Industrial Engineering explained

Industrial engineering is NOT just about engineering in industry although it developed in manufacturing. It has become a specialised profession concerned with improving productivity across all sectors – and with training courses leading to Institute qualifications.

Equally, industrial engineering isn’t about mountains of time studies; rather it contributes to every area of a business so that everything comes together at the right time and cost and in the right format, thereby enabling a business to become more effective and efficient.

Industrial engineering should have an impact on all aspects, from the design of a service or product to the delivery of it. The effective performance of all these functions is what drives productivity at acceptable costs.

Far too often, performance is seen as the responsibility of the person who adds value to a product or to an activity, eg in packing or processing, but in most cases their performance is dependent on many other activities in the business. Good performance is a consequence of good organisation.

Robust and appropriate measures should point towards the causes of waste, excess cost or poor performance. The regular and timely review of these causes should identify where action can be taken to remove or reduce the problems.

Industrial engineering deals with cause, not just effect.