It is a new year - a new decade. 

The last decade - especially the last few years - was a difficult one for many of us.  In an important way you can impact the prosperity of your family, the country, even the world.  

An improved quality of life is the product Industrial Engineers produce. But how many practitioners keep this in the forefront of their mind and communicate it to others? Regardless of whether an organization is for-profit or non-profit, private sector of public sector, wherever people are employed in industrious activity Industrial Engineers can play a beneficial role. Yet how many decision makers know of the existence of Industrial Engineers and, if they do, know what Industrial Engineers are capable of?
 
Other professions have been careful to define their "Body of Knowledge" and to provide professional certification to those with proven expertise in that "Body of Knowledge." What is the Industrial Engineering "Body of Knowledge?" Can our profession reclaim capabilities that have been co-opted by MBAs, by IT specialists and others?  Why is it that in many organizations the role of "Change Agent" is within the realm of the MIS or Finance Departments?  Why are their so many related professional organizations (IIE, Informs, ASQ, SME, APECS, etc.) all struggling to attract the same people to their organizations and meetings?
 
Is this a case of the "cobbler's children have no shoes." Are we all so busy applying integrated "system thinking" to various processes that we have not taken the time to apply these principles to our own professions? How is it that a profession that seems to attract the most extroverted and communicative of engineers can be so invisible and little understood? More from John 

 

 

Rutgers Unversity(NJ)   Gain of 17 new members

 

Jan. 12 at 6 p.m.

Value Stream Mapping
Site: Air Techniques Inc.

Melville, N.Y.

RSVP by Jan. 2 to

Tom Fiorella or
(516) 214-5588