Title: AN INDUSTRIAL ENGINEER LOOKS AT HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS
Abstract: WORK SAMPLING TECHNIQUES ARE THE BEST TOOL FOR THE ANALYSES OF HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS. A WORK SAMPLING STUDY CONSISTS OF A LARGE NUMBER OF OBSERVATIONS TAKEN AT RANDOM INTERVALS. THE UNDERLYING THEORY OF WORK SAMPLING IS THAT THE PERCENTAGE OF OBSERVATIONS RECORDING A MAN OR MACHINE AS IDLE, WORKING, OR IN ANY OTHER CONDITION REFLECTS TO A KNOWN DEGREE OF ACCURACY THE AVERAGE PERCENT OF TIME ACTUALLY SPENT IN THAT STATE OR CONDITION. WORK SAMPLING UTILIZES THE WELL-ESTABLISHED PRINCIPLE OF DRAWING INFERENCES AND ESTABLISHING FRAMES OF REFERENCE FROM A RANDOM SAMPLE OF THE WHOLE. THE LOGICAL STEP AFTER WORK MEASUREMENT IS THE CREATION OF MAINTENANCE STANDARDS. THE METHODS STUDY AND MOTION TECHNOLOGY ASPECTS OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING HELP THE ENGINEER TO DESIGN A METHOD WHICH REQUIRES THE LEAST EFFORT. THE AREA OF VALUE ENGINEERING IDENTIFIES A SPECIFIC SYSTEM OF DECISION-MAKING WHICH IS AIMED AT THE POSSIBLE VALUE TO THE USER AT THE LEAST POSSIBLE COST. INDUSTRIAL AND PERSONNEL RELATIONS ARE IMPORTANT TO ANY INDUSTRIAL ENGINEER. THE APPLICATION OF THESE TOPICS TO MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT IS CLEAR. MAINTENANCE CONTROL PROCEDURES USED ARE: (1)FORECASTING,(2)PLANNING, (3) SCHEDULING, AND (4) FOLLOW-UP. TO THESE AREAS HAVE BEEN ADDED NETWORK ANALYSES KNOWN AS CRITICAL PATH SCHEDULING AND PERT. THESE TECHNIQUES ARE USED TO DETERMINE THE LONGEST JOB OR ENDEAVOR IN THE MAINTENANCE SYSTEM AND THE SHIFTING OF IDLE RESOURCES TO THE LONGEST PATH FUNCTION SO AS TO CUT DOWN ON THE TOTAL TIME AND COST REQUIRED FOR THE FUNCTION. ENGINEERING ECONOMY TOPICS ARE DISCUSSED. THE TECHNIQUES DISCUSSED ARE PLANT LAYOUT FOR MATERIALS HANDLING, STATISTICS AND OPERATIONS RESEARCH, AND SPECIFICALLY, REGRESSION ANALYSIS. THE RESULTS OF REGRESSION ANALYSES ARE MATHEMATICAL MODELS. OPERATIONS RESEARCH STUDIES USE LINEAR PROGRAMMING, QUEUING THEORY, GAME THEORY, DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING, AND SIMULATION TECHNIQUES. SOME OF THE INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING TECHNIQUES ARE ILLUSTRATED FOR USE IN HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS.
Publication Year: 1968
Publication Date: 1968-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Access and Citation
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot