The Sustainable IE: Lessons Learned Breaking Through Limiting Beliefs: Abstract ID: 790363

摘要

In undergraduate and graduate school, and in preparing for the Professional Engineer examination, I learned how to apply a wide variety of Industrial and Systems Engineering tools and problem-solving methods. We practiced on case studies, input data was provided, outputs were clearly defined. I now have 40 years of wide-ranging experience applying ISE to public sector problems and challenging beliefs about what ISEs do. My ISE expertise helped secure work, brought unique value to multidisciplinary teams, and contributed to successful outcomes. However, not a single project went "by the book." ISEs learn to balance the technical, social and economic sciences. In creating sustainable solutions, we balance planet, people and profit. In doing a project, we also need to balance quality, schedule and budget. Typically, there is insufficient time and money. All the data we need is rarely available or is too expensive and would take too long to gather. But we have been taught how to problem solve and apply our skills to develop imperfect but defensible approaches to meet the need and produce valid results in time for maximum impact. This paper presents nine examples of lessons learned in the field that have proven valuable in facing future projects.