1. In your company, what positions and job titles are responsible for managing the industrial
engineering or industrial engineering-type functions?
Operations Support
Program Planning and Controls
Director of Operations
VP of Manufacturing (2)
VP of Engineering
Corporate Manager, Industrial & Systems Engineering (3)
Manager Industrial Engineering (3)
Manufacturing Engineering
Product Line Business Unit Leaders
Consultants, Staff, Senior, Account
Regional Engineering Manager
IE Section Managers
Industrial Engineer
Labor Management Analysis
Safety & Health Managers
Operations Labor Managers
Process Engineering Manager
Plant Manager (2)
Plant Engineer
Lean Operations Manager
Directors
Lead Managers
Partner-Operations Consulting
Partner-Technology Implementation
Partner-Material Handling Integration
2. How can the Institute of Industrial Engineers complement your company’s efforts in the
professional development of employees? Items to consider in your response:
Offering online training (2)
Offering classroom training at your site(s) (2)
Keeping industrial engineers up-to-date on developments in process and system
improvements (4)
Discounting registration fees for employees to attend IIE's conferences (3)
Bundling membership, conferences, and training fees for my company (2)
Offering training or certification in Six Sigma (1)
Offering training or certification in lean (2)
Other (specify)
All are good, we use most of these today at Boeing
We are already using classroom training on-site provided by IIE. Reduced fees for our
employees for participation in the annual conference is welcome and may increase our
participation. The only thing not workable for us is bundling of membership fees for a set
number of people in our company due to accounting procedures.
WE do much of our consulting development internally, but use outside sources to: 1)
supplement programs; 2) provide specialized training; 3) provide our consultants with
other perspectives.
We might consider some online or classroom training (onsite) depending on the
application to UPS needs. Usually we send a limited number of “students” to workshops
and then modify to UPS needs.
We do very little outside training. All training is done in house.
None that are clear to me. Our services are very specialized, so general training is not on
our radar.
3. Does your company pay for professional association memberships for employees? Comment
on your response, please.
We pay for selected memberships based on the level of the technical employee. We pay for our
Associate Technical and Technical Fellow members as well as our highest graded Professional
Employees.
Yes. We encourage our folks to join and participate. We do ask that they commit to participate.
Our folks are developed to look at every expenditure as an investment. We encourage investment
provided there is a return. In this case, in their development and/or in contributing to the
profession.
For the most part it is the individual responsibility. The exceptions are people that are required to
belong to represent UPS.
Yes we have a corporate membership with IIE.
No there is a broad range of employees, cost prohibitive.
Yes, many no include IIE, SAQ etc.
Team member’s responsibility.
No as a matter of policy
Yes. Some plant managers will only pay for one IIE membership per plant and share materials.
Yes, if they demonstrate they are active.
3. Does your company pay for professional association conference registrations for
employees? Comment on your response, please.
Yes, for all who attend. (3)
For the most part it is the individual responsibility. The exceptions are people that are required to
belong to represent UPS.
Depends on the business case presented and the budget.
Yes, they are very select in which conferences that they will allow people to attend and need to
see some benefit for the company. (2)
Sometimes. These are budgeted expenses that are controlled by each manager. Some actively
support conference attendance; others see no value in attendance.
No as a matter of policy.
Yes. But training budgets continue to shrink each year; people are expected to increase their
knowledge base through books and magazines.
5. Which department(s) should IIE contact at your company to discuss a corporate partnership?
HR (3)
Training
Sales
Quality
Other (specify)
In our case, since the relationship has primarily been with Sales, that is where we would start, but
would certainly involve the other key folks in the process.
Contact the IE department directly.
Already have corporate partnership through IE department.
Need to enquire.
GM University.
6. Please comment on the value of face-to-face networking vs. electronic networking and how
both affect your organization.
I think there is room for both. Electronic networking is good for established groups or teams to
share progress, status, and presentation materials. Face to face meetings are necessary to build
team, work on the relationship and bring in the human element.
All networking is important to our business, but at some point face-to-face is essential to build
lasting relationships. Both are important
There is value in both, depending on the material covered and the number involved.
The value of electronic networking lies in the online application used to network. The value of
face-to-face networking depends on the environment and mix of people.
Both are used n our organization and have roles in the establishment of relationships. The
development of the relationship may begin electronically and move to face-to-face.
Face-to-face is real, where electronic takes the personality out of it and does not force people to
become active.
We have discovered that early morning meetings must be face-to-face to establish some degree
of trust and shared interest. For groups that work together on a regular basis we renew face-toface on a quarterly basis. In between meetings are electronic based mediums.
Face to face is preferred but is used only when travel can be avoided.
Face to face is preferred, budgets continue to shrink, and electronic is better than nothing.
F-T-F has more value on leadership and people skills development. Electronic Networking is
better for technical, specific interactions.
7. Does your company perceive webcasts as valuable in training? Comment.
Yes we do many web cast / video training sessions.
Yes, like any medium there are challenges in both delivering and receiving. As a provider the
reach and simplicity is great. As a participant, the focused time, limited cost and flexibility
provided is great.
UPS is heading in that direction over the next year – we plan to use our local Engineering
Managers as potential instructors.
Web cast are one of many training platforms that the company finds valuable. (2)
Good to listen, but very little interactivity.
WE have used some external suppliers for some training. Our parent company TEREX has
begun to use some web casts to assure consistent policy deployment in areas such as ethics and
broad strategic business initiatives.
To a degree based on the material.
8. How does your company find qualified people to hire?
We work with Universities, and key external technical affiliations such as IIE on Councils, Industry
advisory boards, internships, co-ops, and through external advertising.
We have a very systematic approach that begins with selecting very targeted schools, developing
relationships with key individuals at the schools, hosting co-ops and interns from the schools who
become both candidates and disciples, then mining those schools through job-fairs, placement
offices, faculty, etc. I have oversimplifies it here, but it is very successful.
UPS works directly with the Dean of Engineering at local colleges and universities. In addition we
provide opportunities for internship and senior projects. We have established contacts at all of the
colleges and universities around the country and our local managers are required to maintain a
relationship with them that includes multiple visits.
Placement agencies, recommendations and headhunting. (2)
General advertising.
Contract agencies and university recruiting. (2)
9. Are you experiencing difficulty finding qualified people to hire?
Comment on your response, please.
No Answer (2)
Not currently. (3)
We have not had any difficulty recruiting qualified candidates for our Management Trainee
Program.
Finding qualified people is not an issue, but finding qualified people with common sense can be a
major issue. There appears to be a lack of understanding the real world and the work
environment.
Yes, for Engineering and Quality Managers. For 30 resumes received maybe only one or two
good candidates. Success rate is about 50%
Yes and no. WE are concerned that most of the recent engineering graduates from IE programs
are not interested in manufacturing careers – except for the Asian students, attending US
universities. They are very interested in manufacturing opportunities and bring strong academic
credentials as well as work experience in their native country.
Yes especially in certain parts of the country.
Not too bad. But the younger set does not have the work ethic that is expected.
Yes our growth is such, this is an ongoing challenge.
10. Would participating as an exhibitor or sponsoring a conference mixer be an effective way for
you to find prospective employees?
No Answer (2)
No (4)
Do not know (3)
We would view it much like most of marketing, in of itself, probably not, but to keep our name in
the forefront.
We use Career type events to maintain awareness of UPS Engineering positions. We do collect
resumes but few candidates are identified in this matter.
11. How can IIE support your recruiting efforts?
No Answer (2
No
Not sure………one of the reasons we participate in the conferences is to establish the network
with others in our field and showcase our work. Hopefully getting interest when we have
requirements.
Strong student chapters at the schools where we recruit can be helpful, particularly where we get
opportunities to host a meeting. We have this at Virginia Tech this year and it was very helpful.
We (UPS) feel that our program is very successful and we have no additional need that IIE can
support.
It is hard to see how this can be achieved.
We have not used the placement service with IIE and ASQ in the past but will in the future.
Assure we have a high quality talent pool to draw engineers from. Educate business about what
IE’s do and how they contribute.
Perhaps a qualification process for contact houses.
Send us resumes of folks who meet our profile.
12. Do you use the IIE Career Center to post openings or search for potential candidates? Why or
why not?
No Answer (2)
Honestly do not know…will have to check on that.
Occasionally, most of our hiring is new grads and our target approach is successful. When we
look for more experienced hires we will post.
No, we have an internal website that post to external sites automatically and we have found
candidates are able to contact use. (2)
Do not use. Not relevant to non-US positioned companies.
No, HR unaware of the service or how to use the service, but they are now.
Not sure, will check with HR.
Not as much as we should. HR usually uses recruiters. We will begin to use more. This is a good
benefit of IIE.
Never thought about it.
13. Would you consider linking to our Web site as a resource for your employees? (This would be
a co-branding offer with mutual linking for purposes of recruiting or product announcements that
would be of interest to all industrial engineers.)
No Answer (3)
Yes we would consider with more information. (4)
I believe we do this today, both on our intranet and Internet sites.
Our team members use various Internet resources, and other than to point out the site as a
potential source of information; we would unlikely to develop any stronger relationship such as
co-branding.
No (2)
14. Do you believe IIE serves young engineers, middle-level engineering managers, higher-level
management, or all of the above? Please comment on your answer.
No Answer (4)
I believe we serve all of the above levels. However it would seem that younger engineers
are more interested initially and as people grow into their careers, they change
professions and join other technical affiliations such as APIVS, SME, etc. It seems like
most of the mid to senior level people see this as a technical field and association thereby
leaving it to lower level employees. Maybe we should develop a series of Sr.
Management courses on; 1) How to utilize your IE to peak potential, 2) Understanding
hoe IE integrates processes in your business, 3) Building on the principals and practice of
IE in all your organizations for better performance.
All of the above, both as a resource and a development opportunity. We evaluate our staff
professionalism, which in our definition includes contribution to the profession. We also
strongly encourage leadership development with all our staff. IIE provides a great means
to develop leadership’s skills while contributing to the profession. Our folks see that as a
win-win. If you take a close look at the Pittsburg chapter you will see a model of how this
can work. There are approx. 50 Maynard employees who are members and participate,
many in leadership roles. You will also see that they take it very seriously and have made
significant contributions in developing processes and organization guidelines. I believe it
is a key means of attracting and retaining members.
I would have to say that IIE serves each of the different groups in various ways. It is a
way for undergrads to network as well as potential employers to become better prepared
for job search activities. It is also an avenue for experienced engineers to network and
learn what others are doing, and to find better opportunities.
IIE serve all of the above, appeals across al sectors.
All of the above as publications are current and do reflect on the past.
Young engineers: Yes, while in school and during their early work years. Managers: I
don’t perceive as much support for managers as I have noticed in other engineering
disciplines (e.g. electrical). Possibly this is because management skills/thinking are so
much a part of IE education we (IIE) assume no further attention is required. High-level
Managers: No. I believe that higher-level managers want to hear more about motivating,
directing, aligning, planning and attracting technical talent. I read/look elsewhere for this
kind of information.
Not really sure yet.