44 ISE Magazine | www.iise.org/ISEmagazine

Always a better way:

The staying power of an ISE career

Full impact of industrial and systems engineers often misunderstood, overlooked

By Casey R. Spansel

September 2019 | ISE Magazine 45

Industrial and systems engineering is founded on the idea

that there is always a better way, a mantra that rings true

in all aspects of life. This article demonstrates the unique-

ness of this discipline and the impact and breadth of its

applications.

What is it that makes businesses tick these days? Is it

innovation? Brutal efﬁciency? Unparalleled quality? Elevated

customer service? It most likely is all of these. Is it possible to

achieve all of these things without sacriﬁcing one for the other?

Arguably. But who possesses the tools to make this a reality?

These questions, at ﬁrst glance, may seem rhetorical, but

there are people who are specially trained in these areas: In-

dustrial and systems engineers.

ISE remains a misunderstood and overlooked discipline not

only in the realm of engineering but also in the business world.

Its roots date as far back as the Industrial Revolution, a time

that marked the beginning of mass production in factories. It

was then that pioneers Frederick Taylor and Frank and Lillian

Gilbreth revolutionized time and motion studies, the back-

bone of the ISE discipline. ISE is not new to the game, nor

its applications and techniques. Given this information, why

is it that, during a time when these skills are most coveted by

companies, ISEs still remain in the shadows of other engineer-

ing disciplines?

As an industrial and systems engineer, allow me to intro-

duce some facts into this argument that include the business

impact of ISEs, their staying power even with the dawn of In-

dustry 4.0 and the unique skill set that separates us from other

engineers and business majors.

ISE: Individual, salient, enduring

These three words are what I believe encompass the attributes

of an industrial and systems engineer:

• Individual: having striking or unusual characteristics

• Salient: most noticeable or important

• Enduring: continuing or long-lasting

Individual. An exploration of these characteristics begins

at the academic level in a comparison of undergraduate studies

of industrial engineers, mechanical engineers and civil engi-

neers at Louisiana State University. Figure 1 (Page 46) displays

the contrast between these disciplines. While core classes re-

main in line with each other, industrial engineering drastically

shifts away from mechanical and civil engineering once the

student reaches the ﬁfth semester of studies. The ISE curricu-

lum arguably constitutes more of a business case and contains

more of what businesses are moving toward in this day and

age: basic and advanced statistics, lean manufacturing, quality

control and Six Sigma and supply chain.

While ISEs share a similar skill set as other engineering dis-

ciplines, such as problem-solving and critical thinking, what

makes industrial engineering unique is where its focus lies: op-

timization. In “What It Takes To Be a World Class Engineer,”

Brian Sage states that optimization is linked to a company’s

ﬁnancial strength because of resource allocation and the ability

to streamline processes and reduce costs.

It should be noted that this is not just limited to manufactur-

ing; it’s something all businesses strive to accomplish within

their organization, and thus inherently diverse in its applica-

tion. Companies can beneﬁt from this application of knowl-

edge to one’s business, and the results from these improve-

ments are visible through a number of different performance

46 ISE Magazine | www.iise.org/ISEmagazine

Always a better way: The staying power of an ISE career

indicators, in addition to monetary gains.

Salient. ISEs are taught the skills needed to look at an or-

ganization in a broader sense and are equipped with a crucial

mix of business and technical skills. Businesses require engi-

neers to solve not only engineering problems but customer,

organizational and stakeholder problems. Adding organiza-

tional context and business context helps broaden engineers’

problem-solving skills and allows them to make critical busi-

ness decisions.

This ﬁeld of study also has a large impact on business be-

cause one needs to look at a much larger picture than that of

other engineering disciplines. Eliyahu Goldratt points out in

The Goal that when applying a methodology such as Theory

of Constraints, one must view how increasing throughput on

one bottleneck affects other processes involved, and what oth-

er bottlenecks may be produced as a result. He goes on to state

that one must look at the monetary implications of making

these changes; information about costs and production prog-

ress should also not only be fed back to the bottlenecks, but

also as a way to foresee and avoid problems.

In other words, to be an effective industrial engineer, one

must not only create solutions, but also view possible outcomes

of how the solutions affect the entire system.

Enduring. Manufacturing, in addition to other industries,

is moving toward high-tech automation of processes and tasks.

Where do ISEs ﬁt into the world

of automation and how can process

improvement methods be applied

to something automated when

there are few or no people working

on tasks within a manufacturing

facility or business?

Many in manufacturing indus-

tries no doubt have indulged in

fantasies of a fully automated facil-

ity where robots of all shapes and

sizes do jobs for which they were

programmed, from manufacturing

to quality control, assembling and

shipping ﬁnished goods. While this

may be a novel concept, execution

and maintenance of such a high-

tech system proves to be a pains-

taking process. Not even Toyota

Production Systems, a company

well-known for operational excel-

lence, is immune to the problems

that arise from automating too

much too fast.

Not to condemn those who

dream of a fully automated facility,

but there is one important factor

missing from these misguided fantasies of automation: people.

This is where the enduring part comes into play for ISEs in

that people are still a critical component in automated systems.

In an August 2018 ISE article titled “Don’t Count Humans

Out,” (link.iise.org/ISEAugust2018_Liker) Jeffrey K. Liker

pointed out that not only are people needed to integrate ro-

bots into operations in a way that is ﬁscally responsible, they

are also needed to identify and eliminate waste in the same

manner, whether it is applied to people or robots/machines.

Using industrial and systems engineering methodologies aids

in making these decisions by keeping companies from losing

ﬂexibility and taking on high ﬁxed costs that are too difﬁcult

to meet.

Bridging the gap

I began my studies at Louisiana State University in mechanical

engineering, aspiring to design and create something that will

change the world, like so many others. Those dreams were

brought to a screeching halt when I reached thermodynamics

class, when I realized this discipline was not for me.

Soon afterward, a friend from mechanical engineering told

me she was switching to an industrial engineering major at

the start of next semester and convinced me to look into it.

After that encounter, and by doing due diligence and research,

I decided to switch majors that following semester and never

FIGURE 1

Undergraduate studies comparison

This table compares the undergraduate core curriculum of industrial, mechanical and civil

engineering at Louisiana State University. While there are similarities between all three

disciplines, the industrial engineering course of study differs greatly from that of both mechanical

and civil engineering.

September 2019 | ISE Magazine 47

looked back.

What I didn’t know at the time was my journey started out

like many others in industrial engineering whom I have met.

For example, while conducting interviews for a summer in-

ternship position at my company, one question I ask candidates

is “How did you hear about or end up in industrial and sys-

tems engineering?” Out of the 10 students interviewed, eight

started out in a different ﬁeld of study before switching majors

to industrial and systems engineering, and most had not even

heard of ISE beforehand.

There are too many instances of this for it to be coinciden-

tal, leading me to believe that outreach for industrial engineers

in Louisiana and possibly other areas is virtually nonexistent.

This can be attributed to a multitude of reasons, one of which

is due to most contributions and deliverables of ISEs being in-

tangible, unlike engines, rockets, bridges, apps or the other

things engineers build and design. This also makes the subject

matter difﬁcult in trying to intrigue and engage a younger au-

dience. While it may be beneﬁcial to speak to businesses about

how ISEs can improve their bottom line, that isn’t necessarily

what a teenager dreams of doing. There are fewer of us than

most disciplines, making the time-consuming job of outreach

and raising awareness for the discipline more difﬁcult.

Another issue ISEs face is being pigeonholed to manufac-

turing. Perhaps this view stems from its initial applications

during the Industrial Revolution, making it difﬁcult to part

ways with the industry where it began. I would venture to say

most employers see the word “industrial” and believe an ISE’s

skills and knowledge are limited to traditional manufacturing.

As stated above, this is a common misconception. However,

industrial and systems engineering continues to gain attention

outside of manufacturing in ﬁelds such as healthcare and gov-

ernment agencies, showcasing the breadth of the discipline’s

applications.

With all of this in mind, how do we ensure the future of

industrial and systems engineering remains intact? Start with

the age old question of “What came ﬁrst, the chicken or the

egg?” Or in this case, which came ﬁrst: job availability, small

enrollment numbers in universities or little to no outreach?

The root cause of the problem lies in outreach and aware-

ness of young adults, college-aged students and professionals. I

earlier discussed outreach for young adults and at the univer-

sity level, but it is also worth noting the paramount importance

of increasing awareness in the professional world. Doing so

will open new avenues, create more jobs and increase demand

for the discipline. This, in turn, will increase enrollment num-

bers in universities and pique the interest of aspiring engineers

everywhere.

There is always a better way

Somewhere along the way, I became disillusioned about the

current state of industrial and systems engineering, resigned

IISE: Helping to make

things work better

As a way to further serve the members and interests of

industrial and systems engineering, IISE’s Strategic Plan 2020

(https://link.iise.org/StrategicPlan2020) incorporates outreach

and awareness into its four pillars: Integrate the profession

worldwide; Include all for diversity, equity and cultural

prosperity; Strengthen the image, advocacy and impact of ISE

professionals; and Excel in customer experience for members,

partners and afﬁliates.

The Strengthen pillar, in particular, promises as its goal

“to recognize and promote our impact and broadly convey

our contributions” achieved through promotional efforts

across varied platforms that highlight the success stories

of organizations and individuals in industrial and systems

engineering and their undeniable impact. It also calls for

providing information to enhance understanding of the

profession through career and educational opportunities such

as conferences, competitions and membership incentives.

As stated, the plan seeks to set “a path with priorities to

achieve goals and measure successes. It is also a living

document that will evolve over time as the profession and

technology continues to shape and reshape the landscape of

ISEs from students to academia to industry.”

The award-winning video in the 2019 IISE Industry Advisory

Board (IAB) YouTube Video Contest sponsored by Tompkins

International, “What will you be with IE?” sums up the wide

scope of professions and applications in the profession. You

can view it and other award-winning videos at link.iise.org/

IABvideos2019 and see a sample of slideshows and other

presentations about industrial and systems engineering at link.

iise.org/WhatISEsDo.

The Board of Trustees gathered at IISE headquarters

with staff and guests to develop the new strategic plan.

48 ISE Magazine | www.iise.org/ISEmagazine

Always a better way: The staying power of an ISE career

to the fact that maybe this is just the way things are and al-

ways will be. When I read a piece by Kevin McManus in a

recent ISE magazine, my hope was renewed and my feelings

and observations about how the world views the profession

felt justiﬁed. He wrote: “We deﬁnitely win the award for the

least understood engineering discipline. Our challenge is get-

ting others to see that we are capable of improving more than

‘just’ manufacturing operations and that perhaps our greatest

contributions to the world of work can be made in nonindus-

trial arenas.”

The irony of the situation is not lost on me, and I refocused

my attention on a fundamental concept that I had lost sight of:

There is always a better way.

Focusing on what connects ISE to others is just as important

as focusing on what sets us apart, which is the tireless effort of

always ﬁnding a better way, or continuous improvement. The

concept of continuous improvement is not foreign or new and

is something most strive to execute, whether it be at a business

or personal level. It is here that the true value of ISE lies, acting

as a guide through the turbulent landscape of today’s world

and ushering in the change required to keep progressing and

marching forward. 

Casey R. Spansel is a native of New Orleans and received her bach-

elor’s degree in industrial engineering from Louisiana State University

in 2012. She is currently pursuing her master’s in engineering man-

agement at the University of New Orleans, is an IISE professional

member and works full time at Ruelco Inc. Her main focus is lean

manufacturing, quality assurance, QMS implementation and ISO

9001 compliance. Recently she has turned her attention to industrial

engineering outreach and awareness for the discipline, particularly in

Louisiana.

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