Sustainable Operations

IE 457 takes the operations toolkit you've built up in IE and points it at a different objective function: deciding when "green" choices — redesigning a product, taking it back at end-of-life, closing the loop on a supply chain — actually pencil out once you weigh environmental and social costs alongside profit. The work is mostly case studies and homework where you run life cycle assessments, model remanufacturing and closed-loop supply chains, and use lean/Six Sigma thinking to evaluate concrete sustainability initiatives. It's a senior-level elective that builds on supply chain and OR coursework, and it matters because take-back legislation and Triple Bottom Line pressures are increasingly constraints real IEs design around, not optional add-ons.