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An article from The Wall Street Journal reported that “recent studies … suggest that nearly 60 percent of all corporate Six Sigma initiatives fail to yield the desired results.” Another article in Quality Engineering, bemoaned the lack of statistical skills among black belts: “Black belts using conventional Six Sigma procedures on service systems could end up with results that could not stand up to serious scrutiny of a good statistician." This Industrial Engineer cover story examines the relevance and value of statistical thinking.
By K.S. Krishnamoorthi
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Material handling solutions can sometimes be derived from discrete-event simulation faster than analytical modeling. But that's not the only tool available to industrial engineers. This article demonstrates useful properties, experiments and applications of a methodology to show that the new state-dependent queue and its networks offer an alternative to discrete-event simulation models.
By J. MacGregor Smith
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When you look through the lenses of explicit cost dynamics, the impact of eliminating wastes on costs is fairly marginal at best. It isn’t that the opportunity isn’t there. It just means that eliminating the waste, itself, won’t lead to cost reduction. This article explores additional lean methods to save costs.
By Reginald Tomas Yu-Lee
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Competition by companies to attract the most talented individuals has given employees the power to demand more than just a reasonable wage or salary. Employees need a range of motivators in order to remain engaged in their work. In response to this demand, employers are looking at how to satisfy their employees on both an extrinsic, financial level as well as an intrinsic, psychological level.
By Golnaz Sadri and R. Clarke Bowen
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