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Industrial Engineer

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AVG. SALARY

$94,370

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EDUCATION

Bachelor's degree

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JOB OUTLOOK

Increasing

What They Do

Industrial Engineers Career Video

Insider Info

Industrial engineers may have various titles, such as plant engineer, systems engineer, project engineer, chief operating engineer or manufacturing engineer. Whatever the title, industrial engineers are responsible for the maintenance and efficiency of industrial sites and services.

Industrial engineers work as designers, planners and maintainers of various machines and systems. Industrial engineers find ways to use resources, including people, more efficiently. The multi-billion-dollar health-care industry is a large and growing area of employment for industrial engineers.

There are industrial engineers all over the world. They are employed in every sector of industry, from agriculture to aerospace and telecommunications to utilities. They also work for government and educational institutions.

Craig Stevens is an industrial engineer who has worked for more than 100 companies as an engineering consultant. He currently works as a management engineer/project manager in Nashville for HCA Healthcare, the largest hospital company in the world.

"I am helping to develop a continuous process improvement program for practices/clinics," he says. "That means that I'll work with the managers of the practices to help them implement efficiencies and effectiveness of their operations... such as how can we get patient wait times down, and how we might raise the room utilization, and how we might improve the flow of the patients, doctors, information and so on. The goal is to minimize wasted time and optimize staff and the use of materials."

Industrial engineers may be self-employed as consultants. Others are employed by consulting firms. (This is how Stevens spent most of his career.) This makes many industrial engineers independent professionals who work under contract for one or more firms.

However, most engineers are direct employees who work in teams at various organizations. In larger organizations, industrial engineers tend to be more specialized and may tackle challenges as part of a team. At smaller companies, an industrial engineer might be the only engineer and typically has a wider range of duties.

An industrial engineer at a manufacturing company continually patrols the plant and solves problems with mechanical systems, operations and people. Many industrial engineers often assume operations or production management roles.

Industrial engineers have a lower profile than many other types of engineers. The public tends to be in the dark about what they do.

"There are a lot of misconceptions about industrial engineering, actually, mostly because many people don't know what it entails," says Elena Joshi. She's a senior instructor and the undergraduate program coordinator of industrial engineering at Pennsylvania State University. "It's not as familiar as the more traditional branches of engineering such as civil, mechanical, electrical, etc."

Industrial engineer Kazuo Takeda agrees. "Few people know what IE is," he says. Takeda is a manager of industrial engineering at a certain magical place you might have heard of -- Disneyland Resort in California.

"If they do find out about IE, they often think we do 'time studies' only," says Takeda. "Time studies are a tool that we use, but our real skill is in understanding problems, coming up with options, and then developing options and recommendations to solve them.

"Another misunderstanding about IE is that few who graduate as an IE will stay with the 'IE' as a title," Takeda says. "The most popular title for an IE is 'boss,' which is an attribute of the IE's ability to understand the business and come up with recommendations that gain attention of executive leadership. Past and current chief executives from UPS, Apple, Walmart, Taco Bell, etc. are industrial engineers by education but have moved well beyond the formal IE duties. Yet they still perform IE skills every day."

While their duties vary, there are some tasks common to industrial engineers. All engineers are expected to use logic to identify problems and create solutions. Then they must communicate their ideas to other people who will help implement the solution.

"Industrial engineering is all about taking processes apart and making them better," says Takeda.

"Early in my career, I started as a quality engineer, which utilizes many of the IE skills," says Takeda. "I then became involved with logistics at a small animation studio, coordinating various pieces of animation production from Amsterdam to Burbank to Tokyo and back again. All of this was around IE. I formally became [involved] in IE in 1989 when I joined United Parcel Service (UPS) and then joined Disneyland Resort in 1998. What I love about IE is that our projects are always different and we get to help others by our actions."

Industrial engineers typically work some variation of the five-day workweek. In some cases, plant engineers in supervisory positions work shifts. They may also be on call to assist with major breakdowns. Occasionally, fieldwork or deadlines call for extra hours.

People with physical challenges should be able to find their niche in this profession. The profession relies mainly on logical yet creative thinking. It should be noted that students and employed engineers are required to type large numbers of reports. Physical impairments of the fingers may pose a challenge.

Just the Facts

Want a quick overview of what this career is about?Check out Just the Facts for simple lists of characteristics.

At a Glance

Improve processes and use resources more efficiently

  • You need good problem-solving skills
  • The health-care industry is a large and growing area of employment
  • A degree in engineering is the first step

Contact

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  • 1-800-GO-TO-XAP (1-800-468-6927)
    From outside the U.S., please call +1 (424) 750-3900

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