A Case Study of a High Functioning Management Engineering Department

Contents Department Structure ... 34 Types of Services Offered ... 34 IME Department Management Tools and Techniques ...35 The Road Ahead ... 39Department Structure Internal management engineering (IME) teams add significant value to the organization(s) they serve as they provide an ongoing cycle of strategic vision, operational and technical knowledge, project management techniques, and follow-up project evaluation services. The IME professional knows the administration and key leaders and is able to align project initiatives with the goals of the organization. As opposed to an external consulting group, the IME enjoys a long-standing relationship with the organization. Since it is also outside of line operations, and typically outside of line leadership, IME departments should been seen as a completely unbiased resource. Typical IME departments are structured as a traditional team (pure industrial engineering-IEs) or a hybrid team (IEs mixed with process improvement-PI experts and/or quality experts). The classification of each professional is based on their educational background; IEs are trained through a nationally accredited five-year engineering program, PI experts receive training and certification as a green or black belt through various Lean or Six Sigma training programs, and quality experts have a strong nursing/medical provider background. Each professional brings significant value and a different perspective to the organization and the decision to keep IME departments siloed or partnered with quality generally depends on the reporting structure and the department’s focus. From the author’s experiences, IME departments reporting to the chief quality officer (CQO) or vice president (VP) responsible for quality will be imbedded within the quality department while IME departments with a strong operational or financial focus reporting to the chief operating officer (COO) or chief financial officer (CFO) will stand on its own. As an IME, it is important to recognize that any project dealing with extensive medical processes or patient outcomes and metrics should be performed in close partnership with quality team members, since financial, service, and quality outcomes are interdependent. An example structure of a typical mid-sized traditional IME department is shown in Figure 5.1.