Duties of an Industrial Engineering

Duties of an Industrial Engineer

Industrial engineers typically do the following:

• Review production schedules, engineering specifications, process flows, and other information to understand methods and activities in manufacturing and services
• Figure out how to manufacture parts or products, or deliver services, with maximum efficiency
• Develop management control systems to make financial planning and cost analysis more efficient
• Enact quality control procedures to resolve production problems or minimize costs
• Work with customers and management to develop standards for design and production
• Design control systems to coordinate activities and production planning to ensure that products meet quality standards
• Confer with clients about product specifications, vendors about purchases, management personnel about manufacturing capabilities, and staff about the status of projects

Industrial engineers apply their skills to many different situations from manufacturing to business administration. For example, they design systems for

• moving heavy parts within manufacturing plants
• getting goods from a company to customers, including finding the most profitable places to locate manufacturing or processing plants
• evaluating how well people do their jobs
• paying workers

                        Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2014-15 Edition, Industrial Engineers