What is Industrial Engineering? - Diverse Views - Part 2

Collected by Dr. K.V.S.S. Narayana Rao

I did the search through a google query. 177 sites were brought out by the search engine. The answers that I could collect from these sites are posted in two parts. This is the second part.

What Is Industrial Engineering?

Industrial Engineering is concerned with system design and operation. All systems must relate to people, equipment, and materials. These resources are valuable and should be used efficiently. Industrial engineers analyze and design systems to ensure efficiency, quality, safety, and economic feasiblity. To enable the integration of such complex systems, industrial engineers are trained in areas beyond those taught in other engineering disciplines. These areas include: economics of the system, human interface and mangement of the system, and planning and control of operations.

http://www.coes.latech.edu/ie/iewhat.htm

WHAT IS INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING?

Here is the definition from the American Institute of Industrial Engineers :
"Industrial Engineering is concerned with the design, improvement, and installation of integrated systems of people, material, equipment, and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skills in the mathematical, physical and social sciences together with the principles and method of engineering analysis and design to specify, predict, and evaluate the results to be obtained from such systems."

http://ie.cankaya.edu.tr/dept/deptbot_en.htm

What is Industrial Engineering?

Industrial engineers (IEs) are responsible for the optimal design, implementation, integration, operation, improvement and management of high-level systems. Such systems typically consist of chemical, electrical, electronic, mechanical or civil components. These high-level systems are not available as off-the-shelf items and cannot be imported or bought from a supplier. They normally exist within organisations as a mixture of equipment, information, people, capital, policies and processes. IEs figure out how to do things better and engineer processes and systems that improve quality and productivity, and save money. Industrial Engineering therefore is a professional engineering discipline applied to designing effective systems and procedures for using the basic resources (people, machines, material, IT systems, capital and entrepreneurial spirit) of any transformation system in organisations in which human and physical resources are combined and integrated to achieve specific objectives.

An industrial engineer draws upon knowledge of mathematics, physical and engineering sciences, and management and behavioural sciences to function as a problem-solver, innovator, coordinator and change agent. IEs understand the language and jargon of other engineers, scientists, finance experts, industrial psychologists, business analysts, environmentalists and information technologists. They have a special sensitivity for terms such as: optimality, effectiveness, efficiency, safety, productivity, profitability, reliability, quality, maintainability, availability and manufacturability. They practise in all the different manufacturing industries, service industries and government agencies. Today, more and more businesses also hire IEs in areas like sales and marketing, finance, information systems, and human resources. Other industries employing IEs are hospitals, airlines, banking, transport, and social services.

http://www.ie.sun.ac.za/03.%20About%20IE/1.%20What%20is%20IE.php


What is Industrial Engineering?

Industrial Engineering is one of the most important disciplines available to management for improving productivity. Managers, whether they are in commerce, industry or the public services, have a duty to make the best use of the resources at their disposal, i.e. to improve productivity. This in turn results in better profitability, a reduction in costs, or more efficient service- all of which go towards improving the standard of living of us all.
Industrial Engineering involves a number of techniques. Principal among them are method study which examines work in all its context with a view to making improvements, and work measurement which assesses the amount of work in a job from which standards can be set for planning and control and for payment systems. In addition, people who choose Industrial Engineering as a career need to acquire knowledge of related subjects such as computers, office systems, statistics, industrial relations and social science.

Industrial Engineering sets out to show people how to work more effectively and to eliminate unnecessary effort. They are also concerned with the use of buildings, raw materials, machinery and equipment.

http://www.iie.ie/about.htm

What is Industrial Engineering?

Industrial engineers focus on systems and how system components fit together. They often are the people who lead the way in understanding how to use the finite resources of the world to the maximum advantage. Industrial engineers must understand people as well as technology. Consequently, industrial engineering draws upon a variety of different disciplines, from mathematics to psychology, from communications to computer science, from production management to process control.

http://www.mie.engineering.uiowa.edu/IEProgram/IEMain.htm

What is Industrial Engineering?

Industrial Engineering (IE) is the discipline of streamlining manufacturing techniques and processes to ensure maximum quality at minimum cost.
IE originated during World War II as a way of thinking systematically about the logistical challenges of supplying food, medicine and equipment to field personnel.
Today, IE is concerned with improving quality, affordability, productivity, safety and environmental compatibility in manufacturing and service industries. Industrial engineers observe processes, identify strengths and weaknesses, and make improvements. They find the best way for firms to produce goods and services – whether that firm is an airline, hospital, utility service, government agency or university.

http://www.ie.eng.fsu.edu/index.php?page=whatisie

What is Industrial Engineering?

Industrial Engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy.
It draws upon specialized knowledge and skills in the mathematical, physical, social and information sciences together with the principles and methods of engineering analysis and design to specify, predict and evaluate the results to be obtained from such systems.　

http://www.eng.ncat.edu/DEPT/ISEN/academic_under_detail_inf.htm

WHAT IS INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING?

Industrial Engineering is regarded as a leading profession whose practitioners plan, design, implement and manage integrated production and service delivery systems that assure performance, reliability, maintainability, schedule adherence and cost control.

http://www.upe.ac.za/default.asp?id=2400&sid=&bhcp=1

What is Industrial Engineering?

Industrial engineering is a broad field concerned with the design and management of production operations and with the development of management decision-assisting systems involving information and control elements. The curriculum explicitly provides topics useful in dealing not only with the physical aspects of problems, but also with organizational, economic and human aspects. Such problems are found in industry as well as in service organizations and government agencies. To analysis and solve the problems of operation, production, information system, the department emphasizes the cultivation of the technical knowledge and provides the students with the original and efficient research ability. The industrial engineering provides the courses not only necessary in the specific field but also essential in the other engineering fields.

http://www.kyunghee.edu/acadaemy/under_su2_01.php

What is Industrial Engineering?

... industrial engineering has broadened considerably in the past two decades. As it has broadened in its application, however, three themes persist in the fundamental science of industrial engineering. First is the dynamic nature of the flow of materials. The study of the principles of material flow arises from our origins in production systems, and continues to be a major component of industrial engineering, from flow in a factory to distribution of goods. The second is the dynamic flow of information. Whether we are trying to improve the flow of packets in a communications network, the flow of information units between Internet users, or the flow of managerial decisions in a business enterprise, we find that this more recent evolution of industrial engineering can still be approached using the fundamental mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences. The third theme, ergonomics, overlays the other two, as it has developed from Frank Gilbreth's experiments with brick laying to the design of human-computer interfaces and the design of human work environments.

From "The Development of Modern Industrial Engineering" by D. L. Kimbler. Originally published in ENGINEERING HORIZONS, Spring 1995.

http://iew3.technion.ac.il/Academ/Grad/ieInt/

WHAT IS INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING?

Industrial Engineering involves the analysis, design, implementation, and control of integrated systems of industrial resources (personnel, materials, equipment, information), and effective interaction and communication among the resources. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skills in mathematics, engineering sciences, and social sciences. A typical industrial engineering graduate is expected to specify, predict, evaluate and improve such industrial engineering systems in productivity and quality of output, and in ease and safety operation and maintenance.

http://www.me.concordia.ca/Main/descriptions/INDU_DESC.htm


What is Industrial Engineering?

Industrial Engineering (IE) deals with a broad range of complex challenges involving both people and technology. It creates value through a total systems approach, the scientific method, engineering design and integration of new technologies. Like other engineering fields, the base curriculum includes mathematics and the physical sciences. IEs are known as system integrators, since they are mostly concerned with seamless integration of all functions in a system.

What sets IE apart from other engineering disciplines is the emphasis on life and social sciences. This study of the human element leads to systems designs that enhance the quality of life for people, both as producers and consumers.


http://ie.ou.edu/about/discoverie.php


WHAT IS INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING?



Industrial engineering applies methods and principles of scientific management to business operations to make the best use of available resources and to lower costs, while improving quality and increasing safety.

http://istil.univ-lyon1.fr/english/productique.html

What is Industrial Engineering?

Definition of Industrial Engineering - The Work of an Industrial Engineer
The field of engineering is subdivided in several major disciplines like mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, civil engineering, electronical engineering, chemical engineering, metallurgical engineering, and also industrial engineering. Certainly this disciplines can also be subdivided further. Industrial Engineering integrates knowledge and skills from several fields of science: From the Technical Sciences, Economic Sciences as well as Human Science - all these can also be supported with skills in Information Sciences. The Industrial Engineer comprehends knowledge in those sciences in order to increase the productivity of processes, achieve quality products and assures Labour safety.

http://www.kwaliteg.co.za/industrial/industrial%20engineering.htm


What is Industrial Engineering?

Industrial Engineers work with mathematics and science, people and money to get a product or a service delivered at the highest quality and at the most economical cost. Industrial Engineers solve problems that include designing manufacturing systems, management systems, determining financial returns on projects, enhancing the work environment, and even how to better operate hospitals. This broad range of problem solving abilities makes Industrial Engineers highly sought after people in the business world.

http://www-mime.eng.utoledo.edu/undergrads/IE_overview.htm


What Industrial Engineering Is:

Industrial engineers organize the people, information, energy, materials, and machines involved in the production process. They are concerned with plant design and management, quality control, and the human factors of engineering. Industrial engineers perform tasks such as finding the best location for a high-tech company's new plant or reducing the time it takes for a patient to get through the emergenct room check-in procedure.
In a nutshell, Industrial Engineers make things work better, safer, and more economically. Unlike the other engineering disciplines that focus their attention purely on the technical aspects of a system, the Industrial Engineer incorporates human and economic considerations in system design. Industrial Engineering is one of the six major engineering disciplines yet few people outside of engineering understand what Industrial Engineers do. The professional society for Industrial Engineers, the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), defines Industrial Engineering as: Industrial Engineering is concerned with the design, improvement, and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, and equipment. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, and social sciences, together with the principles and methods of engineering analysis, to design, specify, predict, and analyze the results obtained from such systems.

http://www.ucfthetatau.com/etfs3.html

What is Industrial Engineering?

Industrial Engineering has been concerned with the improvement of whatever is being designed and/or evaluated. If its an individual human task, Industrial Engineering will try to make it
- more efficient
- less tiring
- with easier motions
- with less waste, energy and efforts
- and more productive
If it’s a series of tasks, Industrial Engineers will try to make them,
- more uniform and integrated
- with better flow
- and a minimum of stop and go action
- If it’s a handling task, I.E. will try to eliminate or reduce the amount of movement involved through changing the size of load
- by rearranging the layout of shop, office of service area – by the use of different parts of components that will allow for better timing, flow or similarities in processing required.
If it’s a manufacturing task, I.E. will try,
- either to redesign or to use different materials in order to use better or newer production methods.
- Provide better integration and flow between processing steps.
Succinctly stated, mission of I.E. will be to try to,
- Produce more
- Served better

http://www.iesg-lec.org/industrial_eng.html

What is Industrial Engineering?

Industrial Engineering is the application of techniques and principles to the improvement, design, and installation of systems that involve people, materials, information, energy and equipment to provide efficient production of goods and services. To evaluate and work with these systems, knowledge and skills in the mathematical, physical, and social sciences are required. Industrial engineering activities form a bridge between management goals and operational performance. The industrial engineers are more concerned with increasing productivity through the management of people, methods of business organization, and technology than the engineers in other specialties, who generally work more with products or processes.

Industrial engineers are employed in multidisciplinary teams, and are usually concerned with the planning, installation, control and improvement of production activities. Such activities may include manufacturing, product innovation, provision of services, transportation, and organizational information flow.

http://ie.emu.edu.tr/about/index.php

What is Industrial Engineering?

By Jane M. Fraser

Definition of industrial engineering:

The design or improvement of a system of people, machines, information, and money to achieve some goal with efficiency, quality, and safety.

Certain words are show in bold face in the definition:
Design - Some industrial engineering tasks involve the creation of a new facility, process, or system.
Improvement - Most industrial engineering tasks involve the improvement of an existing facility, process, or system.
System - Most engineers design physical objects, but most IEs design systems. Systems include physical components, but also include processes, rules, and people. Components of a system have to work together. Material and information flow between the components of a system. A change to one part of system may affect other parts of the system.
People - Among all types of engineers, IEs think the most about people.
Machines - An IE must select the appropriate machines - including computers.
Information - Data can be used for immediate decision making and can be analyzed to make improvements to the system.
Money - An IE must weigh costs and savings now against costs and savings in the future.
Goal - Every designed system exists for some purpose. The IE must think about different ways to accomplish that goal and select the best way.
Efficiency - Whatever the goal of the system, the IE usually seeks to have the system achieve that goal quickly and with the least use of resources.
Quality - The IE?s organization always has a customer and the organization must deliver goods and services to the customer with the quality that the customer wants.
Safety - IEs have to make sure that the system is designed so that people can and will work safely.

IEs are sometimes called efficiency engineers, but some think that effectiveness engineer is more accurate. What is the difference between being efficient and being effective?
An efficient process doesn't waste any time or resources.
An effective process produces a desired effect or contributes to a desired goal.
Two words in our definition of industrial engineering (efficiency and goal) relate to these two aspects of an IE?s job. A process can be effective but not efficient if the process could be done as effectively but in less time or with fewer resources; for example, the time to produce a product might be reduced without any loss of customer satisfaction with the product. A process can be efficient but not effective; for example, a department that efficiently produces reports no one in the organization uses is not effective.

The words in bold face in the definition also indicate areas that an IE must learn about. An IE must know how to answer questions like these:

Design and improvement - Where should a facility be located? How should all the components be laid out physically? What operating procedures should be used?
System - How should the tasks be allocated among different parts of the system? How should material and information flow among the different components of a system?
People - What are people good at? What types of tasks should not be assigned to people? How can jobs be designed so that people can do their jobs quickly, safely, and well?
Machines - What types of machines are available to do different tasks, including the movement and storage of material and information?
Information - How can data be used to determine how well the system is functioning?
Money - How can we trade off costs and savings that occur at different times, maybe over a number of years?
Goal - What is the goal of this system? What are the different ways a system could achieve that goal?
Efficiency - How can we produce products and services with the least amount of time and resources?
Quality - How can we make sure that the system is consistently producing goods and services that meet customer needs?
Safety - How can we keep people from making mistakes? How can we protect people from hazards in the work place?

http://www.introtoie.com/C01.html (jane.fraser@colostate-pueblo.edu jane.fraser@colostate-pueblo.edu)


What is Industrial Engineering?

Industrial engineering differs from other branches of engineering in that it encompasses all types of industrial, commercial, and governmental activity. Further, it is the only branch of engineering concerned not only with things, but also with people. Where most engineering disciplines are concerned with the design of products, industrial engineers design and install systems which produce products or services. Industrial engineering is a very special kind of profession. There is a uniqueness about the field, yet there is an extraordinary breadth of application. The basic objectives of the field relate to productivity, i.e., the most effective use of each dollar spent for materials, equipment, manpower, etc. For example, during the last decade, an ever increasing number of products commonly used by the American consumer have been manufactured in other countries due to the fact that these products can be made at a lower cost in those countries. The Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) provides the following definition of IE:Industrial Engineering is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical and social sciences together with the principles and methods of engineering analysis and design to specify, predict and evaluate the results to be obtained from such systems. The industrial engineer functions at every level of management by originating and developing operating plans, programs, and controls which will permit effective use of human and economic resources.

http://www.ie.ndsu.nodak.edu/curriculum/about_ie.html