Greenfield facilities may not have a pre-existing infrastructure to update and plan around. Still, they do present unique challenges for project managers. Planners must be meticulous as they manage the project scope and swiftly adapt when things change. And since the building is entirely new, greenfield construction tends to be schedule-centric—an intricate dance with numerous […]
Imagine you are a manager at a large distribution center. Your facility is around a half-million square feet, or about the same footprint as ten football fields. Hundreds of people work there each day to fulfill orders, plus many more during the busy holiday seasons. There is ample space but also plenty of “shoulder-rubbing” with […]
I didn’t expect to experience déjà vu while going in to receive my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. My appointment took me to the largest vaccination site in the southern end of the county. I can’t think of a better location to administer vaccines en masse—it’s right off the freeway, on Main Street’s west edge in the […]
What’s the longest you’ve ever waited to see a doctor? Hopefully, your answer won’t make us shake our heads and whistle in disbelief. This question has been asked and answered on Quora, Reddit, and across social media to varying degrees of hilarity and horror. Search “making sandwich in waiting room” on Twitter, and you’ll get […]
“Phase 1 cancer studies, which guide dose selection for subsequent studies, are almost 3 times more prevalent than phase 3 studies and have a median study duration considerably longer than 2 years, which constitutes a major component of drug development time.” It takes a long, long time for new cancer treatments to get through the […]
In an article in the Birmingham Medical News, Deborah Flint, director of Performance Engineering at the Kirklin Clinic of UAB Hospital, explained the role that simulation plays in improving patient flow at her facility: “The computer simulation helps evaluate different scenarios we may have identified using Lean Six Sigma. It helps us validate whether a […]
Did you know that you can get some quick wins with healthcare systems simulation? It’s called Exploratory Simulation, and it’s a great way to understand what’s going on right now as well as explore the impact of future change. What kind of change? How about changes in process, changes in allocated resources, and changes in […]
Turns out, one of the best ways to get better at simulation modeling is to give back to your fellow process improvement community members. I recently stumbled on a short post from one of the many “money advice” blogs out there. In it, the author gave an interesting recommendation on how to gain the skills […]
“It’s OK, right grandpa? It’s OK,” he said as tears welled up in his eyes. My five-year-old grandson was looking to me for confirmation that his crash was not a “bad one.” It was his second fall. I was beginning to worry he would either hurt himself badly or lose the nerve to keep trying. […]