improvements, Paulette S. Alexander, Janyce Brennan Fadden

International Conference on Lean Six Sigma

The benefits of Value Stream Mapping (VSM) in higher education are highlighted through this case study which demonstrates that by using the practices of VSM, the graduate recruiting process can be successfully improved by engaging faculty and staff in change events and with rigorous follow up.

Learning Lean Six Sigma: A Student Reflective Study, Chad Laux, Ludmila Nunes

International Conference on Lean Six Sigma

Lean Six Sigma has become a worldwide effort at continuous improvement. As it becomes more prevalent, the teaching and learning of LSS has not caught up with current trends. The purpose of this paper is to understand how students learn Lean Six Sigma in a classroom environment.

How To Use Lean Six Sigma To Improve Service Processes In Higher Education: A Case Study, Na Li, Susan Ely, Chad Laux

International Conference on Lean Six Sigma

The purpose of this paper is to explore how to use Six Sigma to improve the service process in higher education.

Integrated Literature Review Of Information Technology Leadership In Higher Education: Implications For Total Quality Management, Louis Hickman, Mesut Akdere

International Conference on Lean Six Sigma

The current shortage of highly skilled employees across the country continues to be a concern for our higher education (HE) institutions. Information technology (IT) is used in a variety of ways to expand the reach of education, from distance education, simulation technology, Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs), and more. Additionally, public HE institutions face flat and decreasing funding. IT departments are responsible for identifying transformational change opportunities, implementing technologies that expand the reach of our universities, and operating efficiently with flat funding. Therefore, identifying effective IT leadership practices to enable change and reduce costs is vital to success for modern …

Resolving Stakeholder Challenges In The Higher Education System, Godson A. Tetteh

International Conference on Lean Six Sigma

The purpose of this paper is to study how to resolve conflicts among major the stakeholders using the Kano et al. (1984) model so as to improve the quality of higher education (HE).

A Lean Six Sigma Approach For Improving Utilization Of Walk-In Tutors, Sandra Furterer, Kellie Schneider, Michael Key, Yusheng "Johnny” Zhang

International Conference on Lean Six Sigma

The purpose of this study is to improve the utilization of walk-in tutors at the University of Dayton.

Lean Six Sigma In Academic Institutions—Uk Vs. Rest Of The World, Stephen Anthony, Jiju Antony

International Conference on Lean Six Sigma

The main purpose of this paper is to illustrate examples of the current maturity of universities both in the UK and abroad when implementing a continuous improvement programme or change agenda using techniques such as Lean Six Sigma.

Designing For Standardizing On Six Sigma Education, Jing Lu, Chad Laux, Aswathy Suresh

International Conference on Lean Six Sigma

This study evaluated differing sources of the Lean Six Sigma body of knowledge with the purpose of standardizing on learning outcomes for a Black Belt graduate level course.

See The Bigger Picture: A True Systems Approach To Healthcare, Brian J. Galli

Faculty of Computer Science/Management Engineering Publications

“Healthcare” is typically related directly to patient care, hospitals, and ambulatory services, but it is important to see that healthcare is beyond just the delivery of care in hospitals or ambulatory services. A more accurate systems approach to views the world of healthcare as one that involves several stakeholders, including: healthcare delivery (patient care in hospitals and ambulatory services), regulatory agencies, health insurance/health plan organizations, medical device design and manufacturers, pharmaceuticals, society, government (all levels), and healthcare reform organizations. All of these stakeholders relate to each other in many levels and impact our healthcare system.

This paper will cover the …

Decomposition Algorithms In Stochastic Integer Programming: Applications And Computations., Babak Saleck Pay

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation we focus on two main topics. Under the first topic, we develop a new framework for stochastic network interdiction problem to address ambiguity in the defender risk preferences. The second topic is dedicated to computational studies of two-stage stochastic integer programs. More specifically, we consider two cases. First, we develop some solution methods for two-stage stochastic integer programs with continuous recourse; second, we study some computational strategies for two-stage stochastic integer programs with integer recourse. We study a class of stochastic network interdiction problems where the defender has incomplete (ambiguous) preferences. Specifically, we focus on the shortest …

Dynamic Warehouse Optimization Using Predictive Analytics., Parvaneh Jahani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The forward area is a small area of a warehouse with a low picking cost. Two approaches that are investigated for selecting the SKUs of this area and the allocated space are the static and the dynamic approaches. In the case that decisions about the forward area are made periodically (e.g. yearly) and the products' demand patterns are completely ignored, the FRP is static. We developed two heuristics that solve the large discrete assignment, allocation, and sizing problem simultaneously. Replenishing the same product in the same place of the forward area brings about a ``Locked" layout of the fast picking …

Grouping Techniques To Manage Large-Scale Multi-Item Multi-Echelon Inventory Systems, Anvar Abaydulla

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Large retail companies operate large-scale systems which may consist of thousands of stores. These retail stores and their suppliers, such as warehouses and manufacturers, form a large-scale multi-item multi-echelon inventory supply network. Operations of this kind of inventory system require a large number of human resources, computing capacity, etc.

In this research, three kinds of grouping techniques are investigated to make the large-scale inventory system “easier” to manage. The first grouping technique is a network based ABC classification method. A new classification criterion is developed so that the inventory network characteristics are included in the classification process, and this criterion …

Wells Fargo, Samsung And Spacex: The Dos And Don’Ts Of Today’S Quality Environment, Jim Burgin

Operations Management Presentations

Quality is everywhere, and is so critical to your success. This webinar will use Toyota’s 14 Principles as the springboard to discuss teach points from my Quality Management class. The title mentions a few companies where good practices or challenging activities provide a road map to success or failure. Rest assured there are many more. Burgin uses stories and experiences from class to illustrate quality concepts.

Simulation And Optimization Of Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm For The Stochiastic Uncapacitated Location-Allocation Problem, Jean-Paul Arnaout, Georges Arnaout, John El Khoury

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

This study proposes a novel methodology towards using ant colony optimization (ACO) with stochastic demand. In particular, an optimizationsimulation-optimization approach is used to solve the Stochastic uncapacitated location-allocation problem with an unknown number of facilities, and an objective of minimizing the fixed and transportation costs. ACO is modeled using discrete event simulation to capture the randomness of customers’ demand, and its objective is to optimize the costs. On the other hand, the simulated ACO’s parameters are also optimized to guarantee superior solutions. This approach’s performance is evaluated by comparing its solutions to the ones obtained using deterministic data. The results …

Best Matching Processes In Distributed Systems, Mohsen Moghaddam

Open Access Dissertations

The growing complexity and dynamic behavior of modern manufacturing and service industries along with competitive and globalized markets have gradually transformed traditional centralized systems into distributed networks of e- (electronic) Systems. Emerging examples include e-Factories, virtual enterprises, smart farms, automated warehouses, and intelligent transportation systems. These (and similar) distributed systems, regardless of context and application, have a property in common: They all involve certain types of interactions (collaborative, competitive, or both) among their distributed individuals—from clusters of passive sensors and machines to complex networks of computers, intelligent robots, humans, and enterprises. Having this common property, such systems may encounter common …

Using Value-Focused Thinking For Engineered Resilient Systems, Colin A. Small

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The DoD needs their systems to be resilient in the face of an ever changing world. To increase resilience in future systems the DoD has created a program called Engineered Resilient Systems. Resilience can be broken down into two parts, mission and platform resilience. Mission resilience is the ability of a system to repel, resist, absorb, and recover from environments and threats that occur on planned missions. Platform resilience is the ability of a system platform to adapt to new missions and new threats.

The University of Arkansas department of Industrial Engineering is working for the ERS program researching resilience. …

Engineered Resilient Systems Model Applied To Network Design, Zephan W. Wade

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Engineered Resilient Systems (ERS) is a Department of Defense (DoD) program focusing on the effective and efficient design and development of resilient complex engineered systems throughout their lifecycle. There is growing literature with qualitative definitions of resilience and quantitative models for systems, but these focus typically on systems with one performance measure. In application, many systems have multiple functions and multiple performance measures. This research uses a quantitative resilience framework for ERS that includes system design options, reliability, external threats, vulnerabilities, responses, and consequences assessed on multiple system performance measures. This paper applies the ERS framework to designing resilient networks.

Modeling Supply Chain Resiliency, Jeff A. Hazel

Industrial Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Engineered Resilient Systems (ERS) is a Department of Defense (DoD) program focusing on the effective and efficient design and development of complex engineered systems throughout their life cycle. There is a growing literature with qualitative definitions of resilience and quantitative models for systems with one performance measure. This paper uses a quantitative resilience framework (the Framework for ERS) that includes system design options, reliability, threats, vulnerabilities, responses, and consequences assessed in multiple system performance measures. The framework assists in establishing a model for any system to evaluate resiliency. This paper applies this framework using Multiple Objective Decision Analysis (MODA) to …

Impact Of Clustering Microgrids On Their Stability And Resilience During Blackouts, Mahmoud S. Saleh, Ammar Althaibani, Yusef Esa, Yassine Mhandi, Ahmed Mohamed

Publications and Research

In this paper, the impact of clustering multiple microgrids during blackouts, on their stability and supply availability, will be investigated. Microgrids have the capability of satisfying their emergency loads during blackouts. However, distributed energy resources (DERs)-dominated microgrids are affected by the uncertainty of their input energy supply, e.g. impact of solar irradiance on photovoltaic (PV) output. Moreover, an individual islanded microgrid is prone to instability issues due to large sudden load/generation changes. In order to increase the supply security, and enhance system stability, we propose to use the existing distribution grid infrastructure, if applicable, during blackouts to form microgrid clusters. …

On Valuing Biopharmaceutical Product Pipelines: An Effectuation Model And Evidence, Mark J. Ahn, Anne S. York, Wei Wu, Yulianto Suharto, Tugrul Unsal Daim

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

New creative approaches are needed to manage emerging biotechnology innovations, regulations, and payor environments to enhance product pipeline productivity, valuation, and risk management. Biopharmaceutical firms must make dynamic resource allocation decisions on their relative levels of internal R&D and external strategic alliances in furthering their pipelines. As the predominant method of using discounted cash flow (DCF) methodologies may lead to chronic underinvestment and performance, we evaluated the integration of traditional DCF with an effectuation model of analysis. Unlike traditional financial models that begin with the end goal of assumed known cash flows and recursively solve for portfolio optimization, the effectuation …

The Prediction Predicament, William "Ike" Eisenhauer

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The article focuses on the prediction of predicament in terms of forecasting at industrial engineering level. Topics discussed include business optimize resources via forecasting; audience who cannot comprehend the methodology used for forecasting in healthcare operations; and use of forecasting for performance measurement.

Detecting Periods Of Flight With High Task Load, James R. Parkinson, Steven J. Landry, Quang Dao, Caitlin Surakitbanharn

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Tools that predict dangerous working conditions empirically in the cockpit could greatly improve aviation safety. In an effort to lay the groundwork for such tools, this study will investigate whether a link exists between task load and pilots’ control strategies, their biometric data, and their planes’ position data. Using X Plane simulation software, an experiment will be run in which licensed pilots will fly a 3-nautical-mile approach into Mineta San Jose International Airport 4 times, under different task load conditions. During the flight, participants’ pupil diameters will be recorded along with the simulated aircraft position data and cognitive control modes. …

The Time Has Come For Nursing Engineering, William "Ike" Eisenhauer

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The article discusses the need for healthcare and educational organizations to create nursing engineering program. Topics discussed include successes in healthcare systems as engineers and healthcare professionals, integration of industrial engineering or lean and Six Sigma courses into nursing programs of the University of Alabama and modern healthcare system and modern healthcare participants that can be addressed by the new profession.

Systems Theory-Based Construct For Identifying Metasystem Pathologies For Complex System Governance, Polinpapilinho F. Katina

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to develop a systems theory-based construct for metasystem pathologies identification in support of the problem formulation phase of systems-based methodologies using an inductive research design. Problem formulation has been identified as one of the most critical stages in complex system development since it influences later stages in complex system understanding. In modern society where the operating landscape is characteristically ambiguous, mired by complexity, emergence. interdependence, and uncertainty, the concept of problem formulation is used to ensure right issues affecting complex systems surface and addressed to meet expected system performance and viability. In this research, …

Don't Go Chasing Big Waterfalls, William "Ike" Eisenhauer

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The article focuses on the importance of simpler health systems in the U.S. Topics discussed include success of simple systems as they are well-understood, improvement of simple systems by coupling them together, handling more patient cases by larger systems by the medical laboratory technicians giving complicated results and designing simple systems by health system engineers to deal with fewer problematic cases of patients with more efficacy.

Design, Programming, And User-Experience, Kaila G. Manca

Honors Scholar Theses

This thesis is a culmination of my individualized major in Human-Computer Interaction. As such, it showcases my knowledge of design, computer engineering, user-experience research, and puts into practice my background in psychology, com- munications, and neuroscience.

I provided full-service design and development for a web application to be used by the Digital Media and Design Department and their students.This process involved several iterations of user-experience research, testing, concepting, branding and strategy, ideation, and design. It lead to two products.

The first product is full-scale development and optimization of the web appli- cation.The web application adheres to best practices. It was …

Creating A User-Friendly Personal Wine Collection Inventory Management System, Peter Loddengaard

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

This project set out to create a user-friendly wine collection management software. Existing systems were reviewed and discussions with collectors took place to establish the user requirements for this type of inventory management system. This led to the scope of the project being narrowed to making a wine bottle entry form that was quick and easy to use. The programming language, Ruby on Rails, was used to design this system, and learning the software was a large part of the project itself. It was established that four forms would be designed using combinations of two ergonomic factors: an “F” shaped …

Frito-Lay - Supply Chain Impact Analysis, Kerri Blosch, Vincent Phua, Jeffrey Silva

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The snack food company Frito-Lay relies on Route Sales Representatives (RSRs) to stock and maintain shelves of snack foods in every store. Frito-Lay currently does not have a system which can accurately predict cannibalization, or the effects of a store opening or closing on other stores of the same chain in the area. The goal is to sort through 1900 stores in a given metropolitan area to see the effects of cannibalization. In order to tackle the problem, a Microsoft Access program was created to filter stores based on location or whether the store was open for the full three-year …

Process Testing And Improvement Of Tapping Machinery At Lisi Aerospace, Michael James Hester

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

This report documents my senior project for California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo. I have chosen to do a senior project with Lisi Aerospace. Lisi would like to compare the manufacturer rated cycle count of taps versus an experimental one based on our machines in house. My goal for this project would be to run an experiment on one tapping machine and report on the achievable cycle count for the taps. I plan to do this in several ways including:

• Running extra cycle counts above tap manufacturer recommendations

• Documenting machine failure modes

• Create a process document to be repeated …

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Improving Advertisement Recognition And User Interface Of Gameofwarrealtips.Com, Chad Kihm, Alexander Meyer

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The purpose of this experiment was to determine which location of advertisement would be the most recognized on the Game of War Real Tips website and to improve the website’s user interface by using both quantitative and qualitative data. To accomplish this, two experiments were created. The first experiment was designed to determine which location of advertisement would be recognized most by users. A screen would flash for 0.5 seconds and the subjects would mark where they believed they recognized an advertisement. A statistical analysis was completed to determine whether the location of the advertisement had an effect on the …