TABLE OF CONTENTS This chapter describes the role of the industrial engineer in supporting materials management. The potential scope of this support spans the supply chain from supplier through production and distribution. Industrial engineering is presented as the principal discipline involved in physical planning for materials transportation: from suppliers to points of storage or use; for materials handling in receiving and shipping and between processing operations; and for materials storage (purchased, work in process, and finished goods). The industrial engineer may need to work with the company's suppliers, helping them to adopt new procedures and systems. And, to be effective, the industrial engineer must cooperate with and understand the objectives of others in procurement, transportation, production planning and control, warehousing, and information systems.
Since the 1970s, materials management has referred to the group of functions that manage the complete cycle of material flow:
Purchase and internal control of production materials
Planning and control of work in process
Warehousing, shipping, and distribution of finished products
Under this definition, materials management includes the functions of procurement, inventory and demand management, production...
