One of the challenges when measuring process productivity is deciding on what measurements and metrics to use. Industrial Engineers take a reductionist approach and try to get as much process detail (metrics) as possible. This is useful, but makes it very complex to determine and measure ongoing improvement. From an IE perspective, all of those […]
An in-depth discussion on using data to derive labor standards versus the traditional method of industrial engineered standards. This interview discusses the pros and cons of each method and the optimal way of developing labor standards.
I remember about 15 years ago when we were running a large hard and soft line cross docking operation for a large retailer, the General Manager flippantly stated “A box is just a box.” Queue palm striking my forehead. The operation was a mixed freight cross dock and the GM liked to just look at […]
“One million dollars and a year of hell” is what we commonly hear from our customers regarding their apprehension with traditional enterprise Labor Management Systems. It does not have to be this way. Believe it or not, you can start getting a strong ROI in as little 30 days and a full ROI within 5-8 […]
Since the onset of the technology age, we have experienced the trend of people being ‘replaced’ by automation. The question of “to what extent CAN people be replaced by systems?” has been at the forefront of U.S. labor. This is especially relevant in a warehouse environment, where state-of-the-art automation has reduced the number of FTEs […]
The Unexpected Skill Industrial Engineers Need to Get Promoted How will railroad’s demand for tank cars be affected by the U.S. shale boom? Or how can a car rental company determine the most profitable cities to position their vehicles? Today, these business problems can be answered by highly-educated and informed Industrial Engineers, leveraging terabytes of […]
