FEATURES

Keeping Fido's helpers healthy 

Ergonomics plays a big part in small animal veterinary operations
By Meghan Rogers, Shruti Gangakhedkar and David Kaber

The Babe Ruth effect 

Don't let the magnitude of improvement successes mask the frequency of project failures
By Satya S. Chakravorty

Seven simple rules for solving problems 

It may seem obvious, but root cause analysis should lead to answers for manufacturers
By Daniel Sims

Quality in reverse 

Trends and trade-offs in assessing the value of returned products
By Luk N. Van Wassenhove and Christos Zikopoulos

Discovering the source of failures 

Process mining can identify problems while saving time and money
By Guillermo Calderon-Ruiz and Marcos Sepulveda

FRONT LINE

Top stories in this month's industrial engineering news 

• Evolutionary robotics has mechanical animals learning to walk.
• The survival of the Chilean miners offers lessons for corporate America.
• Do you want a promotion? Don't rock the boat.
• U.S. manufacturing grows but needs long-term strategy.
• Interdisciplinary research team makes strides in preventing osteoarthritis.
• Photocatalytic pavements can reduce vehicle greenhouse gas emissions.
• Feds say 4 million hospital admissions in 2008 may have been unnecessary.
• Book of the month: The Disassembly Line: Balancing and Modeling by Seamus M. McGovern and Surendra M. Gupta

PERSPECTIVES

Performance by Kevin McManus 

Pride, principle or process

Management by Paul Engle 

Is it real?

Health Systems by D. Junell Scheeres 

Healthcare ergonomics needed sooner, not later

Innovation by Nabil Nasr 

Sustainability and Singapore

FOCUS

This month in IIE news 

The March issue includes a profile of IIE's pick for the New Faces of Engineering 2011, Sara Falkiewicz of ProHealth Care Medical Associates; the speaker lineup for the IIE Annual Conference and Expo; a feature about the volunteer efforts of IIE's Central Florida chapter and University of Central Florida student chapter; and updates about the upcoming Applied Ergonomics Conference in March, the Behind the Scenes corporate tours in April, and the Engineering Lean and Six Sigma Conference in September.