Industrial Engineering Handbook · Volume 1

Author: Sharveny S. Shalevner
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-10-01
Features: In 2001, Professor Sharveny S. Shalevner, a Fellow of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, a professor at Purdue University, and a renowned scholar in the field of industrial engineering, came to Tsinghua University to teach as a Distinguished Professor and Head of the Department of Industrial Engineering. At that time, he gave me a copy of the Industrial Engineering Handbook he had edited. This handbook was published in 2001 and was already the 3rd edition. It not only summarized mature and classic industrial engineering achievements but also included numerous chapters reflecting the latest developments in industrial engineering internationally. It is a highly valuable reference manual. In 2002, during a conversation, Professor Shalevner told me, "With the rapid economic development of China, industrial engineering is bound to have a broad future. The handbook should be translated to let more Chinese readers understand and apply industrial engineering." This is a substantial handbook with 2,800 pages and covers a very wide range of topics. Inspired by Professor Shalevner's encouragement, I felt that the younger generation of industrial engineering scholars should take the older generation, such as Academician Wang Yingluo, as an example and contribute to the development of industrial engineering in China. That same year, I contacted several promising young industrial engineering scholars about the translation of this book and received an enthusiastic response, leading to the formation of a six-member team of chief translators. Industrial engineering originated from the work of Taylor and Gilbreth in the late 19th century: time and motion studies. After incorporating quantitative analytical methods such as operations research in the 1940s, it developed into an independent scientific discipline. Since the 1980s, the rapid development of computer and information technology has provided new opportunities for the modern advancement of industrial engineering. Over the past 100 years since its emergence, numerous industrial engineering scholars have made significant contributions to improving industrial efficiency and product and work quality. The famous management Peter Drucker said, "The 20th century saw major achievements in industry, with the greatest contribution to management technology coming from scientific management (industrial engineering), an idea created by Americans, accepted worldwide, and with a profound impact. Whenever it is applied, productivity increases, and while reducing workers' workload, their income rises. It has already increased labor productivity by over a hundred times." The most successful application of industrial engineering is in manufacturing, whether it's Ford's assembly line, Toyota's lean production model, Deming's total quality management, or Hammer's business process reengineering—none of these rely heavily on the principles and methods of industrial engineering. Today, the applications of industrial engineering have greatly expanded, with its presence seen in more and more fields such as transportation, logistics, hospitals, banks, and others. Industrial engineering has only a brief history of over 20 years in China, but it has developed rapidly in recent years and has even led in some areas. For example, the chapter on computer-integrated manufacturing in the handbook was written by Academician Wu Cheng. As a scholar and teacher, I deeply feel the urgent need in the industry for industrial engineering talent and research results. Industrial engineering is an engineering discipline aimed at improving production efficiency and economic benefits. It primarily studies systems composed of people, materials, equipment, energy, and information. By comprehensively applying knowledge from natural sciences, social sciences, engineering, and management, it effectively designs, plans, and improves these systems to achieve the goal of continuously reducing production costs, ensuring quality, and enhancing production efficiency and economic benefits. China advocates scientific development and aims to achieve "a new path of industrialization with high technological content, good economic benefits, low resource consumption, minimal environmental pollution, and full utilization of human resources." In this process, improving "efficiency" has become a must for enterprises. Only by effectively utilizing resources and increasing productivity can enterprise benefits rise, and the actual income of employees and enterprises grow. Currently, low labor costs are a major competitive advantage for Chinese manufacturing, but only by continuously improving efficiency and making high efficiency a competitive advantage can Chinese manufacturing gain core competitiveness. Another key to emerging industrialization is "system optimization." Globalization has expanded the scope of systems; from the combination of resources within enterprises to the energy/mineral resources of nations, more effective resource utilization is undoubtedly the key for both enterprises and economic development to shift from extensive to intensive models. Effectively optimizing systems is both a key and a challenge for emerging industrialization. Emerging industrialization also requires a "human-centered" approach. Being human-centered is a fundamental feature of emerging industrialization and also the ultimate goal of human social development. Industrial engineering is precisely the key to solving these critical issues. It studies engineering methods for improving industrial production efficiency from a systems and human-centered perspective; emphasizes a work environment with three levels of safety, efficiency, and enjoyment; and drives the progress of social productivity through three perspectives: "efficiency technology," "operations and systems technology," and "human-centered technology." In the economic development history of Western countries, industrial engineering has played a very important role. With the development of China's market economy system and various social undertakings, industrial engineering technology has also been widely applied to solve problems in production and operations. This book was written against this backdrop, aiming to provide a comprehensive and systematic reference and guidance for the research and application of industrial engineering. This book consists of 102 chapters, comprehensively and systematically explaining the various fields and knowledge methods involved in industrial engineering. Compared to the previous two editions, in addition to adding new developments and methods in various research directions, it also includes discussions on supply chain management and service systems. Each chapter of the book has been carefully reviewed by experts, and the content is contributed by 176 outstanding professionals from around the world who conduct research in industrial engineering or related fields, covering all aspects of industrial engineering. In addition to the six chief translators—Sun Linyan (Xi'an Jiaotong University), Jiang Zhibin (Shanghai Jiao Tong University), Li Congdong (Tianjin University), Ma Shihua (Huazhong University of Science and Technology), Yi Shuping (Chongqing University), and myself (Tsinghua University)—more than 40 experts and scholars from Tsinghua University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Tianjin University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and Chongqing University, as well as nearly 100 graduate students, participated in the translation, compilation, and review of this book over a period of three years. Here, I express my deep gratitude to all the contributors to this book. I also sincerely thank Ms. Zhang Qiuling, the editor of Tsinghua University Press, for her hard work in bringing this book to publication. Over the three years, many others have given us enthusiastic support, and I am sincerely grateful to them all. The diligent work of everyone has made this book possible today. It has been a challenging but highly meaningful endeavor. I am honored to have participated in this work alongside all of you, following the footsteps of the pioneers in the field of industrial engineering, and contributing my part to the development of industrial engineering in China. I sincerely hope this handbook will be helpful to the development of industrial engineering in China, as well as to scholars, students, and industry professionals engaged in research and application in the field of industrial engineering.