Contact: Bob Ratliff
Most college class projects end with an exam paper, but a group of Mississippi State student engineers will see the results of their efforts when the first Nissan vehicle rolls off the Canton assembly line.
Students in MSU's industrial engineering department began working on a production system model for the Canton plant in early 2001 and recently completed the first phase of the project.
"The production model looks for bottlenecks in the movement of vehicles through the plant," said MSU industrial engineer Clayton T. Walden. "Once problems have been identified, a simulation plan can be developed that will improve the plant's efficiency."
Walden is the project's principal investigator. He, along with fellow industrial engineering faculty members Stanley F. Bullington and Allen G. Greenwood, direct a team of 10 undergraduate and graduate industrial engineering students.
"There literally are thousands of factors to consider," Walden said. "The students are focusing on some that can have the biggest impact, including movement of vehicles in and out of the plant's paint shop."
The student team is drawing on the university's computer simulation resources to plot the movement of vehicles during the assembly process and to spot any snags along the way. They then look for ways to change the simulation to eliminate the potential bottlenecks.
In addition to what they've learned in class, the team also has visited Nissan's plant in Smyrna, Tenn., to learn from engineers there.
"The project lets us use a lot of the things we've done in class and we can see how they apply to the real world," said team member Lindley Sumler, a graduate student from Corinth.
Other team members include graduate students Travis Hill of Rocky Mt., N.C., Rommel D'Souza, Arunkumar Subramanian, and Tai Chi Wu, all of Starkville, and Brent Wilson of Dyersburg, Tenn. Undergraduate team members include Philip Culver of Starkville, Allyson Kalberkamp of Jackson [6225 North Circle, 39211], Sebastian Hatch of Ripley, and Jeff Miller of West Point.
The Mississippi State student work is an important part of Nissan's preparation of the Canton facility, said Scott Pollard, Nissan department manager for industrial engineering supply chain management.
"We are looking forward to using the computer simulation and seeing what impact such factors as changes in line speed, model mix, and equipment downtime have on overall plant performance," he said. "The model will assist us in identifying and reducing plant-wide constraints."
In addition to gaining valuable hands-on experience in their chosen career, the MSU students also are being exposed to potential employment.
"We get to see how the student engineers work and get an idea of the quality of their work," Pollard said.
He added that the expertise the Mississippi State industrial engineering students have shown indicates possibilities for other projects as the Canton plant moves toward completion.
"I think you may see some work in ergonomics related to training operators and setting up our work stations," he said. "There's also the possibility of some online training or simulated training."
Support for the industrial engineering project is being provided through the university's Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, which was established as part of the proposal that brought Nissan to Mississippi.
The cross-disciplinary research center targets the needs of the auto manufacturer and the dozens of companies that supply it parts and other support.
The center's goals include reducing product design time and manufacturing start-up time, increasing production efficiency, improving passenger safety and transportation efficiency, and developing alternative power systems.