Lean Enterprise and Six Sigma are two of the most prominent improvement philosophies available to organizations today.  This article investigated how these two philosophies can be used cohesively as an improvement strategy.  A comparison was performed relative to the underlying principles, the respective tools used, and the implementation methodologies of each philosophy.  A real world  Read more »

Timberline Steel | Pueblo, Colorado Company Information: Timberline Steel is a full line steel service center that was founded in 1958.  Timberline has grown to expand its capabilities to include fabrication, in addition to distribution, and has four facilities: three in Colordado (Commerce City, Pueblo, Grand Junction) and one in Farmington, New Mexico.  Timberline was  Read more »

This paper discusses the integration of A3 Thinking as an innovative academic communication standard in industrial engineering. The paper begins by providing an overview comparison of A3 Thinking, a critical component in Toyota’s PDCA management system, and traditional academic course communication methods. The paper highlights key areas in academics where the use of A3 Thinking  Read more »

This research built upon previous work on the development of tools to bridge the gaps in the analysis and understanding of the relationships between economic growth and transportation infrastructure in Alabama. The tasks performed under this contract included: Development of the Integrated Freight Planning Framework including Trip Generation, Trip Distribution, Modal Split and Assignment and  Read more »

Review research discussing successful implementation of Lean Enterprise in seaport operations with cited examples from Port of Mobile, Alabama.

The 2008 research into Transportation Infrastructure in Alabama had two main focal points; the creation of the Freight Planning Framework, with particular emphasis on the disaggregation and use of national level freight data at the state and local level, and the refinement and continued development of the Alabama Transportation Infrastructure Model (ATIM) for analysis and  Read more »

The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) is a nationwide network of over seventy not-for-profit centers.  The MEP is linked with the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and has the sole purpose of providing small and medium-size manufacturers with the assistance they need to be competitive and successful.  The Alabama Technology Network  Read more »

The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) is a nationwide network of over seventy not-for-profit centers.  The MEP is linked with the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and has the sole purpose of providing small and medium-size manufacturers with the assistance they need to be competitive and successful.  The Alabama Technology Network  Read more »