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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 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.[1] Industrial engineering is a branch of engineering that focuses on optimizing complex processes, systems, and organizations by improving efficiency, productivity, and quality. It combines principles from engineering, mathematics, and business to design, analyze, and manage systems that involve people, materials, information, equipment, and energy. Industrial engineers aim to reduce waste, streamline operations, and enhance overall performance across various industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, logistics, and service sectors.
Industrial engineers are employed in numerous industries, such as automobile manufacturing, aerospace, healthcare, forestry, finance, leisure, and education.[2] Industrial engineering combines the physical and social sciences together with engineering principles to improve processes and systems.[3]
Several industrial engineering principles are followed to ensure the effective flow of systems, processes, and operations. Industrial engineers work to improve quality and productivity while simultaneously cutting waste.[3] They use principles such as lean manufacturing, six sigma, information systems, process capability, and more.
These principles allow the creation of newsystems, processes or situations for the useful coordination oflabor,materials andmachines.[4][5] Depending on the subspecialties involved, industrial engineering may also overlap with,operations research,systems engineering,manufacturing engineering,production engineering,supply chain engineering,process engineering,management science,engineering management,ergonomics orhuman factors engineering,safety engineering,logistics engineering,quality engineering or other related capabilities or fields.
The origins of industrial engineering are generally traced back to the Industrial Revolution with the rise of factory systems and mass production. The fundamental concepts began to emerge through ideas like Adam Smith's division of labor and the implementation of interchangeable parts by Eli Whitney.[6] The term "industrial engineer" is credited to James Gunn who proposed the need for such an engineer focused on production and cost analysis in 1901. However, Frederick Taylor is widely credited as the "father of industrial engineering" for his focus on scientific management, emphasizing time studies and standardized work methods, with his principles being published in 1911. Notably, Taylor established the first department dedicated to industrial engineering work, called "Elementary Rate Fixing," in 1885 with the goal of process improvement and productivity increase.[7] Frank and Lillian Gilbreth further contributed significantly with their development of motion studies and therbligs for analyzing manual labor in the early 20th century. The early focus of the field was heavily on improving efficiency and productivity within manufacturing environments, driven in part by the call for cost reduction by engineering professionals, as highlighted by the first president of ASME in 1880.[8] The formalization of the discipline continued with the founding of the American Institute of Industrial Engineering (AIIE) in 1948. In more recent years, industrial engineering has expanded beyond manufacturing to include areas like healthcare, project management, and supply chain optimization.[9]
The origins of systems engineering as a recognized discipline can be traced back to World War II, where its principles began to emerge to manage the complexities of new war technologies. Although systems thinking predates this period, the analysis of the RAF Fighter Command C2 System during the Battle of Britain (even though the term wasn't yet invented) is considered an early example of high-caliber systems engineering. The first known public use of the term "systems engineering" occurred in March 1950 by Mervin J. Kelly of Bell Telephone Laboratories, who described it as crucial for defining new systems and guiding the application of research in creating new services. The first published paper specifically on the subject appeared in 1956 by Kenneth Schlager, who noted the growing importance of systems engineering due to increasing technological complexity and the formation of dedicated systems engineering groups. In 1957, E.W. Engstrom further elaborated on the concept, emphasizing the determination of objectives and the thorough consideration of all influencing factors as requirements for successful systems engineering. That same year also saw the publication of the first textbook on the subject, "Systems Engineering: An Introduction to the Design of Large-Scale Systems" by Goode and Mahol. Early practices of systems engineering were generally informal, transdisciplinary, and deeply rooted in the application domain. Following these initial mentions and publications, the field saw further development in the 1960s and 1970s, with figures like Arthur Hall defining traits of a systems engineer and viewing it as a comprehensive process. Despite its informal nature, systems engineering played a vital role in major achievements like the 1969 Apollo moon landing. A significant step towards formalization occurred in July 1969 with the introduction of the first formal systems engineering process, Military Standard (MIL-STD)-499: System Engineering Management, by the U.S. Air Force. This standard aimed to provide guidance for managing the systems engineering process and was later extended and updated. The need for formally trained systems engineers led to the formation of the National Council on Systems Engineering (NCOSE) in the late 1980s, which evolved into the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE). INCOSE further contributed to the formalization of the field through publications like its journal "Systems Engineering" starting in 1994 and the first edition of the "Systems Engineering Handbook" in 1997. Additionally, organizations like NASA published their own systems engineering handbooks. In the 21st century, international standardization became a key aspect, with the International Standards Organization (ISO) publishing its first standard defining systems engineering application and management in 2005, further solidifying its standing as a formal discipline.[10]
Frederick Taylor (1856–1915) is generally credited as the father of the industrial engineering discipline. He earned a degree in mechanical engineering fromStevens Institute of Technology and earned several patents from his inventions. Taylor is the author of many well-known works, including a book,The Principles of Scientific Management, which became a classic of management literature. It is considered one of the most influential management books of the 20th century.[11] The book laid our three goals: to illustrate how the country loses through inefficiency, to show that the solution to inefficiency is systematic management, and to show that the best management rests on defined laws, rules, and principles that can be applied to all kinds of human activity. Taylor is remembered for developing the stopwatch time study.[6] Taylor's findings set the foundation for industrial engineering.
Frank Gilbreth (1868-1924), along with his wifeLillian Gilbreth (1878-1972), also had a significant influence on the development of Industrial Engineering. Their work is housed atPurdue University. In 1907, Frank Gilbreth metFrederick Taylor, and he learned tremendously from Taylor's work.[12] Frank and Lillian created 18 kinds of elemental motions that make up a set of fundamental motions required for a worker to perform a manual operation or task. They named the elementstherbligs, which are used in the study of motion in the workplace.[13] These developments were the beginning of a much broader field known ashuman factors or ergonomics.
Through the efforts ofHugo Diemer, the first course on industrial engineering was offered as an elective atPennsylvania State University in 1908.[14] The first doctoral degree in industrial engineering was awarded in 1933 byCornell University.[15]
Henry Gantt (1861-1919) immersed himself in the growing movement of Taylorism. Gantt is best known for creating a management tool, theGantt chart. Gantt charts display dependencies pictorially, which allows project managers to keep everything organized. They are studied in colleges and used by project managers around the world. In addition to the creation of the Gantt chart, Gantt had many other significant contributions to scientific management. He cared about worker incentives and the impact businesses had on society. Today, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers awards a Gantt Medal for "distinguished achievement in managementand for service to the community."[16]
Henry Ford (1863-1947) further revolutionized factory production with the first installation of a movingassembly line. This innovation reduced the time it took to build a car from more than 12 hours to one hour and 33 minutes.[17] This continuous-flow inspired production method introduced a new way of automobile manufacturing. Ford is also known for transforming the workweek schedule. He cut the typical six-day workweek to five and doubled the daily pay. Thus, creating the typical 40-hour workweek.[18]
Total quality management (TQM) emerged in the 1940s and gained momentum after World War II. The term was coined to describe its Japanese-style management approach to quality improvement. Total quality management can be described as a management system for a customer-focused organization that engages all employees in continual improvement of the organization. Joseph Juran is credited with being a pioneer of TQM by teaching the concepts of controlling quality and managerial breakthrough.[19]
TheAmerican Institute of Industrial Engineering was formed in 1948. The early work by F. W. Taylor and the Gilbreths was documented in papers presented to theAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers as interest grew from merely improving machine performance to the performance of the overall manufacturing process, most notably starting with the presentation byHenry R. Towne (1844–1924) of his paperThe Engineer as An Economist (1886).[20]
From 1960 to 1975, with the development of decision support systems in supply such asmaterial requirements planning (MRP), one can emphasize the timing issue (inventory, production, compounding, transportation, etc.) of industrial organization. Israeli scientist Dr.Jacob Rubinovitz installed the CMMS program developed in IAI and Control-Data (Israel) in 1976 in South Africa and worldwide.
In the 1970s, with the penetration of Japanese management theories such asKaizen andKanban, Japan realized very high levels of quality and productivity. These theories improved issues of quality, delivery time, and flexibility. Companies in the west realized the great impact of Kaizen and started implementing their owncontinuous improvement programs.W. Edwards Deming made significant contributions in the minimization of variance starting in the 1950s and continuing to the end of his life.
In the 1990s, following the global industry globalization process, the emphasis was on supply chain management and customer-oriented business process design. Thetheory of constraints, developed by Israeli scientistEliyahu M. Goldratt (1985), is also a significant milestone in the field.
While originally applied tomanufacturing, the use ofindustrial inindustrial engineering can be somewhat misleading, since it has grown to encompass any methodical orquantitative approach to optimizing how a process, system, or organization operates. In fact, theindustrial inindustrial engineering means the industry in its broadest sense.[21] People have changed the termindustrial to broader terms such as industrial andmanufacturing engineering, industrial andsystems engineering, industrial engineering andoperations research, or industrial engineering andmanagement.
There are numerous sub-disciplines associated with industrial engineering, including the following a non-exhaustive list. While some industrial engineers focus exclusively on one of these sub-disciplines, many deal with a combination of sub-disciplines. The first 14 of these sub-disciplines come from the IISE Body of Knowledge.[1] These are considered knowledge areas, and many of them contain an overlap of content.
Industrial engineering students take courses in work analysis and design, process design, human factors, facilities planning and layout, engineering economic analysis, production planning and control, systems engineering, computer utilization and simulation, operations research, quality control, automation, robotics, and productivity engineering.[22]
Various universities offer Industrial Engineering degrees across the world. The Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering at Purdue University, the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan are all named industrial engineering departments in the United States. Other universities include: Virginia Tech, Texas A&M, Northwestern University, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and the University of Southern California, and NC State University.
It is important to attend accredited universities becauseABET accreditation ensures that graduates have met the educational requirements necessary to enter the profession.[23] This quality of education is recognized internationally and prepares students for successful careers.
Internationally, industrial engineering degrees accredited within any member country of theWashington Accord enjoy equal accreditation within all other signatory countries, thus allowing engineers from one country to practice engineering professionally in any other.
Universities offer degrees at the bachelor, master, and doctoral levels.
| 2025U.S. News undergraduate rankings[24] | |
|---|---|
| University | Rank |
| Georgia Institute of Technology | 1 |
| Purdue University | 2 |
| University of Michigan | 3 |
| Virginia Tech | 3 |
| University of California, Berkeley | 5 |
| Northwestern University | 6 |
| Stanford University | 7 |
| Cornell University | 8 |
| University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 8 |
| Texas A&M University | 10 |
In the United States, the undergraduate degree earned is either a bachelor of science (BS) or a bachelor of science and engineering (BSE) in industrial engineering (IE). InSouth Africa, the undergraduate degree is a bachelor of engineering (BEng). Variations of the title include Industrial & Operations Engineering (IOE), and Industrial & Systems Engineering (ISE or ISyE).
The typical curriculum includes a broad math and science foundation spanningchemistry,physics,mechanics (i.e., statics, kinematics, and dynamics),materials science,computer science, electronics/circuits,engineering design, and the standard range of engineering mathematics (i.e.,calculus,linear algebra,differential equations,statistics). For any engineering undergraduate program to be accredited, regardless of concentration, it must cover a largely similar span of such foundational work, which also overlaps heavily with the content tested on one or more engineering licensure exams in most jurisdictions.
The coursework specific to IE entails specialized courses in areas such asoptimization,applied probability,stochastic modeling,design of experiments,statistical process control,simulation,manufacturing engineering,ergonomics/safety engineering, andengineering economics. Industrial engineering elective courses typically cover more specialized topics in areas such asmanufacturing,supply chains andlogistics,analytics andmachine learning,production systems,human factors andindustrial design, andservice systems.[25][26][27][28][29][30]
Certain business schools may offer programs with some overlapping relevance to IE, but the engineering programs are distinguished by a much more intensely quantitative focus, required engineering science electives, and the core math and science courses required of all engineering programs.
The usual graduate degree earned is the master of science (MS), master of science and engineering (MSE) or master of engineering (MEng) in industrial engineering or various alternative related concentration titles.
Typical MS curricula may cover:
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