工业工程专业英语教材.docx
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工业工程专业英语教材.docx
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工业工程专业英语教材
工业工程专业英语
机电工程学院
刘峥
Lesson1RealIEValue
Industrialengineersaregreatatsolvingproblems.Ironicallyenough,thereisstilloneage-oldproblemtheyareunabletosolve-identity.Andtheproblemisnotgettinganyeasiertosolve.Infact,“identity”isjustoneofseveralchallengescurrentlyfacingtheIEprofession.
Today’scompetitiveglobaleconomyandtightercorporatebudgetsareforcingIEstodealwithissuesthatwerebarelymentionedadecadeago.Companiesareflatteningcorporatestructures;IEdepartmentsarebeingeliminatedorrenamed;anduniversitiesandcollegesareunderevengreaterpressuretoprovideindustrywithgraduateswhoarebettertrainedtohandleamuchwidervarietyofjobresponsibilities.
Ontheotherhand,today’sIEhasathisorherdisposalmoretechnologyandtoolsthantheIEof30yearsagocouldhaveeverimagined.NewtechnologieshaveimprovedaccuracyandspeedandgenerallyhaveincreasedtheIEs’abilitytocoveramorediversesetofinterests.
Inaddition,theIEnowhasagreateropportunitytoconcentrateonanyoneofabroadvarietyofareasthatmanycompaniesnowrecognizeasindividualdepartments-includingsimulation,operationsresearch,ergonomics,materialhandlingandlogistics.
Thenamegame
Whatproblemscouldpossiblythrowashadowonsuchabrightarrayofopportunities?
Forstarters,asnewopportunitieshavedevelopedfor.theIE,newquestionshaveformedaboutwhattypesofjobstheindustrialengineerisqualifiedtoperform.
Atonetime,itwaseasiertodefinewhatanIEdid.“Industrialengineeringwassimpleinthosedayswhenwedealtwithmethods,workstandardsandworksimplification,”saysCarlosCherubin,directorofengineeringforTheLimitedCo.“Buttherehastobesomewaytogetpasttheoldindustrialengineeringdefinition.”
Eventoday,inmanycompanies,IEsarestillperformingthetraditionaltypeofworkthatmakesupwhatisnowconsideredclassicalIE.“Thebigchangeisthatthecommercializationofalotoftheseareashasturnedtheminto‘nichethrusts,’”saysJohnPowers,directorofthemanagementservicesdepartmentatEastmanKodakCo.WhileIEshavealwaysbeenveryadaptabletothese“thrusts”asaskillset,hesays,theyarenowcompetingfortheheadlines.
SaysJerryZollenberg,directorofIEforUnitedParcelService,“Ifapersonlosessightofthetotaljobandstartslookingattheindividualpieces,itoomesoutalittlehairy.”Forexample,Zollenbergsaysthathehasanoperationsresearch(OR)groupof40to50individualswhoareworkingonthecuttingedgeofcomputertechnology.AtonetimethesepeopleweredesignatedasIEs.ButZollenbergsaysthateventhoughtheyarenotcalledIEs,thejobtheyaredoingiscertainlyIE-orientedandcouldbeIE,dependingonhowyousetuptheorganization.
Likeitornot,thetrendtodayisspecialization,andcompaniesarefollowingsuit.Tougheconomictimesareforcingmanycompaniestoredefinecorporatestructures,withaprimarygoalofflatteningtheirorganizationinanattempttocutcostsandspeedthedecision-makingprocess.InthecaseoftheIEdepartment,thattrendhasmoveddepartmentalnamesfromthegeneric“IE”tospecificfunctionsorareasthatarebeingperformed.FormerIEdepartmentshavebeendecentralizedorrenamedandarenowdescribedusingsuchtermsasQualityImprovementEngineering,ManagementServicesorEngineeringServices,justtonameafew.
“WhatIseeiscompaniesgettingawayfromtheIEnameandtryingtohavenamesthataremoredescriptiveofthebroadersetofskills,”saysPowers.
Formany,includingRebeccaRay,IEmanageratGlaxoInc.,itisastepintherightdirection.HerdepartmentwillsooncarrythetitlePerformanceImprovementEngineering.“IEisprobablytheonlyengineeringprofessionthatinsistsonwearingitsdegreeonitsdepartmentaldoor,”shesays.“Wehavefocusedtoomuchonmaintainingourdegree,insteadofidentifyingourfunctionwithinourcompany.”
Dr.VinodSahney,corporatevicepresidentatHenryFordHealthSystemsagrees.“OneofourbiggestdifficultiesisweequateindustrialengineeringwithanIEdepartment,”hesays,“Ihaveneverseenamechanicalengineeringdepartment,butyettheyarehiredandgetawide-rangeofjobs.”
TonyVieth,IEmanageratBoeingGeorgiaInc.,believesthattheindividualpersons,dependingonhowtheyaretrained,canbringtherightskillstotherightjobandtheydonotneedtobeinadepartmentcalledindustrialengineering.HealsothinksIEshavegottenhunguponthatovertheyears.Ontheotherhand,thedecentralizedtypeofenvironmentappearsmorethreateningtoothers.“IfweassumethatdecentralizationwillcontinuetothepointoftransferringIEresponsibilitiestoothers,asseenintheVolvoorganization,wewillseeaprofoundimpactupontheprofession,namelyunemployment,”predictsDonaldBarnesofBarnesManagementTrainingServices.
But,acentralizedIEdepartmentdoesnotguaranteeemploymentfortheindustrialengineer.Manylargecompanieshave“IE”departmentswhereonlyahandfulofindustrialengineerscanbefound.AnexampleisBoeing.BoeinghassomeverylargeIEdepartments,butoftenlessthantwoorthreepeoplewithinthedepartmenthaveIEdegrees.AccordingtoVieth,itisbecausesomeofthefunctionswithinthedepartmentaresodiverse.
ProblemsassociatedwithrenamingIEdepartmentstodescribetheirparticularfunctionmayhavemoretodowithappearancethanwiththeactualjobbeingperformed.WhileIEsactuallyperformmanyofthespecializedjobs,littlecreditisgiventoIEprinciplesusedintheapproach.Infact,itoftenturnsoutthatmanyoftheindividualfunctionsandskillsusedbyIEsareviewedbymanagementasindustrialengineering.Asaresult,individualswhocanmasteroneofthoseskillsaremistakenlyreferredtobymanagementas“industrialengineers.”
Yet,thosewhounderstandtherealvalueofindustrialengineeringstillrealizethatthedegreedIEbringstothejobauniquewayofthinking.
“Therearethingsyoucanteachnon-degreedpeoplethatarebasicrepetitivetasks,”saysVieth.“Butwhatyoucan’tteachishowtotakewhatyousee,translateit,andrecognizethereisaproblem,andthencomeupwithasolutiontothatproblem.”
ErinWallace,directorofIEatWaltDisneyWorldCo.,wouldnothireanyonewhowasnotadegreedIE.“Iinsistonit,”shesays.“Whenyou’vegotagroupofpeoplewhoaredistinctlyIEs,theycarrywiththemwhatweliketorefertoasdistinctcompetencies.ThosedistinctcompetenciesforanIEatWaltDisneyWorldincludetheirabilitytodoquantitativeanalysis.YouneedanIEdegreetobeabletodothattypeofwork.”
WallacesaysthatwhensomeonehiresIEtechnology-typemajors,theydonotgetsomeoftherudimentaryproblemsolvingskillsacquiredfromtakingengineeringcourses.
Expectations
Whatindustryleadersdoexpect,however,arestudentswhohavetheabilitytooperateintheenvironmentinwhichtheyareplaced.Theseareaswherethereappearstobeadeficiencyincludeinterpersonalskills,knowledgeofcomputers,nontechnical/businessskills,qualitymanagementskills,andanappreciationfortheplantfloor.Dependinguponwhatindustrythenewgraduateisplaced,theneedforcertainskillswillvary.
Wallace,whoworksforaservice-orientedcompany(WaltDisneyWorld),thinkstoday’sstudentsarewell-trainedinmostareas,withtheexceptionofcomputerskills.Shesaysshestillseesalotofstudentswhocomeoutofschoolwithoutverygoodcomputerskills.“Nowadays,thatshouldbeaprerequisite.”
Inthemanufacturingsector,JackBroadway,directorofcorporateIEforReynoldsMetals,believestoday’sstudentsareprobablybettereducatedthaninthepast,buttheyhavesomemisconceptionsaboutthetypesofjobstheywillperform.“Alotof(students)comingouttoday1anttositbehindacomputerandtheythinkthatistheirjob.Well,acomputerisjustanothertool.It’sjustsomethingyouusetodothejobandthenyougoonanddosomethingelse,”hesays.Hesuggeststhaton-the-jobtrainingwhileinschoolmaybeoneofthebestwaystopreparestudents.
Onthehealthcareside,Sahney(HenryFordHealthSystems)thinksthatingeneralterms,schoolsareprovidingproperlytrainedstudents,buttheyoftenarenotgiventheopportunitytobecomewell-roundedinotherareas.Becausewhathesaysistheprofession’s“rootsofaccreditation,”thecurriculumistootightlycontrolled.Hedoesnotthinkindividualinstitutionshaveenoughvariety.Inotherwords,hesays,“theelectivesareverylimitedbythetimealloftherequiredcoursesarefinished.”Thisproblemisoftenexhibitedasalackofwritingandpresentationskillsinmanyofthenewgraduates.
MostIEseventuallymustselltheirideasandplanstomanagement,whichoftenrequiresaboveaveragecommunicationskills.FormanyIEgraduates,thisisatoughchallenge.RussellCartmill,IEdirectorattheCoca-ColaCo.,saysheisfrequentlyconfrontedwithhiringrecentgraduateswholackbasiccommunicationskills.HesaysCoca-Colaendsuphavingtoteachpeoplethingsoncetheygetintheareasofpublicspeakingandreportwriting,“someofthebasicthingsthatyoureallyneedtohaveinindustryinordertomakeagoodpresentation.”
Onewayschoolsarecombatingthisproblem,whichisalsoaproblemwithstudentsinotherengineeringdisciplines,issemester-longundergraduateandgraduate-levelcoursesdirectedatfamiliarizingengineeringstudentsfromalldisciplineswiththenon-technicalaspectsofengineering.Thesecoursesfocusontopicssuchasfinancialmanagement,projectmanagement,businessplanningandbusinessdevelopment.
Otherschoolshaveevengoneas
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