Industrial Engineering and Management

Industrial engineering (IZ), often also called Industrial Engineering & Management, or simply Engineering & Management, teaches students about the design, planning and optimization of production and manufacturing processes. It is a study that integrates methods and techniques from the engineering as well as management science. Industrial management, as a field of business administration, studies the structure and organization of industrial companies. It comprises those fields of business administration that are necessary for the success of companies within the manufacturing sector and the encompassing services (primarily operations management, marketing, and financial management). 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. Industrial Engineering and Management compiles revised and extended articles written by prominent researchers, Engineers, and Computer Scientists. It covers all aspects of industrial engineering and management science such as Production Logistics System, Industrial Design, Data Mining Technology and Application, Decision Support System and Models, Computer-aided Design and Intelligent Manufacturing, Human Reliability Analysis, Distributed Problem Solving, and application of a very wide range of management science and engineering technology. Present production and consumption patterns are causing serious environmental and human problems and cannot be sustained in a world with rising human aspirations. The challenges and opportunities for sustainable innovation are immense, and the time horizon is shrinking. Going green isn't just about saving the planet; it's about finding a dynamic equilibrium between human and natural systems, between saving the environment, making profit and enhancing all stakeholders' quality of life. Companies, designers and engineers can play an important role in this transition process towards a sustainable and smarter society with an improved 'quality of life'. This book seeks to contribute to the elucidation of, not only, industrial designers, but also of educational institutions, both domestic and international, about how important it is to follow the development of markets and technology. Design has proved an important tool in creating value through innovation.