Industrial Engineering-Can you afford not to use it?
For the changes that have taken place in businesses over the last many years, a valuable resource seems to have been forgotten, Industrial Engineering (I.E.). Today's popular concept of Lean seen as Lean Manufacturing, Lean Management, Lean Enterprise, and Lean Principles is widely used because of its effectiveness in eliminating waste and its positive impact to a company's productivity. A little know fact to many, is that the Lean approach is heavily based on Industrial Engineering principles. If Lean is a great thing then perhaps Industrial Engineering has something to offer as well.
I.E. offers a wide range of skills permitting the understanding of an entire operation and the relationships of the different groups in that operation. For this reason, I personally had been approached for the position of General Manager at the specific request of a company for an I.E.. Specific skills of I.E. are used in Lean, and other skills of I.E. support Lean within the different departments and functions in an operation. It's a great one-two combination which is not commonly known.
Lean eliminates waste and promotes efficiency; I.E. does the same and goes one step further to scientifically look at the waste and determine the impact of removing it. The old idiom “Throwing the baby out with the bathwater.” is apropos. An informed look at changes to systems, methods and product costs can be eye-opening.
I.E. has historically been charged with the responsibility of being the bridge between Finance and Production/Manufacturing, where the costs of a product are generated. This is for a reason; that I.E. once again, has the skills to understand where the financial figures originate in terms of processes, materials, production, machinery, and infrastructure systems. In fact it is I.E. that studies all these aspects of an operation to determine the inputs to calculated costs; a great companion to Finance. It is called scientific management which has been around for a hundred years.
For small and big businesses, missed opportunities often show a cumulative behavior. I have seen missed opportunities range in the scale of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Without an I.E. using the skills of scientific methods in an operation, you are left to wonder what is really happening and what is not. People are busy with the mandates of their function and their specific goals to meet; who is looking at how it all comes together? The I.E. if there is one, or often no-one if your enterprise has forgotten I.E.
These skills are not isolated to manufacturing companies but are applied just as effectively to service providing companies and any enterprise which adds value to a product or service through activities.
Remember Industrial Engineering and keep your eye on the ball to manage opportunities and maximize profits.
