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Industrial Engineering Techniques and Applications

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 International Conference on Mechanical, Industrial and Energy Engineering 2010
23-24 December, 2010, Khulna, BANGLADESH

MIE10-005
Industrial Engineering Techniques and Applications
*
Kazi Arif-Uz-Zaman1, Md. Rezaul Hasan Shumon2, Md. Habib Hasan3
1, 2, 3
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Khulna University of Engineering & Technology, Khulna-9203,
BANGLADESH

ABSTRACT
The specific contents of the research mainly focused on explaining and analyzing industrial engineering techniques and its
limitations, scope in Bangladesh Industries. It had been discussed in this paper that why the industrial engineering
techniques would needed badly specially in various sectors (such as in garments, textile, jute mils, cement industries etc.).
The main outcome of the research is to make industrial engineering techniques acquainted with related Industries and also to
find out the applications available for Bangladesh perspective. At the end of this paper it would be clear that how the
industrial sector could be benefited by adopting these techniques.

Keywords: Scheduling, Forecasting, Material Requirement Planning (MRP), Supply Chain Management, Method Study.

1. Introduction techniques could increase smart profit line with least

Industry is the backbone upon which the economy of
any country prevails. The growth of economy, the
internal development of a nation depends upon the
development of industrial sector. In a growing
economy like ours, the finite nature of material and
other resources requires a reappraisal of contemporary
methods of management and manufacture with stress
laid on revising and implementing optimal systems.
There are many management sciences which steer to
productivity improvement programs in different
spheres of economic activities. In Bangladesh and all
over the world, industrial engineering, perhaps, is
pioneering management science which found its
application in industry for resources utilization,
effective management and optimum time
considerations. ILO, in the earlier years, demonstrated
the efficacy of Industrial Engineering techniques as a
means of raising productivity and improving the
quality of work life.
2. Significance of the research
It is seen from various statistics that in industrial sector
Bangladesh has a huge capabilities and possibilities to
develop. Although Bangladesh has sufficient amount of
natural resources, cheap labor and machine ability yet
it is not enlisted as an industrially developed country.
From various statistics it has been shown that how
industrial engineering techniques could work there as a
catalyst or booster. This research had the cardinal
objective to visualize the industrial engineering
techniques to industrial and related personnel in the
industries. The common belief was that these
techniques could be used as a common sense approach
towards production problems, this is true to a certain
extent but the development in tools and the approaches
to face critical issues were equally important. So in this
paper it had been tried to provide the information and
procedures applicable in technical and non-technical
situations. By applying various techniques it had been
realized that how the use of industrial engineering
cost and effective and efficient manner.
3. Methodology
Initially different types of industrial engineering
techniques had been studied from where a few essential
techniques were discussed which could be very
effective in Bangladesh perspective. The possible
scopes for applying those techniques and a practical
implementation of how to use them in particular
situation had also been detected. Information of this
report was collected from both primary & secondary
sources. The primary sources of this paper were
different company personnel’s where the secondary
sources were foreign journal, books &internet. Some
industries like Meghna Cement Ltd, BRB Cables Ltd
and Akij Jute Mills Ltd etc. had also been visited for
essential data collection. Moreover it had been
analyzed where the techniques could be useful, already
using, merits and demerits with suitable reasons and
causes.
4. Industrial Engineering techniques and analysis
There is huge number of techniques and tools have
been practiced throughout the world regarding
industrial engineering. Manufacturing and production
giants as well as service and non- profitable
organizations are utilizing these techniques now a day.
This paper had outlined some of these techniques and
their applications mainly in manufacturing industries
for Bangladesh perspective.
4.1 Forecasting
Forecasting is the process of estimating future demand
in terms of the quantity, timing, quality, and location
for the desired products and service. Actually it is an
inference of what is likely to happen in future or future
demand which is based on past data. Good forecast
should be accurate, reliable, timely, easy to understand
and cost effective and can be range from the simple to

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +88-01711385906

E-mail address: zaman735@yahoo.com
 International Conference on Mechanical, Industrial and Energy Engineering 2010
23-24 December, 2010, Khulna, BANGLADESH

the extremely complex. It is a valuable input to planning decisions.

4.1.1 Scopes and benefit
Forecasting can be used in almost all the production
sectors of Bangladesh. Basically now a day’s garments
and textile sectors are providing a vital role to national Ft = +
economy. Some renowned industries are using So in the 6th month factory had to produce F6=
forecasting techniques predicting future productions.
+ = 5690.5 in quantity. In case of
Meghna Cement Ltd & BRB Cables Ltd, Wal-Mart,
Unilever and so many other manufacturing and service forecasting technique they could produce 5691 in place
organizations use forecasting on their strategy and of actual production of 4550.
utilizing their production processes effectively.
To resolve expected better customer service with fewer 4.2 Inventory management
resources, the importance of effective forecasting is Inventory is a quantity or store of goods that is held for
elevated. Following with this example of Hamko some purpose or use. Inventory may be kept "in-
Battery while Company provides sales data as bellow house," meaning on the premises or nearby for
in Table 1 for 6 months in the year of 2009: immediate use or may be held in a distant warehouse or
distribution center for future use.
Table 1 Sales and Demand data for the year 2009 4.2.1 Scopes and benefit
(March- July) Actually inventory is very critical issue for any
Month Demand Production industries which fundamentally being used in industries
(pcs) (pcs) for raw material, work in progress product and finished
1 3000 2800 product. But most of the cases these places are not
2 3520 3250 being maintained systematically according to inventory
3 4000 4500 management. Managing inventory effectively could
4 3950 4600 save huge amount of money, time and space.
5 4120 3500 Production is generally based on raw material. The
6 5800 4550 main expenditure of a manufacturing company relies
on raw materials. So the availability of raw material is
Comany fulfilled their demand as customer needs from a vital issue for a company. A company’s order
first to fifth month but in sixth month they didn’t quantity, number of order per year, length of order
produce finished product according to customer cycle, total annual cost for raw material etc. directly
demand, because of uncertainty of demand. depends on inventory and stock amount. Following an
“Linear Trend Equation”: F = a + b*t example, Akij jute mills Ltd. where annual target of 14
t lakh tons jute for production. Annual carrying cost per
Ft = Forecast for period t lakh ton is 45 lakh taka and ordering cost is 80 lakh
t = Specified number of time periods taka each. So their economic order quantity (EOQ)
a = Value of Ft at t = 0 should be:
b = Slope of the line

Table 2 Forecasting calculation Q= = lakh ton

T y H= Holding cost
Month t2 Sales t*y S= Ordering cost
(t) (pcs) Q= Ordering quantity

1 1 3000 3000 Number of order per year:

2 4 3520 7040
3 9 4000 12000
4 16 3950 15800 Total annual cost TC = carrying cost + Ordering cost
5 25 4120 20600 = = 317.5 lakh taka
6
t = 15 t2 = 55 y = 18590 ( t*y ) =
58440 But Akij jute mills Ltd purchase raw materials placing
2
( t) = 225 orders in 4 times with total cost of 78.75 +
4*80=398.75 lakh taka which is obviously more than
estimated value. Using inventory management could
save 81.25 lakh taka.

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 International Conference on Mechanical, Industrial and Energy Engineering 2010
4.3 Scheduling
Scheduling is the process of deciding how to allocate
resources between varieties of possible tasks.
Scheduling pertains to establishing both the timing and
use of resources within an organization. Under
operations function (both manufacturing and services),
scheduling relates to use of equipment and facilities,
human activities, and receipt of materials. Time can be
specified or floating as part of a sequence of events.
Scheduling works with the priority rule that can be
viewed with grant chart. Scheduling establish the
timing of the use of equipment facilities and human
activities in an organization. Scheduling involves the
fine tuning of aggregate production plants.
4.3.1 Scopes and benefit
In the decision making hierarchy, scheduling can stair
up the transformation process of resources before
actual output occurs. Effective scheduling can yield
cost saving and increases productivity. But it is true
that in Bangladesh very few are using this technique
while most of them set human scheduler's judgment
and experience. But only systematic scheduling can
earn more profit and save time and resources from the
existing plant. Companies have to use scheduling to
allocate plant and machinery resources, human
resources, production processes and purchase materials.
Production scheduling aims to maximize the efficiency
of the operation and reduce costs.
For example, four people had to assign in four different
tasks of gear, nut, bolt and bearing making to complete
a whole process where each one had the skill of doing
each job but with different capacity shown in Table 3.
Task could be optimum assignment of jobs for workers
to complete the whole process.
Table 3 Job assignment
Man
A B C D
Gear /Minutes 8 6 2 4
Nut/Minutes 6 7 11 10
JOB
bolt/Minutes 3 5 7 6
Bearing/Minut 5 10 12 9 managing inventories for dependent demand items are
es
Using “TORA” (software to solve linear solution) the
final result relating to manpower allocation according
to tasks is,
job Gear Nut Bolt Bearing
man C B D A
Time/minutes 2 7 6 5
The total time came 20 minutes for optimum allocation
of tasks in between the four workers. If they would use
23-24 December, 2010, Khulna, BANGLADESH
this technique they could save extra time as well as cost
more effectively.
4.4 Supply Chain Management
The supply chain is a network of organizations that
involved, through upstream and downstream linkages,
for different processes and activities that produce value
in the form of products and services in the hands of the
ultimate consumer. Supply chain management means
managing the supply of inbound and outbound goods
or service in the most cost effective & time sensitive
way. Actually it is a system of organizations, people,
technology, activities, information and resources
involved in moving a product or service from supplies
to customer.
4.4.1 Scopes and benefit
Supply chain management is an important and effective
industrial engineering technique. It is necessary to
apply in every industry for smooth production and
maximum profit. The goal of a supply chain is to
maximize overall supply chain profitability. Supply
chain decisions have a large impact on the success or
failure of each firm because they significantly
influence both revenue generated as well as the cost
incurred. It flows of product, information and funds to
provide a high level of product availability to the
customer while keeping cost low. Supply chain
management is necessary for good quality, minimum
cost, production flexibility, feasible production velocity
and good customer service. It includes not only the
manufacturers and suppliers, but also transporters,
warehouses, retailers and customers themselves.
Sometimes industries like BRB Cables Ltd, Meghna
Cement Ltd, Akij Jute Mills Ltd etc. are facing late
shipment due to improper supply chain strategy where
some renowned company like Unilever, Nestle, ACI
limited, Square Ltd are generating enormous revenue
due to proper and effective supply chain management.
4.5 Material Requirement Planning (MRP)
Demand for components needed to produce a finished
product is dependent. An alternative approach for
known as material requirement planning (MRP). MRP
is a method which starting with a forecast for the
independent demand for a finished product, determines
the dependent demand for (1) the kinds of components
(materials, parts etc.) needed, (2) the exact quantities
required and, (3) the time phasing of the above orders
to satisfy a production plan. MRP processing takes the
end item requirements for assemblies, parts and raw
materials. The input and output structure of MRP is
given in fig.1. The application of MRP in Bangladesh
industries is very little. Some large & profitable
industries are using MRP while most of the industries
have no idea about MRP. Implementation of MRP in
industries or an organization has some advantages.
MIE10-002- 4
 International Conference on Mechanical, Industrial and Energy Engineering 2010
Low levels of working-on-process
inventories.
Ability to track material requirements
Ability to evaluate capacity requirements
Means of allocating production time
MRP inputs MRP processing
Master
schedule
Bill of
MRP
material
Inventory
Fig.1 MRP overview.
4.6 Transportation model
This is a special case of the simplex method developed
for the general linear-programming problem of
allocating scare resources to competing demand. In the
direct sense, the transportation model seeks the
determination of a transportation plan of a single
commodity from a number of sources to a number of
destinations. The data of the model include:
Level of supply at each source and amount
demand at each destination.
The unit transportation cost of the commodity
from each source to each destination.
4.6.1 Scopes and benefit
The objective of the model is to determine the amount
to be shipped from each source to each destination
such that the total transportation cost is least. The
transportation model involves finding the lowest cost
plan for distributing stocks of goods or supplies from
multiple origins to multiple destinations based on the
demand of the goods. Purpose of this technique is,
To compare location alternatives in terms of
their impact on the total distribution costs for
the system
To minimize the costs associated with
distributing goods
To determine the lowest shipping cost
Certain important problems related to the distribution
of goods from existing facilities, the location of a new
plant or warehouse, and aggregate production planning
can be formulated for solution by linear- programming
transportation model. Typical advantages of the
transportation model are:
The determination of a minimum-cost
(maximum- profit) shipping to satisfy
requirements at several destinations from a
number of sources with available supply. This
is known as distribution problem
23-24 December, 2010, Khulna, BANGLADESH
If MRP is used in production system, it is possible to
handle the required components as needed as
requirements with proper planning and responsibility.
MRP outputs
Primary reports Planned order schedules
Secondary
Reports Performance control
reports
Inventory
The selection of a location for a new facility (a
plant or warehouse) in a way that minimum
cost. This is called location problem.
The assignment of different forms of
productive capacity in successive periods to
meet forecast demand in such periods so as to
minimize total production cost. This is known
as the aggregate- planning
4.7 Method study
Method study is the systematic recording and critical
examination of existing and proposed ways of doing
work, as a means of developing and applying easier
and more effective methods and reducing costs. The
main objective of method study is to improve processes
and procedures, design of plant and equipment, layout,
use of men, materials and machines, human effort and
reduction of unnecessary fatigue, safety standards and
better working environment.
4.7.1 Scopes and benefit
In Bangladesh, there are a lot of opportunities to
implement method study. As our resource is limited, so
domestic industries are thinking about to optimize a
process or system within this limited resources.
Generally, industries like textile or garments where a
lot of human involvement is found, method study can
be a guideline. Several industries that have been using
this Industrial Engineering technique are getting its
betterment. From Table 4 and Table 5, we can see that
after improving the method with combining the
operations using method study, the operation’s distance
has been reduced 110 ft and also 17 steps have been
removed, which will save money, time and ultimately
increase production rate.
Beside these it has certain benefits:
Improves methods or procedures.
Improves lay out.
Utilize the resource.
MIE10-002- 4
 International Conference on Mechanical, Industrial and Energy Engineering 2010
23-24 December, 2010, Khulna, BANGLADESH

Reduce human effort. optimization of processes we can remove the

Develop suitable working conditions. bottleneck processes and extra time.

Table 4 Existing methods for production (Before
Method study)
4.8.1 Scopes and benefit
Fig.2 illustrates an example of a 7- step production
process where each process is consuming different
times. Pointing on process 7 which waits 12 minutes
after completion of task while the preceding one waits
8 minutes. Here by applying time study and line
balancing technique, idle time can be reduced and
ultimately production rate can be increased.

Fig.2 7- Step production process with idle times (in

minutes)

5. Field of Applications and Limitations

Aerospace & Airplanes

Aluminum & Steel
Drill & Tap (230 ft traveled)
Banking
Table 5 Modified methods for production (After Ceramics
Method study) Construction
Consulting
Electronics Assembly
Energy
Entertainment
Forestry & Logging
Materials Testing
Medical Services
Military
Mining
Oil & Gas
Drill & Tap (120 ft traveled) Plastics & Forming
Shipbuilding
4.8 Time Study State & Federal
In time study a timing device is used to time the job Government
while it is being performed (sometimes the job can be Transportation
simulated prior to actual operation) where standards In the whole work it has been focused that how the
can be developed for the same job. Time study Bangladeshi industries can be benefited by using or
equipment is relatively simple and inexpensive –all applying industrial engineering techniques. Generally,
that need is a timing device and an observation sheet. more or less, all the industry personnel’s know about
Timing devices include a stop watch, motion picture or industrial engineering techniques. But they lack the
video camera, electronic timer, machine downtime knowledge of applying the techniques in a production
recorder, tachometer and computer .Generally jobs are system. Besides the frame of the paper volume and
divided into least segments & set time standards for effective study times worked as obstacles during this
each segment. Then following standard time, efficiency investigation. After all, it was a challenge to structure
for each employee is calculated. Normally a lot of time the whole work within these limited volumes. Some
is wasted for maximum time consumption in problems arise during data collection. Most of the
bottleneck processes. By applying time study and

MIE10-002- 4
 International Conference on Mechanical, Industrial and Energy Engineering 2010
industries were not willing to provide internal data.
Anyway, while applying industrial engineering
techniques in Bangladeshi industries at full force, some
limitations raised. So by discussing all the
opportunities and scopes, it is very lucid that this is the
high time for implementing industrial engineering
techniques in Bangladeshi industries for the survival in
the competitive markets with effective production
capacity and efficiency and with optimum profit and
revenue.
6. Conclusion
Today, industries are the most important part in various
countries. Many developed countries (U.K, U.S,
Canada) and developing/semi developed countries
(China, India) depend significantly on industrial
development. It is found that these countries are using
Industrial Engineering techniques. For a developing
country like Bangladesh, it is really important to boost
up the industrializations. To be recognized as an
industrially developed country, there is no alternative
way without using Industrial Engineering techniques. It
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23-24 December, 2010, Khulna, BANGLADESH
is sad but true that these concepts are still new in
Bangladesh. If it could be possible to apply these tools
and techniques in Bangladesh by any means, then that
day would not be so far to become an industrially
leading country in the business world.
REFERENCES
[1] Hillir, Lieberman, Introduction to operations
research, 3rd edition.
[2] Stevenson J. William, Operations management,
8th edition, ISBN 0-07-286905-4.
[3] HamdyA.Taha, Introduction to operations
research, 5th edition, ISBN 9974-51-351-X.
[4] Sunil Chopra, Peter Meindl, Supply Chain
management, Strategy, planning and opportunity,
2nd edition.
MIE10-002- 4