Main MenuNEWS RELEASE
Contact: David West (west@alpha.nsula.edu
)
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466
10/10/2001
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NATCHITOCHES - Mark Lentz and David Byrd had never seen an assembly line before they began working to improve one. But the two Northwestern State University students have quickly learned how an assembly line worked and are helping a Natchitoches company find ways to make its product more efficiently.
Lentz and Byrd are working with Alliance Compressors in Natchitoches as part of a grant from the Louisiana Board of Regents Support Fund. The grant was originally obtained by NSU faculty members Dr. Gary White and Dr. Susan White. Associate Professor of Business Dr. Pam Miller is principal investigator for the grant this year.
Alliance Compressors is a joint venture of the Copeland Corporation, the Trane Company and Lennox. The company makes scroll compressors which are high efficiency compressors used in air conditioning units.
"The students are working to increase the productivity of the plant," said Miller, an associate professor of business who joined NSU's faculty this summer. "It's a relatively new plant and they have watched the production line to see how it operates."
Lentz has been working on the project for two years. He developed a computer model which allows engineers to assess changes in the manufacturing line without the risk of disrupting production.
"I had to learn how the manufacturing line flowed which meant going in with a stop watch and see how long it took to perform certain tasks," said Lentz, a physics/mathematics major from Pickering. "We try to make the model as accurate as we are capable of doing."
"The more efficient the manufacturing line is, the more product the company can make and the more profits they can earn."
Byrd, a physics/mathematics major from Shreveport, has been working on the project for six months, doing a great deal of work during the summer while Lentz was working in Washington D.C.
"This has been a good opportunity to get to know the line workers and see what engineers do," said Byrd. "We are able to take a number of ideas and work with them to find those that will help improve production."
The manufacturing process at Alliance is complex with a large number of parts and processes going into making its products.
"Mark and David are working to eliminate bottlenecks which can be any part of the process that slows production whether it is caused by man, machines or material," said Eric Madison, a senior manufacturing engineer in assembly at Alliance Compressors. "Using the model, we can quickly evaluate changes in the manufacturing process without moving equipment and people on the floor which is expensive. We know something will work before changes are made."
Madison said Lentz and Byrd's lack of previous experience has been helpful to them.
"They are open to new ideas and are able to think 'outside the box' more than people who are more experienced," said Madison. "Their efforts help free up other people to work on other important tasks."
The program was funded under the Board of Regents Support Fund Industrial Ties Research Subprogram (ITRS). The ITRS funds research proposals that show significant near-term potential for contributing to the development and diversification of Louisiana's economy.