Institute for Career Research

Careers in Industrial Engineering Institute for Career Research

INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERS USE A COMBI¬NATION of engineering skills and business acumen to help organizations run better. They consider factors such as location, supplies, inventory, technology, money, and the needs of workers to create systems that are more efficient, profitable, and safe. They strive to make products or provide services of the highest possible quality, while maintaining healthy and safe workplace environments. In the manufacturing arena, they design the work¬stations, automation, and robotics for systems all along the supply chain. They even design the entire workings of the factories. Within any industry, they can devise ways to do more with less. The word "industrial" does not necessarily mean the work only applies to manufacturing. Although industrial engineers are found in nearly all manufacturing companies, the scope of their work is valuable in entertainment, shipping, healthcare, transportation, real estate development, and food service, to name a few. In recent years, fields like energy and IT (information technology) have become particularly reliant on the skills of industrial engineers. Industrial engineering is one of the most versatile of the engineering disciplines, with many areas of specialization. It is practiced in all levels of an organization and can lead to many career choices, from data analyst to CEO. Daily tasks and project goals vary widely, depending on the job title, type of project, and employer. For example, industrial engineers made surgery easier for doctors by developing the system in which a nurse passes instruments to the surgeon. Other industrial engineers simplified a supply chain for UPS to make deliveries faster and easier to track. These are two very different projects that utilize the same basic engineering skills. A bachelor's degree is required to become an industrial engineer. College degree programs in industrial engineering are very diverse, especially compared to other engineering disciplines. In general, industrial engineering majors learn to use engineering and scientific principles to design, manufacture, or improve systems that involve both goods and services. They are trained to take into account every conceivable variable, from budgets, to machine capabilities, to human imagination and error. They are taught how products are created, and how to improve the quality of those products at the lowest possible cost. Of the 250,000 industrial engineers currently employed in the US, nearly 70 percent work in manufacturing, but there are many more opportunities outside of manufacturing for budding industrial engineers to consider. Some industrial engineers hold high-level positions in government agencies. Others apply their skills in organizations as diverse as banking, aeronautics, publishing, and entertainment. The outlook is good because industrial engineering skills are needed practically everywhere, and the demand is growing.