Industrial Engineering Roles In the Electronics Industry

1. Industrial Engineering Roles In the Electronics Industry Marvin Love Jerome Lofton IIE-IAB, September 2006

2. What Do IEs Do? • Industrial Engineers are involved in various industrial roles including but not limited to the following: • Quality • Manufacturing • Supply Chain Management • Ergonomics • Production and Distribution • Program Management

3. Quality • Resolve quality-related issues in all aspects of the business. • Work with the Product Realization Team to optimize the produceability of new products during the design phase. • Work with Production Team or Outsource Manufacturers to ensure product quality is maintained during the production phase. • Audit company processes and procedures to ensure that they are being followed. • Coordinate and Facilitate 3rd Party Quality Audits. • Provide refresher training on procedures for company personnel, on Quality and Process-related issues. • Manage and resolve issues with incoming material through the Receiving process.

4. Manufacturing & Production • Participate in design reviews to ensure manufacturability of the product. • Determine methods for building product. • Create documentation and work instructions for production. • Manage resources and maintain schedule requirements to meet required ship dates. • Process Optimization utilizing Simulation tools (Arena, etc.). • Facilitate and Lead 5S, Six Sigma, Lean, Value Stream Mapping Projects.

5. Supply Chain Management • Manage Supplier relationships. • Managing and report on company Supplier Cost / Performance Indices to management. • Audit Suppliers and ensure supplier processes and procedures are being followed. • Travel to suppliers to resolve issues. • Coordinate first article Inspections. • Work with Outsource Manufacturers to ensure product quality, delivery and cost, is maintained.

6. Ergonomics • Ensure Human Factors Engineering is utilized in New Product Design. • Ensure Human Factors Engineering disciplines are utilized in production setup and configuration. • Ensure company Ergonomics policies are defined to minimize causes of employee injury and discomfort.

7. Distribution • Process Optimization utilizing Simulation tools (Arena, etc.). • Facilitate and Lead 5S, Six Sigma, Lean, Value Stream Mapping Projects. • Manages distribution personnel and they’re doing their job well. • Develop methods and procedures for distribution activity. • Create documentation and work instructions for distribution. • Manage resources and maintain schedule requirements to meet required ship dates.

8. Program Management • Develop proposals for new programs. • Manage Product Realization team to ensure program stays on schedule, on budget, and meets performance expectations. • Coordinates a matrixed team of company-wide resources to ensure accomplishment of the above.

9. Counter-Point • As Electronic Industry Companies become more decentralized and they outsource more of their “Operations-oriented” functions, there appears to be a decline in interest for the value-add of Industrial Engineering or Engineering in general, as an essential role in the remaining business functions. • This trend warrants serious investigation given its potential impact on the profession.