Historical development of industrial engineering

Industrial engineering (IE) is the branch of engineering concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of men, materials, equipment and energy. Its growth followed the growth of factories.

Early period

• Industrial Revolution (18th century): Machines and the factory system replaced craft production. Adam Smith described division of labour (1776) and Eli Whitney introduced interchangeable parts.
• Charles Babbage (1832): studied the economics of machinery and the division of work.

Scientific management

• F. W. Taylor (1856-1915): the "father of scientific management". He introduced time study, standard times, functional foremanship and the differential piece-rate system, and gave four principles: scientific method for each task, scientific selection and training of workers, cooperation between management and workers, and equal division of work and responsibility.
• Frank and Lillian Gilbreth: motion study, therbligs (basic motions) and the process chart.
• Henry L. Gantt: the Gantt chart for scheduling and a task-and-bonus wage system.
• Harrington Emerson: twelve principles of efficiency.

Administrative and mass production period

• Henri Fayol: five functions of management (planning, organising, commanding, coordinating, controlling) and fourteen principles of management.
• Henry Ford (1913): moving assembly line and standardisation.

Later developments

• Hawthorne studies (Elton Mayo, 1924-32): showed the importance of human and social factors.
• Shewhart, Deming, Juran: statistical quality control and later quality management.
• World War II: operations research, linear programming and simulation.
• After 1950: computers, MRP, JIT/Toyota production system, TQM, and today automation and information systems.