University of St. Thomas

Interests and expertise

Computer simulation and modeling for capacity planning of automated production systems

Career

Since 1983, Marv Seppanen has been the owner and principal consultant of Productive Systems, a firm that provides industrial engineering, operations and computer simulation services for clients in manufacturing and service industries. Seppanen has held positions with government and industry, including the U.S. Bureau of Mines, the Pentagon, University of Minnesota Hospitals and Ford Motor Company. He is a Registered Professional Engineer and member of numerous professional societies. He has taught industrial engineering at General Motors Institute and the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. At St. Thomas, he teaches ETLS 778 Process Design and Improvement -- Computer Based Tools and ETLS 506 Statistical Methods for Manufacturing Quality; and related courses. Marv and his wife Linda are also in the process of starting a small farm winery in Winona, MN specializing in cold climate grapes. http://www.ghvwine.com/  

Dr. Seppanen works extensively with The Automation Association Inc., to solve capacity related problem for manufacturing firms developing automated assembly lines.

Textbook Published

Seppanen, Kumar, and Chandra. Process Analysis and Improvement: Tools and Techniques . (2005) McGraw-Hill.

Winter Simulation Conference

Dr. Seppanen has attended the Winter Simulation Conference each December since 1983. He has presented numerous paper including:

1. Developing industrial strength simulation models (1995)
   portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=224401.224754
2. Manufacturing Simulation Consultants' Forum (1997)
   www.informs-sim.org/wsc97papers/0786.PDF
3. Evaluation Of Cluster Tool Throughput For Thin Film Head Production Using Simulation (1999 )
   www.informs-cs.org/wsc99papers/102.PDF 
4. Developing Industrial Strength Simulation Models using VBA (2000)
   www.informs-sim.org/wsc00papers/014.PDF 
5. Using Simulation to Teach Business Processes Design and Improvement (2002)
   www.informs-sim.org/wsc02papers/249.pdf
6. Operator Paced Assembly Line Simulation (2005)
   http://www.informs-cs.org/wsc05papers/164.pdf

Education

B.M.E. 1965, M.S. 1971, Industrial Engineering and Ph.D. 1975, Operations Research, University of Minnesota