History of Industrial Engineering

Industrial engineering is a branch of engineering which deals with the optimization of complex processes or systems.Industrial engineers work to eliminate waste of time, money, materials, man-hours, machine time, energy and other resources that do not generate value. According to the Institute of Industrial Engineers, they figure out how to do things better. They engineer processes and systems that improve quality and productivity.

Industrial engineers are the only engineering professionals trained specifically to be productivity and quality improvement specialists. As they work to improve processes on a technical point of view, but also to optimize the efficiency and profitability of businesses, many practitioners say that an industrial engineering education offers the best of both worlds: an education in both engineering and business. According to the Georgia Institute of Technology, nearly one in ten of its industrial engineer graduates rise to the top of their respective organizations in positions such as CEOs, presidents or CFOs.

Frederick Taylor is generally credited as being the father of the Industrial Engineering discipline. He earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Steven's University, and earned several patents from his inventions. His books, Shop Management and The Principles of Scientific management which were published in the early 1900s, were the beginning of Industrial Engineering. Improvements in work efficiency under his methods was based on improving work methods, developing of work standards, and reduction in time required to carry out the work. With an abiding faith in the scientific method, Taylor's contribution to "Time Study" sought a high level of precision and predictability for manual tasks.

Frank Gilbreth and Lilian Gilbreth were the other cornerstone of the Industrial Engineering movement. They categorized the elements of human motion into 18 basic elements called therbligs. This development permitted analysts to design jobs without knowledge of the time required to do a job. These developments were the beginning of a much broader field known as human factors or ergonomics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_engineering#History