Industrial engineering

Industrial engineering is a branch of engineering that focuses on making processes, systems, and organizations work better. It helps improve efficiency, productivity, and quality by combining ideas from engineering, mathematics, and business. Industrial engineers look for ways to reduce waste, make things faster, and help systems run smoothly.

People who study industrial engineering can work in many different places, such as automobile manufacturing, aerospace, healthcare, finance, and even schools. They use special methods like lean manufacturing and six sigma to make sure everything works well without extra waste.

Industrial engineers help create new ways to organize labor, materials, and machines so that everything runs smoothly. Their work can overlap with many other areas, including operations research, systems engineering, and safety engineering, making them important in many industries.

History

See also: List of industrial engineers

Origins

Industrial engineering

Industrial engineering began during the Industrial Revolution when factories and mass production started. Ideas like dividing tasks into smaller parts, as suggested by Adam Smith, and making parts that could be used in many products, as Eli Whitney did, helped shape the field. The term "industrial engineer" was first used by James Gunn in 1901, but Frederick Taylor is known as the father of the field. Taylor focused on scientific ways to improve work, like timing how long tasks take, and published his ideas in 1911. He also started the first department for industrial engineering in 1885 to help make work more efficient. Frank and Lillian Gilbreth added to this by studying how people move during work and creating simple steps called therbligs to understand labor better. At first, industrial engineering aimed to make factories more efficient and productive, partly because engineers wanted to save money. The field became more official with the founding of the American Institute of Industrial Engineering in 1948. Today, industrial engineering is used in many areas beyond factories, like healthcare and managing projects.

Systems Engineering

Systems engineering became important during World War II to handle complex war technologies. The term was first used in 1950 by Mervin J. Kelly at Bell Telephone Laboratories. Early work included managing systems like the RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain. The first paper on systems engineering was published in 1956, and the first textbook appeared in 1957. In 1969, the U.S. Air Force created a standard to guide systems engineering processes. The field grew in the 1960s and 1970s, helping with big projects like the Apollo moon landing. In the late 1980s, groups formed to support systems engineering, and in 2005, international standards were created to make the field more organized.

Pioneers

Frederick Taylor is known as the father of industrial engineering. He studied mechanical engineering and wrote a famous book called The Principles of Scientific Management. Taylor used stopwatches to time work and his ideas helped shape the field.

Frank Gilbreth and his wife Lillian Gilbreth also helped develop industrial engineering. They created 18 basic motions, called therbligs, to study how people work. Their work is kept at Purdue University.

Henry Gantt created the Gantt chart, a tool to organize projects. Henry Ford changed factories by using moving assembly lines, which made building cars much faster. He also introduced the five-day workweek.

Total quality management (TQM) began in the 1940s in Japan, focusing on improving quality and engaging all employees in making things better. Joseph Juran was a key leader in TQM.

The American Institute of Industrial Engineering was formed in 1948.

Modern practice

From 1960 to 1975, decision support systems helped manage supplies better. In the 1970s, Japanese ideas like Kaizen and Kanban improved quality and flexibility in companies worldwide. W. Edwards Deming helped reduce mistakes in processes. In the 1990s, managing supply chains and focusing on customers became important. The theory of constraints by Eliyahu M. Goldratt also became a key part of the field.

Etymology

The word "industrial" in "industrial engineering" might sound like it only relates to factories, but it actually means industry in the broadest sense. Industrial engineering has expanded to include any careful and measured way to make processes, systems, or organizations work better. Over time, people have used broader names like industrial and manufacturing engineering, industrial and systems engineering, industrial engineering and operations research, or industrial engineering and management.

Sub-disciplines

Industrial engineering has many smaller areas of focus, called sub-disciplines. Some of these include:

• Work design and measurement
• Operations research and analysis
• Engineering economic analysis
• Facilities engineering and energy management
• Quality engineering and reliability engineering
• Ergonomics and human factors in engineering and design
• Operations engineering and operations management
• Supply chain management
• Engineering management
• Safety
• Information engineering
• Design and manufacturing engineering
• Product design and product development
• Systems design and systems engineering
• Facilities engineering
• Logistics
• Systems engineering
• Healthcare engineering
• Project management

Education

Industrial engineering students study how to make work easier and more efficient. They learn about planning processes, designing systems, and using computers to solve problems. They also study math, science, and how people interact with machines.

Many universities around the world offer degrees in industrial engineering. In the United States, schools like Purdue University and the University of Michigan have strong programs. To make sure students get a good education, universities must follow certain rules set by groups like ABET and the Washington Accord. Students can earn bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in this field.

Undergraduate students usually study math, science, and engineering basics. They also take special classes about making things more efficient, using statistics, and designing experiments. Graduate students can focus on topics like manufacturing, computer-aided design, and managing projects.