This book offers detailed case studies on how various industries have learned how to best allocate their resources—technical, human, and nancial—for enhancing productivity. It includes efforts to improve resource utilization from around the world. Case studies cover topics ranging from distributed virtual manufacturing enter- prises to integrating green technology in a cost-effective manner to materials and energy savings. Resources Utilization and Productivity Enhancement Case Stud- ies explores how energy-ef cient smart materials and structures hold tremendous potential for realizing cost savings and improving energy use in the modern industrial workplace. It also shows how industrial engineers have developed a variety of analytical and computer-based tools and technologies for planning, forecasting, and schedul- ing resources—including time, labor, and more recently, energy.