The industrial engineer : caught between two revolutions?
Date
1994
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
SAIIE
Abstract
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Industrial Engineer is caught between the Industrial Revolution and the
Information revolution. He is confronted with choosing between pragmatic
improvements in productivity and efficiency of a single operation or the
opportunistic modelling and reshaping of the networked "virtual enterprise" to
become more competitive in a global marketplace. The diagram below depicts the
different extremes of the Industrial Engineering timeline. This implies that the two
societies (Industrial and information) might have conflicting characteristics which
requires careful repositioning of the Industrial Engineer to ensure that the benefits that
can be obtained from the two societies are maximised. This paper documents the development of Industrial engineering, then evaluates the
nature of the much publicized Information revolution and its impact on society. In
order to establish the nature and composition of contemporary Industrial Engineering
in the 1990' s, an analysis and categorization of the literature in four journals for the
last two years are performed. This is enhanced with an INTERNET search into
Industrial Engineering Research and developments that are currently under
development.
From these results the similarities and differences of the two revolutions and the
characteristics of the two societies are compared. The authors then identify some
opportunities and some threats for the Industrial Engineer and concludes that a
combined approach is applicable and necessary. The Industrial Engineer can not
afford to ignore the key concepts of either of the two societies.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaar
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaar
Description
CITATION: Du Preez, N. & Pintelon, L. 1994. The industrial engineer : caught between two revolutions?. South African Journal of Industrial Engineering, 8(2): 1-24, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.7166/8-2-392.
The original publication is available at http://sajie.journals.ac.za
The original publication is available at http://sajie.journals.ac.za
Keywords
Industrial revolution, Efficiency engineers, Industrial engineers
Citation
Du Preez, N. & Pintelon, L. 1994. The industrial engineer : caught between two revolutions?. South African Journal of Industrial Engineering, 8(2): 1-24, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.7166/8-2-392