A new initiative by the Alabama Technology Network has saved some Alabama companies thousands in processes and energy costs. Since 1995, the Alabama Technology Network has worked to make Alabama industries more competitive. Its efforts have focused on technical assistance and training, helping plants with process re-engineering and improved quality management.  But a new ATN  Read more »

As the automotive industry has responded to the markets over the last 10 years, so has the AAMA responded to its member—supplying support and training where needed. In 2001, when 11 companies and organizations created the Alabama Automotive Manufacturers Association (AAMA), the Alabama automotive industry was still in its infancy. Mercedes-Benz had just begun production  Read more »

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 »

The use of local freight data in transportation planning is essential to ensure accuracy in the travel demand modeling process. However, unlike passenger transportation, where extensive research work has been performed into the collection and use of household travel data, limited research work has been performed to collect and use local freight travel data. This  Read more »

The ability to plan and forecast freight demand to support transportation infrastructure investment decisions is limited by the lack of available data at a level of detail that is meaningful to the transportation planner.  This paper develops an initial methodology for developing Freight Analysis Zones (FAZs) at a sub-state level to facilitate use of the  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 »

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

This paper presents a simulation model to evaluate the operations of the container facility at the International Intermodal Center in Huntsville, AL. The simulation was used to determine if throughput can satisfy anticipated demand and if sufficient resources are available to meet anticipated growth in demand. The current throughput of the intermodal center can be  Read more »

This paper presents the application of simulation to determine the inspection resources needed to minimize disruption resulting from increased security inspection of containers at an intermodal terminal. The initial simulation run intentionally started with a large number of resources. Additional simulation runs were made with a continual reduction of inspection resources until entity throughput at  Read more »

The 2007 – 2008 research into Transportation Infrastructure in Alabama had two main focal points and many meaningful findings. The two main focal points were 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  Read more »