Build a Career in Industrial Management: A Constructive Tested Guide with A-Z Information

Industrial Management deals with industrial design, construction, management, and application of science & engineering principles to improve the entire industrial infrastructure and industrial processes. A degree in Industrial Management combines the study of engineering, business and management

Industrial Management focuses on the management of industrial processes. Industrial Managers can be said to be responsible for proper and the most efficient interaction of 4Ms: Man, Material, Machine and Method (which every organization needs).

What is Industrial Management?

Industrial Management is the branch of study which is focused on the creation & management of industrial systems and processes that incorporate people, materials and energy in productive ways.

Training in Industrial Management has an emphasis on the varied use of computers, mathematics, and statistics in the field of management. Industrial Management is specifically concerned with engineering-oriented industries such as textiles, steel, power, chemicals, aviation, robotics, etc.

Industrial Management spans multiple industrial verticals from semiconductors and automobiles to plastics processing and metal forging, to oil, cosmetics & food, among others.

This area of work involves devising ways & methods to maximize the efficiency of production processes by determining the most economical use of workers, materials, machines, time, capital, energy, and information.

Who is an Industrial Manager?

An Industrial Manager incorporates the principles of manufacturing system, logistics, supply chain management, materials management, entrepreneurship, among other things.

Industrial Managers plan how to efficiently and economically use resources in a business including labor, materials, machines, time, capital, energy and information.

An Industrial Manager also has to deal with creating new systems to solve problems related to waste and inefficiency associated with a business/ industrial process.

This field is ever in need of competent personnel capable of applying logic & reasoning to identify strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to such problems.

Industrial Management is the branch of management that is concerned with the creation and management of systems that incorporate people, materials and energy in productive ways.

Major work responsibilities of Industrial Managers:

Pre-production Planning

• Plant Location
• Plant Layout
• Capacity Planning
• Selection of Machinery and Equipment
• Machinery Handling

Production Planning and Control

• Planning
• Routing
• Scheduling
• Dispatching

Total Quality Management

• This refers to maintaining the quality of the goods produced, by setting up a standard and checking the produced parts as well as the goods at a regular interval.
• If the quality of produce is found to be deviated from the set standards then it is sent back for maintenance so as to ensure quality, quantity and functionality.

To Improve Process and Service

• Finance
• Marketing
• Human Resource

Design and Plant Layouts

• Industrial managers may help in designing a plant for a particular business. Location of the plant, machines and raw materials etc. are planned, scheduled and strategized by Industrial Managers so as to ensure efficient production in minimum possible time & maximum possible output.

Management of Material Handling System

• This means how or in what methods materials will be handled, in a production process or in a factory or in any workspace. Industrial managers help by providing strategic methods of scientific management to handle materials.
• The methods used are studied thoroughly and timely changes are advised. Industrial managers are responsible for the replacement of old & traditional methods of material handling with new ones.

Labor Management

• Industrial managers may be responsible for the selection & training of personnel from time to time, skill development, and replacement of old & traditional methods of production with new ones.

Is Industrial Management for you?

This is the most mystifying part. How would you come to a decision whether you are meant for a career in this field?

So, there are questions and there could be confusions. It’s ok to ask and it’s ok to search and learn about the right information before you make a choice.
You will need some scientific self-assessment for this. For

One simple process here

Step 1:Understand what your real strengths and weaknesses are – your aptitudes, interests, and personality.

For this, it will be helpful if you can discover and know more about John Holland’s Theory of Career Choice or try the The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test which is a well-known tool to map personality types to career types. It will be a tall task to help yourself alone in this case. Seek professional help to find out if you’re fundamentally aligned to this area of study.

Step 2: Find out and read in details about a career in Industrial Management.

Conduct these self-investigations religiously. Do not only check the pays and perks, although that is the part that pulls us most! There can be hundreds of career pathways related to this one. Explore.

Step 3: Check what industrial management courses you must do after 12th or whether to pursue graduation in a different field first.

You should take help from a professional mentor who has immense experience in industrial management or is a veteran working in this field. Talk to our counseling educationists. You must know the courses available in the country at the moment to obtain training in this field. There’s no substitute to hearing it from the horse’s mouth!

Step 4:Check the names of colleges and institutions that are offering training in this field. Take help of an expert. Make an informed choice

Check past performances of colleges and institutions offering industrial management courses in the country and abroad. You can consult NIRF Rankings List 2020 if you wish to continue studying in India. Check QS Rankings if you wish to pursue education overseas.

This is a serious exercise and you may need professional help on this. We are equipped with experienced advisors. Try out a discussion with any of them.

List of 11 Educational Pathways to become an Industrial Manager

In some of the entry pathways described below, a Bachelor’s of Engineering would preferably mean Production Engineering, Production & Industrial Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering. These engineering streams are advisable but not mandatory to have a career in Industrial Management.

The rest of the pathways are self-explanatory.

Pathway 1

BS/ BE/ B Tech degree in Industrial Engineering + Engineering Management/ Production Management/ Industrial & Production Management/ Manufacturing Management or related courses -> Master’s (optional)

Pathway 2

Bachelors in any stream of core engineering (like Mechanical/Electrical/Chemical) -> Master’s in Industrial Engineering / Industrial Management/ Industrial Engineering & Management

Pathway 3

A Bachelor’s in Engineering -> MBA in Industrial Management

Pathway 4

A Bachelor’s in Engineering -> A Master’s in Engineering ->MBA in Industrial Management

Pathway 5

A Bachelor’s in Engineering & related courses or in Sciences (Physics preferably) -> MBA in Industrial Management

Pathway 6

A Bachelor’s in Engineering & related courses or in Sciences (Physics preferably) -> Master’s -> Advanced Diploma in Industrial Management

Pathway 7

A Bachelor’s in Industrial Management & Technology -> Master’s (optional)

Pathway 8

A Bachelor’s in Engineering ->(International) MSc in Mechanical Engineering with Industrial Management

Pathway 9

B Sc in any discipline ->(International) MSc in Industrial Management & Innovation/ Industrial & Systems Engineering with a specialization in Industrial Management

Pathway 10

A Bachelor’s in Engineering & related courses or in Sciences (Physics preferably) -> Master’s -> MBA in Industrial Management

Industrial Management Courses

Depending upon whether you want to start off in this field at the graduation level or at higher levels of education, here are 2 segregated lists of courses that you may consider pursuing. You can finish graduation in any other discipline and pursue industrial management courses from the post-graduation level too. The entry pathways into this field are already elaborated in the earlier section.

Undergraduate

BE/ BE (Hons)/ B Eng./ Other Bachelor’s(like BS/ BBA or BBM/ B Sc or B Tech) in:

1. Industrial Engineering
2. Industrial Engineering & Management
3. Production Engineering
4. Production & Industrial Engineering
5. Manufacturing Engineering
6. Mechanical Engineering
7. Chemical Engineering
8. Industrial Automation
9. Industrial Tribology & Maintenance Engineering
10. Industrial Engineering + Engineering Management

Postgraduate

ME/ M Eng./ Other Master’s(like M Sc/ MBA/ M Tech) or Advanced Diplomas (whichever applicable) in:

1. Industrial Management
2. Manufacturing Strategy
3. Industrial Engineering & Operations Research
4. Industrial Management & Innovation
5. Industrial & Systems Engineering with specialization in Industrial Management
6. Industrial Engineering + Engineering Management
7. Industrial Management & Technology
8. Industrial Engineering
9. Industrial Engineering & Management
10. Production Engineering
11. Production & Industrial Engineering
12. Manufacturing Engineering
13. Mechanical Engineering
14. Chemical Engineering
15. Industrial Automation
16. Industrial Tribology & Maintenance Engineering

20 Top Indian Colleges Offering Industrial Management & Related Courses

1. Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
2. Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
3. Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
4. Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
5. Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee
6. Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
7. National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai
8. Institute of Advanced Management Research, Ghaziabad
9. Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, Kolkata
10. National Institute of Construction Management and Research, Pune
11. Symbiosis International University, Pune
12. Institute of Logistics & Aviation Management, Mumbai
13. Institute of Business Management & Research International Business School ( IBMR-IBS), Bangalore
14. Indian School of Business Management & Administration, Delhi
15. Indian Business School of Advanced Management Studies, Mumbai
16. Prin. L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research, Mumbai
17. Aimfill International, Bangalore
18. Institute of Engineering Technology, Indore
19. Institute of Cooperative Management, Dehradun
20. Teerthanker Mahaveer University, Moradabad

Expenses to Study Industrial Management

The average course fees for Bachelor level engineering courses in this discipline may range anywhere between Rs 3 lakhs to 5 lakhs.

The average fee for MBA – Industrial Management (and related courses) is Rs 5,00,000 per year approximately.
Master’s level engineering courses in this discipline may require around Rs 2 lakhs or more.
The Diploma courses in this discipline may cost you around Rs 1.5 lakhs to 2.5 lakhs a year, on average.

Industrial Engineering and Management Jobs

Manufacturing, technology, hardware, retail, healthcare – you name it and there is a high possibility of industrial engineering and management jobs. IMs are virtually in every industry vertical today.

Here you must remember,

1. Only few institutions offer courses in this discipline in India
2. Most of them are government-aided and not private
3. The placement opportunities from the campuses are low, as mechanical/ electrical engineers can very well serve as Industrial Managers too. So those disciplines are considered more beneficial by companies. However, an M Tech or MBA or FPM – Fellow Program in Management (in this discipline) after engineering in any discipline is considered very valuable.

As the typical responsibility of an Industrial Manager is to plan, control & schedule the production line, this takes into account resources, deadlines, and budgets. You can opt for any of the following industrial roles in various production facilities across the country:

• Industrial Production Manager
• Quality Assurance Control Manager
• Production Manager
• Facility Manager
• Organizational/ Management Consultant
• Construction Manager
• Operations Manager
• Compliance Officer
• Purchasing Manager

Pay & Perks

Professionals trained in the field of Industrial Management remain in high demand, throughout an economic year. Depending on your qualifications and experience, your pay can be very lucrative. A Management Trainee and entry-level associates can be paid about Rs. 4, 00, 000 – 9, 00, 000 or more a year.

In government / public-sector undertakings, your role will be awarded a number of benefits including Night Duty Allowance, Dearness Allowance (DA), House Rent Allowance (HRA), Transport Allowance, Compensatory Allowance, Time Related Continuity Allowance (TRCA), Special Pay, Substantive Pay, Time Scale Pay, Daily Allowance, Overtime Allowance (OTA) etc. and many more such entitlements.

PROs and CONs: What are the Merits and Challenges in this career?

MERITS

1. High mean annual wage: very good yearly salary
2. You can work for businesses of all kinds: such as automotive, aerospace, oil, food, architectural, navigational, electronic, cosmetic industries etc. among others
3. You can also work in a range of other spaces: like hospitals, banks, public administration, etc.
4. Versatility: you can expect to work in different verticals within a business like supply chain management, quality assurance, project management etc.

CHALLENGES

1. Difficult decisions at crucial situations consequential to the business altogether
2. Long work hours: 9-10 hrs. on a daily basis
3. Extra shifts to meet deadlines
4. Wearing many hats – Too many verticals of a business to take care of, even when in lower roles

Scope of Industrial Management

• Industrial management helps any industry vertical to grow at a faster rate through maximum output in minimum possible cost and optimal utilization of resources.
• The scope of Industrial Management in India is immense, given that we are a prime outsourcing destination in the world. Moreover, in the current scenario when world trade is being redesigned, industrial management can be looked up at as a promising solution to career aspirants today.
• Initially, the application & scope of industrial management was restricted to the manufacturing industry specifically. Today, it has spread to non- manufacturing activities as well including construction & transportation, farm operations, air-line operations & maintenance, public utilities, government& military operations.
• From delivery/logistics companies to eCommerce sites to manufacturing companies to textile industrial to F.M.C.G companies, everyone needs personnel trained in industrial management. This is for the sole reason that they can be made responsible for the entire operations of an organization.
• Industrial managers control, manage and optimize everything right from what comes into an organization (raw material, labor, etc.) to what stays in (inventory) and what goes out (finished goods).
• In short industrial managers are like diamonds in the labor market. There should be no dearth of jobs for you anyway! However, a perfect combination of degrees is what recruiters look for. Hence, you must plan accordingly. Take professional help of your wish. It may prevent future unnecessary holes in your pocket!

Useful Links

• Interesting research paper
• GMAT – Entire code list for accredited programs
• GMAT Official Portal
• Industrial Engineering Management: Concepts & State-of-art Education
• Defining the Industrial and Engineering Management – A Study about Professional Practice Areas

Conclusions

Hello there! Interested in joining the force of Industrial Managers of today? Hope you have an answer to what is industrial management now. We’ve just presented to you multiple details about the scope of industrial management as an academic discipline, various courses, the different industrial engineering & management jobs that you can expect as well as the salaries & perks. If you’re wondering, you may try out a discussion round with our senior counselors for further clarity what you may still be missing. Wish you the best of luck.

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Sreenanda

With a Master’s in Biophysics-Biostatistics, Sreenanda acquired professional experience in computational proteomics of human molecules. She is currently working with the Research and Data Team at iDreamCareer.