Integrating Lean Manufacturing into Manufacturing Curriculum

随着越来越多的美国公司将制造业务外包给劳动力市场更便宜的国家，保持美国制造业就业机会和提高美国制造业竞争力的问题已经成为美国经济长期可持续繁荣和技术进步的关键。精益生产已被证明是提高美国制造业生产率和成本竞争力的有效策略。通过跨学科的合作，犹他州立大学工程学院和商学院的一组教师正在开发一门新的精益制造课程，该课程通过改编和实施肯塔基大学的相关精益制造课程。本课程为工科和商科学生提供技术技能、专业技能（领导能力、沟通能力、团队合作能力等）和商业知识（成本、利润、市场份额等）的综合培训。学生还将获得大量的实际操作经验，以增强他们对精益生产原理和应用的理解。包括PC实验室在内的最先进的制造设备被用来支持课程。更广泛的影响该项目正在解决制造工程师协会确定的五个高优先级能力差距（商业知识/技能、供应链管理、项目管理、沟通技巧和团队合作），这些差距需要在行业制造劳动力需求和当前教育计划之间缩小。为了满足这些需要，正在以cd和网络出版物的形式编写课程讲座材料和实验室手册。正在为犹他州和周边各州的制造业从业人员提供夏季讲习班。该课程正在招收妇女和少数民族学生。

Engineering-Mechanical (56) As an increasing number of U.S. companies are outsourcing manufacturing operations to foreign countries that have cheaper labor markets, the issues of keeping manufacturing jobs in America and increasing the competitiveness of the U.S. manufacturing industry have become critical to the long-term sustainable prosperity of the U.S. economy and its technological progress. Lean manufacturing has proven to be an effective strategy to increase productivity and cost competitiveness in the U.S. manufacturing industry. Intellectual MeritThrough cross-disciplinary collaboration, a group of faculty members in the College of Engineering and the College of Business at Utah State University are developing a new lean manufacturing course by adapting and implementing relevant lean manufacturing courses from the University of Kentucky. The course is providing both engineering and business students a comprehensive training in technical skills, professional (leadership, communication, teamwork, etc.) skills, and business knowledge (cost, profit, market share, etc.). Students are also provided with intensive real-world hands-on experiences to enhance their understanding of lean manufacturing principles and applications. State-of-the-art manufacturing equipment including PC laboratories is employed to support the course. Broader ImpactsThe project is addressing five high priority competency gaps (business knowledge/skills, supply chain management, project management, communication skills, and teamwork) identified by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers that need to be closed between industry's manufacturing workforce needs and current educational programs. In order to meet these needs, course lecture materials and laboratory manuals in the form of CDs and web publications are being developed. Summer workshops are being provided for manufacturing practitioners in Utah and surrounding states. Women and minority students are being recruited to enroll in the course.