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Q&A: Engineering (Industrial Engineering)

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Question: I haven't started college yet, so I'm not really sure what major I want to do. However, I am almost positive that I want to be an engineer, and one of the fields that is catching my interest is Industrial Engineering. However, I am not really clear on the applications and jobs that an industrial engineer would have. What kind of work can I expect to do in this field if I decide to major in it? - L. T. Winters
Answer:

We took this question out to a few professionals in the field and this is what they shared with CareerZing.com:

“Brackishatbest” says:

Industrial Engineering covers a wide range of potential applications. It is almost a manufacturing generalist degree that can lead in many directions. The field of study covers the design and application of efficient production facilities, methods, standards, and routing documentation for both manufacturing and service industries. You might find yourself designing work stations or assembly lines, specifying machinery, developing documentation in support of ISO9000 or other standards, conducting efficiency studies, developing product routings, safety plans, hazardous waste and material plans, distribution studies and much more. If you choose this field, be sure to study Lean Manufacturing (essentially the elimination of waste and reduction of variability) and learn all the tools (Kaizen, Value Stream Mapping, 5S, etc.) of Lean, and additionally the statistical tools such as SPC, Six Sigma, DOE, etc. These tools are almost mandatory for entry into the field.

You should also be aware that if you choose this field, manufacturing in the USA has steadily been on the decline with the production of many items moving to the Far East. So, you may find yourself in a position where assignments in the Far East are your best bet for career development and advancement. If that is not acceptable, you should think twice. Good luck with your education planning.

Here’s another view:

Industrial Engineering does not appear to be mostly about manufacturing these days. For example, the of companies hiring Georgia Tech Industrial Engineers included many logistics companies such as UPS and FedEx, big consulting companies such as Deloitte and IBM, large banks, and many other non-manufacturing concerns.

See the video on industrial engineers at Disney World as an indication of what your careers in IE may be like: Engineering the Magic at Disney

Here's a view from an IE who wanted to weigh in on the subject:

Due to the nature of Industrial Engineering, sometimes is difficult to come up with a precise definition of what we do. The most important aspect of our profession is the fact that we are trained to become the agents of change, improvement and efficiency in any organization or process. We can apply our knowledge to many different areas with the main objective to save money and time to the organizations by finding the best arrangement between all the available resources. Whether it’s calculating the efficient number of registers in a store to minimize the waiting time of customers, distributing products around the world, or manufacturing mass-consumption products, we, as Industrial Engineers are looking for quality improvement, productivity and efficiency. Therefore, we have the opportunity to work in a variety of businesses. Course workload at the university include all basic mathematics, and physics as well as upper level courses such as financing, quality control, times and methods, supply chain, statistics, operation research, and inventory controls.

We are trained to eliminate waste of any type of resources such as energy, raw materials, land, or time. Therefore, our profession is highly demanded because we help companies to achieve maximum levels of productivity and efficiency, which are the key ingredients to compete in this new era of globalization. I encourage you to visit the Institution of Industrial Engineering web page, where you can find more interesting information about what we do, what we say and where we are employed by.

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