ISyE 1 NEWS DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL AND SYSTEMS ENGINEERING THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING ISyE customer on hold for a long time with a call center support person probably feels somewhat frustrated. A call center manager would likely prefer to avoid this customer response, but the answer isn’t necessarily as straightforward as scheduling additional call-takers for the next day. The manager has to balance the costs of additional employees with the risk of customer dissatisfaction, and without knowing exactly how many calls to expect the next day, it can be almost impossible to achieve that balance. Assistant Professor Jim Luedtke is working on a new set of tools to help decision-makers in such settings. He has received a prestigious CAREER award from the National Science Foundation and a ve-year , $400,000 grant to research risk modeling and computational optimization for decision support. “I look at settings where complex decisions must be made in the face of uncertain outcomes,” he says. “I’m studying new models to allow decision-makers to specify their level of risk.” Current computational approaches to decision-making suggest solu- tions for the best outcome on average. For example, standard tools could produce a call center workforce schedule that results in a small number of unhappy customers on an average day. Celebrating 25 years of quality researchhe ofces of the Center for Quality and Productivity Improvement (CQPI) are housed in the Engineering Centers Building on the UW-Madison campus, but the center’s real workhappens in hospitals, intensive care units and other healthcare settings around the country. Over the last 25 years, CQPI has grown into an interdisci- plinary research group that applies human factors and systems engineering principles to healthcare, computer and information security and other work processes. Founded in 1985 by Professor Emeritus George E.P. Box and the late Professor William G. Hunter, CQPI was revolutionary from the start for its emphasis on nding quality not only in nished produ cts, but also in the processes leading to products and services. Initially focused on manufac- turing quality, CQPI faculty demonstrated a commitment early on to community outreach-oriented work. In the 1980s, the center was involved in setting up the rst quality and productivity assessment in city government, and, among many other community projects, center faculty worked with the Madison Police Department to nd ways to better deliver law enforcement services to the public. AT SUMMER 2010 Not-so-risky business: New computational models will offer decision support www.engr.wisc.edu/ie (Continued on back page)“CQPI was a huge change in how p eople thought about quality and methods for analyzing and monitoring quality ,” says Procter & Gamble Bascom Professor in Tota l Quality Pascale Carayon, who has been the director of CQPI since 2000. “The center has become known throughout the United States as where people have developed a lot of new ideas and models.” Each CQPI director since Box has steered the center toward different, important process and quality challenges in a variety of industries. When Carayon took over, she guided CQPI toward healthcare- based issues, which is mainly what the center now addresses. Carayon has also overseen the transition of center personnel from mainly engineeringand statistics researchers to include experts in healthcare and psychology, as well as partners from disciplines across UW-Madison. Currently, more than 30 interdisciplinary researchers and graduate students are afliated with the center on a variety of projects. Scientists Peter Hoonakker and Ann Schoofs Hundt are part of a team studying the implementation of computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems in hospital intensive care units. (Continued on page 2)
