A Brief Overview of Industrial Engineering

A guide to IE for the curious

By Quinn Hanson

What is it? Industrial Engineering is a broad discipline within Engineering focused on optimizing the delivery of goods and services. The

name often implies that one would work in a factory or manufacturing, but the name doesn’t tell the whole story. Industrial, rather

than a reference to manufacturing, is a broad reference to industry, as a whole. It encompasses things like Process Optimization,

Lean Manufacturing, Project Management, Operations Research, Facility Design, Simulation, Research, Design, Time Studies, and

Management. It was born out of the field of Scientific Management and has inspired fields such as Human Factors and

Ergonomics. If a mechanical engineer is concerned with solving problems related to mechanics, and industrial engineer is

concerned with solving problems related to industry (read: business).

IEs are people-first problem solvers. By combining the technical problem solving of an engineer with business management, IEs

are highly valuable in nearly every industry. IE’s may integrate everything in an organization to develop productive, efficient

processes, might lead projects, or work on large unstructured problems to improve how products or services get to paying

customers.

For more insight into what an IE spends their time doing, see here for sample job descriptions.

Historical ContextIndustrial Engineering dates back to the mid 1800s. Frederick Taylor, considered the father of Industrial Engineering, was a trained

mechanical engineer who became obsessed with time-studies. His aim was finding the fastest way to accomplish a given task, by

eliminating wasted steps or motions.

Around the same time as Taylor was developing his theories on scientific management, Lillian and Frank Gilbreth were busy doing

similar work. They broke down work into basic motions, called therbligs, that provided the tool kit for analysing tasks.

“Taylorism,” as it came to be known, is a term often associated with layoffs or otherwise scrutinized for attempting to turn people

into machines. Many thought that when upper management was applying in depth analysis to remove waste in company

processes, job cuts would soon follow. It’s been shown that this is not the case though. As a company gets better at what it does, it

can expand into new areas, take on more customers, or otherwise generate more work to be done. See the Luddite Fallacy for more

info.

High Level Historical Timeline of Industrial Engineering (not to scale)

1898: Frederick

Taylor joins

Bethlehem

steel to solve

capacity

problems by

studying

motion

1909: Frank

Gilbreth

publishes his

guide to

“optimal”

brick laying

1914: Lillian

Gilbreth publishes

“Psychology of

management…

methods of least

waste”

Her work inspired

industrial

psychology as well

as ergonomics and

human factors

1947: George

Dantzig

developed the

simplex

algorithm, a

method for

solving complex

linear equations

19040’s / 50’s: The

Toyota production

system is developed,

largely by Taiichi Ohno

and Shigeo Shingo

1986: Bill Smith

introduces Six Sigma, a

tool kit for improving

quality

1996: Lean manufacturing is

formally defined by James

Womack and Daniel Jones

(largely inspired by Toyota’s

methods)

1972: house of Quality

is implemented in

many industries

1950’s: Modern project

Management emerges as

a distinct form of

management combined

with engineering

1949: Modern

studies of

Ergonomics enter

the US

Frederick Taylor (1856- 1916)Early figure in, and arguably a founder of, the field of Industrial Engineering. Trained as a Mechanical Engineer, Taylor was also

the first Management Consultant, and author of The Principles of Scientific Management.

His most famous work was his study on Pig Iron handling. He brought personal daily output for first class laborers from 12.5

tonnes of iron moved per day to 47.5 by studying motions, directing movement, incorporating rest, and training employees how to

minimize unnecessary actions. His work led to far greater output, higher wages and greater revenue for the employer.

Defined Soldiering as working slowly on purpose. Workers often feared that if they completed work too quickly, they would be

laid off, thus they worked slowly. Taylor was determined to prove that increasing output would not cause a loss in jobs. (Luddite

fallacy).

Two principles of Scientific Management defined by Taylor, “Prosperity for the employee coupled with prosperity for the

employer”

Frank Gilbreth (1869-1924)Husband of Lillian Gilbreth.

In his early career, Frank was a bricklayer. He noted that each coworker had a different method for laying brick and as a result,

each had a different output. I.e. they had different efficiencies. Wanting to improve the operation, he designed a vertical scaffold to

keep bricks within a reachable distance. The ultimate goal becoming a one-best-method for manual labor.

While serving in WWI, Gilbreth was assigned to improve the assembly and disassembly of firearms. Doing this, he came up with

Therbligs, the 16 basic motions- things like reach, search, grasp, transport empty, transport loaded, hold, etc. His methods were

implemented in armies and manufacturing companies around the world to speed up an assembly process.

The principle focus underlying basic motions was to eliminate any unnecessary movements. Removing unnecessary movements,

by default, speeds up a process.

Lillian Gilbreth (1878-1972)Wife of Frank Gilbreth. Author of The Psychology of Management

Lillian held a doctorate of Psychology from University of California. She ran a consulting company with Frank; Gilbreth

Incorporated. They performed time and motions studies to eliminate unnecessary movements in operations and improve the

methods used in production. Her work preceded ergonomics.

Her book (above) breaks down different forms of management (Traditional, Transitory, and Scientific), establishes a foundation

for measurement of worker output (early use of KPIs), and goes so far as defining incentives for worker motivation (rewards vs

punishments). Over 100 years later, her book still holds significant value for managers.

Some of her work included designing modern kitchen layouts, desk heights, wall switches, refrigerator door shelves, and

foot-pedal trash cans.

Henry Gantt (1861 -1919)Partner to Taylor at Midvale steele and Bethlehem steele. Inventor of the Gantt chart (see image 1 below), a foundational tool in

project management. After working with Taylor, Gantt went on to work as an industrial consultant. He devised a “task and bonus”

system that determined a managers bonus based on how well they increased worker performance. Gantt was also an early believer

in social corporate responsibility- namely that industries had an obligation to the society in which they operate.

Image 1: Sample of a Gantt chart.

Source: https://www.teamgantt.com/free-gantt-chart-excel-template

Toyota Production SystemArguably the most notable adopter of Industrial Engineering, Toyota Motor Corp used IEs to improve their operation, and came to

dominate car production around the world. Their use of Industrial Engineering to improve their business came to be known at the

Toyota Production System (TPS) and is the precursor to Lean Manufacturing.

The two main pillars of TPS are Just-in-time (JIT) production and Jidoka. The former meaning make only what is necessary (no

inventory), when it is needed, and only in the amount needed. The latter is a Japanese word meaning (loosley) Automation

combined with human touch.

TPS is built on a handful of principles that give structure to the whole system. Those are; Continuous improvement (Kaizen),

Learning directly from the source (Genchi Genbutsu), Respect for people, and Teamwork.

One of the most prominent figures in TPS and Industrial engineering more broadly is Taiichi Ohno. His development of TPS

became the foundation for Lean manufacturing. Ohno defined the seven deadly wastes, created JIT manufacturing, the Kanban

system, and more.

Another prominent figure in developing the TPS was Shigeo Shingo. Also an Industrial Engineer, he was an early advocate of

shortening set up times on machinery to increase flexibility.

Seven Deadly WastesDefined by Taiichi Ohno as specific areas of non-value adding, time consuming, waste producing “work.” These are the first areas

one can focus on to improve their operation. In no particular order;

1. Overproduction

2. Inventory

3. Waiting

4. Motion

5. Transportation

6. Rework

7. Overprocessing

An additional piece that is often included as well;

8. Underutilized intelect

Continuous ImprovementContinuous improvement (kaizen) isn’t a particular tool, rather a culture and attitude. It’s the philosophy of striving for perfection.

It’s the most dominant theme in all of Industrial Engineering.

Continuous improvement (CI) is applicable in all areas of a business- customer service, hiring, managing, assembly operations,

product upgrades, technology, sales, marketing, etc. The goal is not to criticize and poke fun at some process that’s not perfect.

Taking an honest look at a process, evaluating what is value adding, non-value adding, eliminating what is wasteful, changing steps

as needed- that’s the goal.

Note, CI is not a one time project. It is not hiring a consultant to implement a change, then moving on to something else. It’s a way

of business that requires long term thinking. As demand changes and markets ebb and flow, new areas of improvement will

emerge. It’s the job of everyone at a company (not the managers or executives) to critically assess operations and seek out ways to

improve them.

LeanThe term “Lean’ was first used / coined by John Krafcik in 1988. Lean meaning, “have no fat,” or, containing nothing extra. The

ideas are based on the Toyota Production System, and were defined in 1996 by James Womack and daniel Jones as;

“...a way to do more and more with less and less - less human effort, less equipment, less time, and less space - while coming closer

and closer to providing customers exactly what they want”

The five encompassing principles of Lean are;

1. Value - Specify the value desired by the customer. "Form a team for each product to stick with that product during its

entire production cycle", "Enter into a dialogue with the customer" (e.g. Voice of the customer)

2. The Value Stream - Identify the value stream for each product providing that value and challenge all of the wasted

steps (generally nine out of ten) currently necessary to provide it

3. Flow - Make the product flow continuously through the remaining value-added steps

4. Pull - Introduce pull between all steps where continuous flow is possible

5. Perfection - Manage toward perfection so that the number of steps and the amount of time and information needed

to serve the customer continually falls

5sOne of the most implemented tools devised by Taiichi Ohno. 5S is a tool for creating an organized, clean, and disciplined work

environment. See image 2 for an example. Ohno’s original 5s’s were, Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu, and Shitsuke. For the non

Japanese speakers that is;

1. Sort: remove clutter and separate the frequently needed from infrequently needed items in a work space. Keep items in

easily accessible paces.

2. Set in order (or straighten): a place for everything, and everything in its place. Think tool outlines/ shadows to highlight

where something is supposed to go. Additionally, organize items in the order they will be used (when possible)

3. Shine: keeping the work space clean, as a daily activity.

4. Standardize: establish a system to keep the above three S’s consistent. Work spaces for the same work should be identical to

each other.

5. Sustain: periodic reviews to ensure the above 4S’s are being followed.

And, for fun, here are an additional 3S’s that can be incorporated as well.

6. Safety: keeping employees healthy, uninjured, and safe is a fundamental piece of respecting your employees.

7. Security: viewed as an investment rather than just an expense, security can be included to address risks to PP&E, material,

IP, branding, and more.

8. Satisfaction: specifically, employee satisfaction. Ensuring satisfied and fulfilled employees will ensure improvements will be

made and further improved upon.

Image 2: sample of 5s in practice

Before After

Linear ProgrammingLinear programming (LP) is a core tenet of Operation Research (OR). OR dates back hundreds of years to early mathematicians

using statistics to solve complex problems in decision making. Its modern form appeared in WWII as a way to use quantitative

backing to make operations decisions.

LP is used to solve complex linear problems. Its formal definition has three parts;

1. We attempt to maximize (or minimize) a linear function of the decision variables. The function that is to be maximized or

minimized is called the objective function.

2. The values of the decision variables must satisfy a set of constraints. Each constraint must be a linear equation or linear

inequality.

3. A sign restriction is associated with each variable. For any variable xi, the sign restriction specifies that xi must be either

nonnegative (xi >= 0) or unrestricted in sign (urs).

LP uses matrix manipulation to find optimal solutions in an array of industries, like banking, education, forestry, petroleum, and

trucking. Anything involving resource allocation, really, can use LP.

Note, nonlinear programming, integer programming, dynamic programming, and forecasting are other areas of study that fall

under OR

House of QualityQuality control is another tool used by IEs. Unfortunately,

quality doesn’t have a great definition that spans across

industries. Most businesses need to do a significant amount

of research with their customers to understand what the

customer really wants to define quality. Being able to meet

the demands of a customer is the basis of quality for most

products and services. (yes, this can present issues when

customers are unsure of what they want. The work around is

to iterate, criticize with customer opinion, and revise).

The house of quality is a particular tool used to identify what

matters to customers. It looks at the weight customers give to

various features, what the company can do to address

particular features, who the competitors (benchmark

comparisons) are, and what possible conflicts might be

introduced along the way (e.g. a bigger cell phone battery

and faster charging time may produce an impossible

contradiction with current tech). See image 3 for a high level

example.

Image 3: simple versions of a HoQ. Source:

http://isoconsultantpune.com/quality-function-deployment/

Six SigmaIntroduced in the late 80’s by Bill Smith, an engineer at Motorola at the time, Six Sigma is a set of process improvement tools with

the aim of improving quality. The term six sigma originated in statistics. It’s a reference to being within 3 standard deviations from

the center, + or - 3 sigmas. Thanks to huge cost savings at both Motorola and GE, Six Sigma gained popularity among fortune 500

corporations as a way to improve long term quality while reducing expenditures. .

Main methods-

DMAIC; Define, measure, analyze, improve, control→ used for the improvement of an existing process

DMADV; Define, measure, analyze, design, verify→ used when developing new products / processes.

Additional tools-

ANOVA- statistical analysis of variance.

Regression & DoE

Correlation diagrams

Business Process Mapping

SIPOC

Value Stream Mapping

Value Stream MappingValue Stream Mapping (VSM) is a technique for identifying and visualizing the steps in a process. Generally they show how a

customers order turns into a delivered product. Once a VSM is made, one can clearly see what steps are value adding and which

are non-value adding. On brand with Lean and TPS, VSM is another tool to identify and eliminate the waste in a production

system. Image 4 below shows an example of a VSM.

Image 4: sample of a Value Stream Map. Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value-stream_mapping

When utilizing VSM, there are a couple things to note.

1. The value stream should be observed at the source. Don’t just

take someone's words for when or how long a process takes- go

and see.

2. The first iteration should be drawn on paper (11x17 works great.

3. There are two versions of VSMs; A current state, and a future

state. The current state represents what is happening in real

time, prior to any improvements. The future state is the goal. It’s

the ideal state of flow you’re trying to get to by eliminating

waste in the system.

Project ManagementProject management (PM) is another item in the IE tool box. Born out of a need to coordinate large engineering projects (bridges,

dams, road ways, buildings, power plants, etc.) PM is a combination of business management and engineering. Getting big projects

done doesn’t happen on accident- it requires a significant amount of coordination.

An early form of PM was waterfall project management, where one group of people designed something, then tossed their design

to the engineers to build, who tossed the product to marketing to sell. Today, the most common form of PM is agile, which

involves significantly more back and forth (iteration) between relevant departments to make incremental progress as you move

forward. Not surprisingly, lean thinking had a huge influence on the agile methodology. Do just as much as needed at a particular

step, and nothing more.

Within Agile, there is a particular framework called Scrum that involves sprints (short bursts of work on a particular area),

frequent standup meetings to track progress, frequent reviews, and continuous communication with users.

ErgonomicsA modern field of study, born from the work of early Industrial Engineers like Lillian Gilbreth, ergonomics is the study of how we

(human beings) interact with products, tasks, and the world around us in general.

Particular areas of focus include things like job design- should desk height be changed for different people? Product design- can

someone with a disability use this product the same way as someone without a disability? System design- how are people using the

procedures in place to accomplish a task?

A chief concern of ergonomics is preventing injury form over or improper use. An example being the implementation of a dolly to

move heavy items around a warehouse instead of having someone carry the load.

A few contributions to our world today, birthed from ergonomics, include things like furniture design, power button placement on

a smartphone, and the controls on a steering wheel.

DesignEngineers are, generally, mathematically inclined

problem solvers. Design may seem like more of

an artistic persons field, but design is a

significant part of Industrial Engineering.

Best described with image 5, to the right, design

thinking is cyclical process that starts with a

deep understanding of people. From there,

problem definition is an important step for

determining a path forward. Messing up the

problem definition can send the ideation piece

into a never ending tailspin.

Note, this slide deck is not designed for

presentation. Rather, it is designed to be read.

Image 5: the cyclic structure of design thinking. Source:

https://www.maqe.com/insight/the-design-thinking-process-how-does-it-work/

A final wordThere is a lot here. Not all of it is to be unpacked or understood in a single sitting. Industrial Engineering is a very broad field of

general problem solving. With a focus on people, IEs are the people who make the path from idea to delivery as smooth as

possible. When there are ghosts, call ghostbusters; when there are turbulent processes, call IEs.

The next couple slides have some sample JDs, additional background on IE, and additional links for further reading.

Thanks for reading,

Quinn

Sample Industrial Engineer Job Descriptions (found via LinkedIn)Responsibilities

● Identify, quantify, compare, and execute production process improvements to drive safety and ergonomics, quality (first pass yield), availability (uptime), performance (cycle time

variability), capital utilization, and demand attainment.

● Create and implement tools to audit efficiency, and identify cost reduction opportunities across Tesla.

● Define and manage operational metrics for current and future production systems.

● Calculate, propose, and implement new methods and processes for existing production systems.

● Educate and engage cross-functional teams in importance of continuous improvement.

● Manage and communicate improvement opportunities and implementation plans to all relevant levels and functions in the factory.

Responsibilities

● Lead large cross functional initiatives related to the development and delivery of the next generation of high-performance manufacturing systems

● Design, implement, and maintain the Plan for Every Part, integrating material flow strategies, line architecture design methodologies, and optimized handling techniques.

● Invent, design, and implement engineering solutions to complex material processing efficiency problems.

● Coordinate design and innovation efforts to develop optimal solutions for the RAD network through equipment specification, material flow, process design, site layout, and intellectual

property considerations.

● Collaborate with internal teams to generate high quality, cost effective solutions in very short periods of time, and simultaneously manage multiple projects and tasks while effectively

influencing, negotiating, and communicating with internal business partners.

Responsibilities

● Observes current operations and processes and gains understanding of all elements influencing work flow.

● Determines best utilization of resources to attain desired outcomes.

● Develops work and process flows to eliminate or mitigate blockages or slowdowns in existing processes.

● Redesigns processes to maximize efficiency and productivity.

● Establishes methodologies and metrics to monitor trends and to identify potential problems that require resolution.

● Recommends alternative methodologies to existing practices that will maximize efficiency and that are cost effective.

● Develops and oversees implementation of process improvement programs.

● Participates in communication efforts regarding operational efficiencies, costs and productivity.

TherbligsTherbligs, named by reversing the surname of Lilian and Frank Gilbreth (and transposing the “h” and “t”) are the most basic forms

of motions performed in assembly. This list was first shared in 1915. Below are the 16 motions included originally;

Search Inspect

Find Transport, loaded

Select

Pre-position

Grasp Release load

Position Transport, unloaded

Assembe Wait (unavoidable

delay)

Use Wait (avoidable delay)

Dissemble Rest

Table 1: the original Therbligs

mentioned in an article Frank

Gilbreth published.

Note, 2 additional motions are

occasionally conted; plan, and

hold

Links & ResourcesFrederick Taylor Wiki

Lillian Gilbreth Wiki

Frank Gilbreth Wiki

Therbligs Wiki

Henry Gantt Wiki

Taiichi Ohno Wiki

Shigeo Shingo Wiki

Toyota Production Systems

Lean manufacturing

Value Stream Mapping

Luddite Fallacy

Operations Research

Linear Programming

Ergonomics

House of Quality

Six Sigma

Project Management