Preface
According to me industrial engineering is redesign of a system to improve the efficiency. It means a designer of the system first designs it and makes it capable of delivering an expected or target or specified output. Industrial engineers take this proposed design and subject it to efficiency evaluations through their methods and improve its efficiency. The main methods used by them are rationalization, standardization, improvement and optimization.
Rationalization is examining every components of the system with applicable laws and principles and removing idiosyncracies. One can even say, rationalization process identifies more visible mistakes present in the proposed design that will improve efficiency. Standardization would mean that if any activity is being at multiple places within an organization, the best method is identified and at all other places that method is used instead of lesser efficient methods. Improvement is an ongoing search for better solutions. Optimization is changing the parameters of components of a system in response to an improvement in any component. There are many opportunities for optimizing the systems by understanding interactions between various activities. Any improvement in one activity would call for reoptimization.
In this subject of manufacturing system design, the issues related to the act of original design of manufacturing systems will be detailed. Manufacturing system includes products which are to be manufactured, a location (land), factory building, machines, layout, power sources, fuels, raw materials, storage facilities, manufacturing technology, operators, supervisors, managers, clerical staff, administrative staff, security staff, transport vehicles and equipment, utilities like steam, water, compressed air, inspection procedures, etc. A manufacturing system design involves design or plan for each of the above mentioned components. The system design process has to describe how a designer develops requirements and converts the requirement into a designed facility or procedure.
