SCHOOL OF

INDUSTRIAL AND
SYSTEMS
ENGINEERING
UNDERGRADUATE HANDBOOK

Georgia Institute of Technology

2004-2005
May 2004

TO: ISyE Undergraduate Students

FROM: Professor Paul Griffin

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Hello:

This handbook exists as a source of information that should be helpful to you as an

undergraduate student in the School of Industrial & Systems Engineering. In this regard, there
are various guidelines presented here that are, simply put, more important than others. Indeed,
some of these are very important directives in the sense that if not heeded, you assume a risk of
compromising your program of study and quite possibly, of hindering its progress and your
graduation altogether.
So, at various places in this document, items that are especially important are set out in
the text in bold print. If you have questions about these points (or anything else in this document
for that matter), please come to the Academic Programs Office and someone there will try to
clarify matters and/or address your concerns. It is our intention that your progression through the
BSIE program is a steady and relatively hassle-free one. But you can enhance this probability
by remaining vigilant relative to the satisfaction of relevant degree requirements and
programmatic specifications that are outlined in this handbook. I urge you to take time to look it
over; I think that it will be time well spent.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE 1

THE UNDERGRADUATE STAFF 1

THE UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM

3.1 General Information 1
3.2 The Curriculum 2
3.3 Course Offerings 3
3.4 Academic Requirements 4
3.5 Academic Regulations 5

PROCEDURES
4.1 Registration 6
4.2 Degree Petitions 7
4.3 Transfer Credit 7
4.4 Graduate Course Option 8
4.5 Re-admissions 8
4.6 Options for Exceptional Students 9
4.7 Examination Policy 9
4.8 On-Line Withdrawal from Courses 10
4.9 Petitions to the Faculty 11
4.10 Change of Major 11
4.11 EIT Examination 11

SPECIAL PROGRAMS & MISC. INFORMATION

5.1 Dual Degree Program 12
5.2 Certificate Programs & Minors 12
5.3 Division of Professional Practice 13
5.4 Academic Support Services 13
5.5 Professional and Honor Societies 13
5.6 Scholarships and Awards 14
5.7 Bulletin Boards 14

FACULTY 15

APPENDIX A What is ISyE? 16

APPENDIX B Program Flow Chart 17

APPENDIX C Degree Petition 18

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPENDIX D Tentative Five Term School Calendar 19

APPENDIX E Additional ISyE Information 20

• What is Academic Advising?

• Advantages of Co-op
• Advantages of Internships
• Companies Who Hire ISyE Graduates
• What Types of Work Our Graduates Doing?
• Graduate Schools Students Have Gone To
• Industrial Engineering at Tech
_____________________________________________________________________________

1. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The aim of this handbook is simple: to answer as many of your questions as we can regarding
the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE) at Georgia Tech and specifically, about
the requirements for the BSIE degree. This document does not replace the Institute’s General
Catalog, which acts as your definitive reference, but it should act as a useful guide in addressing
a host of questions and concerns about ISyE.

______________________________________________________________________________

2. THE UNDERGRADUATE STAFF

The Director of Undergraduate Studies is Dr. Paul Griffin. Patti Parker and Valarie DuRant-
Modeste are the Academic Advisors for the Undergraduate Program and have been at Georgia
Tech a combined total of over 40 years! Nobody knows more about rules, regulations, and
procedural matters that you may encounter while an ISyE undergraduate than Ms. Parker and
Ms. DuRant-Modeste. As you progress through the program, you will find their expertise to be
an exceptionally valuable resource. Also associated with the academic office is at least one
senior student assistant. The student advisors have proven to be especially helpful for detailed
programmatic issues you may want to address such as course load planning and scheduling.

______________________________________________________________________________

3. THE UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM

3.1 General Information

The School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech was founded in 1945 and
since that time, has consistently enjoyed a very strong reputation within the profession. Its
undergraduate program in industrial engineering is the largest anywhere in the United States,
enrolling approximately 1200 students in the 2003-04 school year. In comparison, the next
largest program in the country is not half as large as ISyE at Tech. Last year, over 300 students
graduated from the program with the BSIE Degree. The undergraduate population in this same
period consisted of approximately 43% women with 29% of the students of African-American,
Asian, or Hispanic origin. Roughly 1 in 3 ISyE undergraduates participates in the Co-operative
plan. There are presently 65 full-time faculty in the School.
 Within nine degree-granting units in the College of Engineering, the ISyE undergraduate
curriculum includes a strong mathematical and scientific component as well as courses in the
humanities and social sciences. As Industrial Engineering majors, you will pursue coursework in
a host of areas including operations research; statistical analysis and modeling; distribution,
logistics, production and materials handling; economic and financial modeling; human-integrated
systems; and computer simulation.

3.2 The Curriculum

Upon approval of the School, you may graduate under any catalog in use during your
stay at Georgia Tech. You should contact Ms. Parker or Ms. Durant-Modeste in the
Undergraduate Office if you have any questions about discrepancies found in the catalogs. The
current program of study (2004-05) leading to the Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial
Engineering and the credit hour requirements within various subject areas is summarized in
Table 1.

Table 1

Mathematics 16
Physics 8
Lab Science Electives 8
Humanities/Social Sciences 24
Wellness 2
Engineering Science Electives 9
Industrial Engineering Core 31
Computer Sciences and Management 15
Communications 2
Free Electives 9
IE Senior Design. 4

TOTAL 128

Below, we describe these requirements in greater detail. Note that prerequisites for each
course are not provided here but are shown in Appendix A. It is your responsibility to check
the prerequisites while planning your schedules and before registering for any course. The
On-line Student Registration system allows you to display course catalog descriptions (including
prerequisites) while you are registering.

Mathematics (16 hrs)

MATH 1501, 1502: Calculus I,II (8)

MATH 2401: Calculus III (4)
MATH 2602: Linear & Discrete Mathematics (4)

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Physics (8 hrs)

PHYS 2211: Physics I (4)

PHYS 2212: Physics II (4)

Lab Sciences (8 hrs)

Selection from courses in Chemistry, Biology, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, and Physics.

Humanities/Social Science (24 hrs)

ENGL 1101,2: Composition I, II (6)

U.S. History, U.S. Government (3)
Social Science elective (3)
ECON 2100 (3)
Humanities electives (6)
PSYC 1101: General Psychology (3)

Wellness (2 hrs)

HPS 1040/1062/1063/1064 (2)

Engineering Science Electives (9 hrs)

Students are required to take 9 hours of technical electives, which may come from any 3000- or
4000-level course in the College of Engineering (with the exception of ISyE courses and special
problems courses) in addition to any 2000-level engineering course on the approved list
(available in the academic office).

Industrial Engineering Core (31 hrs)

See list in Section 3.3, excluding ISyE 4104,5.

Computer Science and Management (15 hrs)

ECON 3150 or MGT 3078: Economic and Financial Modeling (3), or Finance and
Investments (3)
MGT 3150 or ACCT 2101: Principles of Management (3), Financial Acct. I (3), or
MGT 3000 (3) Accounting for Decision Making
CS 1371: Computer Science I (3)
CS 1322: Computer Science II (3)
CS 4400: Database Systems (3)

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Communications (2 hrs)

LCC 3401: Technical Communications (2)

Free Electives (9 hrs)

IE Senior Design (4 hrs)

ISyE 4106: Senior Design I,II (4)

3.3 Course Offerings

The School of Industrial and Systems Engineering generally offers its required courses every
semester--in most cases, in multiple sections. These courses are listed below.

ISyE 2027 Probability with Applications

ISyE 2028 Basic Statistical Methods
ISyE 2030 Modeling in Industrial Engineering
ISyE 3025 Essentials of Engineering Economy
ISyE 3039 Methods of Quality Improvement
ISyE 3044 Simulation Analysis and Design
ISyE 3103 Introduction to Supply Chain Modeling: Logistics
ISyE 3104 Introduction to Supply Chain Modeling: Manufacturing and Warehousing
ISyE 3232 Stochastic Manufacturing and Service Systems
ISyE 4009 Design of Human-Integrated Service Systems
ISyE 4106 Senior Design
ISyE 4231 Engineering Optimization

Also offered, when faculty resources are available, are certain honors courses. These are:

ISyE 2127 Honors Probability (substitutes for ISyE 2027)

ISyE 2128 Honors Statistics (substitutes for ISyE 2028)
ISyE 3332 Honors Random Systems (substitutes for ISyE 3232)
ISyE 4331 Honors Optimization (substitutes for ISyE 4231)

Students must be permitted into the Honors courses; admission is based on GPA. Further, a
student cannot receive credit for both an Honors section and the corresponding regular course.
In addition to the four Honors courses listed, the School offers, on an irregular basis, a special,
topics course that is also restricted and in which, relevant subjects are presented at an
appropriately high level of innovation and rigor:

ISyE 4833 Honors Topics.

Regarding electives, the School offers a relatively short list of its own such courses most of
which are taught at least once a year. Typically, ISyE students are encouraged to seek courses

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outside of the School in order to satisfy their elective requirements, i.e., courses in computing,
cognitive science, business, mathematics, etc.

3.4 Academic Requirements

Constitution and History Examinations. Georgia state law requires that before receiving an
undergraduate degree in this state, all students must demonstrate competence in United States
and Georgia history and constitutional government. This requirement can be satisfied by passing
an examination or alternately, by successfully completing one of HIST 2111, 2112; POL 1101;
PUBP 3000; or INTA 1200. POL 1101 and INTA 1200 have similar curriculum and therefore
credit is not given for both.

Regents’ Test. In order to obtain an undergraduate degree, each student in the University
System of Georgia must demonstrate proficiency in reading and composition in English by
passing the Regents’ Test. Students become eligible to take the test after they have earned ten
hours of course credit. Any student who has earned 50 credit hours and has yet to pass the
Regents’ Test must schedule remedial English in addition to their regular course work. For non-
native speakers of English alternative tests are available through the Department of Modern
Languages.

GPA Requirement. To receive the BSIE degree from Georgia Tech, you must have a
cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.0 at the time of graduation.

ISyE Requirement. ISyE students must complete the required ISyE courses with a letter
grade of C or better. Students who receive a D or F in a required ISyE course are required
to repeat the course as soon as possible, preferably during the following semester at
Georgia Tech. Students will not be allowed to register for ISyE 4106 (Senior Design) until this
requirement is met. The course may not be taken at another school.

Mathematics Requirement. ISyE students must complete the required math courses
(MATH 1501, 1502, 2401, and 2602) with a letter grade of C or better. Students who
receive a D or F in a required math course are advised to repeat the course as soon as
possible, preferably during the following semester at Georgia Tech. The course may not be
taken at another school.

University System of Georgia CORE Requirements. Instituted with the conversion to semesters
across all units of the University System, is a set of fundamental or Core Curriculum
requirements. These requirements, broken into six categories, are described in the General
Catalog. Particularly relevant, are specific listings of courses at Tech that satisfy these basic
requirements. Of course, suitable completion of the requirements for the BSIE more than suffice
in order to conform.

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3.5 Academic Regulations

Incompletes. If you receive a grade of “incomplete” in a course, you must satisfactorily

complete the course work and arrange for the incomplete to be removed from your record
by the end of the next semester for which you are registered. If this is not done, the
incomplete will automatically be changed to an F. The grade of incomplete is given when
some portion (but not all) of required work in a course is not finished. Typical of such
occurrences is illness at the time of the final exam, family emergency, computer/software
failure or travel required for a job. Incompletes are not to be given as a “stalling” tactic in
order to overcome a poor grade by re-taking tests, amassing new evidence of performance,
or the like. Outlets for the latter must involve a formal “grade change” submission by the
instructor.

Academic Standing. The minimum GPA for good academic standing is 1.7 for freshman, 1.8
for sophomores, 1.95 for juniors and 2.0 for seniors. Any student who has an overall average
below the minimum or whose average for a given semester falls below the minimum requirement
will be placed on academic warning and will be limited to a maximum course load of sixteen
credit hours. A student on warning whose average for any semester falls below the minimum
requirement for good standing will be placed on academic probation and will be limited to a
maximum course load of fourteen credit hours. A student on probation whose average falls
below the minimum requirements in any semester will be dropped from school for unsatisfactory
scholarship.

Maximum Academic Load. Students in good standing may take up to 21 credit hours in any
semester. Note that course loads exceeding 18 hours are typically not recommended except for
exceptionally talented students.

Pass/Fail. Certain courses may be taken on a Pass/Fail basis. For ISyE students these are
limited to free electives. The maximum number of Pass/Fail hours that can be scheduled
depends on the total number of credit hours taken at Georgia Tech, according to the following:
45 to 70 hours, 3 hours Pass/Fail; 71 to 90 hours, 6 hours Pass/Fail; 91 or more, 9 hours
Pass/Fail. No ISyE courses may be taken on a Pass/Fail basis by a student seeking the BSIE
degree.

Thirty-Six Hour Rule. The final thirty-six hours earned for a degree must be taken in
residence at Georgia Tech.

Ten-Year Rule. Courses completed more than ten years prior to one’s graduation date must
be validated by a special examination.

Repeating Courses. Courses which are passed with a grade of “C” or better normally may not
be repeated. Students who wish to repeat such a course must first obtain approval in writing
from their major department. Concurrence of the department in which the course is offered is
also required.

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 Misconduct. Students in ISyE are expected to conduct themselves in the manner described in
Section XVIII and XIX of the catalog pertaining to student conduct--both academic as well as
nonacademic. Simply stated, the school will enforce these regulations vigorously and violations
will be dealt with swiftly and harshly.

Responsibilities. Students are expected to conduct themselves in ways that are professional
and courteous insofar as their classroom/course behavior is concerned. In particular, students
should not expect “sloppiness” to be tolerated by faculty in the form of transgressions such as
overdue assignments, or missed examinations. Indeed, if an examination is missed or an
assignment not completed on time without prior acknowledgment and/or explanation, the
student should not routinely expect to be given extra time or an opportunity for any
makeup work. It is also the student’s responsibility to know and/or to find out when
exams, assignments, etc. have been re-scheduled.

Honor Code. Georgia Tech has an Honor Code and the faculty of ISyE is serious about
upholding it. If you are deemed to be in violation of the Honor Code, ISyE faculty members are
instructed to file a report accordingly with the Director of Undergraduate Studies who then
forwards, to the Associate Dean of Students, all documentation related to alleged transgressions.
Matters are then handled in the Dean’s Office.

______________________________________________________________________________

4. PROCEDURES

4.1 Registration

Certainly, one way to facilitate your life as a student is to plan with some care, the process of
registration. Complete information regarding this process is contained in the semester-based
publication, Schedule of Classes, also known as On-Line Student Computer Assisted
Registration, or OSCAR.

Generally, the registration process is fairly painless if planned properly as suggested.

However, from time to time, a student may run into some problems that have nothing to do with
their own planning. Some of these are listed below:

Enrollment in restricted or graduate courses. In order to register for courses that

undergraduates are otherwise restricted from taking, you may ask the appropriate school or
department to enter an enrollment permit on-line.

Overloads of closed sections. Sometimes classes (especially popular and/or required ones)
will “close out” due to enrollment. In order to register for such a class, you must go to the school
or department in question and request an on-line enrollment permit. Be prepared, however, to
have your enrollment request denied if it is not predicated upon compelling reasons. Requests
such as ones based on a desire to take a course with a friend, or from a particular instructor, are
certainly not considered “compelling.” ISyE has an on-line overload system which is turned on
at the beginning of Phase II registration (www.isye.gatech.edu/overload_permit/).

6
 Time conflicts. In order to register for two classes that are scheduled in overlapping time
periods, you must obtain a signed note from one of the instructors certifying that the conflict will
not affect your ability to complete the course successfully. During Phase I, this note should be
taken to the Office of Registration in the Registrar’s Office. During Phase II and Phase III, the
note and an Op-scan sheet requesting the schedule conflict should be turned in at the Problem
Desk in the registration area.

Holds. If your time ticket indicates a hold on registration, check the OSCAR for an
interpretation of the hold and instructions for its clearance.

Classroom assignments. Each school or department posts a list of course offerings for a
given term matched with the respective classroom assignments. In ISyE, these lists are posted
on the door of the Academic Programs Office in addition to various other places accessible to
and frequented by students. Lists are generally posted on the day prior to the beginning of
classes.

Cross registration. Students who would like to take courses not offered at Georgia Tech can
do so through the cross registration program administered through the University Center in
Georgia. The contact for this at Georgia Tech is through the registration office.

4.2 Degree Petitions

In order to graduate, students must petition for a degree and pay the twenty-five dollar
Diploma Fee. You can obtain this petition (see Appendix B) in the ISyE Undergraduate Office
and should complete it as indicated in the instructions attached to the form. This petition must be
completed and submitted to the ISyE Undergraduate Office by Drop Day of the term preceding
graduation. The Institute deadline for these is published in the official school calendar. In fact,
students are urged to turn in their degree petitions early in order that they be reviewed by the
office in time to resolve any deficiencies in their programs during the Drop/Add period of their
last semester.

If you do not graduate in the semester for which you filed, then submit a reactivation petition
when ready to graduate. These may be submitted to the ISyE Undergraduate Office for review
and forwarding to the Registrar no later than the end of the first week of classes during your final
term.

4.3 Transfer Credit

Coursework completed at another institution may be considered for transfer credit if (i)
it was passed with a letter grade of C or better and (ii) it is not a substitute for a course
which was failed previously at Georgia Tech. A student receives transfer credit in one of two
ways. In most cases and for most lower division courses, the Admissions Office or Registrar,
upon review of a transcript, will automatically give credit (if deemed transferable) for courses
taken at other institutions. Otherwise, the student must convince an instructor in the relevant
department at Tech that the non-resident course is “equivalent” to the particular one here. If you

7
are seeking transfer credit by this means, make sure to bring all relevant materials (course
syllabi, textbook, catalog description, etc.) to the instructor of the similar Georgia Tech course,
and ask that a Non-Resident Credit Form be completed and submitted to the Registrar. You
should check subsequently that the form did reach the Registrar. Remember, the obligation of
gaining approval of non-resident credit in this way is the student’s. Accordingly, it behooves
you to prepare and present the strongest case that you can when seeking such approval.

Transfer credit appears as the initial entry on a student’s transcript. When credit is granted for
a course which has content deemed identical to a Georgia Tech course, the latter course number
will be listed. If the credit is for a course that does not “exactly” match a Tech course in content
or hours, the listing will appear in generic form, i.e., Math 3xxx.

4.4 Graduate Course Option

Students possessing a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.3 may schedule up to nine
credit hours of approved graduate-level courses. These credits, must be approved by the Director
of Undergraduate Studies. If a student is admitted to pursue the MSIE in ISyE and graduates
with at least a 3.5, then 6 of these graduate credits may possibly apply toward the master’s
degree (cf, General Catalog).

4.5 Re-admissions

A student who for any reason has remained out of school for two or more consecutive terms,
must apply for re-admission to the Institute. To reapply, a completed application for Re-
admission must be submitted to Registration and Records, Office of the Registrar, prior to the
deadlines published in the general catalog. It is the responsibility of the student to allow
sufficient time for the re-admissions process to be completed. In cases which require an
interview, the Institute deadlines may be too late. Note also that ISyE can only recommend a
course of action regarding re-admission; the final decision is made by the Institute
Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. Following, we list some categories within which
readmission requests typically arise.

Voluntary withdrawal after completion of term. Students who are on good standing or
warning status may apply for re-admission in any subsequent term and expect positive action
by the Registrar’s Office. Students who are on probation status must arrange for an interview
with the Director for Academic Programs to discuss their application for re-admission. A
positive recommendation will normally be given if there is clear evidence that the problems
which led to the student’s poor standing have been, or are being rectified.

Voluntary withdrawal with all “W” grades. Students who withdraw during a term and
receive all “W” grades will not be allowed to re-enter the term following withdrawal. In
addition, the application for readmission must be accompanied by a letter which provides a
credible explanation of how the problems and/or circumstances that led to the withdrawal have
been resolved. As stated previously, students on probation status at the time of withdrawal must
schedule an interview with the Director.

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 Dropped for unsatisfactory scholarship. Students who have been dropped from school
because of unsatisfactory academic performance will not normally be re-admitted. They are
advised strongly to seriously consider their educational and career aims and to seek educational
alternatives accordingly. Among these alternatives are non-technical as well as engineering
technology programs at other institutions. The sobering fact that many students who have fared
poorly here must often face is that their aptitude, preparation, or work habits may simply not be
amenable to a successful experience at Tech. In such cases, neither the Institute nor ISyE does
the student a favor by granting readmission.

On the other hand, and sadly, some students perform poorly (and are dropped accordingly)
because of emotional difficulties, family and/or personal problems, substance abuse, and the like.
Certainly, if this is the case, the student must be prepared, at the time of the readmission
application, to present evidence that such problems contributed to the prior difficulties and that
they are presently being dealt with appropriately. Helpful in this regard is documentation from
suitable professional sources (i.e., physicians, counselors, etc.).

If re-admission is recommended by the School, the student will be asked to sign a contract
which will include a program of study and a minimum grade point average which will assure a
GPA of at least 2.0 at the end of the period described by the contract. Failure to meet any part of
the contract will result in the student’s dismissal from the institute. With this action, the student
will also agree that no attempt will be made to seek further re-admission to ISyE.

ISyE policy is that void of extenuating circumstances, a student who has been dropped
for unsatisfactory scholarship must remain out of school for at least 1 semester. During this
time, the student is urged to consider taking courses at an alternative institution. Demonstration
of an ability to perform in a satisfactory manner accordingly and with regard to meaningful
coursework strengthens the student’s case for re-admission to Tech. Again, please take note that
the School (ISyE) only provides a recommendation regarding re-admission. The final decision is
made by the Institute Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.

Students are advised to review Section VIII, B.6 of the Student Rules and Regulations
stating: “A student who is dropped a second time for unsatisfactory scholarship will not be
re-admitted to the Institute.”

4.6 Options for Exceptional Students

Program activities and options are available to encourage and reward students with
superior records and demonstrated abilities. Among these are invitations to enroll in Honors
courses, accelerated study, and enrollment in graduate classes and seminars. Participation in
these programs/activities requires demonstration of scholastic excellence and prior arrangement
with the student’s advisor and the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

4.7 Examination Policy

The School of Industrial and Systems Engineering follows the guidelines on quizzes and final
exams which are set forth by the Institute Academic Senate. These are provided below. Note

9
that these are only “guidelines” meaning that they are subject to some variance in their
application across courses, from term to term, and even among professors. The aim of the
School is that adherence to these guidelines be met where and as often as possible.

1. Students should receive some form of performance evaluation prior to the withdrawal
deadline for a course. This evaluation can be in the form of an exam, a quiz, a graded project or
report, or even (if relevant) from consultation with the instructor.

2. Quizzes or exams are not to be given later than one week prior to the scheduled final
examination period for the course, nor after the Wednesday of the week preceding final exams.
All quizzes and exams are to be graded and returned on or prior to the Friday preceding final
exam week.

3. Each regularly scheduled lecture course shall have a final exam, and it shall be administered
at the time specified in the official final exam schedule published and distributed by the
Registrar.

4. A request for a change in the final exam period for an individual will not ordinarily be granted
(i.e., to meet early plane reservations, to avoid a last period final, to miss rush-hour traffic, etc.).
Any such request must be justified in writing and submitted to the instructor well in advance of
the scheduled exam period.

5. A request for a change of the final exam period for an entire class must have the approval of
the instructor and the unanimous approval of the class as determined by a secret ballot.

6. If a student has two final exams scheduled during the same period, it is the obligation of the
instructor of the lower numbered course to resolve the conflict by giving a final exam to that
student at a mutually satisfactory alternative time.

7. If a student is scheduled to have three final exams on the same day, it is the obligation of the
instructor of the class scheduled for the middle exam period to give a final exam to that student
at a mutually satisfactory alternate time.

4.8 On-Line Withdrawal from Courses

Georgia Tech policy allows students to withdraw from a course without penalty each term, if
they are permitted to do so by their major school. The specific drop-date is published in the
academic calendar. Note that each school is allowed to enforce their own restricted drop policy.
Rather than being punitive, schools exercise such restrictions in order to effectively control the
inherent resource planning issues that arise in course scheduling, room utilization, and faculty
assignments.

It was never intended that students employ the drop mechanism (for IE and non-IE courses) in
order to simply avoid an anticipated poor grade, an exacting instructor, or a less than choice
course meeting time. Nor should drops be used as a mechanism to “prune” an artificially heavy
load. In addition, the student should understand that a transcript with numerous “W’s” is often

10
viewed by prospective employers and graduate schools as indicative of poor planning,
ineffective time management, lack of ability to complete assigned tasks, or a propensity for
simply “bailing out.” Put simply, a decision to withdraw from a course is a serious one and
should be made only after substantial deliberation and preferably in consultation with an
academic advisor.

4.9 Petitions to the Faculty

Students may ask for relief from any of the Institute’s rules and regulations by submitting a
formal request to the Institute Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. The necessary form, called
a Petition to the Faculty, can be obtained in the ISyE undergraduate office. Typically, these
petitions are granted when the student has been unjustly served by the regulations or when relief
is requested from the consequences of a mistake over which the student had no control. Note,
however, that these petitions will not be looked upon favorably if they seek protection from the
consequences of your own carelessness.

A petitioner should complete the form, obtain the recommendation and signature of the
undergraduate advisor or the Director of Undergraduate Studies, and submit the petition to the
Registrar. Understand, however, that a departmental recommendation is not routine. If your
case is not viewed as a legitimate one accordingly, do not expect a positive recommendation.

4.10 Change of Major

Any student wishing to transfer into ISyE who has less than 60 semester hours and who has
never transferred before may do so. Students with more than 60 semester hours must be on good
standing and have at least a 2.8 cumulative GPA.

Note that the School does not handle/process changes of major into ISyE during registration.
Students seeking a transfer out of ISyE to another major at Tech, must first check with the other
school or department to determine the requirements for admission accordingly. Once approval
has been obtained, the student should complete a Change of Major form, secure signatures from
both the new as well as the former school or department, and present the form to the Registrar.

4.11 Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam

The Georgia State Board of Registration offers Georgia Tech students the opportunity to take
the EIT exam before they graduate. This is a privilege not normally afforded to the general
public. Students who desire to take the exam must fill out the application prior to the deadline
established by the Georgia State Board. The application forms are available in the Academic
Office; they must be typed and accompanied by a recent picture of the applicant. They must be
notarized and have five signatures of references at least three of whom must be registered
Professional Engineers. Information regarding Notary Publics and Professional Engineers in
ISyE can be obtained in the ISyE Academic Office.

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_____________________________________________________________________________

5. SPECIAL PROGRAMS AND MISC. INFORMATION

5.1 Dual Degree/3-2 Program

The Dual Degree program was established in order to allow students to combine a typical
liberal arts program with the technological curriculum offered by Georgia Tech. Especially in
the increasingly competitive technological environment we live in and one with substantial
global ramifications, this is becoming a particularly attractive career strategy. Under this
program, a student attends a liberal arts institution for three years and then comes to Georgia
Tech for two years. Upon completion of the program, the student receives a bachelor of arts or
science degree from the former institution and a bachelor’s degree in engineering or science from
Georgia Tech. Participating in this program are other units in the University System of Georgia,
The Atlanta University Center institutions, and approximately 50 other colleges and universities
from around the country.

Although Dual Degree students do not formally transfer credit in the conventional sense, they
are treated as transfer students and must satisfy all of the requirements of the BSIE degree
program.

During the registration period of the first term of residence at Georgia Tech, the Dual Degree
student should come to the undergraduate office and arrange the initial term’s schedule. Either
Ms. Parker or the student advisor will be glad to provide assistance. As soon as possible the
student should then bring to the undergraduate office a complete transcript of work done at the
initial school in order that it be evaluated for compatibility with the BSIE program.

5.2 Certificate Programs & Minors

Georgia Tech offers various so-called certificate programs that allow students to broaden
their area(s) of expertise or to simply acquire skills beyond those intended by the BSIE degree
requirements alone. Since students have to satisfy requirements for both the BSIE as well as the
relevant certificate program(s), they may well graduate with in excess of 128 hours of credit.
Upon graduation, these students receive the BSIE as well as certificates in the relevant programs
which attest to their having successfully completed the requirements of the latter.

To qualify for entry into a certificate program in the College of Engineering, a student
must be in good academic standing and be pursuing a degree in one of the participating
units in the College. The specific requirements of each program are explained in
handouts/documents that are available in the main office of the College of Engineering.

12
5.3 Division of Professional Practice

Students who maintain the necessary academic record may participate in the five-year
cooperative program and receive the degree Bachelor of Science Industrial Engineering
Cooperative Plan. Roughly 35% of ISyE undergraduates are co-ops. The Division of
Professional Practice can also help students locate professional internships. Students interested
in finding out more about the cooperative program or in a professional internship should contact
the Cooperative Division Office, which is located in the Savant Building.

While on work terms, students in the co-op program are responsible for staying in touch with
the academic office in ISyE in order that they are aware of any changes in ISyE course schedules
or curriculum.

5.4 Academic Support Services

The School of Mathematics provides a walk-in tutoring service in the Math Lab for any Tech
student in a freshman level mathematics course. The Math Lab is located in the Skiles Building.

The Academic Priorities Committee of the Student Government Association has compiled a
directory of tutors available on campus. The list is available in the ISyE Academic Advisement
Office.

Most required courses in ISyE have assigned teaching assistants (TAs). These are almost
always graduate students studying for the Ph.D. and typically, they will act as the TA in a course
that resides in their area or field of study. Professors assigned to the respective courses employ
these TAs in a host a ways not the least of which is to hold office hours and help sessions.
Often, the TAs will prove to be extremely valuable in helping to clarify lecture material,
homework problems and exercises, etc.

Particularly important is the Student Counseling and Career Planning Center. Each term, the
center offers workshops to help Tech students succeed academically, professionally, and
personally. Typical programs include life and career exploration, enhancement of study skills,
intercultural studies, stress and anxiety reduction, and depression and motivational problems.
The center also offers counseling for students in order to help with personal problems.
Counselors are available for individual sessions by appointment. To make an appointment, call
894-2575.

To file a complaint or inquire about the polices concerning sexual harassment or sexual
misconduct at the Georgia Tech, students should contact the Dean of Students. The phone
number is 404 894-6367. The Georgia Tech policy for sexual harassment is given at
(www.deanofstudents.gatech.edu/integrity/docs/sexual.htm).

5.5 Professional and Honor Societies

Alpha Pi Mu is the Industrial Engineering Honorary Society. Membership is by invitation

and is based upon academic record and achievements.

13
 Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) is the Industrial Engineering Professional Society.
There is an active Student Chapter of IIE in ISyE.

Tau Beta Pi is the highest engineering honor society and is open to all engineering students
who demonstrate superior scholarship and leadership as well as breadth of interest, both inside
and outside of engineering.

Students desiring additional information on these organizations including qualifications for

membership/invitation as well as the names of faculty advisors should check with the
Undergraduate Office.

5.6 Scholarships and Awards

Some scholarship and award opportunities are available to qualified ISyE students. Some of
these are periodic (i.e., annual award or scholarship from a particular industrial or academic
sponsor) while others are not. Regardless, recipients of these honors are students with
exceptional qualifications. In some cases, students can put their own names in competition
(often, information regarding these awards is posted on bulletin boards near the Undergraduate
Office) while in others, the school makes the nomination. In the latter case, it is important that
the Undergraduate Office has up-to-date information on students’ records of achievement. To
this end, it is important that students maintain a current resume.

5.7 Bulletin Boards

There are several bulletin boards in the ISyE building. Some of these are general purpose,
containing announcements of seminar presentations, interesting magazine articles, and the like.
There is also a bulletin board devoted entirely to graduate programs. Present here is information
pertaining to various graduate educational options, including many other than IE, i.e.,
mathematics/mathematical sciences, statistics, systems engineering, bio-medical engineering,
business, etc. But there are two bulletin boards posted directly outside the doors to the Academic
Programs Office which are devoted largely to only undergraduate interests. Included here are
announcements of job opportunities, student assistant requests, scholarship opportunities, student
professional society announcements, and so forth. You are urged to check these boards from
time to time and certainly, if you have information that you would like to post (eg., announcing
cultural activities, etc.) we will try to accommodate your requests. We ask only that you check
first with Ms. Parker, Ms. DuRant-Modeste, or the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

14
_____________________________________________________________________________

6. FACULTY

The faculty in ISyE is literally world renown. This, largely, is what contributes to the high
reputational rankings that ISyE has long enjoyed in national forums such as US News & World
Report. But do not be misled; our faculty believes in quality, in-class education at all levels. So
do not be shy in seeking help and/or advice whether with regard to routine homework material or
in terms of career and post-graduate educational guidance. For greater detail regarding
individual faculty members you are directed to the ISyE website (www.isye.gatech.edu)

15
APPENDIX A

What is ISyE?

16
 What is ISyE?
Logistics/Supply Chain Systems

• Industrial Engineering is a branch of engineering

that engages in the study of how to describe,
evaluate, design, modify, control and improve the
performance of complex systems, viewed over
time and within their relevant context.
• Logistics/Supply Chain Systems
• Financial/Economic Systems
• Health Systems
• Manufacturing Systems
• Etc.

Health Systems
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Financial

Manufacturing Systems
The School: History

• Established in 1924
• Ranked #1 by US News and World
Report for past 11 years
• Nearly one in ten ISyE graduates rise
to top positions of their respective
organizations, whether as CEO, CFO,
or even university president

1
 The School: Facts Our Students

• Established in 1924 • There are approximately 1100

• Largest IE program undergraduate students in ISyE
• Ranked #1 by US News and World • Approximately 45% are women
Report for past 12 years • 40% of our graduates take their first
• Nearly one in ten ISyE graduates rise position with one of the major
to top positions of their respective consulting firms.
organizations, whether as CEO, CFO, • There are over 11,000 alumni
or even university president

Our Faculty Average Starting Salaries

• We have over 65 faculty 0DMRU &RGH %DFKHORU

 
• Distinguished $HURVSDFH(QJLQHHULQJ $(  
&KHPLFDO(QJLQHHULQJ &+(  
• Over 90% of our courses offered by &LYLO(QJLQHHULQJ
&RPSXWHU(QJLQHHULQJ
&(  
&03( $50,000 
full-time faculty (OHFWULFDO(QJLQHHULQJ ((  
,QGXVWULDO(QJLQHHULQJ ,6\(  
0HFKDQLFDO(QJLQHHULQJ 0(  
7H[WLOH(QJLQHHULQJ 1(  

(Note: based on survey data. * less than 3 people reporting)

Questions?

CONTACT INFORMATION:

www.isye.gatech.edu
404 894-2431

2
 APPENDIX B

Program Flow Chart

17
APPENDIX C

Degree Petition

18
 APPENDIX D

Tentative Five Term School Calendar

 APPENDIX E

Additional ISyE Information

 INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING AT TECH

A WELL-KEPT SECRET?

Given that you are interested in continuing your education in a scientific or

technical field, you are by now aware that a host of options are available to you.
Among these are subject areas in mathematics, physics, chemistry, computing, and
engineering. Moreover, within engineering, there are several specialties from
which to select, i.e., Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace
Engineering, Chemical Engineering, etc. The list is very long and at Georgia Tech
most of these engineering disciplines are highly regarded from a national as well as
an international perspective. In fact, one of these is regarded to be the top program
of its kind-----anywhere. Yet oddly, this program or really, the field it represents,
is quite possibly the least understood of any of the engineering disciplines. The
program is the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE) and the field,
naturally enough, is “Industrial Engineering” (IE).
Now, this is not to say that if you took a survey on the matter, there would be no
views or opinions about what it is that IE’s do. The problem is that often these
views are at best incomplete and at worst, misguided or simply wrong. Actually,
some of our more cynical friends even refer to IE as “imaginary engineering.”
Nonetheless, it does seem to be the case that we are a pretty misunderstood field
and so the purpose of this document is to help you understand a little better what
we are all about, not just at Tech but in general. First, a little background is in
order.

OBSERVATIONS, PERCEPTIONS, AND......THE REAL STORY.

Industrial Engineering is probably one of the younger engineering specialties.

For example, among all engineering disciplines, “civil engineering” is a good
candidate for one of the oldest having been in existence a very long time---
probably at least since man decided that roads and bridges were important. Not as
old but certainly old and established as an academic discipline is Electrical
Engineering or for that matter, Mechanical Engineering. Moreover, even for those
specialties that are not necessarily “old,” most are reasonably easy to characterize
in terms of activities with which they are identified. Indeed, even a perceptive
high school sophomore could at least fake a reasonably meaningful sentence or
two about what aerospace, chemical, or nuclear engineers do. These descriptions
might not be terribly accurate or timely but it’s not difficult to sound good.
Conversely, the activities of the IE are often specified poorly if not erroneously.

1
 To give you an idea of what some people claim us to be, I have listed below
some of the characterizations that you are likely to hear. The origins are varied
and come from numerous and well-intentioned sources; your high school guidance
counselor; your engineer neighbor; your uncle who works for a person who
“knew” an IE; even Faculty in other engineering disciplines. Be prepared to hear
that:

• IE’s are “efficiency experts.”

• IE’s count and measure things.

• IE’s organize things so they can run more smoothly.

• IE’s are people-engineers.

• IE’s help control costs.

• IE’s process information.

• IE’s often move into upper management.

Now, here’s a little surprise: the claims above are not wrong! Notice that we
have hedged our bets a little by saying “not wrong.” That is, taken by themselves,
the items on this little list are pretty shallow and simply don’t tell us much; they
certainly don’t sound too sophisticated or “engineering-like.” On the other hand,
anybody who has progressed through a rigorous curriculum in Industrial
Engineering should certainly be comfortable accepting these characterizations as
perfectly legitimate attributes that often accompany or are outcomes of the
industrial engineering function. But what, you might ask, is the latter?
__________________________________________________________________

THE OFFICIAL VIEW

Industrial Engineering is a branch of engineering that engages in the study of how

to describe, evaluate, design, modify, control and improve the performance of
complex systems, viewed over time and within their relevant context.

2
 WHAT REALLY HAPPENS

In fact, Industrial Engineers are problem solvers! More accurately, we solve

problems (or try to solve problems) that ultimately involve the analysis and
improvement of performance in how things are done or need to be
done.......with regard to essentially any system or environment where relevant
performance is at least somehow measurable. Among these measures of system
performance are attributes such as cost, distance, time, space, etc. In the end, this
problem-solving boils down to finding/designing decision-making strategies that
affect performance; that affect it for the better.

__________________________________________________________________

So, if doing the sorts of things described above make us “people-oriented”

engineers then so be it. If our graduates are frequently found in top management
positions, then all the better. As a matter of fact, this latter outcome sould not
actually be such a surprise since we tend to work directly on problems that
management identifies with most closely. We don’t train you to go into
management per se but as an IE you will have skills that make that a very viable
career option should you choose it.
You see, one of the complications in trying to capture what IE’s do arises
naturally from the fact that ours is not a discipline that springs from and/or is
confined to a “physical science” per se. Most of our friends in the other disciplines
such as mechanical, civil, chemical, electrical engineering, and so forth, have an
easy way out in this regard. On the other hand, much of what we as IE’s do---at
least in ISyE at Georgia Tech---has a strong basis in the “queen of the sciences”
better known as mathematics. Surprised? You shouldn’t be, for many of the
systems or settings alluded to above are often accompanied by deceptively
complicated attributes and the task of “finding a better way to do things,” can be a
very difficult undertaking.
To help deal with these complexities, we often set out to build mathematical
abstractions of these settings; at least this is what we try to do. These are called
mathematical “models” and the aim is to produce solutions to these models that in
turn, reflect directly on the behavior of the real system. The idea is simple: correct
solutions equate to good (or we might say, “optimal”) decisions relative to the
actual system which translates into least cost, maximum profit, shortest distance,
etc. Sounds pretty straightforward, huh?
Not necessarily! Just formulating these so-called mathematical models can be
very tricky. Then, if formulated (correctly) at all, their analysis and solution can
demand some serious mathematical skills. In addition, the modern IE will also

3
quickly find that the analysis of these mathematical models inevitably requires the
use of computing resources and so as an IE you better be ready to develop an
interest in the use of computers as well. And compounding all of this, it is often
the case that “IE problems” don’t appear to be so complicated which, in turn, can
leads to much frustration or as we would prefer to say at Tech, to interesting
“challenges.”

A TRUE STORY.

Frequently, especially in the Springtime, prospective students such as yourself

make visits to our office as part of those traditional tours of college programs in
order to get an idea of what options exist. Some are drawn to ISyE because they
know that we are very highly regarded and they want to know what we do; what
courses we offer, what jobs exist for IE graduates, and so forth. Recently, a father
and his son came by for a visit because they had heard through the grapevine that
we (IE’s) do “stuff that allows a student to use, creatively, mathematical and
computing skills.” Apparently, this was contrary to what they thought IE’s did. So
far, so good for if true, this revelation had much appeal for the two of them. This
was especially so for the father who had been anxious that the role of IE’s was
largely confined to “unchallenging and somewhat mundane activities like the
coordination of personnel in plants and factories, spending time trying to plan
schedules for workers, etc.” Honest, he really said that. In any event, I didn’t react
at the time, rather moving on to some of the other issues that interested them. We
had a pleasant visit and when they were ready to leave, I asked the father if we
could return momentarily to the point he had raised earlier----the one about IE’s
working on “silly” problems like planning work schedules. I suggested that, in
fact, such a problem was indeed related to ones that an IE might run into and that
moreover, it was interesting to note that finding solutions to some of these
problems was not at all routine. I posed one such problem a little more precisely
and put it this way:

Employees work in fixed, 5-day shifts throughout a 7-day weekly cycle

(eg. shift type 1=MTWFS,type 2=WThFMT,type 3=SSMWF, etc.) Each day
of the week has a requirement of a given number of workers (eg. at least 14
workers are needed for Tuesday while at least 19 are required on any Friday,
etc.). These may be telephone operators or nurses or baggers in a grocery
store----we don’t care. In any event, the problem is to determine the fewest
number of workers to employ overall in order to satisfy the prespecified daily
requirements. The answer would thus take the form of “x workers of the shift

4
 type 1,” “y of the shift type 2,” and so on. We want the sum x+y+... to be
minimum.

Now, the father was a very perceptive man and almost before I could finish the
description above, he quickly saw (and grasped) the point: this might not be such a
trivial problem after all and yes, there was some real mathematical interest in it.
What do you think?

WHERE THE ACTION IS.

Combating the sorts of misconceptions represented by the illustration above is

an all too frequent preoccupation of ours. On the other hand, it’s one that we are
more than willing to deal with because nobody wins if a good student overlooks or
dismisses our field because of misinformation or worse, because of no information
at all. So, we hope this document will be helpful for you in this regard for maybe
you thought you knew what industrial engineering is and because of what we say
here, you find that you were mistaken and that we are really not for you after all.
Alternately, you might be like the father and son described above who possessed a
pretty warped perspective of what we do but now you are a convert to our
discipline. And finally, this may simply help clarify and/or give some meat to
those vague ideas that you have had about our profession. Whatever, in what
follows we present for you a very small selection of scenarios that constitute
legitimate “IE problems.” Putting it another way, these are the sorts of problems
that Georgia Tech IE’s are trained to tackle. I hope you find them instructive.

PATTERN CUTTING

Your small company uses custom-cut steel reinforcing rod for construction jobs
in metro-Atlanta. These rods are purchased from a steel products distributor who
is willing to cut the rods for you and to specification. However, the distributor cuts
your pieces from stock that is only available in fixed, 60-foot lengths. That is, if
you need two lengths of rod, one of 15 and the other of 45 feet, then a single 60-
foot piece is cut in the obvious way with nothing left over and all is well. On the
other hand, if you need eight, 7-foot pieces, then the 4 feet left over from the 60-
foot original is yours to pay for as well. Of course, some of these excess pieces
may be useful later, but you will have to find storage areas for such pieces which,
in turn, costs something too. Indeed, what is left over may be useless altogether
and is simply counted as scrap. Thus, we would like to minimize the number of
full, 60 foot units that have to be used in cutting all of the given lengths which

5
means that we may have to be reasonably clever in how we specify the pattern of
cuts on each. Following is a numerical example of your problem.
Suppose you need to place an order for 10 pieces of rod having lengths 44, 24,
24, 22, 21, 19, 8, 6, 6, and 6 feet respectively. Now, one configuration for cutting
can be depicted by the figure below. Here, the 44-foot piece and the 8-foot piece
are cut from one 60-foot section; both 24-foot pieces and one of the 6-foot pieces
are cut from a single, 60-foot piece and so on. Overall, The cutting pattern shown
uses four, 60-foot pieces. Obviously, the best that we could hope to use is three of
the 60-foot spans but is this even possible?

Now, suppose the next day you need an order filled that also requires 10 pieces
and, in fact, is identical to the order above except that in place of the 19-foot length
you need a 17-foot piece and in place of one of the 6-footers, you need another 8-
foot piece. Why don’t you try to find a pattern for cutting these using only three,
60-foot pieces.......unless you can show that it doesn’t exist.

LOGISTICS

Surplus grain is presently being stockpiled in various warehouses throughout

the country, i.e., 100,000 tons are available in St. Paul; 150,000 tons in Kansas
City; 95,000 tons in Denver; etc. A substantial demand for this grain exists all
over Eastern Europe, i.e., at least 75,000 tons in Sarajevo; at least 150,000 tons in
the Ukraine; 120,000 tons in Poland and so forth. The government has estimated
the shipping cost, per ton from each warehouse to each possible demand location.
Assuming that we have enough grain to satisfy the total demand, what is the
cheapest way to do the shipping? For example, maybe the amount shipped to the

6
Ukraine is satisfied by all of the surplus in St. Paul plus 50,000 tons from Kansas
City while from the remaining tonnage in Kansas City, 75,000 is shipped to
Sarajevo while 25,000 tons are sent to Poland, etc. Certainly, there are many
possibilities; what’s the best?
Suppose on the other hand that (sadly) we have less grain available than is
demanded. That is, some of the locations will have to go without as much grain as
they need (at least from that available in the United States). How would you
approach the problem now?

PLANNING

The Housing Office at Georgia Tech has to deal with a big problem every Fall;
how to make dormitory assignments so as to leave everybody reasonably happy.
(Of course, it may not be possible for everybody to be actually “happy” with their
roommate assignment so Housing’s true aim would probably be to at least
minimize the amount of misery created overall with the assignments.) Here’s the
thing......suppose that for Fall, 1995, a total of 1764 freshmen are planning to live
on campus and in a dorm. Each student has, as part of their enrollment
information, submitted a “wish list” regarding their preferences in terms of a
roommate. These include such things as non-smoking, serious study habits, from
Alabama, not from Alabama, likes jazz, talkative, no pet snakes, etc. Some of
these attributes may have higher priorities than others so Housing may “weight”
them in some way. In any event, what Housing would like to do is find a pairing
of individuals that, in some sense, maximizes total “acceptability”.............. and for
which there is enough dorm space. For example, if two rooms are available for
four students, but one student is absolutely unacceptable to the other three (under
any circumstance) then two rooms will simply not suffice. Nonetheless, what do
you think about the problem? Is it tricky? Does it get easier or harder if, rather
than pairs, Housing is looking for groups of three, i.e., for dorms with 3-person
suites?

SCHEDULING

Suppose that a citizens group is planning an Earth Day program consisting of a

series of seminars dealing with topics such as recycling, alternative energy sources,
and solid waste management. A local university has agreed to allow the use of
classrooms in order to conduct a total of 14 seminars that can begin at 8:00 in the
morning but must conclude by 5:00 in the afternoon. No seminars are scheduled to
run during the lunch hour (12:00-1:00 p.m.) leaving eight, one-hour time blocks

7
available overall. The seminar coordinators have requested specific blocks of time
during the day for each of their sessions. These are shown below:

Seminar: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N
Periods: 2 8 4,5 1,2 3,4,5 6 7,8 2,3 1,2 5 6,7 3,4 8 2,3,4

For example, seminar A has been requested to run during period 2, i.e., from 9-
10:00 a.m. whereas seminar K needs to run for two consecutive periods from 2:00-
4:00 in the afternoon, etc.
Now the problem: the university would like to have as few rooms as possible
used and they have given you five rooms thus far. Is this enough to schedule all of
the seminars----in their desired periods? What if only four rooms are allocated?

HUMAN-MACHINE INTERACTIONS

A large bank is redesigning its ATM facilities. Their interest is to offer more
services to customers accordingly but they want to do this in a way that does not
increase (hopefully reduces) customer inconvenience and confusion that typically
results from poor instructions, illegible message displays, etc. They want you to
create a single new design that is suitable for all of their branch facilities. Any
ideas? How would you measure whether or not one design is superior to another?

QUEUEING

A 24-hour grocery chain would like to formalize it’s policies regarding how
many checkout lines to have open at various times. Clearly, at 2:00 a.m. there is
little reason to have more than one open while on “heavy traffic” days such as the
afternoon prior to Thanksgiving, several lines need to be open in order to reduce
customer waiting time and congestion at the checkout area. On the other hand, if
too many lines are opened, the additional checkout personnel required to staff the
lines have to be taken from other, equally critical jobs such as check cashing.
Something has to be done for right across the street is a large competitor who is
poised to take your business if customers find your checkout process to be too
much of an inconvenience.
The management of the chain has proclaimed that no new personnel can be
hired just for checkout unless absolutely necessary. However, they have set an
objective that the “average waiting time” that a customer experiences for the entire
checkout process (waiting in line plus time for checkout itself) is not to exceed 10
minutes. How then would you go about designing a strategy that provides the store

8
managers with greater insight into how they might better schedule the opening and
closing of their checkout lines?
What about opening another “express lane?” Should the latter be restricted to
10 items or fewer? How about 15 or fewer? Does it make a serious difference?
And if the company president makes a surprise visit at 1:30 p.m. on a Friday and if
there are three checkout lines open, what is the probability that he will have to wait
in line no longer than 5 minutes?

And last..........one of my personal favorites is on the next page. In fact, why don’t
you try your hand at it and send me your answer.