Ethical questions of safety

As an Industrial Engineer, our primary job is to lower costs so that companies can make more money; simple enough. This can be done in many ways. For instance, money can be saved by increasing productivity, decreasing waste, or possibly changing the product itself. While all of these can be very good things for not only the producer but the consumer as well, sometimes changing the product can be a bad thing.

When making any sort of product, often times management will demand that the product costs under X amount of dollars and that the company makes X amount of money. This can easily lead to subpar products that are not safe to the consumer. As an Industrial Engineer, it is my job to make sure that all products made are safe for the people using them. If not, it is ethically and morally right for the engineer to say something to management so that the product is not released to the public. However, it can be a very difficult situation to be in if the engineer would possibly lose his job by bringing the product defects to public attention.

 

Imagine a situation where as an engineer, you believe your company has a made a product you deem unsafe. The product has been long overdue and management is putting a large amount of pressure on the design team to make sure the product is finished as soon as possible. This has now lead to short cuts in the how the product was designed and it was made using inferior quality materials. You as an engineer are in a position where you know that the product should not be released to the public but if you bring this information to management, you will likely be fired.

It is a difficult situation to be in, on one hand you have a family to provide for and your job is very important. On the other hand, you have knowledge that a product you helped design is not safe and could hurt people who use it. I pose the question what would you do? One good bit of news is that life is not often this black and white. Many people would say that they would try to come up with a compromise. To try to find some way in which the product can be made safe and they can keep their jobs and thus not harm innocent individuals.

Some people may say that a situation like this is not realistic, but that is not true. Toyota had to recall thousands of cars because of faulty brakes which could have seriously hurt thousands of people by causing many car accidents. It is very possible that there were people in the company that new that the brakes were not made to Toyota quality standards but either did not say anything, or were ignored when they did bring the information to the attention of the managers. This problem might have been prevented sooner and saved Toyota a large blow to their reputation and pocket books.

 

It is hard to always know what to do in a tough ethical situation, but engineers are asked to make tough decisions all the time, and it comes with the territory.

Engineers improving football helmets for safety

 

This year, as a joint commitment to player safety, a group of sports equipment manufacturers and football organizations have partnered to create a youth football safety and helmet replacement program. Any helmet that is over 10 years old will be replaced free of charge for a brand new state of the art helmet by one of the several football helmet manufacturers. As of this year, no helmets 10 years of age of older will be certified as safe enough for youth football players among the partners involved.

A part of this program is that it will also educate coaches and parents in player safety and warning signs of symptoms for concussions. The helmet replacement program is backed by the NFL, NFLPA, and the NCAA as concussions become a very serious issue at the highest levels of football, both college and professionally specifically.

As athletes everywhere become bigger, faster, and stronger, the hits have also become bigger. This has resulted in an increase in injuries across the board. Concussions have just recently come into the limelight as research comes out about the devastating impact of concussions later in life. Because of the concussion issue, companies have been pressed to come out with better helmets to help protect players from concussions. This is where the engineers come into play.

Since football was first played with leather helmets, the headwear worn by players has improved dramatically and quickly. Even the helmets that many of us used in youth football and high school less than 10 years ago are now considered vastly out of date and are no recommended for use by equipment companies. Those helmets include the Schutt Air XP which was the most common helmet in both college football and the NFL for many years. It is made of a hard outer shell made up plastic with an iron facemask covered in rubber. The inside of the helmet is hard foam with an aid bladder that can be adjusted to fit the head of the player.

 

The newest model Schutt has is the Vengeance. It is made with impact reducing foam of 2 different degrees, one for minor hits and one for large hits. It also has 2 different air bladders to distribute the air based on the different head shapes of the players. There are several different cosmetic effects but for the most part the differences between the newer helmets and the older ones are the impact reducing foam and the improved quality of air bladders in the helmets.

 

As a result of the new demand for football helmets that can reduce the occurrence of concussions, engineers have been pressed into developing better helmets that are also more comfortable to the wearer. While no helmets are “concussion proof” there are some that are better than others. All of Schutt’s new helmets are made with impact reducing foam.

 

The best helmets Schutt has to offer cost upwards of $400 while other helmets they produce cost around $200. The challenge for the Industrial engineers is to come up with better ways to make the expensive helmets so that they can be sold at the lower cost. This will allow more teams and players to afford the best helmets on the market and thus prevent more injuries.

Structural Aluminum used in the Automotive Industry is a new and current advancement that several companies including Porsche have implemented in their engine assembly line.  When Porsche decided to look at their engine assembly line process they decided they needed something robust, flexible, and ready to change with a moments notice. This led them to the use of structural aluminum. Structural Aluminum is as tough and strong as steel and is much easier to work with. This allows for quick modifications in the ever changing engine assembly line. Workers like using structural aluminum because it allows them to control what positions they work in. This is not possible in traditional steel assemblies because the steel cannot be manipulated like aluminum can. Therefor workers have a more difficult time working in the engine assembly when steel is used in the structures.

Another advantage to the aluminum is that it lasts longer. This is a very valuable asset in the ultra-competitive automotive industry. The reason is lasts longer is because it does not corrode. Aluminum is naturally coated with a surface oxide layer which is non-corrosive.  While several companies are competing for every customer, have a material in a car that lasts longer and is just as tough and durable is an advantage that makes Porsche cars better than the competitors. Not only does it last longer, but it is also cheaper. This means that a car can be sold at a lower cost; another advantage in the business world for Porsche.

 

The main purpose of the structural aluminum is for providing ease of engineering frames which are perfect for the automotive industry. Because of its flexibility, it is easy to work with and thus saves time, money, and energy. Being flexible, there is a large variety of sizes and shapes that they can be made into. This is advantageous as well. Several other pros to aluminum are that is can tolerate high temperatures without becoming toxic. Engines become very hot as they run for a long time and having materials that are safe at high temperatures is very important.

One disadvantage while using aluminum is that it is a good conductor of heat and electricity. This could possibly have some undesirable effects while making a car or having it in an engine. However if it is insulated with rubber or another substance that is not conductive, that problem can be avoided.

 

Porsche designed a brand new assembly line using structural aluminum in 8 months and was able to implement it a very short time after that. An amazing fact about the assembly line is that it is required to support eleven tons of weight moving throughout the facility. Porsche has since patented the assembly line and have brought the assembly line into several different applications including manufacturing and material handling.

The structural aluminum has been a very valuable asset to Porsche and would be a good addition to many other different assembly lines. They can be added quickly and are easy to install and disassemble. It is highly recommended that if you are going to build any sort of assembly line, that you build it with structural aluminum.  It is strong, durable, corrosive resistant, and cost effective.

Industrial Engineering

Industrial Engineering is a very unique form of engineering in the form that it does not have a specific field. Industrial Engineers work in any field from medicine to sports equipment to machinery to clothing and everything in between. While Industrial Engineers did in fact start and get their name from working in industry and the industrial revolution, many other people have seen the impact and improvement they make. After seeing the benefits, they have brought their principles to their work in order to improve how they operate.

In basic terms, Industrial Engineers improve efficiency of a company, system, or production thus saving the company time and money and helping them to better compete in the business world. While there are many different ways to do this, common ways are to eliminate wasted time and energy, and use math and logic to find better ways to make and produce goods. A great example of an Industrial Engineer would be while designing a hospital; the engineer would make sure the emergency room is on the first floor, making it as fast and efficient as possible saving time getting patients to where they need to be. This saves many lives and countless dollars for hundreds of thousands of people.

Not only do Industrial Engineers work in all different types of fields, they work with all different types of engineers as well. Because they work with improving an entire system, they have a hand in what all the other engineers do in their individual fields. In making a small part for a product they would work with mechanical, manufacturing, or electrical engineers. If they are working on something such as designing a new building, they would work with civil engineers. As you can see there are hundreds of examples where industrial engineers are working with many different people and have to balance the best of all the different engineering disciplines.

A saying that many Industrial Engineers love to use is ‘why work hard when you can work smart instead’. This gives an excellent view point of both how they think, and also what they do in their job. While there is a limit to how hard human beings can work, there is no limit to how productive and efficient they can be. Humans are physically not capable of working past a certain limit for a specific amount of time, it is just not possible. There for, it is very beneficial to explore ways in which to improve productivity and efficiency of employees.

A common trait among these specific engineers is they are constantly looking for the best way to accomplish a task. They do not just simply start working on a project without first taking an in-depth look at it. Instead of just jumping in, they will consider several different ways to accomplish the task and then pick the best one based on the needs and important factors of the problem. While other engineers might just be looking to fix a specific problem, Industrial Engineers need to be capable of seeing the big picture and making the decision that is best not only for the short term, but the long term as well. If you are not interested in the big picture, chances are you will not have much success as an Industrial Engineer.