What industrial and systems engineering actually is, how it differs from other engineering disciplines, the inputs-process-outputs-feedback systems view, and a roadmap of this 21-item program.
Industrial and systems engineering optimizes complex systems of people, materials, information, equipment, and energy — not a single physical artifact the way mechanical or electrical engineering does. This module builds the mental model the rest of the program assumes: why industrial engineering is defined by a way of looking at a problem rather than a physical medium, the systems view of inputs, process, outputs, and feedback, and the recurring distinction between improving a part of a system and improving the system itself.
By the end of this module you should be able to explain why a plant can show excellent machine utilization on paper while still posting disappointing throughput — a system-versus-local-optimization failure this module frames from first principles, and one Module 12's OEE and Module 11's line balancing content each return to from their own side of the problem.