Marvin S. Seppanen, Ph.D., P.E.

Marvin Seppanen is the founder and principle consultant of Productive Systems. Since 1967 Dr. Seppanen has simulated a wide variety of systems including: high volume printing, electrical and mechanical fabrication, high-speed packaging, jet engine overhaul, airline baggage transfer, JIT receiving, automotive assembly, underground coal mines, Army personnel, and Air Force inventories. He has used and taught a wide range of simulation tools: Simio, SIMAN/Arena, WITNESS, ProModel, GPSS, SLAM, and SIMSCRIPT. He has taught simulation-modeling concepts to both undergraduate and graduate students and to continuing education and in-plant groups.

Marvin Seppanen is Life Member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) and has served as faculty advisor and chapter Treasurer and President. He is a registered Professional Engineer (PE) in the State of Minnesota. He is also involved with local chapters of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). He has also attended 26 of the last 27 annual Winter Simulation Conferences and several simulation conferences in Europe and Canada

Marvin Seppanen and his wife, Linda, are owners of Garvin Heights Vineyards, LLC, www.ghvwine.com. Since 2006 they have operated a Minnesota farm winery in Winona. Marv is the grape grower and wine maker. He also is a founding member of the Great River Road Wine Trail which links wineries in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. He and Linda were also instrumental in the obtaining the federal designation of their wine growing region as the Upper Mississippi River Valley American Viticulture Area. This is largest AVA in the USA and spans the driftless region of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois.

Education

BME      with Honors (IE option), University of Minnesota (1965)
MSIE,    University of Minnesota (1971)
Ph.D.     Operations Research with Mathematics supporting field, University of Minnesota (1975)

Publications

Dr. Seppanen has presented technical papers and professional group presentations in USA, Canada, and Europe related to his work in developing Industrial Strength Simulation Models. His textbook documents a career of developing simulation models that link with data sources such as Excel:

Seppanen, Marvin S., Sameer Kumar, and Charu Chandra. Process Analysis and Improvement: Tools and Techniques, McGraw-Hill November 2004, ISBN: 0072857129.

Current Professional Experience

1983 - Current: Owner and Principal Consultant, Productive Systems, 2225 Garvin Heights Road, Winona, MN 55987.
Conducted Industrial Engineering projects and developed computer simulation models for a variety of clients in the manufacturing and service industries. Taught workshops and courses for practicing engineers and managers.

1990 - Current: Adjunct Professor of Engineering, School of Engineering, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN 55105.
Developed and taught the course ETLS 506, Statistical Methods for Manufacturing Quality; MMSE 806, Simulation of Manufacturing Processes; and ETLS 778, Process Design and Improvement / Computer Based Tools for the Master of Manufacturing Systems Engineering program.