Expanding industrial thinking by formalizing the industrial engineering identity for the knowledge era
Abstract
To date, the formal identity of the Industrial Engineer remains vague. D
ue to the broad knowledge base and
application areas made available to Industrial Engineers, pinning down the commonality has proven
difficult. This problem is further magnified by global forces shaping the knowledge era. Various works
touch on some elemen
ts that can help in forming an identity (such as IE skills, work preferences, thinking
styles...etc) but they have not been combined into a common identity. To do so is no easy task but for the
sake of the field it must be done. There is no doubt that IE kno
wledge is valuable and has proven itself, but
employers rarely hire a person with the title Industrial Engineer (rather it is process engineer, supply chain
manager...etc). Defining this brand and identity can massively improve awareness about the field itse
lf,
create a resource to refer students to and help develop new application areas for industrial thinking and
modernization of industrial methods
.
A modern understanding of the role of the Industrial Engineer can be
established (namely that they are the co
nnection to all fields of knowledge and a master of some) by
developing an Industrial Engineer
ing Identity and exemplifying the industrial thinking style
by means of
case studies on
facing or shaping
disruptive forces on the knowledge era
. The research pre
sentation shows
that the key requirements for the dissertation are the d
evelop
ment of
an
Industrial Engineering identity, the
definition of
the unique features of Industrial thinking
and the d
emonstrate the value gained by designing
artefacts with this new
identity in mind