INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

application of engineering principles and techniques of scientific management to the maintenance of a high level of productivity at optimum cost in industrial enterprises. In the 1880s Frederick W. Taylor, considered the father of modern industrial engineering, pioneered in the scientific measurement of work. After numerous work studies he presented his company with a formula for obtaining maximum production, which was later applied to many manufacturing concerns. About the same time, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth were refining their time-and-motion studies. As a result of these studies (in which the procedures of production were minutely analyzed), unnecessary motions or steps were eliminated, and essential steps were simplified to require as little time as possible. Thus the production process was simplified, enabling workers to increase production. The industrial, or management, engineer draws upon the fields of systems engineering, management science, operations research, and human-factors engineering. Among his responsibilities are the selection of tools and materials for production that are most efficient and least costly to the company. The industrial engineer may also determine the sequence of production and the design of plant facilities or factories. Many of the decisions of an industrial engineer draw upon management expertise. For example, it is this engineer who conducts time-and-motion studies, who determines wage scales based on an assessment of job skills, and who institutes the quality-control procedures necessary for production of a competitive product. application of engineering principles and techniques of scientific management to the maintenance of a high level of productivity at optimum cost in industrial enterprises. Additional reading H.B. Maynard (ed.), Industrial Engineering Handbook, 3rd ed. (1971).