Industrial Engineering and Research Areas
After the industrial revolution, the concept of industrial engineering was born with the need for technically equipped professionals capable of planning, organizing and managing integrated systems. An industrial engineer is the person responsible for designing, developing and implementing integrated systems of human machine material. What is expected of an industrial engineer today is to use information, technology and computers effectively to run and control integrated systems.
Industrial engineering education brings a person in which ability to identify and solve problems by analytical approach, mathematical modeling, system approach, inclination to teamwork, questioning and comparison, creativity, computer-aided work and resource management.
To be a good industrial engineer it is required to be a researcher, to think versatile, to keep up with the developing technology, to follow global developments closely and to be social.
Although industrial engineers generally work in manufacturing companies, they can be employed in health, banking, insurance, finance, informatics, communication and logistics sectors. Although the employment opportunities in the private sector are wider, they can work in the public sector in DPT, TUİK, Undersecretariat of Treasury, MKE, municipalities and factories.
Industrial Engineers play an important role in the creation of competition systems in industry. Industrial Engineers can work as Production Planning Engineer, Product Development Expert, Purchasing Engineer, Business Analyst, Work Study and Method Engineer, Bank Inspector, Project Manager, Process Engineer, Order and Logistics Engineer, Senior Manager.
Industrial Engineering Interests
Historical Development of Industrial Engineering
The development of industrial engineering has been examined in 4 periods. Although these periods do not have exact start and end dates, the next period is built on the previous period. In the first period, industrial engineering was considered as scientific management until 1900 and 1930s, and in the second period, the concept of industrial engineering was born at the end of 1920s. In the third period, the effects of operations research on industrial engineering are shown. This period began in the 1940s and lasted until the 1970s. The fourth term is called industrial and system engineering and it continues until today.
Industrial activities in the 1800s required less planning and organization, unlike today. Productivity-enhancing improvements were made by employees finding their own way of doing things based on their own efforts. There was no work on the coordination of factories and processes.
Charles Babbage toured factories in England and the United States in the early 1800s and began to keep systematic records of details involving many factory operations. It measured transaction times and the cost of realization of each transaction. Babbage made this information a table. He classified the jobs as low and high talent jobs and shared this information in his book “On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures”. With the industrial revolution of the 19th century, the foundation of industrial engineering was laid with the development of production systems that are more difficult to plan, organize and direct and require special skills for management.
Considering the need to increase the efficiency and efficiency of processes, Frederick Winslow Taylor analyzed job definitions and made efforts to find new business methods to make the works more effective and efficient. Subsequent developments in production processes, planning and scheduling activities benefited from Taylor's work.
Frank B. Gilbreth further developed Taylor's work, identifying, analyzing, and measuring key activities that enabled the business to continue. These business activities are divided into classes such as "reach", "grab", "move". Gilbreth measured the average times of business activities under varying conditions, allowing the time needed to complete the work before the work was done.
Dr. Lillian Moller Gilbreth was known for bringing the engineering profession to the understanding that human welfare and human relations are important. Throughout his long life, Dr. Gilbreth witnessed the birth, growth and maturation of the industrial engineering profession. The "First Lady" of engineering was recognized as the first ambassador of management.
