Industrial Engineering is System Efficiency Engineering. It is Machine Effort and Human Effort IE. 4 Million Page View Blog. 200,000+ visitors. (36,000+ pv, 25,500+ visitors in 2025.)------------------
Blog Provides Industrial Engineering Knowledge: Articles, Books, Case Studies, Course Pages and Materials, Lecture Notes, Project Reviews, Research Papers Study Materials, and Video Lectures. 2025 - New Project - Effective Industrial Engineering and Productivity Management.
Industrial Engineering for Society Prosperity through Productivity Improvement satisfying all constraints and limits.
Online Education/Training Session on "Effective Industrial Engineering and Productivity Management."
I developed an online education/training session on "Effective Industrial Engineering and Productivity Management." I can present the session in one hour, one and half hour or two-hour long sessions. The sessions will be valuable when company industrial engineers and other engineers and managers attend as a group. Industrial engineers require active cooperation and participation of other engineers and managers in their studies and projects. Hence a common presentation and discussion on effectiveness will be very useful.
Supporting Information.
Effective Industrial Engineering - Some Thoughts by Narayana Rao K.V.S.S.
Effective industrial engineering has to satisfy management about the contribution it made to the organization year after year.
The prime contribution of IE has to be cost reduction through productivity improvement.
Industrial Engineers, Display Industrial Engineering Principles in Your Department.
Practice them and Provide Value to the organization.
Taylor - Narayana Rao Principles of Industrial Engineering were developed Prof. Narayana Rao K.V.S.S. in two stages. In the first Stage, Taylor's principles of scientific management were converted into basic principles of industrial engineering.
Principles of Scientific Management - Taylor
The managers following scientific management thought do the following things.
First. They develop a science for each element of a man's work, which replaces the old rule-of.-thumb method.
Second. They scientifically select and then train, teach, and develop the workman, whereas in the past he chose his own work and trained himself as best he could.
Third. They heartily cooperate with the men so as to insure all of the work being done in accordance with the principles of the science which has been developed.
Fourth. There is an almost equal division of the work and the responsibility between the management and the workmen. The management take over all work for which they are better fitted than the workmen, while in the past almost all of the work and the greater part of the responsibility were thrown upon the men.
The principles explain the question what is industrial engineering (IE)?
Basic Principles of Industrial Engineering - Narayana Rao
1. Develop science for each element of a man - machine system's work related to efficiency and productivity.
2. Engineer methods, processes and operations to use the laws related to the work of machines, man, materials and other resources.
3. Select or assign workmen based on predefined aptitudes for various types of man - machine work.
4. Train workmen, supervisors, and engineers in the new methods, install various modifications related to the machines that include productivity improvement devices and ensure that the expected productivity is realized.
5. Incorporate suggestions of operators, supervisors and engineers in the methods redesign on a continuous basis.
6. Plan and manage productivity at system level.
(The principles were developed on 4 June 2016 (During Birthday break of 2016 - 30 June 2016 to 7 July 2016).
The principles were developed by Narayana Rao based on principles of scientific management by F.W. Taylor)
Principles of Industrial Engineering - Narayana Rao - Detailed List
Clicking on the link will take you to more detailed content on the principle
The full paper on the principles by Prof. K.V.S.S. Narayana Rao is now available for downloading from IISE 2017 Annual Conference Proceedings in Proquest Journal Base.
Presentation on Principles of Industrial Engineering First made by Dr. Narayana Rao on 23 May 2017 in IISE Annual Conference, Pittsburgh, USA.
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John Heap
Managing Director at Institute of Productivity
Principles of Productivity Science
Stimulated by recent exchanges in this group, on behalf of the World Confederation of Productivity Science, I have drafted the following principles of productivity science .... the principles that productivity leaders and practitioners should adopt to ensure their work is technically and ethically valid. Comments welcome! Undertake a structured and systematic review of the social, environmental and economic value created by human endeavour; Measure, at macro and micro levels, the value created - and the resources consumed to produce it; Design products in ways which facilitate efficient manufacturing, distribution and subsequent disposal; Design services that are user-focused and scalable whilst remaining efficient in terms of their requirements for physical infrastructure and administrative support. Strive to identify and eliminate or minimize waste across the lifecycle of services and products (including throughout manufacturing and delivery processes); Ensure all working environments and working practices are designed to ensure the safety and well-being of the workforce; Minimise the consumption of energy and natural resources; Minimise harmful effects on the natural environment; Establish working systems, processes and methods that reduce inherent variability; Treat all members of the workforce with respect and, wherever possible, engage them in decision-making processes that affect their work roles or working conditions; Ensure that all staff have the tools, equipment and skills necessary to maximize their performance; Engage individuals and teams in productivity and performance enhancing reviews and investigations. Posted on linked on 27 June 2018 https://www.linkedin.com/groups/2587524/2587524-6417631280732651523
Online Education/Training Session on "Effective Industrial Engineering and Productivity Management."
I developed an online education/training session on "Effective Industrial Engineering and Productivity Management." I can present the session in one hour, one and half hour or two-hour long sessions. The sessions will be valuable when company industrial engineers and other engineers and managers attend as a group. Industrial engineers require active cooperation and participation of other engineers and managers in their studies and projects. Hence a common presentation and discussion on effectiveness will be very useful.
Supporting Information.
Effective Industrial Engineering - Some Thoughts by Narayana Rao K.V.S.S.
Effective industrial engineering has to satisfy management about the contribution it made to the organization year after year.
The prime contribution of IE has to be cost reduction through productivity improvement.
"Industrial Engineering is System Efficiency Engineering.
It is done through Machine Effort and Human Effort Engineering."
(The term "Machine" includes all engineering devices or items used in engineering systems including all materials used)
It is concerned with engineering products and engineering systems and processes primarily. It continuously improves engineering elements of products and systems/processes as the opportunity arises to increase efficiency and productivity. Various other activities that plan and control engineering products and processes are also improved by industrial engineers to assure the productivity of the engineering processes or the engineering system as a whole. Industrial engineers also focus on the study and improvement of human effort in engineering processes.
Japanese companies used industrial engineering extensively with various innovations. They improved the understanding of industrial engineering methods among their workmen and achieved unprecedented increase in the productivity of their industrial enterprises in post-second world war period. The Japanese production systems got the distinction with the description of them as World Class Manufacturing Systems. Industrial engineering played an important role in the success of the most famous Japanese company "Toyota Motors." Taiichi Ohno, the person credited with Toyota Production Systems appreciates Industrial Engineering as Profit Engineering, the engineering discipline that increases profits every year by decreasing cost, that leads to increased sales and more profits.
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Definitions
Industrial engineering directs the efficient conduct of manufacturing, construction, transportation, or even commercial enterprises of any undertaking, indeed in which human labor is directed to accomplishing any kind of work . Industrial engineering has drawn upon mechanical engineering, upon economics, sociology, psychology, philosophy, accountancy, to fuse from these older sciences a distinct body of science of its own . It is the inclusion of the economic and the human elements especially that differentiates industrial engineering from the older established branches of the profession (Going, 1911) [1].
“Industrial engineering is the engineering approach applied to all factors, including the human factor, involved in the production and distribution of products or services.” (Maynard, 1953) [2]
“Industrial engineering is the design of situations for the useful coordination of men, materials and machines in order to achieve desired results in an optimum manner. The unique characteristics of Industrial Engineering center about the consideration of the human factor as it is related to the technical aspects of a situation, and the integration of all factors that influence the overall situation.”(Lehrer, 1954) [3]
“Industrial engineering is concerned with the design, improvement, and installation of integrated systems of men, 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 and design, to specify, predict, and evaluate the results to be obtained from such systems.” (AIIE, 1955). [4]
"Industrial engineering may be defined as the art of utilizing scientific principles, psychological data, and physiological information for designing, improving, and integrating industrial, management, and human operating procedures." (Nadler, 1955) [5]
“Industrial engineering is that branch of engineering knowledge and practice which 1. Analyzes, measures, and improves the method of performing the tasks assigned to individuals, 2. Designs and installs better systems of integrating tasks assigned to a group, 3. Specifies, predicts, and evaluates the results obtained. It does so by applying to materials, equipment and work specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical and physical sciences and the principles and methods of engineering analysis and design. Since, however, work has to be carried out by people; engineering knowledge needs to be supplemented by knowledge derived from the biological and social sciences.” (Lyndall Urwick, 1963) [6]
Industrial engineering 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. [7]
“Industrial Engineering is Human Effort Engineering. It is an engineering discipline that deals with the design of human effort in all occupations: agricultural, manufacturing and service. The objectives of Industrial Engineering are optimization of productivity of work-systems and occupational comfort, health, safety and income of persons involved.” (Narayana Rao, 2006) [8]
Definition proposed in this knol.
"Industrial Engineering is Human Effort Engineering and System Efficiency Engineeering. It is an engineering discipline that deals with the design of human effort and system efficiency in all occupations: agricultural, manufacturing and service. The objectives of Industrial Engineering are optimization of productivity of work-systems and occupational comfort, health, safety and income of persons involved."
Narayana Rao (2011)
"Industrial Engineering is Human Effort Engineering and System Efficiency Engineering. It is an engineering-based management staff-service discipline that deals with the design of human effort and system efficiency in all occupations: agricultural, manufacturing and service. The objectives of Industrial Engineering are optimization of productivity of work-systems and occupational comfort, health, safety and income of persons involved."(Narayana Rao, 2011)
The definition can be further simplified to "Industrial Engineering is System Efficiency Engineering."
Systems come into existence for a purpose, that is effectiveness. Effectiveness is first and next is adequate efficiency and its improvement.
References
1. Going, Charles Buxton, Principles of Industrial Engineering, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1911, Pages 1,2,3
2. Maynard, H.B., “Industrial Engineering”, Encyclopedia Americana, Americana Corporation, Vol. 15, 1953
3. Lehrer, Robert N., “The Nature of Industrial Engineering,” The Journal of Industrial Engineering, vol.5, No.1, January 1954, Page 4
4. Maynard, H.B., Handbook of Industrial Engineering, 2nd Edition, McGraw Hill, New York, 1963.
5. Nadler, Gerald, Motion and Time Study", McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, 1955 6. Urwick, Lyndall, F., “Development of Industrial Engineering”, Chapter 1 in Handbook of Industrial Engineering, H.B. Maynard (Ed.), 2nd Edition, McGraw Hill, New York, 1963. 7. http://www.iienet2.org/Details.aspx?id=282
8. Narayana Rao, K.V.S.S., “Definition of Industrial Engineering: Suggested Modification.” Udyog Pragati, October-December 2006, Pp. 1-4.
Industrial engineering is engineering improvement done in engineering products and processes during the product life cycle based on the data generated during operations, studies done and engineering and technology developments. It is continuous development of engineering products and processes to increase efficiency or productivity of the process to reduce its cost of operation. Industrial engineering facilitates unit cost reduction and thereby provides the potential to reduce prices and increase demand. It is the effort of industrial engineers that enables lower and lower prices and increases volume of sales thus providing the popular engineering goods to a larger and larger sections of the society. Industrial engineering can be better explained with the statement that the two focus areas of industrial engineering are human effort engineering and system efficiency engineering. These two focus areas match with Urwick’s statement 1 and 2. Industrial engineering (i) analyzes, measures, and improves the method of performing the tasks assigned to individuals, and (ii) Designs and installs better systems of integrating tasks assigned to a group (Urwick, Lyndall, F., “Development of Industrial Engineering”, Chapter 1 in Handbook of Industrial Engineering, H.B. Maynard (Ed.), 2nd Edition, McGraw Hill, New York, 1963).
It is interesting to note that the first representation to the teachers and practitioners of industrial engineering was given in the name of Industrial and Efficiency Engineering Committee in 1912 in Society for Promotion of Engineering Education (S.P.E.E.). In this committee, there were three teachers and 8 practitioners and Frank Gilbreth was among practitioners (Gerald Thusesne, History of Development of Engineering Economic Representation in within A.S.E.E.).
System Efficiency Engineering - System Efficiency Design
System design and system efficiency design are to be distinguished by dividing system design into system functional design and system efficiency design. Engineers or managers with specialization in a function do the functional design part. An electrical power generation system is designed by electrical engineers. Industrial engineers take up the functional design and do efficiency engineering work on it. Similarly a production planning system is designed by production managers, and industrial engineers may do efficiency engineering of it.
The explanation of industrial engineering as human effort engineering and system efficiency engineering brings out more clearly the scope of the IIE definition that industrial engineering is concerned with the design, improvement, and installation of integrated systems. The word engineering is associated with design and production, fabrication or construction according to designs. As explained above, system design in entirety cannot be the sole preserve of industrial engineers. The functional design of production systems in various branches of engineering can be done by engineers of that branch only. Similarly functional design of various management systems in a business organization can be done by managers of that function only. Industrial engineers' role to play in systems design is of designing efficiency into the functional systems designed by others on a continuous basis.
Maynard stated the scope of industrial engineering in his preface to the second edition of Hand Book of Industrial Engineering, edited by him in 1963. Industrial engineers have been traditionally concerned with the design of manufacturing plants, methods improvement, work measurement, the design and administration of wage payment systems, cost control, quality control, production control and the like. These procedures are all directed toward the reduction of cost. All the techniques of industrial engineering reflect the common denominator of all industrial engineering work – an intense interest in improving thing that is currently being done or planned to be done . Cost reduction or efficiency improvement is the focus of industrial engineering. Maynard also pointed out in his preface that developments in applied mathematics and statistics during the post world war years facilitated industrial engineer to tackle efficiency design of much larger systems with more predictive power.
In 1943, the Work Standardization Committee of the Management Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers identified the following areas as the purview of industrial engineer: Budgets and cost control, manufacturing engineering, organization analysis, systems & procedures, and wage & salary administration. The traditional industrial engineering methods of operation analysis, motion study, work measurement, standardization of the method were included in manufacturing engineering and these techniques are relevant for hourly base wage rate determination, incentives and administration of wage payment.
The study of various functional areas in industrial engineering curriculums is for the purpose of understanding the functional designs in those areas and industrial engineering graduates should not claim expertise in those subjects to do functional design unless they really specialize in them through extra study and experience of efficiency design of many systems in the same functional area.
According to M.H. Mathewson, industrial engineering is distinguished from other engineering disciplines in that it:
1. Is concerned with the total system. (Productivity of the total system)
2. Predicts and interprets the economic results. (Provides cost estimates and standards and thus can predict the profit given the estimates of sales revenue. Also for each industrial engineering change proposed by it, it gives the expected reduction in cost.)
3. Places increased emphasis on the integration of human being into the system. (How the operator is going operate the machine, load and unload work pieces, move work pieces etc. are studied and redesigned by industrial engineers. the comfort, health and safety of operators is an area of focus for industrial engineering.)
4. Makes greater utilization of the contribution of the social sciences than do other engineering disciplines. (Industrial engineers have to persuade operators to learn the new methods or method changes and work according to them. In the activity of directing operators to learn new methods and work according to them, industrial engineers have to utilize social sciences.)
Industrial Engineering as practiced today can be explained by identifying three components.
1. System Efficiency Engineering (Product Industrial Engineering and Process Industrial Engineering)
2. Systems Redesign, Installation and Improvement Management. 3. Human Effort Engineering
All methods and techniques of industrial engineering can be categorized under these three major components.
What is industrial engineering? AIIE, IIE, IISE View.
“Industrial engineering is concerned with the design, improvement, and installation of integrated systems of men, materials, and equipment. (AIIE, 1955)
Industrial Engineering - Result oriented engineering. Productivity orientation. Engineering to enhance results of systems.
Engineering analysis and design, to specify, predict, and evaluate (and improve) the results to be obtained from engineering systems.
Industrial and Systems Engineering
IIE's name was changed to IISE to better reflect the definition “Industrial engineering is concerned with the design, improvement, and installation of integrated systems of men, 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 and design, to specify, predict, and evaluate the results to be obtained from such systems.” (AIIE, 1955).
The design function was clearly brought into focus with the term "systems engineering."
We can now see two major areas System Industrial Engineering and Industrial Systems Engineering.
Policy Decisions by Top Management: Starting and Expanding IE Department, Approval of Productivity Improvement Project Portfolio as part of Capital Budgeting of the Company, Approving Productivity Policy, Setting Productivity and Cost Reduction Goals. Setting Employee related comfort, health and safety goals. Incentive income policy making.
Facilities are used by processes. Facilities are common to processes. Taylor clearly mentioned in his "Piece Rates - Elementary Rate Fixing System" paper that he has to make modifications to all machines to increase productivity of his machine shop. Toyota even today carries out gradual improvements to the machines in the direction of autonomation. Machines are continuously improved. Period layout studies and readjustments are another example of facilities industrial engineering. 5S that demands upkeep of facilities is another example of facilities IE when it is implemented for the first time and proposed and initiated by the IE department. Thereafter it becomes the activity of operations management.
Process Industrial Engineering - Process Machine Effort Industrial Engineering - Process Human Effort Industrial Engineering.
Process industrial engineering is the popular method of industrial engineering. But, the process chart method was promoted by Motion Study books. The machine effort industrial engineering, that is improvement of machine effort, that was done by Taylor primarily to increase productivity got neglected in the evolution of industrial engineering. It is a weakness to be corrected to make IE a strong discipline.
Process chart is a condensed version that show the entire process of producing a full product and the production of each part. The process chart is composed by symbols representing 5 operations. Operation - Inspection - Transport - Temporary Delay (WIP) - Permanent Storage (controlled store). Using process chart, the sequence of operations can be investigated and changed for more benefit. But each operation needs to be improved. It is termed simplification in process chart analysis. To do simplification information on each operation has to be collected in operation information sheets and they have to be analyzed in operation analysis sheets (Stegemerten and Maynard)
Elements are in Operations - We can understand the term "element" from the subject "Design of Machine Elements". Each engineering product has elements. Similarly each operation, that is part of a process has elements. Some are related to machines and tools used in the process. Some are related to human operators. Some are related to working conditions. Some are related to the work being done. Taylor first named the productivity department as "Elementary Rate Fixing Department." It has to improve each and every element in task and determine the output possible for unit time in the work element. The time allowed for that element for a piece or batch is determined through these elementary standard times or allowed times.
Industrial engineering as the application of engineering approach to factory manufacture developed initially over a 30 year period spanning 1882 to 1912. The important mile stones in this period are:
1. The idea that engineers have to design and fabricate products at costs that large number of consumers can afford to pay was advocated. This idea gave birth to the subject of Engineering Economics subsequently. H.R. Towne’s address in 1886 to American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) “The Engineer as an Economist” was a classic paper in this area. The papers of Oberlin Smith also fall in this group.
2. Engineers got interested in wage incentive methods. Papers by Towne, F.R. Halsey. F.W. Taylor and H.L.Gantt between 1880 ad 1895 addressed this issue.
3. Engineers got involved in factory accounting issues. An English engineer and accountant, Emile Garcke and J.M. Fells published a book on factory accounts in 1889.
4. Engineers recognized the importance of production control and paid attention to improve the procedures of production control. H.C. Metcalfe’s “ A Shop Order System of Accounts” was an early paper in this regard.
5. F.W. Taylor addressed issues related to shop management in a more comprehensive manner in his paper “Shop Management” (1903).
6. Frank Gilbreth developed the motion study technique.
7. H.L. Gantt advocated training of operators.
8. Harrington Emerson came out with a book that emphasized efficiency of business organizations and systems.
9. Lillian Moller Gilbreth work along with Frank Gilbreth and applied psychology to industrial work.
10. Hugo Diemer authored book on Factory Management emphasizing industrial engineering (1910).
11. Charles Going authored the book, Principles of Industrial Engineering (1911).
Among the pioneers, F.W. Taylor is hailed as the father of scientific management as he was the first person to perceive the interconnection between these initiatives and integrated them into a philosophy of management “Scientific Management.”
The earliest reference to Industrial Engineering with a detailed explanation was the address delivered by Henry R. Towne[1] at the Purdue University on February 24th, 1905. According to him,” the Engineer is one who, in the world of physics and applied sciences, begets new things, or adapts old things to new and better uses; above all, one who, in that field, attains new results in the best way and at lowest cost.” Towne explained that Industrial Engineering is the practice of one or more branches of engineering in connection with some organized establishment of a productive character, in which are conducted the operations required in the production of some article, or series of articles, of commerce or consumption. Nearly all industrial work of this kind, especially if it be conducted on a large scale, involves technical, physical, and engineering questions, varying with the kind of industry but usually of wide scope.
Industrial engineers have to do both technical and administrative work; that is, they have to take responsibility both for the design and character of the product, and for the economy of its production. According to Towne, the industrial engineer as the man responsible for the daily operation and, still more, for the vitality and growth of a large industrial plant, must be a many-sided Engineer. He has to consider the planning and, construction of new buildings. He has also to deal with the question of power and its distribution, with steam engines and boilers, with electric generation and transmission, with shafting and belting, in many cases with pumping and the use of compressed air for many purposes, in all cases with heating, ventilating, plumbing and sanitation, and in large plants with questions of internal transportation he has to select the right men for the various positions to be filled, and inspire them with ambition and the right spirit in their work. He has to coordinate their work so as to produce the best final result and understand and direct the technical operations and appreciate quickly and surely whether or not they are properly performed. Industrial engineer combines in one personality two functions of technical knowledge and executive ability, and a person who has aptitude for both the fields has open to him unlimited opportunities in the field of industrial engineering.
According to Urwick, persons who liked Taylors ideas called themselves as industrial engineers, when both big business companies and trade union disliked "scientific management."[2]
References
Towne, Henry R., “Industrial Engineering” An Address Delivered At the Purdue University, Friday, February 24th, 1905, downloaded from http://www.cslib.org/stamford/towne1905.htm
2. Urwick, Lyndall, F., “Development of Industrial Engineering”, Chapter 1 in Handbook of Industrial Engineering, H.B. Maynard (Ed.), 2nd Edition, McGraw Hill, New York, 1963.
IIE describes itself as the Global Association of Productivity and Efficiency Professionals (http://www.iienet2.org/Default.aspx accessed on 20.1.2010).
It was founded in 1917. Society of Industrial Engineers was formed in 1917, as a measure for helping the war effort, from the Western Efficiency Society (1910)
Society for Advancement of Management
SAM traces is origin to Taylor Society that was founded in 1912 by the colleagues and disciples of Frederick Taylor, the "Father of Scientific Management”. In 1936 the Taylor Society and the Society of Industrial Engineers merged to form the Society for the Advancement of Management. http://www.cob.tamucc.edu/sam/
American Institute of Industrial Engineers
University of Alabama Alumnus, Wyllys G. Stanton invited a dozen gentlemen to his home one January evening in 1948 to discuss the formation of a new organization specializing in the interests of industrial engineers. In 1948, the American Institute of Industrial Engineers (AIIE) was established: its objectives were many and compelling, but perhaps the most important was the professional recognition of IE.
The Institute of Industrial Engineers Australia
The Institute of Industrial Engineers celebrated it's 50th Anniversary year in 2008. In 1958 the Australian Methods Engineering Society was incorporated to become IIE Australia. http://www.iie.com.au/
Hoxie [2], who is probably best remembered as the one who was among the first to define the relationship between scientific and organized labor, and who insisted that "…Time and motion study, therefore, must be regarded as the chief cornerstone." [2] R. R. Hoxie. Scientific management and labor welfare. Journal of Political Economy, XXIV, 1916, p.838. (C.F. Taylor said many years ago: "Time study is by far the most important element in scientific management." q.v. by A. H. Mogensen. Common Sense Applied to Motion and Time Study. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1932, p. 7.) (http://www.iienet2.org/Details.aspx?id=2644)
If a pragmatic beginning is sought for industrial engineering, it can be found in the pioneering work of Taylor in his attempt to answer the question: What is a fair day's work? Taylor was fond of quoting President Theodore Roosevelt who insisted that "The conservation of our national resources is only preliminary to the larger question of national efficiency." Almost a hundred years ago, Taylor noted: We can see our forests vanishing, our water-powers going to waste, our soil being carried by floods into the sea; and the end of our coal and iron is in sight. But our larger wastes of human effort, which go on every day through such of our acts are as blundering, ill-directed, or inefficient… (http://www.iienet2.org/Details.aspx?id=2644)
Engineering might be defined as the art of controlling the forces and materials of nature, and organizing and directing men for the benefit of the human race.
(Nadler, Gerald, Motion and Time Study", McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, 1955, p.3)
Undergraduate and Graduate Programs in Industrial Engineering
F.W.Taylor is credited with instigating the first undergraduate curriculum in Industrial Engineering by recommending to Beaver, President of the Board of Trustees of Pennsylvania State University that Mechanical Engineering be taught from the vantage point of view of manufacturing rather than from the perspective of power plants and higher mathematics.
In 1908, the first course was offered as an option in Mechanical Engineering.
In 1909, the first baccalaureate program in Industrial Engineering was offered at Pennsylvania University. Hugo Diemer, a young professor from the University of Kansas, recruited by Penn state University on the recommendation of Frederick Taylor, developed and coordinated the program. Diemer is credited with offering the first paper/course in industrial engineering to be taught in the United States – “Machinery and Millwork” – at University of Kansas School of Engineering in 1899. Professor Diemer described industrial engineers as persons "who are thoroughly familiar with the productive processes, with broad interests, and who are at the same time thorough accountants and businessmen." Accounting as an area of importance to industrial engineers was mentioned by Towne also.
Diemer wrote his most famous book Factory Organization and Administration published by McGraw-Hill in 1910.
http://knol.google.com/k/ industrial-engineering Knol number 1151
By Narayana Rao K.V.S.S.
Updated 2.6.2024, 13.10.2023. 1.6.2022, 10.4.2021, 1 June 2021, 25 Dec 2020, 20 May 2020, 3 August 2018, 26 June 2016, 12 June 2016, 12 Oct 2012
The first creation of the post is the example of basic engineering & systems engineering - product design as well as process design. The updates show the opportunities for industrial engineering in engineering systems.
The updates to this post are examples of industrial engineering - continuous improvement based on periodic reviews as well as when a relevant information becomes available or an idea comes to mind.
Focus of Industrial Engineering is Human Efficiency and System Efficiency in the design of integrated systems.
They are Efficiency Experts and They are not Functional Designers or Experts.
The Two Important areas of IE are Human Effort Engineering and Systems Efficiency Engineering.
Introduction
Institute of Industrial Engineers, the global professional body of industrial engineers provides the following definition for their discipline. "Industrial engineering is concerned with the design, improvement, and installation of integrated systems of people, material, information, equipment, and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skills 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 systems1."
The definition does not provide the focus of industrial engineers in a quick visible way. The curriculums and text books of the discipline also do not provide its focus clearly. Due to this shortcoming, there is an identity crisis in the profession and may people with qualifications in industrial engineering join other departments where focus is more clear and shun industrial engineering as a career. Could industrial engineering discipline discover its focus?
For this endeavor one may start by examining the evolution of Industrial engineering.
Evolution of Industrial Engineering
The earliest reference to Industrial Engineering that we could trace was the address delivered by Henry R. Towne2 at the Purdue University on February 24th, 1905. According to him,” the Engineer is one who, in the world of physics and applied sciences, begets new things, or adapts old things to new and better uses; above all, one who, in that field, attains new results in the best way and at lowest cost.”
Towne explained that Industrial Engineering is the practice of one or more branches of engineering in connection with some organized establishment of a productive character, in which are conducted the operations required in the production of some article, or series of articles, of commerce or consumption.
He emphasized that an engineer who combines in one personality the two functions of technical knowledge and executive ability has open to him unlimited opportunities in the field of industrial engineering. F.W.Taylor is hailed as the Father of Industrial engineering. He focused on improving the output from persons working in various trades. Time study was his main technique. Gilberth brought in the technique of motion study and developed the science and art of improving human efficiency at work. Harrington Emerson independently developed the ideas of efficiency of business organizations and published the book "The Twelve principles of Efficiency.3" He was one of the founding members or organizers of "The Efficiency Society," which was started in 1912. Taylor Society and the Efficiency merged at a later point in time. Taylor's and Emerson's efforts in promoting human efficiency and system's efficiency form the back bone of the current profession of Industrial engineering.
Lehrer's Definition
Robert N. Lehrer, Editor-in-chief of the Journal of Industrial Engineering, had proposed the following definition for industrial engineering in 1954. “Industrial engineering is the design of situations for the useful coordination of men, materials and machines in order to achieve desired results in an optimum manner. The unique characteristics of Industrial Engineering center about the consideration of the human factor as it is related to the technical aspects of a situation, and the integration of all factors that influence the overall situation.”4
The definition proposed by Lehrer brought out the importance of human factor specifically. But this definition was modified by AIIE to broaden it to a large extent. But in that process the focus was lost.
Interpretation of IISE Definition
"Industrial engineering is concerned with the design, improvement, and installation of integrated systems of people, material, information, equipment, and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skills 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 systems1."
What are terms in the definition related to focus of the discipline?
Design, improvement, and installation of integrated systems of people, material, information, equipment, and energy.
To specify, predict, and evaluate the results to be obtained from such systems.
Specialized knowledge and skills in the mathematical, physical, and social sciences together with the principles and methods of engineering analysis and design.
What is core knowledge of Industrial Engineering?
Principles and methods of engineering analysis and design. - Principles and methods of engineering.
Additional knowledge to be used along with engineering.
Specialized knowledge and skills in the mathematical, physical, and social sciences.
Knowledge useful for industrial engineering.
What are activities of Industrial Engineering?
Design, improvement, and installation of integrated systems of people, material, information, equipment, and energy.
Installation includes production, construction, fabrication etc. engineering or engineered products and services.
What is the purpose of Industrial Engineering?
To specify, predict, and evaluate the results to be obtained from such systems.
Add improve (improvement of results).
Industrial engineers must be able to specify the results to be obtained from systems. (Requirement)
Industrial engineers must be able to predict the results to be obtained from systems. (given the design system).
Industrial engineers must be able to evaluate predict the results to be obtained from systems in operation.
Industrial engineers must improve the results to be obtained from systems in design stage or in operating stage.
What are important result areas - Focus of Industrial Engineering?
Cost
Productivity
Time taken by machines and men
Material consumption
Energy consumption
Information
Qualtiy - It is a constraint. IE should not result in lower quality.
Reliability
Delivery - Quanity produced as per demand.
Flexiblity
Sustainability
The definition proposed by Lehrer brought out the importance of human factor specifically. But this definition was modified by AIIE to broaden it to a large extent. But in that process the focus was lost. Narayana Rao examined this problem and proposed the following definition5.
Definition by Narayana Rao
“Industrial Engineering is Human Effort Engineering. It is an engineering discipline that deals with the design of human effort in all occupations: agricultural, manufacturing and service. The objectives of Industrial Engineering are optimization of productivity of work-systems and occupational comfort, health, safety and income of persons involved.”
The proposed definition basically extends Lehrer’s definition and captures the work done by Taylor and Gilbreth. Both of them studied human effort in detail and optimized the work system. Industrial engineers will bring to the design of large production system like a factory, their specialized knowledge of the human effort and human factors, methodology of studying work, and work measurement. Industrial engineers will also have adequate knowledge of technologies and equipment being used in the factory and the business principles and implications. While the knowledge of the human effort, human factors, methodology of studying work, and work measurement are the common knowledge areas of industrial engineers, the technology specific to the various industries will be different and thus specialist industrial engineers will emerge for different industries. It is also in line with the practice of admitting engineers of all disciplines in post graduate programs of industrial engineering.
In the case of engineering disciplines, industrial engineers are concerned with those situations in engineering practice where there is involvement of people in production, installation or maintenance and they will do an advanced study of features of equipment, with which people interact and operate the equipment. Already industrial engineers are working in various areas where traditional engineering disciplines have no role like banks and hospitals. Redefining Industrial Engineering as Human Effort Engineering, explains the role, industrial engineers are performing currently in a wide variety of organizations. Also, the word ‘industry’ has the meaning of effort or sustained effort in English language. Thus, we are making the definition of Industrial Engineering easy to be comprehended by even ordinary persons.
The objectives of Industrial Engineering are mentioned as optimization of productivity of work-systems and occupational comfort, health, safety and income of persons involved. Taylor examined all the three simultaneously in his work design efforts. Taylor became the target of criticism because at that point of time, his conclusion was that workers were capable of more output but they were not producing to their full potential. But still the objective of Taylor was not to squeeze production from workers for the benefit of managements. Industrial Engineering should be so defined and practiced that industrial engineers are invited by employees themselves to examine their work and improve their productivity. The improvement in productivity should not lead to additional discomfort to the employee. Actually, the study by an industrial engineer should lead to more comfort for the employee. The increases in productivity should always lead to increase in income of the employees concerned or in other terms wages and salaries should reflect productivity differences among employees. Then employees themselves will invite industrial engineers to help them to improve their productivity as well as comfort. Even a self-employed person should invite industrial engineers to come and study his work and redesign it to optimize his comfort, productivity and income.
The objective of optimization of productivity of work-systems captures the direction and effort of Harrington Emerson. Industrial engineering has many efficiency improvement techniques.
Industrial engineers have to focus on human efficiency and system efficiency in the design of integrated systems and they can look for a leadership role in the systems design due to their broad learning curriculum.
References
1.http://www.iienet.org/public/articles/details.cfm?id=468 2.. Towne, Henry R., “Industrial Engineering” An Address Delivered At the Purdue University, Friday, February 24th, 1905, downloaded from http://www.cslib.org/stamford/towne1905.htm 3. Emerson, H. (1912) The Twelve Principles of Efficiency, Engineering Magazine Company, New York, NY. 4. Lehrer, Robert N., “The Nature of Industrial Engineering,” The Journal of Industrial Engineering, vol.5, No.1, January 1954, Page 4 5. Narayana Rao, K.V.S.S., “Definition of Industrial Engineering: Suggested Modification,” Udyog Pragati, October-December, 2006
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Efficiency improvement techniques of Industrial engineering - List
1. Method study
2. Motion study
3. Time study
4. Value engineering
5. Statistical quality control
6. Statistical inventory control
7. Six sigma
8. Operations research
9. Variety reduction
10. Standardization
11. Incentive schemes
12. Waste reduction or elimination
13. Activity based management
14. Business process improvement
15. Fatigue analysis and reduction
16. Engineering economy analysis
17. Learning effect capture and continuous improvement (Kaizen, Quality circles and suggestion schemes)
18. Standard costing
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Some views and practices that support the view expressed in this article
Central to the discipline of industrial engineering are two themes: the interfaces among people and machines within systems, and the analysis of systems leading to improved performance. These issues motivated Taylor, and they motivate us today.
The core task in Industrial Engineering (IE) is continuous engineering change in product and processes to increase productivity. Other activities are additions to this core. If it is not done, engineering term has no meaning and IE has no competitive advantage.
"Industrial Engineering is System Efficiency Engineering and Human Effort Engineering. It is an engineering discipline that deals with the system efficiency."
The core design teams are first concerned with effectiveness and then with satisfactory efficiency. Industrial engineers evaluate and increase efficiency over the life cycle of the product and process based on intensive search of existing knowledge, creative application, efficiency related measurements and analysis, new technology developments, experience, and involving every body in operations as well as design in efficiency improvement. Improvements done by IEs are fed back into core design for the future products and processes.
