THE EVOLVING NATURE OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

(1)
Industrial engineering originated with the studies of Taylor, the Gilbreths, and other early pioneers of mass
production methods. Their work expanded into responsibilities that now include the development of work methods to
increase efficiency and eliminate worker fatigue; the redesign and standardization of manufacturing processes and
methods for handling and transporting materials; the development of production planning and control procedures;
and the determination and maintenance of output standards for workers and machines. Today the field is characterized by
an emphasis on mathematical and computer modeling.
(2)
In recent years industrial engineering has broadened significantly as a discipline, and the support it now
provides to production and manufacturing managers comes from staff specialists devoted not only for the field of
industrial engineering but also from operations research, management science, computer science, and information
systems. In the 1970s and 1980s industrial engineering became a more quantitative and computer-based profession,
and operations research techniques were adopted as the core of most industrial engineering academic curricula in
both the United States and Europe universities. The term industry covers all the businesses and factories that convert raw
materials into goods or that provide useful services.
(3)
The United States is the world's most industrialized and wealthy nation. The high living standards are the result
of American industry's productivity. Both the luxuries and necessities of life are mass produced and made available to the
American consumer in great numbers. Goods like automobiles and washing machines are considered to be necessities in
the United States; yet in many unindustrialized countries they are rare luxury goods that must be imported.
(4)
The Industrial Revolution replaced many human workers with machines. Inexpensive mass-produced goods
replaced expensive handmade goods. As a result, goods became less expensive and were available in greater quantities.
As industry became more productive, more and more goods were produced to be sold at lower prices.
Copyright 1994-1998 Encyclopaedia Britannica

II. NOUN GROUPS

Write the equivalent in Spanish of the phrases in English.
NOUN GROUPS

early pioneers of mass production methods.

the development of production planning and control

procedures

a more quantitative and computer-based profession,

and operations research techniques.

Inexpensive mass-produced goods

SPANISH MEANING