Industrial Engineering Defined

What is Industrial Engineering?

This question has haunted most of my college career. As my time at NDSU comes to an end, the answer to this question seems to not be so obscured. The graduation nerves are kicking in and my future life is closer to becoming my present.



Here at NDSU nicknames like jack of all trades master of none, science of common sense and even imaginary engineers, are used to describe industrial engineering. Are these slams or complements? The truth is it’s a little of both. Industrial engineering does use a lot of abstract principles and the solutions to our problems are hardly ever tangible.

So what is an industrial engineer? Industrial engineering is the design, implementation and installation of integrated systems. The ultimate goal is to optimize the system so that all components can work together the best they can. These systems can range from people working together in an office to UPS shipping facilities.
 
The development of the field can be traced back to the start of the industrial revolution in 1750. With the move to more modern manufacturing methods a way of implementing, optimizing and
maintaining these methods became necessary.

The efficiency of  processes through out almost every industry have increased thanks to industrial engineers. Companies have reduced cost by simply analyzing how the different components in their system interact with each other. Finding these interactions and making sure that they are happening with the least amount of obstacles occur. Reducing the companies costs in turn reduce costs for the consumer.

The fundamentals of Industrial Engineering can be applied to such a wide range of processes. This has made my field grow into something much more than just optimizing the manufacturing world. Over 80 percent of Industrial Engineering jobs are service based. Meaning that these jobs are focused on people interaction. We are seeing a lot more Industrial Engineers being hired as consultants.

They will come into any type of business and be given a set of goals the company wishes to obtain. It is then the engineers job to realize that goal. They will meet with the employees and hold focus groups. These focus groups are used to gather information to develop the steps that will be taken by the company to accomplish the set goals.

Industrials have moved from the industry of manufacturing to hold management positions. The time of "traditional" engineering has ended. Implementation of the fundamentals of engineering into our daily lives goes unnoticed by most.
 
Industrial engineering has helped provide consumers with better services. As someone entering into this field, I am excited to see what kind of changes I can make. I will soon be living to optimize.