Paguigan, Ian B.

2011-20656 IE 3 Homework 9 For me, a very relevant and interesting topic that we covered in IE 3 is linear programming because it can be applied both inside and outside the engineering field. It can also be used for practical purposes, such as deciding what products to buy that meet certain requirements at the least cost. Another interesting topic we discussed is about synchronous servicing and assembly line balancing. It was my first time to experience manipulating numerical variables that correspond to workers and machines. Manipulating these variables seemed like actually controlling a work force so that you achieve an efficient system. I previously thought that industrial engineers are only limited to working in industries. I learned that compared to most engineering courses, industrial engineers can have a wide range of possible jobs. They can have work both inside and outside industries and overlap with various engineering fields. In industrial engineering, I learned that mathematical tools are also important in decision making. Aside from listing and/or enumerating the pros and cons of different choices, it is also important to quantitatively compare these using certain mathematical tools. One such method I learned in IE 3 is making decision trees. A very relevant topic for me is engineering economy because it gives me an idea on what happens to the money you invest it in a bank and how it grows in the bank. I previously thought that industrial engineering deals only with factory designs. Though we did discuss some topics regarding factories, we did not discuss designing factories and only tackled topics dealing with operations, productions and facility lay-out. Also, I previously thought that Industrial Engineering is only limited to studying industries. I now know that Industrial engineering encompasses and overlap with different and vast fields of studies, such as statistics and economy. I initially expected that we would have a deep analysis about factories and industries for the entire course. However, the discussions about the topic only revolved around the tip of the iceberg. Regarding problem solving in IE, I thought that we will be solving problems dealing with power outputs of machines in factories, the efficiencies of these machines and similar problems. However, we did not encounter such problems. Instead, it seems that problems in IE deal mostly with optimization of production and/or processes that comprises both of human and machine components. In the topic of work environment, I expected that we would evaluate a given workplace based on the components of the work environment we have discussed (e.g. light source, temperature, color). Unfortunately, we did not it and instead just discussed the components individually.