What is "industrial engineering"

n. the branch of engineering that deals with the creation and management of systems that integrate people and materials and energy in productive ways [syn: industrial management]

''' Industrial engineering ''' is a branch of engineering which deals with the optimization of complex processes, systems or organizations. Industrial engineers work to eliminate waste of time, money, materials, man-hours, machine time, energy and other resources that do not generate value. According to the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, they figure out how to do things better, they engineer processes and systems that improve quality and productivity.

Industrial engineering is concerned with the development, improvement, and implementation of integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information, equipment, energy, materials, analysis and synthesis, as well as the mathematical, physical and social sciences together with the principles and methods of engineering design to specify, predict, and evaluate the results to be obtained from such systems or processes. While industrial engineering is a longstanding engineering discipline subject to (and eligible for) professional engineering licensure in most jurisdictions, its underlying concepts overlap considerably with certain business-oriented disciplines such as operations management.

Depending on the sub-specialties involved, industrial engineering may also be known as, or overlap with, operations research, systems engineering, manufacturing engineering, management science, management engineering, business engineering, ergonomics or human factors engineering, safety engineering, or others, depending on the viewpoint or motives of the user.