ABSTRACT

Industrial Engineering (IE) and computer/network technologies are intertwined in many ways, but usually in the direction of applying computer/network technologies to help solve IE problems. These applications cover a wide range, from design, operation, quality, reliability, user interface, and system needs to other aspects of traditional IE systems, such as those in the manufacturing and service industries. For example, computers and artificial intelligence techniques such as genetic algorithms have been employed as tools to solve optimization problems. Computer databases have been used to manage product, manufacturing, inventory, and enterprise data. Computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) have helped and enhanced product design and manufacturing processes. Networking technologies have facilitated information sharing and integration for collaborative and global enterprise systems. Webbased technologies have enabled marketing and sales via e-commerce. Computer-aided media (e.g., touch and hearing devices) have improved human access to information (especially for people with disabilities in seeing and hearing) and operator performance. In the context of taking computer/network technologies to IE, we use computer/network technologies as tools to assist us in carrying out intensive computation for solutions to optimization problems, information storage and access, data analysis and modeling, and so on.