HUMAN FACTORS IN INDUSTRIAL AND SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

Human factors is a science that investigates human behavioural, cognitive, and physical abilities and limitations in order to understand how individual and teams will interact with products and systems.

Human factors engineering is the discipline that takes this knowledge and uses it to specify, design, and test systems to optimize safety, productivity, effectiveness, and satisfaction.

Human factors is important to industrial and systems engineering because of the prevalence of humans within industrial systems. It is humans who, for the most part, are called on to design, manufacture, operate, monitor, maintain, and repair industrial systems. In each of these cases, human factors should be uses to ensure that the design will meet system requirements in performance, productivity, quality, reliability, and safety.

The importance of including human factors in systems design cannot be overemphasized. There are countless examples that illustrate its importance for systems performance. Mackenzie found in 1994 that in a survey of 1100 computer-related fatalities between 1979 and 1992. 92% could be attributed to failures in the interaction between a human and computer. The extend of the 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant was largely due to human factors challenges, almost resulting in a disastrous nuclear catastrophe. The infamous butterfly ballot problem in Florida in the 2000 U.S. presidential election is a clear example of an inadequate system interface yielding remarkably poor performance. Web sites such as baddesigns.com and thisisbrokenn.com provide extensive listings of designs from everyday life that suffer from poor consideration of human factors. Neophytes often refer to human factors as common sense. However, the prevalence of poor design suggests that human factors sense is not as common as one might think. The consequences of poor human factors design can be inadequate system performance, reduced product sales, significant product damage, and human injury.

WHAT IS OPERATIONAL OR OPERATIONS RESEARCH?

Operational Research (OR) is the use of advanced analytical techniques to improve decision making. It is sometimes known as Operations Research, Management Science or Industrial Engineering. People with skills in OR hold jobs in decision support, business analytics, marketing analysis and logistics planning – as well as jobs with OR in the title.

WHY IS OR NEEDED?

Because it makes sense to make the best use of available resources. Today’s global markets and instant communications mean that customers expect high-quality products and services when they need them, where they need them. Organizations, whether public or private, need to provide these products and services as effectively and efficiently as possible. This requires careful planning and analysis – the hallmarks of good OR. This is usually based on process modelling, analysis of options or business analytics.

EXAMPLES OF OR IN ACTION

• Scheduling: of aircrews and the fleet for airlines, of vehicles in supply chains, of orders in a factory and of operating theatres in a hospital.
• Facility planning: computer simulations of airports for the rapid and safe processing of travellers, improving appointments systems for medical practice.
• Planning and forecasting: identifying possible future developments in telecommunications, deciding how much capacity is needed in a holiday business.
• Yield management: setting the prices of airline seats and hotel rooms to reflect changing demand and the risk of no shows.
• Credit scoring: deciding which customers offer the best prospects for credit companies.
• Marketing: evaluating the value of sale promotions, developing customer profiles and computing the life-time value of a customer.
• Defence and peace keeping: finding ways to deploy troops rapidly.
• Some OR methods and techniques
• Computer simulation: allowing you to try out approaches and test ideas for improvement.
• Optimization: narrowing your choices to the very best when there are so many feasible options that comparing them one by one is difficult.
• Probability and statistics: helping you measure risk, mine data to find valuable connections and insights in business analytics, test conclusions, and make reliable forecasts.
• Problem structuring: helpful when complex decisions are needed in situations with many stakeholders and competing interests.

INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING- TIES TO THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (Part two)

It is widely recognized that the occupational discipline that has contributed the most to the development of modern society is engineering, through its various segments of focus. Engineers design and build the infrastructure that sustains the society. This includes roads, residential and commercial buildings, bridges, canals, tunnels, communication systems, healthcare facilities, schools, habitats, transportation systems, and factories. The Industrial Engineering process of systems integration facilitates the success of these infrastructures. In this sense, the scope of Industrial and Systems Engineering spans all the levels of activity, task, job, project, program, process, system, enterprise, and society.

It is essential to recognize the alliance between industry and Industrial Engineering as the core basis for the profession. The profession has branched off on too many different tangents over the years. Hence, it has witnessed the emergence of Industrial Engineering professionals who claim sole allegiance to some narrow line of practice, focus, or specialization rather than the core profession itself. Industry is the original basis of Industrial Engineering and it should be preserved as the core focus. This should be supported by the different areas of specialization. While it is essential that we extend the scope of Industrial Engineering to other domains, it should be realized that over-divergence of practice will not sustain the profession. A fragmented profession cannot survive for long. The incorporation of systems can help to bind everything together.

INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING - TIES TO THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (Part one)

Industrial engineering has a proud heritage with a link that can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution. Although the practice of Industrial Engineering has been in existence for centuries, the work of Frederick Taylor in the early 20^th century was the first emergence of the profession. It has been referred to with different names and connotations. Scientific management was one of the original names used to describe what industrial engineers do.

Industry, the root of the profession’s name, clearly explains what the profession is about. The dictionary defines industry generally as the ability to produce and deliver goods and services. The industry in Industrial Engineering can be viewed as the application of skills and cleverness to achieve work objectives. This relates to how human effort is harnessed innovatively to carry out work. Thus, any activity can be defined as industry if it generates a product, be it service or physical product. A systems view of Industrial Engineering encompasses all the details and aspects necessary for applying skills and accuracy to produce work efficiently. Hence the academic curriculum of Industrial Engineering must change, evolve, and adapt to the changing systems environment of the profession.

Systems engineering involves a recognition, appreciation, and integration of all aspects of an organization or a facility. A system is defined as a collection of interrelated elements working together in synergy to produce a composite output that is greater than the sum of the individual outputs of the components. A system view of a process facilitates a comprehensive inclusion of all the factors involved in the process. Systems engineering is the application of a multi-faceted problem through a systematic collection and integration of parts of the problem with respect to the lifecycle of the problem. It is the branch of engineering concerned with the development, implementation, and use of large or complex systems.

It focuses on specific goals of a system considering the specifications, prevailing constraints, expected services, possible behaviours, and structure of the system. It also involves a consideration of the activities required to assure that the system’s performance matches the stated goals. Systems engineering addresses the integration of tools, people, and processes required to achieve a cost-effective and timely operation of the system.

WHAT IS INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING?

Industrial engineering can be described as the practical application of combination of engineering fields, together with the principles of scientific management. It is the engineering of work processes and the application of engineering methods, practices, and knowledge to production and service enterprises. Industrial engineering places a strong emphasis on an understanding of workers and their needs in order to increase and improve production and service activities. Industrial engineering activities and techniques include the following:

• Designing jobs (determining the most economic way to perform work).
• Setting performance standards and benchmarks for quality, quantity, and cost.
• Designing and installing facilities.

An important aspect of industrial engineering is its concern with the human element in industrial processes. The classical industrial engineering of the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries emphasized time studies, work sampling, methods engineering, costing methods, and employee incentives to make human interaction with industrial processes cost effective and reliable. Modern industrial engineering, in addition to the classical methods, deals with mathematical process modelling, management science methods, automation, and robotics. The use of advanced mathematical methods has become possible with the advent of computers.

Mathematical process modelling allows the consideration of all available information on a process and the prediction of outcomes for given inputs and process parameters. The work of industrial engineers is varied and ranges from practical aspects of data gathering and analysis to the use of advanced mathematical methods of process simulation and optimization, as firms seek to reduce costs and increase productivity. Industrial engineers are in demand in all industries, ranging from manufacturing to service enterprises.

ORIGINS OF INDUSTRIAL AND SYSTEMS ENGINEERING (Part two)

Some of the major functions of industrial engineers involve the following:

• Designing integrated systems of people, technology, process, and methods.
• Developing performance modelling, measurement, and evaluation for systems.
• Developing and maintaining quality standards for industry and business.
• Applying production principles to pursue improvements in service organizations.
• Incorporating technology effectively into work processes.
• Developing cost mitigation, avoidance, or containment strategies.
• Improving overall productivity of integrated systems of people, materials, and processes.
• Recognizing and incorporate factors affecting performance of a composite system.
• Planning, organizing, scheduling, and controlling production and service projects.
• Organizing teams to improve efficiency and effectiveness of and organization.
• Installing technology to facilitate work flow.
• Enhancing information flow to facilitate smooth operations of systems.
• Coordinating materials and equipment for effective systems performance.

Industrial engineering thrives on systems perspectives just as systems thrive on Industrial Engineering approaches. One cannot treat topics of Industrial Engineering without recognizing systems perspectives and vice versa. A generic definition of Industrial Engineering, adopted by the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) states:

“Industrial Engineer – One who is concerned with the design, installation, and improvement of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment, and energy by drawing upon specialized knowledge and skills in the mathematical, physical, and social sciences, together with the principles and methods of engineering analysis and design to specify, predict, and evaluate the results to be obtained from such systems”.

The above definition embodies the various aspects of what an industrial engineer does. Although some practitioners find the definition to be too convoluted, it nonetheless describes an industrial engineer. As can be seen, the profession is very versatile, flexible, and diverse. It can also be seen from the definition that a systems orientation permeates the work of industrial engineers.

WHAT IS METHODS ENGINEERING?

A technique used by progressive management to improve productivity and reduce costs in both direct and indirect operations of manufacturing and non-manufacturing business organizations. Methods engineering is applicable in any enterprise wherever human effort is required. It can be defined as the systematic procedure for subjecting all direct and indirect operations to close scrutiny in order to introduce improvements that will make work easier to perform and will allow work to be done smoother in less time, and with less energy, effort, and fatigue, with less investment per unit. The ultimate objective of methods engineering is profit improvement. See also Operations research; Productivity.

Methods engineering includes five activities: planning, methods study, standardization, work measurement, and controls. Methods engineering, through planning, first identifies the amount of time that should be spent on a project so as to get as much of the potential savings as is practical. Invariably the most profitable jobs to study are those with the most repetition, the highest labor content (human work as distinguished from mechanical or process work), the highest labor cost, or the longest life-span. Next, through methods study, methods are improved by observing what is currently being done and then by developing better ways of doing it. The standardization phase includes the training of the operator to follow the standard method. Then the number of standard hours in which operators working with standard performances can do their job is determined by measurement. Finally, the established method is periodically audited, and various management controls are adjusted with the new time data. The system may include a plan for compensating labor that encourages attaining or surpassing a standard performance.

• Doctors make people well
• Electrical engineers work with electricity
• Teachers teach
• Civil engineers build roads and bridges
• Firemen put out fires

Here's the best suggestion Institute of Industrial Engineers has heard:

People always ask "What is Industrial Engineering?" And to that question there is no real reply, we are found everywhere, doing everything. Industrial Engineering is about "process engineering" rather than "product engineering" which gives up a difficult job description. The best answer is the simplest one... Industrial Engineers make systems productive.

• Operations Research/Optimization Techniques
• Operations Management
• Supply Chain Mgmt & Logistics
• Simulation & Stochastic Models
• Manufacturing Systems
• Engineering Economics
• Corporate Planning
• Human Factors Engineering/Ergonomics
• Productivity Improvement
• Production Planning and Control
• Computer Aided Manufacturing
• Material Management
• Facilities Design and/or Work Space Design
• Statistical process control Statistical Process Control or Quality Control
• Time and Motion Study

• Systems Simulation
• Operations Research and/or Optimization
• Combinatorial Mathematics
• Engineering Economy
• Engineering Administration/Management
• Human Factors or Ergonomics
• Time and Motion study
• Manufacturing Engineering
• Production Planning and Control
• Computer Aided Manufacturing
• Packaging engineering
• Facilities Design and/or Work Space Design
• Logistics and/or Supply Chain Management
• Statistical Process Control or Quality Control
• Stochastic Systems
• Discrete Event Simulation
• Linear Programming
• Non-Linear Programming
• Queuing Theory
• Probability
• Organizational Behavior
• Statistics

The first doctoral degree in industrial engineering was awarded in the 1930s by Cornell University.