Dr. Aldo McLean invited Gloria Portillo of Miller Industries Towing Equipment Inc., one of the strongest collaborators and supporters of the Engineering Technology Management program, to speak about effective problem solving to his ETEM 4560 Quality Improvement class on Wednesday, October 22.<\/p>\n
According to Dr. McLean, Portillo is \u201ca black belt\u201d\u2014referring to the \u201cBlack Belt Certification\u201d from The Council for Six Sigma Certification, which is concerned with quality improvement in manufacturing and service industries.\u00a0 Portillo studied industrial engineering in Mexico and has a background in the automotive industry.\u00a0 Currently, she is in charge of the manufacturing service group at Miller Industries, which looks at how to improve manufacturing processes.<\/p>\n
Drawing on her background in the automotive industry, Portillo used examples of car maintenance to present students with guiding principles and steps for effective problem solving.\u00a0 She began by discussing four guiding principles: a clear vision for what is to be achieved, devising a solid strategy, practical systems or ways to solve the problem, and a commitment to perform \u201cconsistency of execution.\u201d\u00a0 She then discussed, in detail, steps for effective problem solving using easy-to-understand examples for each principle.\u00a0 These steps included practical points such as identifying, analyzing, and describing the problem, looking for root cause, developing solutions, and measuring results.\u00a0 According to Portillo, \u201c80% of problems can be solved very quickly using this simple methodology.\u201d<\/p>\n
Students frequently interrupted Portillo\u2019s presentation to ask questions about specific problems, actual or theoretical, which fostered a discussion that dug deeper into the problem solving process as it progressed.<\/p>\n
Portillo often responded with examples from her own experience.\u00a0 \u201cYou will never be bored when solving issues in the industry,\u201d Portillo said in response to a student\u2019s question about how many problems she deals with on a weekly basis.\u00a0 \u201cYou often have to look at an issue multiple times from multiple angles, and you must be very careful about the information you\u2019re receiving\u2014you must often request more information,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you go about presenting a solution?\u201d one student asked.\u00a0 \u201cDocument everything\u2014if it\u2019s not documented, it never happened,\u201d Portillo said.<\/p>\n
As the discussion proceeded, it became clear how simple, practical principles can help solve even the most difficult problems.\u00a0 Portillo concluded her presentation with a problem-solving activity to ensure she had conveyed the information adequately and allow students to practice applying the steps they had discussed.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the students\u2019 interaction, Portillo said: \u201cIt\u2019s really good to see that you guys are interested, and it\u2019s exciting for me because you will be the next engineers out there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dr. Aldo McLean invited Gloria Portillo of Miller Industries Towing Equipment Inc., one of the strongest collaborators and supporters of the Engineering Technology Management program, to speak about effective problem solving to his ETEM 4560 Quality Improvement class on Wednesday, October 22. According to Dr. McLean, Portillo is \u201ca black belt\u201d\u2014referring to the \u201cBlack Belt… <\/p>\n