Industrial Engineering

Industrial engineering is a field, which concerns the design, improvement and installation of an integrated system of people, material, equipment, energy and technology. The American Institute of Industrial Engineers (AIIE) further defines that 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. Industrial engineering is thus concerned with bringing together and effective utilization of various resources to facilitate efficient production operation. Effective utilization of resources means that input to the production-operation system-such as people, material, information and equipment are used in right way so that they form an integrated combination to meet production/operation objectives. Efficient production/ operation systems are those systems which score high on norms of actual performance.

It is important to note that industrial engineering is concerned not merely with the system of material, equipment and processes but also with people who interact with this system. The impact of people on the operating system is both from within and from outside. People, who operate a machine, who plan the process or those, who handle material are within the operating system. Therefore, work-study, ergonomics, motivation, wage-incentive plan, time and motion study, etc, are integral part of industrial engineering. In addition to the people inside the purview of production/operation system, those people, who are outside also play an important role. For example, customers, outside the production/operation system, determine the demand of the product. Customer’s demand is dependent on product design, quality, price-discount etc. Therefore, industrial engineering also focuses on these aspects. With changed paradigm of quality during recent years, the focus of TQM is now on customer-delight. Industrial engineers are now expected to work on continuous improvement on product and process.

FEATURES OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

Another important feature of industrial engineering is its generality. Industrial engineering is not restricted only to manufacturing activities. It includes service sectors, like, banking, education, waste-management, health-care, transportation, distribution, etc. Thus, the scope of industrial engineering is quite big and certainly not restricted within the boundary of industry (factory).

SCOPE OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

The scope of industrial engineering is illustrated in the figure. It includes design and improvement of condition, design and improvement of organization, design and improvement of work place, method and procedure, and design and improvement in products and services.

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