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.