Industrial Engineer Career Description
Industrial engineers design better methods and facilities for manufacturing and services. This contribution leads to better quality and productivity and so to a higher standard of living for all. Industrial engineers obtain their knowledge and skills from mathematics, statistics, economics and the physical and social sciences.
What am I going to do in this occupation?
Industrial engineers are often responsible for bringing the realities of the business world to the attention of all the other engineering disciplines with which they are working on a project. They often have the responsibility to bridge the gap between the technology driven design engineer and the profit motivated manager. They think globally and should be capable of seeing the overall picture of any problem situation. Industrial engineers are integrators who should combine all the parts of a problem or a proposed solution into one final working entity.
The activities of the industrial engineer may be listed as follows:
» Technical studies involving lay-out planning, planning of work and study methods, studies of equipment replacement, material handling problems, determining the characteristics of operational equipment, low-cost automation, value analysis, and so forth. In this respect, digital computers are very useful.
» Production and work standards, including production planning and control and updating production and maintenance standards.
» Manpower assessment and valuation of positions, including organizational studies. Industrial engineers must define the number of people, the level of training and the remuneration for every position to ensure the optimum operation of a system. At the same time the organizational relationship between the various positions must be developed.
» The development and implementation of the industrial systems. This comprises the development, testing, evaluation and ongoing improvement of industrial systems to enable management to achieve their long-term, medium-term and short-term plans.
» Economic feasibility studies are carried out to measure all results in terms of rand and cent. Various techniques are available for the economical evaluation of technical plans and the comparison of various alternatives. In this respect computers play an important role.
» Operations research studies with computerized application of techniques such as linear and dynamic programming, simulations, stock control and replacement theory (concerning industrial problems in areas such as production flow, facility and raw material planning).
» Project management. In the implementation of new projects comprising major construction work, it is vitally important that work progress be monitored against the commissioning date of the project.
» Quality control. This includes setting up 'control systems to ensure products are manufactured to set standards.
Requirements
What kind of personality do I need?
Apart from the general qualities that every engineer should possess, such as an above average intelligence and an aptitude for Mathematics and Science, industrial engineers should also have an analytical inclination and enjoy working with people. It is essential that industrial engineers not only show proper technical understanding, but that they should also have insight into human relations, accounting and management techniques. They should be able to adapt effortlessly to changing work situations and circumstances.
Where can I work?
Almost any organisation in the industrial, business and service sectors may benefit from the services of industrial engineers. This may include the retail, health, financial, manufacturing, construction or chemical sectors. Therefore, the graduate industrial engineer enjoys a very wide choice of type of employment, employer and working conditions.
Can I work for myself in this occupation?
Several industrial engineers operate their own companies.
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