Reaching There

To err is human. This apparently implies the inherent nature of my species is flawed. The innumerable defects in me far overtake any virtues I may have been blessed with. As an engineer I know any mechanical design isn't perfect. The designer made some assumptions about the nature of work and designed within certain limits. Apparently that's how I work too! I have certain limitations within which I perform well enough to be classified as a normal human being. While in case of machines there are predefined tests which can expose any weaknesses in the design. But as a human being there are no set of "tests" which can help me find the flaws in me. So in a normal world I may live out my whole lifetime without getting a chance to know myself. In a world where technology and science have made our lives comfortable, I may never get a chance to explore myself. Although certain times in my life I have faced extraordinary events that force me to find who I am. But these events ...

In industrial engineering it is a very common to observe a system to learn about it and suggest ways to improve it.  As an industrial engineer I have spent numerous hours collecting data on machining assembly lines and operator moments on a shop floor. The collection and analysis of data is the heart of any process improvement process. It helps to study the current behavior of a system (a system could be an assembly line, flow of shoppers in a departmental store or your internet searching habits). After all the data has been collected analysts/engineer try and make sense of it. This leads to a baseline formation on which you can base your improvement process. After a certain prescribed time you measure the change due to the improvement and evaluate the progress. It is a long and painstakingly slow process. A major such study is called Time & Motion Study. It is very similar to our lives. Our lifetime is a series of time and motion. A time is our natural progression from being...

The Japanese work " kaizen " means improvement. In more common practice, especially in the world of manufacturing, it is interpreted as "continuous improvement". While going on internet looking for meaning of "kai" and "zen" I came across a myriad of meanings. The following are some of the meanings: Kai: change, effect, use, world, story Zen: good, meditation ( from Sanskrit word  dhyānam,  "meditation") If you search the word "kaizen" on web you'll find hundreds of link related to productivity improvement. But for a moment if I leave my industrial engineer mind and just concentrate on the word itself I get a whole new perspective on "continuous improvement". Let us try and see how can we relate with kaizen. Someone has wisely said "Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely". Everyday we see changes happening around us. The whole universe itself is in a continuous series of motion...

Revenue Management (Source: www.wikipedia.org) Please donate to Wikipedia.org. Yield management , also known as revenue management , is the process of understanding, anticipating and influencing consumer behavior in order to maximize revenue or profits from a fixed, perishable resource (such as airline seats or hotel room reservations). It is a method of price discrimination wherein a firm charges different customers different prices for goods or services which are otherwise identical. A typical example is airline tickets. For three different seats in the same row different passengers would have paid different amount depending on conditions like their seat preference, time of booking etc. An interesting article was published in NY Times recently about how airlines are charging more for "that extra leg room". It is another innovative way to understand the consumer behavior and improve revenue for the airlines. Here is the link for that article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/...

Hi, I made a presentation on Effects of Globalization & Risk Management on Supply Chain a while back. One of the most interesting topic in the current economic scenario. The reason being realizing and increasing visibility across a company's supply chain helps to remove unwanted waste and improve quality as well. It encompasses every activity which originates from getting the raw material till delivering the finished goods to a customer. Another concept which is emerging is managing the demand chain. Think of it as the other side of a scale. Unless both the sides are not balanced the scale would always be tipped to one side. This would lead to unnecessary waste and reduced quality. After all we all seek for balance in our lives as well! Let me know what you think! Thanks. Supply Chain Globalization View more presentations from pbajpai2 .