Conference Schedule By Tracks see schedule by room/time back to IEMS main Page

Automation/Intelligent Computing:

Chair: Andrzej Gapinski, Penn State University

Session 1: Monday March 14, 9:45 pm Heron room, Andrzej Gapinski, session chair.

Note on Multidimensional K-MAPS -- Part 1

Andrzej J. Gapinski

Karnaugh map method has been successfully used in digital design to reduce algebraic expressions through process of finding a minimum cover of a given Boolean function. While geometric interpretation is quite clear in case of dimensionality less than five, the cases that involve more variables add in complexity and visualization becomes impossible when using n-dimensional Boolean cube. The note offers a simple geometric patterns for n = 6, 7, 8 (which are extended to n = 9, 10, 11 in part 2), extendable to n-dimensions, which can be quite useful in visualizing K-map adjacencies.

Note on Multidimensional K-MAPS -- Part 2

Andrzej J. Gapinski

Karnaugh map method has been successfully used in digital design to reduce algebraic expressions through process of finding a minimum cover of a given Boolean function. While geometric interpretation is quite clear in case of dimensionality less than five, the cases that involve more variables add in complexity and visualization becomes impossible when using n-dimensional Boolean cube. The note offers a simple geometric patterns for n = 9, 10, 11 extendable to n-dimensions, which can be quite useful in a reduction process.

Implementing FMEA Under Fuzziness

Önder Öndemir and Umut H.Inan

Conventional implementation of FMEA is associated with various disadvantages due to its heuristic nature, viz., lack of value harmony, and the usage of identical precedence values for various risks. A fuzzy logic rule base development is proposed and applied to eliminate the drawbacks of Failure Mode and Effects Analysis mentioned above.

Construction Management/Project Engineering:

Chair: Mostafa Khattab, Colorado State Univ.

Session 1: Tuesday March 15, 2:45 pm Pelican room, Mostafa Khattab, session chair

Resource Management in Modern Construction Engineering

Moayyad AlNasra

One of the main goals of the construction industry is still to minimize the resources expenditure required to successfully complete a given construction project, and this can be accomplished by ever ending search for the most efficient use of resources and next to perfect planning and scheduling. New techniques in managing resources will be presented. The technique balances between the resource demand and the resource availability at the same time minimizing the construction cost and duration.

Digital Construction: Utilizing Three Dimensional (3D) Computer Models to Improve Constructability

James E. Folkestad and David Sandlin

This paper will describe the utilization of Three Dimensional (3D) computer models to design, interpret, coordinate and construct the Denver Art Museum Expansion project. Specific examples will be highlighted to demonstrate the impact these innovative tools created to save time, improve quality, and lower installation cost of many building components.

Building on Tunnels: Cost and Technical Feasibility of Alternatives as a Tool for Advance Planning and Decision

Karim, U.F.A. and M. Slijkerman

The Axis-south tunnel infrastructure project in Amsterdam is in a planning stage. The tunnel removes the existing wedge of infrastructure that cuts Amsterdam in two isolated parts, by freeing 1.2 km long space at street-level, making

space available for public and private developments. The researchers in this paper investigated the technical feasibility and financial benefit for three scenarios of variable building heights on top of, over, and through the Axis-south tunnel.

Mostafa Khattab

International Project Management

Decision Making in Management and Engineering:

Chair: E.. Ertugrul Karsak, Galatasaray University

Session 1: Tuesday March 15, 8:00 am Pelican Room, Tracy Tillman, session chair

Feedback Support for Gap Analysis of Aviation Technologies

Nathan R. Greenhut, Chad Bareither and James T. Luxhøj

Evaluation, through Bayesian Belief Networks, of NASA’s Aviation Safety Program technology portfolio has been accomplished with the creation of the Aviation System Risk Model (ASRM). An analytic decision framework, quantified by experts, allows numerical evaluation of individual or multiple technologies and computer assisted tools to be developed or examined. This paper expands the Gap Analysis tool to explore a methodology to attain feedback.

A Delphi Study to Identify Competency Areas and Curriculum for an Engineering Management Masters Program

Hiral Shah and Tracy Tillman

This paper and presentation will describe the results of a national Delphi survey of about 200 experts in Engineering Management, who responded to three iterations of a mailed questionnaire to identify the most needed competency areas and ideal curriculum for an Engineering Management masters program.

Employment of Data Envelopment Analysis for Operational Level Multi-Criteria Decision Making

Ana M. Ferreras, Susan Schubert and Lesia L. Crumpton-Young

Often, managers are not adequately equipped to make operational level decisions because of the complexity associated with considering multiple factors as well as the lack of quantitative techniques. The goal of this research effort was to investigate the use of data envelopment analysis as a quantitative approach for handling multiple alternatives. This research presents the conceptual framework and an analysis of the feasibility associated with applying data envelopment analysis within a heating and cooling systems manufacturing environment.

Session 2: Tuesday March 15, 9:45 am Pelican Room, Hamidreza Eskandari, session chair

GA-based Multiobjective Optimization Under Uncertainty

Hamidreza Eskandari and Luis Rabelo

Genetic algorithm (GA) is a popular technique which is widely used to solve multiobjective optimization problems. New GA-based multiobjective techniques search for Pareto optimal points to provide more information for the decision makers. In many real-world situations, there might be some uncertainty involved in objective fitness functions which make the optimization process more complicated. In this study, Nondomination Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA), proposed by Srinivas and Deb (1994), is introduced and its robustness and practicality against some degree of uncertainty is examined and proved using a numerical example. Further, an improvement to the NSGA technique based on a new ranking strategy is suggested which makes it more effective as well as more robust against noise.

Performance on Customers’ Credit: Preliminary Analysis on Operators’ Decision Making Performance on Customers’ Credit

Younho Seong

Uncertainty and time pressure are important factors affecting operators’ performance. In this study, phone operators’ judgment strategies at a credit company whether to extend or restrict customers’ credit limit were analyzed. Decision making records (over 140,000) from more than 180 operators were collected and results from the preliminary analysis will be discussed.

Decision Support Systems:

Chair: Dia Ali, University of Southern Mississippi

Session 1: Wednesday March 16, 8:00 am Pelican Room, Robert Mullen, session chair

A Methodology for Developing Multi-Criteria Decision Support Systems

Jason S. Glenn and Christopher D. Geiger

This research investigates web services-based decision support systems for multi-criteria

decision making environments. Existing research on multi-criteria decision support systems (MCDSS) is somewhat limited and no work exploits the data aggregation capability of the web services technology. We provide a recommended methodology for the design of web services-based MCDSS.

An Expert System of Lawrence Ellison’s Knowledge: CEO of Oracle

Robert L. Mullen

This paper describes the building of an expert system to advise managers in the computer industry from an expert – Lawrence Ellison. Mr. Ellison is less well-known than Bill Gates for his company that builds database software and enterprise-wide business application software. This study demonstrates how public information on Mr. Ellison could be used to build such an expert system.

An Expert System of Scott Mcnealy’s Knowledge:

CEO of Sun Microcomputers

Robert L. Mullen

This paper describes the building of an expert system from an expert – Scott McNealy. Mr. McNealy is well-known in the computer industry for his company, SUN Microsystems, that builds operating systems and application development software for microcomputers (personal computers). SUN developed the JAVA language for the Web. This study demonstrates how public information on Mr. McNealy could be used to build such an expert system.

Session 2: Tuesday March 16, 4:15 pm Flamingo Room, Dia Ali, session chair

Flexible Business Architecture Solution Using Expert System

Greg Coburn, Paulus Wahjudi, John Heath, Dia Ali, and Maria Cobb

We propose an implementation of expert system in a business architecture that will provide flexibility in both implementing a theoretical business model into existing infrastructure and improving existing infrastructure. The expert system shell will facilitate different decision making by emulating the expertise and knowledge of a person in a specific field of the business

Externally Validated Trust Engine for Web Services

Julie Stone, Paulus Wahjudi, Isaac Johnston, Dia Ali, and Maria Cobb

Externally Validated Trust Engine (EVE) is a local trust engine that will monitor the activities of the user and will activate security measures when the user is about to transmit crucial information that could lead to identity theft. EVE will first validate the website look-and-feel using a web presence characterization and comparing it with valid websites that are authorized to collect such information.

System for Policy Enforcement and Event Detection

Matthew Gambrell, Paulus Wahjudi, Dia Ali, and Maria Cobb

We propose a system which facilitates the deployment (distribution and enforcement) of administrative policy decisions to a network. Policies may include such things as network security rules, network and host attack detection, routing rules, and host resource allocation policies. Policies are entered into a centralized terminal by a human operator and automatically distributed to each node of the network based upon the system’s knowledge of the network’s schema. Policies are enforced by a consistent, dynamically upgradeable platform at each node. Upgrades to the policy enforcement machinery are distributed through the same mechanism as the policies themselves.

User Induced Vulnerability Prevention Through PC Profiling

Paulus Wahjudi, Dia Ali, and Maria Cobb

PC profiling consists of studying the computer’s regular activities, identifying any abnormalities, and taking action according to the severity of the situation. The action taken should eliminate the security problem with minimal impact on other users. The ability to monitor and identify the regular and irregular activities of the computer is a unique trait of PC profiling that will help prevent user-induced vulnerability.

DIstributed Computing and Computer Networks:

Chair: Shahram Rahimi, Southern Illinois University

.Session 1: Tuesday March 15, 8:00 am Egret room, Shahram Rahimi, session chair.

An Expert System for Finding Strongly Consistent Global Checkpoints in a Distributed Computing Environment

L.Gandy, S. Rahimi and G. B. Nagaraja

In order for a set of local checkpoints to be combined together to form a global checkpoint they must meet certain consistency criteria such as consistency, transitlessness or strong consistency. This paper will review the consistency, transitlessness and strong consistency criteria. It will then propose an integrated Java and JESS application that displays a directed graph representing process interactions and local checkpoints. The application then computes and displays global checkpoints that fulfill the consistency criterion, the transitless criterion and the strong consistency criterion.

An Efficient Routing Scheme for Clustered Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks

R. Chen, B. Gupta and S. Rahimi

The Dynamic Source Routing DSR scheme is inefficient for large mobile ad hoc networks, because in such large networks representation of a routing path in terms of nodes (mobile hosts) between a source and a destination may consume large amount of mobile host’s memory. In this paper, we have assumed large mobile ad hoc networks which are clustered following the clustering protocol reported in [4]. Our objective is to achieve better memory and bandwidth utilization. We have modified the DSR scheme to make it suitable for clustered mobile ad hoc networks. We have shown that our scheme offers better memory and bandwidth utilization than DSR scheme while retaining all its advantages.

A Novel Approach to Cooperative Caching in Clusters

R. A. Rias, S. Rahimi and B. Gupta

With the tremendous growth in the number of workstations available in different networks, potential computational and processing power of clusters have sky-rocketed. Most of the operating systems running on clusters manage memory locally. In this paper, we propose a cooperative caching scheme which allows the operating systems to avoid many disk accesses by making use of the prevalent cluster-wide memory for file caching. Our scheme expects to improve the overall throughput of a cluster file system. A remote page replacement algorithm, which efficiently keeps the most valuable pages in the cluster-wide remote memory without degrading the local performance, is also proposed.

Exploring the Use of Intelligent Agents for Distributed Team Training

Daniel N. Mountjoy, Janeria Russell, Xuefeng Yu, and Bala Ram

Geographically-dispersed teams pose inconveniences for organizations due in part to expensive training sessions that are difficult to schedule with respect to time and travel. The work described here was performed to determine if an intelligent agent-based software tool can be used as an effective training method for geographically distributed teams
.

E-Commerce:

Chair: Al Petrosky, CSU Stanislaus

Session 1. Wednesday March 16, 8:00 am Egret room, Al Petrosky, session chair

Strategic Technology Planning for the E-Commerce Enabled Manufacturing Enterprise

Jinoos (Jean) Hosseini

This paper reports on an overall methodology to develop a strategic architecture plan which can be applied to any and all organizations. The deployment of the plan would allow for advanced implementation of technologies such as mass customization, customer relationship management systems, decision support systems and knowledge management systems. The road map will provide organizations with specific technical requirements for the immediate needs as well as a migration path to “plug in” the component and the products the business is moving towards.

Location, Avocation, Evocation: Consumer Participation in the Promotional Efforts of the Hospitality Industry

Al Petrosky, Edward H. Hernandez and Robert Page

This study provides a content analysis of such consumer participation in travel websites, collecting consumer-sourced reviews and ratings from two of the most successful hotel websites, hotels.com and fodors.com. A sample of 350 reviews/ratings for hotels located in 22 different cities across the world was collected. These consumer reviews and ratings are compared to those provided by the websites themselves, across categories including the style and complexity of the written passage, the number of positive and negative statements, and the focus of the statements in categories such as hotel amenities, proximity to other landmarks, price and value, and décor. The paper provides analysis by content, as well as prescriptions for better message design for consumer participants, better facilitation by website hosts, and suggestions for future research.

Micro Payments Keep Growing, Growing and Growing

LuAnn Bean and David D. Hott

This paper explores the phenomenal growth of micro payments in e-commerce and the potential impact on credit card use
.

Education and Training:

Chair: Ralph E. Janaro, Clarkson University

Session 1. Monday March 14, 1:00 pm Pelican room, Jonathan Lazar, session chair

Incorporating Usability Laboratory Experiences

into a Human-Computer Interaction Course

Jonathan Lazar

While many courses cover the theory of usability engineering methods, hands-on exercises in a usability laboratory can sometimes be hard to do. Traditionally, usability laboratories are not designed for groups of 10 or larger, which make them inappropriate for doing demos. At the same time, without practical experience with usability engineering in a laboratory, students typically cannot understand why users have problems using interfaces that, to the students, seem easy to use. This paper describes the process of incorporating hands-on laboratory experiences in usability engineering into a human-computer interaction course. Details of the course and activity structure will be provided in the full paper. In addition, feedback from students on these activities will also be presented.

Virtual Manufacturing Learning Environment

Ayman Wasfy, Tamer Wasfy, Hazim El-Mounayri and Daniel Aw

A virtual manufacturing lab for Web-based training that integrates virtual reality, accurate physics-based machining simulation, and intelligent agents acting as virtual tutors provides: (a) interaction with fully-functional virtual machine tools, including real-time machining of parts, (b) training on key operating procedures, and (c) virtual tutors that collaborate to guide, supervise, and certify the user in machining operations. This enables colleges to easily and inexpensively provide students with effective, safe, and highly accessible training on advanced machine tools.

A Note on Teaching Cisco Routers

Andrzej J. Gapinski

Cisco’ routers are covered in Penn State University’s Information Sciences & Technology (IST) program. Author shares some experiences in teaching the subject for an IST program that focuses on computer networking.

Session 2. Monday March 14, 2:45 pm Pelican room, Alexandra Schonning, session chair

An Industrial Engineering Educational Steel Partnership in Southwestern Pennsylvania

Aiman Kuzmar

Penn State Fayette is on its way to establish a partnership with several steel firms and organizations in the southwestern tip of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This partnership benefits both Penn State Fayette University and the steel industry. On one hand, such collaboration is very important to enhance the engineering technology education process. It helps students during and after their education at Penn State Fayette. Penn State Fayette’s graduates on the other hand, will be motivated to seek employment in the local steel industry.

Community Practice and Academia: Lessons Learned From an IT Community of Practice

Timothy Kotnour and Alper Camci

In organizational learning, there is a limit for learning within organizations. In order to extend their level of knowledge, organizations need to look outside their organizational borders. Interorganizational community of practice or learning community is one way such organizations come together and learn from each other. In interorganizational communities of practice, academicians can play important roles, both as a moderator and an additional knowledge source. In this paper, a case of a community of practice comprising IT managers is used to contribute a model for industry-academy relationship in a learning community.

Development of a Mentoring Program to Improve Engineering Education and Training among College and Pre-College Students

Alexandra Schönning and Daniel Cox

Florida’s First Coast Manufacturing Innovations Partnership is partially established to improve engineering education among college and pre-college students. To meet this goal a mentoring program is established including the local industry, institutions of higher education, and high schools. The structure of this mentoring program, workshops, and assessment tools is addressed.

Session 3. Monday March 14, 4:15 pm Pelican room, Daniel Cox, session chair

Rapid Development of Industrial Manufacturing Systems Through a Petri Net Design Tool

James Brusey and Alan Thorne

This paper discusses the use of a Petri Net design tool to rapidly develop manufacturing control systems. It is based on experiences and student feedback gained using this tool within an undergraduate course involving the development of a laboratory-based manufacturing production system. Some directions for future research are suggested.

Factory Physics Concepts Using EXCEL and ARENA

Kenneth Morrison, Derek Decker, Ryan Jones, Lindsey Marquedant and Scott Kyle

Kettering University blends EXCEL, Factory Physics, and ARENA into one course. The concepts of variability, CONWIP, and Penny Fab are much more effectively demonstrated using this combination of tools. This paper describes how one class successfully researched the EXCEL-ARENA 8 interface to materially improve the effectiveness of these demonstrations.

Education and Training in Design, Manufacturing, Measurement, and Reverse Engineering

R. Radharamanan

The manufacturing laboratory facilities, and the design/automation hardware and software available at Mercer School of Engineering are effectively used to train the students in computer aided design, computer aided manufacturing, dimensioning and tolerancing, measurement and inspection, and reverse engineering concepts with appropriate hands-on experiences. Sample laboratory experiments are presented and discussed.

Industry Collaboration as a Basis for Florida’s First Coast Manufacturing Innovation Partnership

Daniel Cox and Alexandra Schonning

Joint industry-academia projects with regional industry have influenced creation of Florida’s First Coast Manufacturing Innovation Partnership (MIP). The development of the MIP has the primary goals of project-centered innovations for technology transfer, training the regional workforce with relevance to industry, and sustainability of technology transfer through creation of high-technology jobs.

Session 4. Tuesday March 15, 8:00 am Pelican room, Ralph Janaro, session chair

Assessment Framework for the Evaluation and Prioritization of University Inventions and Innovations for Licensing and Commercialization

Ahamd Rahal and Luis Rabelo

The increase activity in patents and technology transfer has stretched the resources of many US universities. To properly assess university-owned technologies or inventions and identify those that are best suitable for licensing and commercialization, we propose a mechanism that can aid the university technology licensing office’s personnel to properly assess or predict which of their university’s intellectual property has an above average licensing and commercialization potential to better allocate their resources for the pursuit of truly important or breakthrough discoveries.

Developing a Generalized Academic Planning Model

Colin O. Benjamin, Jennelle Parent and Curtis Manns

We review the quantitative tools and techniques and software used to facilitate strategic planning in academia. We develop a generalized academic planning model and illustrate its application using data from a professional school in a large public university in the Southeastern USA.

Application of Six Sigma to Improving the ABET Process in an Undergraduate Engineering Program

Sampson Gholston and Alisha D. Youngblood

Six Sigma is a Quality Management tool that is used to systematically enhance system performance. The purpose of this research is to show the benefit of Six Sigma in the ABET accreditation process for an undergraduate engineering program. A case study is presented in this paper.

Session 5. Wednesday March 16, 8:00 am Flamingo room, Stephen Allen, session chair

Learning Quality Measures at the Initial Academic Program Development Level

Amin A. Elmallah

Accreditation standards addressing assurance of student learning has increased and improved significantly in recent years.This preliminary research explores ways to ensure the incorporation of student learning quality at the initial academic program development level. Incorporation of a means to ensure quality student learning at the initial program development will enhance and facilitate measurement of student learning in the classroom.

New Support System for Teaching Disabled Engineering Students

Iyad Muslih, Zaidan Ahmad AlSartawi, Ahmed Hasan and Diaa Eldin Nassar

It is a challenge to develop a reliable support system for teaching disabled engineering students and to ensure that quality engineering education is available to all who can benefit from it. Available support systems are not sufficiently addressing this challenge. We propose a new system based on Interactive Multimedia and Animation Technology. This system can be integrated in the education industry to increase the quality of engineering education.

Project Management in the Business Curriculum

Stephen Allen

As competition increases and low product cost becomes a necessity, more companies are turning to the use of Project Management tools to more effectively manage resources. How effectively are business schools preparing new graduates to step into the realm of project management? This paper looks at the current level of project management coverage within the management curriculum.

Entrepreneurship and Technology Commercialization:

Chair: Ken Morrison, Kettering university

Session 1: Tuesday March 15, 9:45 am Pelican room, Colin Benjamin, session chair

A Methodology for Selecting Business Planning Software

Colin O. Benjamin, Booker Warren and Janee Burkhalter

We review commercially available business planning software and provide a systematic approach to assist companies in determining the business planning software which represent the best fit with the organization’s needs. We use scenario analysis to illustrate .the robustness of this approach.

Assessing Risks in Business Plans via Scenario Analysis

C.B. Claiborne and Colin O. Benjamin

We examine the role of Scenario Analysis in assessing the risk and uncertainty on business planning projects. We provide a case study to illustrate the application of Scenario Analysis in assessing the risk and uncertainty associated with launching a new venture.

Data Mining in Business Planning

Zaheer Benjamin, Paul Nkansah and Colin Benjamin

We examine the role of data mining in business planning and review the range of data mining software available to business analysts. We describe a case study in which data mining is used to analyze market research data to facilitate development of a marketing strategy for a new technology-based venture.

Session 2: Tuesday March 15, 1:00 pm Pelican room, Colin Benjamin, session chair

Virtual Expert Panels in Technology Commercialization Studies

Colin O. Benjamin and Tiki Suarez

We review alternative strategies available to evaluate the commercial potential of new technologies. We examine the role of virtual expert panels and illustrate the usefulness of this approach through a case study describing the application of a virtual expert panel in a technology commercialization study of an aerospace engineering technology.

Strategies for Promoting Technology Entrepreneurship by Smaller Universities

Pradeep Chowdhry

Several strategies can be followed by smaller second-tier universities to promote technology entrepreneurship even though they may not have in-house high technology content. This paper will discuss several such strategic options that can be implemented to bring about economic development in a region.

Finance:

Chair: Dan Vellenga, California State University, Stanislaus

No papers

Global Applications in Manufacturing and Services:

Chair: Aysar Sussan, University of Central Florida

No papers

Human Engineering:

Chair: Deborah Carstens, Florida Institute of Technology

Session 1: Monday March 14, 2:45 pm Flamingo room, Deborah Carstens, session chair

Summative Evaluation: Novell Linux Desktop 9.0 vs. Microsoft Windows XP

Joshua Shane Norcross and Christopher Schmidt

In this comparative study, we test the usability of Novel Desktop Linux and Windows XP by having users complete a series of tasks. We observed their interaction and recorded the number of errors, hesitations and time to complete each task to determine the ease of use for each operating system.

Hotmail Usability Test

Thomas Nicks-McCaleb and Justin Phillips

Our group performed a usability test involving hotmail and a randomly chosen student test group. The testing was instilled to better understand how usable this top email service provider is.

Testing the Usability of Overstock.com

Rachel Hartos

To test the usability of Overstock.com for a shopper who would like to purchase a product. The collected data and observations from the user studies is analyzed to identify the possible problem space areas of Overstock.com, as well as the areas of the website that incorporate the preferred usability traits.

Human Reliability in Complex and Dynamic Systems

Xiaochun Jiang, Mohammad T. Khasawneh and Shannon R. Bowling

Although Human Reliability Assessment (HRA) has received much attention, especially in nuclear industry, reliability assessment in human computer
interface designs and interactive systems is still in an ad hoc manner. Due to the nature of complex and dynamic systems, conventional HRS methods are no longer appropriate. Instead, there is a need for model-based approaches that take into account the dynamic interaction of operators and systems, and integrates the stochastic human errors. The objective of this paper is to conduct a thorough literature review in the area of human reliability in complex and dynamic systems, and discuss future research perspectives.

Session 2: Monday March 14, 4:15 pm Flamingo room, Deborah Carstens, session chair

Integrated, Interactive Accident Investigation Training Leads to Effective Investigations

Meredith Bell, Kristine Relvini and Bill Valentino

An integrated approach to Accident Investigation Training is presented, highlighting the benefits of training a core group of investigators taken from diverse working groups. The course, based on several methodologies, is in an interactive setting allowing participants to apply the knowledge learned as if they were actually on a team conducting an investigation.

A Model Community for Adults with Developmental Disabilities

LuAnn Bean and David D. Hott

This paper proposes a new paradigm of co-housing for aging disabled adults and caregiver family members.

Human Factors in Healthcare

Deborah S. Carstens ,Judith Barlow, Pauline Patterson, Rosemary Laird, Paula Preston

Human Factors is a significant contributor to enhancing patient safety through the reduction of human error. The paper discusses the results of healthcare research and identifies recommendations to optimizing human, process, and safety in healthcare.

Quality and Ergonomics: An Interactive Relationship

Said Khalidi, Gamal Weheba, and Michael Jorgensen

While many studies highlighted the relationship between quality and ergonomics, few have provided a quantitative measure. This study examines the relationship between selected ergonomic aspects of an assembly operation and the quality of performance. A statistically designed experiment was conducted to quantify the effect of seven ergonomic factors on both the risk of low back injury and the observed operator accuracy. The results have indicated significant impact of the ergonomic factors on the quality of performance. Research findings are expected to encourage ergonomic interventions as means for improving the process quality

The Development of a Quantifiable Fuzzy Model for Secure Password Authentication Procedures

S. Durrani, D. Diaz, T. English, J. Floyd, J. Glenn, and P. McCauley-Bell

The objective of this research is to develop a quantifiable methodology to utilize human factors principles in the development of secure password authentication procedures. The methodology was developed by identifying the human error related risk factors, incidents and vulnerabilities associated with the use of password authentication in information security. The research team conducted an extensive survey analysis, review of incident history and literature review. A fuzzy linguistic modeling was used to qualify model factors and a fuzzy linear equation was used to aggregate model inputs . The intention is for this methodology to serve as a resource in understanding and mitigating human error related information security risks

Lean Manufacturing:

Chair: Steve Montes, Simpler Consulting, Inc.

Monday March 14, 1:00 pm Flamingo room, Charles Parks, session chair.

Lean Manufacturing Adapted for use for G&T Conveyor

James P. Gilbert

G&T Conveyor is attempting to institute lean manufacturing techniques into its Tavares, Florida plant. G&T Conveyor is a custom-manufacturer whose primary objective I to reduce lead time but not in terms of reducing excess inventories. This paper outlines dilemmas facing this firm and illustrates the implementation plan for company leadership.

Integrated Six Sigma and Lean Approach to Improve Graduate Student Management in Industrial Engineering Advanced Academics

Marcela Bernardinez, Khalid Buradha, Kevin Cochie, Isabelina Nahmens, Jose Saenz, Kerem Unlu, Sandra Furterer

Many factors affect the outcome of the successful completion of a graduate program. The ultimate customer of such programs is the graduate students who many times are juggling professional and family lives while at the same time striving to advance their educational endeavors. A successful graduate program has many faces of which managing student programs is critical to the complete and efficient advancement through a program of study. Student management at the University of Central Florida’s Industrial Engineering (IEMS) department contains many processes that effect the synergy of the student. This project focused on improving the Program of Study (POS), a sub process of the student manage-ment process, in an effort to reduce process lead times, waste, and defects.

Lean Design of Experiments

Charles M. Parks

Modern root cause analysis utilizes many tools. Most, like the 7 tools, solve the easy problems and are less effective in solving the few really difficult problems. Taguchi experimental design has popularized DOE and many companies are using Taguchi designs in the difficult situations. Taguchi’s laudable motive is to reduce the number of experiments. However, Taguchi uses the fractional factorial design strategy that ignores many factor interactions. Lean DOE utilizes statistical tools (not just guesswork) to reduce the many possible factors (causal variables) to a small enough set to enable a feasible experimental design that doesn’t ignore variable interactions (which can matter a lot).

Management Information Systems:

Chair: John Wang, Montclair State University

Session 1: Tuesday March 15, 1:00 pm Flamingo room, John Wang, session chair

Data Capture, Security and Knowledge Management for Electronic Patient Record Systems

Judith Barlow, LuAnn Bean, Deborah Carstens, David Hott, Rosemary Laird and Christi Rushnell

Components of a patient's medical record may be maintained by many different and incompatible information systems. Alternative methods of patient data capture, validation, data cleaning, and metadata management are presented in the context of an integrated electronic patient record system. Methods for metadata knowledge elicitation and knowledge management are presented.

A Data Modeling Case: Lucky Goose Players Club

Thomas L. Wedel

This research presents a case study that was developed as an instructional case for teaching systems analysis and database design. Students are required to utilize their data modeling skills to design an appropriate data structure for a gambling casino players club. The system requirements are realistic since they represent the compilation of the attributes of several actual player clubs in Las Vegas, Nevada. Teaching notes and a suggested solution consisting of an entity-relationship diagram (ERD) and the associated list of entities and attributes are reviewed.

Improving Interoperability and Patient Safety in a Web-Based Patient Care System

Judith Barlow, Deborah Carstens, Rosemary Laird, Paula Preston and Christi Rushnell

Successfully implementing a web-based referral system for standardized patient care requires integrating data from many incompatible sources. Methods for assuring data compatibility in exchanging health information across acute and long-term care are used to reduce medical errors and improve patient safety. Work funded by a National Institutes of Health grant.

Session 2. Tuesday March 15, 2:45 pm Flamingo room, John Wang, session chair

TCP Throughput of LAN and WLAN

Zhao Zhang

This investigation uses the test TCP (ttcp) utility program to find the throughput of Ethernet hub or switch with or without cross-traffic. It also tests the throughput of wireless access points under different receiving conditions.

Applications of Data Mining in the Healthcare Industry

John Wang, Qiyang Chen and Ruben Xing

Data mining is an essential tool in improving the quality and performance of organizations in the health care industry. Characterized by a multitude of records and numerous attributes, health databases have become a challenge for data miners in their pursuit of developing applications and utilizing methodologies which would cater specifically to the health care industry. The rise of costs due to inefficiencies in health care practices and growing expenses associated with breakthroughs in treatments are carefully taken into account, amidst the increase in the quality of service and extended benefits given to patients, in an effort to maximize the productivity as well as efficiency of health care providers and other players in the health care industry.

Management and Organizational Behavior:

Chair: Tim Kiessling, California State University

Session 1: Monday March 14, 9:45 am Pelican room Timothy Kiessling, session chair

Training Students for Professional Certification in the Human Resource Field: The Impact on Classroom Instruction and Test Preparation

Edward H. Hernandez, Alfred R. Petrosky and Robert Page

This paper analyzes each of the major methods for study based on the dilemma that the PHR exam assumes the test-taker has a minimum of 5 years of HR professional experience. This is rarely the case with most college students. However, the majority of study materials are targeted at beginners in the field of HR, providing only a basic coverage of the key topics. This paper details numerous methods to make up for the gap in materials and offers suggestions for in-class exercises and experiences to assist with study.

Introducing Ethics in Operations Management / Management Science Course

Ewa Rudnicka

As future managers with employees from different professions management majors expressed an interest in discussing ethics cases in operations management/ management science class. Throughout the semester various professional and corporate codes of ethics are introduced a number of short ethics cases in areas of inventory management, scheduling, facility location, and product design are discussed. The end-semester survey shows a favorable response to ethics component. This article describes the experience of introducing ethics in the operations management/ management science class.

Project Team Development

John R. Patton

The paper will address the uniqueness of project management assignments as one-time events and the challenges for project managers to properly form and develop an effective team for accomplishment of the assigned project. Teams are becoming increasingly popular even if matrix-configured organizations. After first defining what is meant by a project team, the paper covers ways to develop cross-functional and self-managed teams in order to make them high-performance employees fully dedicated to the successful completion of the assigned project.

Global Organizational Control: Staffing as a Means to Augment Formal Controls

Timothy Kiessling

As organizations expanded internationally, expatriates were used initially to establish controls. Unfortunately, these employees have not been proven as effective in keeping pace with the demands of the global market. Inpatriation, as a practical and conceptual means to augment expatriation, is discussed compared with, and contrasted to, expatriation. This discussion is framed is the notion that inpatriates hold the key to contributing to capabilities related to organizational control

Management of Technology:

Chair: Gordon Arbogast, Jacksonville University

Wednesday March 16, 8:00 am Heron room, Gordon Arbogast, session chair.

Some Features of New Technology for Manufacturing Management

Skomorokhov Riurik

Our talk is devoted to illustrating some peculiarities of new technology for manufacturing management low and mid-volume machine-building production. The technology is based on system management optimization, new system of optimization problems, original and effective methods and techniques for solving them, allowing us to improve manufacturing and supply chain performance.

Laying Out the IT Office in a Growing City

Gordon Arbogast, Jim Katz, Cathryn Tooley and Pete Ruhl

Generally accepted decision making practice follows a structured six-step process that defines the question and systematically analyzes alternatives in order to implement the best option. This process is applied here to the problem of developing a new office layout for the City of Jacksonville (COJ) IT Division that will result in a functional and practical design for the department’s office space. This redesign of the technology division office layout leveraged a number of formal Operations Management tools and models.

The Impact of Organizational Culture and the Business Environment on the New Technology Adoption Process

Michael Stoica and David Stotlar

New technology adoption represents both a challenge and an opportunity for businesses. New technology has a huge impact on the way companies conduct their daily business, on the way they strategize, on the their business model, on their survival and future profitability. A model that explains the new technology adoption process, developed in a previous paper, is refined and tested in this paper. The adoption of new technology, especially by small and medium-sized businesses, is dependent upon many variables that define the firm such as: their organizational culture, their mission, their business objectives and strategy, as well as their surrounding environment. Hypotheses that investigate the relationships between business strategy, organiza-tional culture, and the business environment are formulated.

International Outsourcing of Manufacturing and R&D: A Comparison

Michael R. W. Bommer, Ralph E. Janaro and Lorenda L. Prier

Many firms are outsourcing at least some portion of their manufacturing activities to firms in other countries. This trend is now being followed by the outsourcing of research and development projects by some firms. In this paper we discuss the benefits and challenges for each of these strategies. Benefits include such factors as reduced costs, improved quality/innovativeness, speed/response time and flexibility. Differences in culture, loss of control, erosion of core competencies and intellectual property/trade secrets are some of the challenges. We will compare the two strategies with respect to benefits and challenges to identify similarities/ differences and their impact on the firm.

China's Leapfrogging Prospects

Djehane Hosni

There is no doubt about China’s economic rise. But, can China assume a prominent place among the economic superpowers of the world? Can China contribute to the world knowledge economy? Will its information infrastructure be upgraded to reach the Asian NIC level? Will the country succeed to attract back its expatriates to meet its needs for talented manpower? What role will the Overseas Chinese play in the technological supremacy of China? This paper will answer these questions by addressing specific issues pertinent to its tertiary education, IT infrastructure, innovation profile, research productivity, and governance with a comparison to South Korea.

Marketing:

Chair: Kaylene Williams, California State University, Stanislaus

Session 1: Monday March 14, 10 am Flamingo, Kaylene Williams, Session Chair

Representations of Masculinity in the United States and in Finland – Preliminary Results of Four Focus Group Discussions

Ulla Hakala

The purpose of this paper is to discuss masculinity in advertising in two countries, the United States and Finland, Europe using focus group discussions as a method. Consequently, the study aims at adding new perspectives to the gender research in advertising by focusing on images of men, by using a qualitative method and by taking a cross-cultural perspective to the issue. Results of four focus group discussions (two having been conducted in Finland in fall 2005 and two in the US in spring 2005) will be reviewed.

The Enneagram and its Implications for Sales Management: Part I – Character Fixation Types 1-4

Kaylene C. Williams

The Enneagram primarily has been used as a tool to stimulate self-awareness and self-discovery. However, more recently it has migrated into the workplace as a management tool used in team building, hiring, promotion, and training. In fact, an increasing number of companies are interested in using the Enneagram to assess the competencies needed for job performance. The purpose of this paper (Part I) and its companion paper (Part II) is to present the Enneagram overall as well as its specific use in sales management. Part I contains an explanation of what the Enneagram is, its history, a discussion of the distinction between Essence and character fixation, a description of Enneagram fixation types 1-4, and an exploration of the sales management implications regarding fixations 1-4.

The Enneagram and its Implications for Sales Management: Part II – Character Fixation Types 5-9

Kaylene C. Williams

The Enneagram can indicate qualities in a person above and beyond skills and qualifications, e.g., work attitude, conscientiousness, level of commitment, how one deals with stress, attitude toward others, and capacity to be a team player. The purpose of this paper (Part II) and its companion paper (Part I) is to present the Enneagram overall as well as its specific use in sales management. Part II contains descriptions of Enneagram fixation types 5-9, delineates the sales management implications of fixation types 5-9, discusses how to know your fixation type, and presents the advantages and disadvantages of using the Enneagram.

From the Unitary Self of Modernity to the Multiple Selves of Postmodernity: Conceptual Background and Marketing implications for Experiential Products

Athinodoris Chronis

Production and Operations Management:

Chair: Pam Miller, Northwestern State University

Session 1: Monday March 14, 1:00 pm Heron room, Pamela Miller, session chair

Buyer-Supplier Coordination: Quantitative Models and Practice

Pamela A. Miller, Peter Kelle and Asli Akbulut

Numerical results from models developed to determine the joint optimal contract, setup, and shipment size which minimize the combined total cost for the buyer and supplier are extended. Interviews and surveys are conducted to examine the factors considered in the new model and the results are presented.

Production and Inventory Allocation in a Stochastic Environment

Wooseung Jang

We consider the model of integrated production and inventory allocation that involves customer waiting costs under stochastic demand in a two-echelon system. Our objective is to compute a production quantity, the inventory allocation, and the delivery sequence of additional production. We derive optimal policies and evaluate performance of typical approximations.

Utility and Stability in Rescheduling

Michael Bell

An important operational issue in manufacturing is allocating resources to perform a set of tasks over time. As a rescheduling algorithm becomes complex, it can also become less stable. This paper focuses on current issues in the trade-off between the utility and the stability in rescheduling.

Session 2: Monday March 14, 2:45 pm Heron room, J.S. Sutterfield, session chair

Metrics for Continuous Process Improvement

J. S. Sutterfield and Conrod S. J. Kelly

The world has one constant dimension and that is change (Drucker, 1994). As change most often begins with people, mechanisms to teach change management are essential in today’s organizations. Total Quality Management allows managers to cope with changes through the context of Continuous Process Improvement (CPI). However, a successful CPI program requires that metrics be developed and the program monitored and evaluated by these metrics. This paper will some metrics for CPI programs, and the use of these metrics in monitoring and evaluating these programs.

Remanufacturing Business Process Improvement

Caroline Moineau and Paul Stanfield

Remanufacturing is becoming a significant practice in many industries. When remanufacturing economically attractive, it provides one of the strongest strategies for sustainable growth. Economic feasibility is made difficult by increased indirect costs in addition to complex direct processes. This paper summarizes remanufacturing business process improvement in parts management, inspection, customer communication, and work tracking.

Personal Protective Equipment and Risk Taking in Hazardous Material Handling

Daniel N. Mountjoy

While varying levels of personal protection are offered material handlers (depending on the task), it is possible that risk taking behavior increases due to a feeling of relative invulnerability. This paper presents preliminary research examining this phenomenon, and discusses the need for more research in this area.

Session 3: Monday March 14, 4:15 pm Heron room, Ken Platts, session chair.

Establishing the Basis for a Company Diagnostic Tool

Ken Platts, Pete Caldwell and Emre Kazancioglu

This paper discusses the requirements for a diagnostic tool, which can be used to identify improvement opportunities in small and medium sized manufacturing companies. It reviews existing approaches to auditing manufacturing operations, and by reference to existing theory identifies the key requirements for a new diagnostic.

The Use of Analysis of Variance in Production Problem Diagnosis

J. S. Sutterfield, Marian Fielding & Kelvin Savage

Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is a very versatile technique for determining the amount of variability contributed by different components or factors contributing to a given effect. As a consequence, it is widely used in many different types of experiments to examine the cause and effect relationships among variables, and the degree to which one variable is affected by (or affects) another. However, a use to which it also may be put is that of problem diagnosis, that is to determine which of several possible factors is probably responsible for a problem in some variable of interest. This type of analysis is a sort of ex post facto analysis, in that it attempts to determine the previous cause of a problem after the problem has in fact appeared. This paper will demonstrate the use of ANOVA and comparison of means to diagnose the probable cause of a problem in the production of rope.

The Stuttgart Business Model: Integrated Engineering of Strategic and Operational Functions

Vera Hummel and Engelbert Westkämper

The Stuttgart Business Model represents a production system with expanded objectives: The continuous, extremely fast and smooth adaptation of a factory to changes and to a transforming environment.

Simulation and Modeling:

Chair: Kevin O’Neill, Plattsburgh State University

Session 1: Monday March 14, 9:45 pm Egret room, Nasser Fard, session chair

Nonparametric Regression Estimation By Radial Basis Function Networks and Empirical Risk Minimization

Adam Krzyżak and Dominik Schäfer

This paper discusses nonparametric regression estimation by the radial basis function networks. It establishes consistency properties of regression estimates based on normalized radial basis function networks when the network parameters are chosen by empirical minimization.

A New Way of Sequencing Elevators – II

David Kohler

We discuss inefficiencies of multi-car elevator systems, then present and discuss a new way by which elevators can be sequenced so as to reduce the time that passengers spend waiting for and traveling in them. We show that this can be formulated as a Markov decision process, which in turn can be formulated as a mathematical programming problem. This paper extends and generalizes earlier results results.

Design and Analysis of Accelerated Life Testing Involving Incomplete Test Data

Nasser Fard and Chenhua Li

Accelerated life testing experiments are commonly designed to test new products and or product reliability during the developmental process of product life cycle. Different methods of accelerated life testing will be discussed, including the exponential time to failure distribution and Weibull time to failure distribution. To obtain the life distribution under operating stress, a fundamental model is needed to relate the distribution under step-stress test to that under constant-stress test. The fundamental model for data analysis of SSALT, the cumulative exposure model is presented. The statistical estimation methods are employed to estimate the unknown parameters of these models.

Session 2: Monday March 14, 1:00 pm Egret room, Kevin O'Neill, session chair.

Enterprise Modeling of JIT Using EXCEL and ARENA

Kenneth Morrison, Kelli Wheaton, Crystal Brylewski and Jonathan Blocker

Modeling contemporary discrete parts manufacturing organizations involving JIT with Supply Chain Management require special attention. This paper presents the design of an ARENA 8 realistic enterprise structure where the operations are modeled with realistic interfacing of information, manpower, money, logistics, and materials flows, accounting for the JIT influences.

Enterprise Modeling Using EXCEL and ARENA

Kenneth Morrison, Kenneth Delgreco and

Lacy Piippo

Contemporary discrete parts manufacturing organizations involve Supply Chain Management. This paper presents the design of a realistic enterprise structure where the operations are modeled using an ARENA 8 formulation, using simulation entities with defined attributes to create object-oriented programming for realistic interfacing of information, manpower, money, logistics, and materials flows.

Enterprise Modeling of DRP Using EXCEL and ARENA

Kenneth Morrison, Kevin Reynolds and Kenneth Delgreco

The battlefield for contemporary discrete parts manufacturing organizations is Distribution Requirements Planning for (1) the customer/enterprise interface, and (2) the enterprise/supplier interface. This paper presents the design of an ARENA 8 realistic enterprise structure where the operations are modeled with realistic interfacing of information, manpower, money, logistics, and materials flows.

A World Model

Ken Morrison

Short-term greed on the part of U.S. manufacturing decision makers has led to a trend toward off-shore out-sourcing. This ARENA 7/VBA/VB. NET model updates the Winter Simulation 1976 presentation of the Mesarovic-Pestel world model, using United Nations most recent data and Barry Hughes econometric logic. The model demonstrates how the off-shore out-sourcing accelerates the deterioration of U.S. manufacturing and service industries, making the U.S. a third-world country by the year 2015. The model focuses on a 12-sector world view, considering 168 countries. The 22 factors/parameters include money, population, manufacturing capabilities, politics, manufacturing capability, energy usage, and cost of energy.

Session 3: Monday March 14, 2:45 pm Egret room, Hamidreza Eskandari, session chair

Determining Capital Investments Within a Balanced Inventory Pooling System for Spare Parts

Tarek Shaalan and Christopher D. Geiger

In this study, we present a model that characterizes a balanced pooling inventory system for slow-moving, replacement spare parts. This model can determine the optimal quantity of parts for the pooling members as well as the equitable spares inventory cost share for the members.

Economic Design of R- Control Charts: A Proactive Approach

Gamal S. Weheba, Abu S. Masud and Tamer A. Mohamed

This paper represents an extension of the proactive design model proposed by Weheba and Nickerson (2005). They demonstrated an application for the economic design of x-bar control charts that can be used to the shift process average closer to the part design target. In practice, however, scenarios exist that require reduction in the process variability. In this paper, we represent an application involving the proactive design of an R-chart that can be used to evaluate the proposed changes. A sensitivity analysis is utilized to evaluate the model performance at various levels of cost and process parameters.

Optimisation of Manufacturing Group Scheduling Using the Hybrid Neural Networks Simulation: A Case Study

Thien-My Dao, Seraphin C. Abou and Cherif Makrem

In this paper we discuss the simulation technique using for defining the manufacturing route taken by parts in terms of their technological features. We look closely at the application of combining Hopfield Neural Networks (HNN) and Tabou (local search) approach, the Hybrid Hopfield Neural Networks (HHNN), to generate different schedules and to show how the optimal manufacturing routing can be found. A numerical case study of a big size of group scheduling problem has been investigated to demonstrate the benefit and potential ability of the combination of the new HHNN approach and the simulation tool. For each one of the operations we generated using (HNN), the feasible manufacturing alternatives, and applying local search Nowicki and Smutnicki technique, to identify the best schedule. The results obtained through a Hybrid Hopfield Neural Networks (HHNN) based simulation techniques, save time in generating the route sheet and minimise unbalanced workloads among the operations.

Session 4: Monday March 14, 4:15 pm Egret room, Douglas McWilliams, session chair

Improving the Performance of Transfer Operations in Parcel Consolidation Terminals

Douglas L. McWilliams and Paul M. Stanfield

The transfer operations in consolidation terminals in the parcel delivery industry are very labor intensive. To control the labor cost, it is necessary to minimize the time span of the transfer operations. This paper presents a simulation-based scheduling algorithm (SSA) that minimizes the time span. The SSA schedules incoming trailers to the receiving docks of the consolidation terminals. The results show that compared to random scheduling, the SSA results in significantly better system performance.

Designing a Document Delivery System for UCF’s Interlibrary Loan

Abha Trivedi, Dr. Renee J. Butler, Kristine Shrauger

The UCF Library wishes to provide a Document Delivery Service in which faculty submit requests via computer and receive material delivered to their office. The document delivery model, based on the Vehicle Routing problem, will determine the required initial investment, operating costs, staff, and turnaround time of borrowing requests.

Predicting the Performance of Coordinate Measuring Machine by Probabilistic Method

Sompoap Talabgaew and Ahmad K. Elshennawy

This research develops an alternative approach for the prediction of uncertainty of coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) using geometric error information in each axis or repeatedly measured coordinates. The developed model has resulted in an improvement in the probability of accepting a measured position, compared to previously published models and results. The model may also be used for determining an optimal tolerance for the manufacturing measurement processes and provides less costly approach for evaluating the performance of coordinate measuring machines. It also provides an improved assessment of the performance of coordinate measuring machines and its capability.

Tradeoff/Risk Method in Multi-objective Simulation Optimization

Hamidreza Eskandari and Luis Rabelo

This paper presents an approach for the multiobjective simulation optimization problems in which the number of design alternatives is finite, but can be quite large that ranking and selection procedures may be inefficient or even impractical in term of required computational time. The tradeoff/risk method is described and a case study is presented in which the proposed method contributes to the analysis of the design alternatives of the underlying system. This approach helps decision maker identify a set of optimal designs, rather than a single optimal design, representing a reasonable compromise among some conflicting measures of system performance.

Statistical Quality Improvement and Control:

Chair: Gamal Weheba, Wichita State University

Session 1: Tuesday March 15, 9:45 am Egret room, Gamal Weheba, session chair.

Statistical Process Control and Predictive Maintenance

Mohamed A.M. Elmahdy

Statistical process control (SPC) involves using statistical techniques to measure and analyze the variation in processes. Control charts have been widely used to monitor process and machine performance over time. A major objective of these charts is to alert operators to the presence of special causes. These may be attributed to a number of time dependent disturbances that can lead to equipment failure. This paper represents an SPC based approach to predictive maintenance. The proposed approach calls for identifying special patterns on the control chart that require maintenance interventions. A case study involving port transportation equipment is presented with an economic evaluation of the resulting maintenance program.

Impact of Layup Tool Material on Quality of Fabricated Composites

Gamal S. Weheba and Sir Sir Sain Leong

Composites are polymer matrixes of two or more materials that work together. The objective of this research is to determine the quality of composites that are fabricated using four tools made of different materials. A statistically designed experiment was conducted to compare the profile accuracy of fabricated composite parts. The results have indicated that observed deviations are not significant and that the selection of the tool material could be based on economic factors.

Using the Six Sigma Policy Deployment Cycle to Help Mitigate Project Failures

Archana Magadi and Frank W. Voehl

This paper proposes a model called "Six Sigma Policy Deployment" which may help mitigate Six Sigma project failures that are attributed to management and organizational issues. By integrating Policy Deployment, the Six Sigma DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) problem solving approach, and the classic PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) Cycle, the potential for breakthrough improvements in any organization can be enhanced.

Six-Sigma in a Small Organization: A Case Study

Dharmesh K. Patel, Mandar S. Sathaye and Gamal S. Weheba

Six-Sigma has followed the total quality movement as the newest methodology for many companies seeking to improve the performance of their products and processes. Many large organizations have reported significant benefits as result of implementation. However, there is significant need in many small organizations to pursue the benefits of Six-Sigma. This paper outlines a systematic procedure for integrating basic statistical tools that can lead to successful implementation. A study was performed in a small firm as an application of the proposed procedure.

Session 2: Tuesday March 15, 1:00 pm Egret room, Ana Ferreras, session chair.

Reducing Repeat Calls

Sandy Furterer, Natasha Hill, Susan Lanham, Erik Gronberg, Nathan Rychlik, Charlie Fung and

Jessica Derbyshire

The Total Quality Improvement Team from the University of Central Florida aligned with a financial service corporation in an attempt to reduce the number of repeat calls received in their call centers by utilizing the tools of Six Sigma as they are outlined in the five phases of the DMAIC. A design of experiments consisting of 32 treatment combinations was created to determine possible causes of repeat calls. By reducing the number of repeat calls received the financial corporation can reduce the cost associated with these calls.

Six Sigma Project Service Experiential Learning Opportunities as Part of an IE Graduate Course

Sandra Furterer

Six Sigma is a quality management philosophy, problem solving approach, and statistical measure that helps organizations improve processes, reduce variation, and eliminate waste. The Industrial Engineering and Management Systems Department at the University of Central Florida has incorporated service experiential learning opportunities into the curriculum within a Total Quality Improvement course. This course teaches the Six Sigma body of knowledge and provides hands-on Six Sigma project experience. A description of the course objectives and format, as well as examples of how Six Sigma was applied to community organizations that provided service experiential learning opportunities for the students will be presented.

FEEDS-Opportunity for Improvement Phase II

Jean Philippe Blanc, Thitipong Chovanich, Maury Hatcher, Suebpong Kittirattanapaiboon, Sean K. Morton, Rajkumar Nagarajan, Rahul Sharma and Sandra Furterer

The Florida Engineering Education Delivery System (FEEDS) is a state wide system that provides distance learning and knowledge sharing services for engineering students. The FEEDS department in UCF worked in conjunction with the Total Quality Improvement team (TQI) aimed at continual improvement efforts using Six Sigma tools to document the system, identify opportunities for improvement and make recommendations for improving the system's procedures and controls that could significantly enhance customer satisfaction.

The Use of a Balanced Scorecard in a Six-Sigma Academia Improvement Project

Temitayo Akinrefon, Ala Battikhi, Rosida Coowar, Ana M. Ferreras, Kelvin Gibson, Ram Lakkoju, Katherine Meza and Sandy Furterer

Traditionally, prospective graduate students for the College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) at the University of Central Florida (UCF) apply for admission to the program through a graduate admissions process. However, in an attempt to increase the efficiency of the process and alleviate the workload for the staff, CECS implemented a pre-application tool. This paper demonstrates how the application of the balanced scorecard in the DMAIC process, enhances an academia service tool.

Session 3: Tuesday March 15, 2:45 pm Egret room, R. Radharamanan, session chair.

A Six Sigma Toolkit for the Service Sector

Leonard Perry and Nicholas Barker

Six Sigma quality initiatives remain relatively rare in the service sector. While a robust assortment of statistical tools is available, the prevalence of attribute data in the service sector often obfuscates the applicability and appropriate selection of such tools. This article presents a statistical toolkit particularly useful for attribute data.

Process Control Using Multivariate Statistical Analysis

R. Radharamanan and Angela P. Ansuj

In this paper, multivariate T2 control charts have been used to control two and three dependent variables that are present in a mechanical manufacturing component and in a soft drink production process respectively. These multivariate control charts provided better insight in detecting out of control states than that of Shewhart control charts.

Reliability and Performance Analysis of Broadcast Communication

Nasser S. Fard and Indra Gunawan

The broadcast reliability of multistage interconnections network system is presented. The capability of broadcasting information from a specific input switch to all output switches, through alternative routing paths, depends on: network configuration, reliability of connecting switches and connecting links. Methods are presented to evaluate the broadcast reliability of multistage interconnection network systems.

Session 4: Tuesday March 15, 4:15 pm Egret room, Nael Aly, session chair.

Managing Rainfall Variation in California’s Central Valley Using Control Charts

Nael Aly and Gene Murti

This paper demonstrates the application of control charts in managing rainfall and runoff water variation in California’s Central Valley. Rainfall and runoff data from Modesto Irrigation District for the last 115 years are analyzed using Individual-X and Moving Range control. The analysis of these data proves that there is a strong correlation between rainfall and runoff data. It also concludes that the claim that the weather, in particular the rainfall precipitation is changing, or is different from what we had experienced in the past cannot be statistically supported. Furthermore, the rainfall pattern is cyclical, stable and can even be predicted.

Transactional Six Sigma for Office Process Improvement

Parikshit Banjan, Robbie Boman, Nabila Boudhar, Barbara Kudis, Assem Kalyani and Sandy Furterer

The Six Sigma DMAIC process was used to improve the front office processes of a university's Industrial Engineering department. This student project was part of a Total Quality Improvement course at the University of Central Florida. The processes improved were purchasing, payroll, reimbursement and course scheduling. Some of the tools applied included SIPOC, process flow analysis, stakeholder analysis, customer surveys and voice of the customer.

Measuring performance of a Quality Management System (QMS) Towards ISO9001:2000 Standards Using Fuzzy Logic

Önder Öndemir and Umut H. Inan

Fuzzy logic is widely used in decision making under uncertainty of information. Fuzzy logic is closer to human thinking than other mathematical models. In this work, we propose a fuzzy logic based performance measurement tool for QMS established under the ISO9001:2000 standards.

Supply Chain Management:

Chair: Alan S. Khade, CSU Stanislaus

Session 1: Tuesday March 15, 8:00 am Heron room, Ken Morrison, session chair.

Supply Chain Management Optimization Methodology

Mark Smith

This paper explores optimization methodologies used to improve the performance of the supply chain. It reviews optimal approaches and heuristic solutions made feasible by the information technologies available today. Topics include techniques that strive for optimal solutions, such as linear, integer, and mixed integer programming. And it investigates the contributions made by genetic algorithms, Tabu Search, and Simulated Annealing.

Supply Chain Management Solutions for Larger Problems

Kenneth R. Morrison, Michael Sanders, Helen Deibel

Last year at this conference, we presented analytical solutions using Excel Solver and ARENA for the pure 4-tier problem where all material goes through each intermediate point. The four tiers were suppliers, assemblers, distribution centers, and customers. The paper included extension to the two-product case. However, some problems permit tier-skipping formulations, where distribution points are bypassed (i.e., assemblers straight to customers).

Localized Batching in Supply Chains

G. Allen Pugh

Variable demand can often result in a bullwhip (or whiplash) effect upon supply chain inventory levels. This paper presents the results of a simulation study on the effects of localized batching upon the bullwhip phenomenon.

A Fresh Look at Carolinas’ Prefab Industry

Donald D. Liou

This paper takes a fresh look at the problems the Carolinas’ manufactured-housing companies are now facing. It reviews a nation-wide study on manufacturing-housing by a HUD committee. Findings and the conclusions that are relevant to the problems in the Carolinas are extracted. The review, however, is done with a different aim from those of the committee. It focuses more on design and transportation issues, rather than on the issues of seniors and housing affordability. It also discusses new trends and new materials that the Carolinas’ manufacturing house industry can take advantage of. Suggestions on how to reduce the perception gap, the biggest problem facing the manufactured housing industry, are made.

Session 2: Tuesday March 15, 9:45 am Heron room, Richard Monroe, session chair

Incorporating Multiple Perspectives into Curriculum Design for Distribution, Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Richard Monroe and Leslie Pagliari

Educators must be responsive to a number of constituencies today. This paper will describe some of the steps that we have taken in curriculum development to accommodate a variety of our constituencies. Practitioners, advisory board members, our own graduates, and other educators are primary examples of the constituencies that we have incorporated into our curriculum design activities

Optional Frameworks for Teaching Supply Chain Management

Richard Monroe

This paper will describe optional frameworks that may be useful for teaching supply chain management when used separately or in combination. Some examples of the frameworks are: the four supply chains, the integration framework, the optimization and improvement framework, and the value chain. Specific details will be presented for using each framework in class

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Its Implications to Supply Chain Management

Ming-Ling Chuang and Wade H. Shaw

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is an enabling technology to help companies to create values such as greater visibility on supply chain, more efficient inventory management, reduce labor costs and errors etc. Companies should understand the essential components of RFID and Supply Chain and know how to put them together to lead their businesses to new success.

Case Studies Approach: Reasons for Closures or Sales of Outsourced Businesses in India

Nathan R. Greenhut and James T. Luxhøj

Since India has an abundant and skilled English-speaking manpower there is motivation for the US to outsource to India. Secondary reasons for India’s prominence in outsourcing, are that India may leverage its different time zones and has a proactive policy environment for a quick turnaround on projects with improvement to quality and productivity. However, instances exist when a company decides India is not a conducive place for their business needs. Dell experienced numerous customer complaints in a 24 hour period after setting up a call center in India. These calls forced it to shut down its customer service center there. Recently, General Electric agreed to sell a 60% stake in its business-processing operations in India, since the operation has grown too large to manage effectively. Reasons for these closures and sales are explored in this paper.

Session 3: Tuesday March 15, 1:00 pm Heron room, Gary Simon, session chair.

Measuring and Managing Client Satisfaction

in B2B Professional Services Relationships

Gary L. Simon

Professional services firms should be measuring and tracking client satisfaction when operating in business-to-business/government international markets. But, this presents unique challenges, and much of the literature, predicated on large numbers and normalcy, is not helpful. This paper reports on CS monitoring considerations and suggests a methodology for establishing and maintaining CS programs and correcting client dissatisfaction when detected.

Reducing Risk Through Supplier Evaluation and Selection

Kevin E. Calabrese and Ralph E. Janaro

Purchasing, or sourcing, is a key activity in most organizations. Problems can arise, however, when a poor supplier choice is made. In this paper, we identify and discuss the risks associated with supplier selection and review in detail two supplier evaluation and selection models. We then propose a new model for supplier selection and illustrate how it helps minimize risk through an example. Finally, we discuss the relevance of the proposed model and state our conclusions.

The FedEx Center for Supply Chain Management at The University of Memphis

Pattarawan Prasarnphanich and Brian D. Janz

Understanding the factors that contribute to e-procurement adoption is necessary for effective systems implementation and for convincing partners to implement these systems for mutual gain. Five factors are presented that may influence an organization's adoption intention and indirectly affect their e-procurement adoption behavior. A corresponding research model is developed and discussed.

Session 4: Tuesday March 15, 2:45 pm Heron room, Jose Sepulveda, session chair.

Nabeel Yousef, Jose Sepulveda and Luis Rabelo

Researchers are interested in value chain analysis to identify the different opportunities for cost savings. The literature have been narrow in scope and addressed specific problems; however none has addressed the need to a general framework that can be used as a standard template in the supply chain cost management and optimization

Costs Map for Reverse Logistics

Y. J. Liang, S. Pokharel, G. H. Lim

Today, management executive aim at the opportunity costs of the reverse stream. In this paper, it tries to interpret the importance of cost analysis and process cost map of reverse logistics in order to illustrate cost structure of a reverse logistics system. The results can support some industry practices and contribute to academic research of value analysis of reverse logistics.

Operational and Economic Influences of Transportation Operations on Logistics Network Planning

Robert Seaker

The complexity of network planning logic can be confounding, particularly when transportation variables are considered. Therefore, operating and economic elements have been identified by transportation mode as to their impact on specific network configurations. This reference tool can help shape solutions that exhibit greater validity and efficiency.

International Air Cargo Supply Chains S trategies in the Post-9/11Era

Willem J. Homan

This paper will identify management issues that influence supply chain performance within global air cargo organizations. A general overview of post 9/11 air cargo management is provided and the integration of security inspections and evaluations into the overall supply chain is discussed. Strategies that can lead to a significant competitive advantage are reviewed.