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Industrial engineer skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

6 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Maria Benavides Ph.D.,

Dr. David Grewell Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical industrial engineer skills. We ranked the top skills for industrial engineers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 9.0% of industrial engineer resumes contained continuous improvement as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills an industrial engineer needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 industrial engineer skills for your resume and career

1. Continuous Improvement

Continuous improvement is an ongoing process of improvement of products, services, and processes with the help of innovative ideas. It is an organized approach that helps an organization to find its weaknesses and improve them.

Here's how industrial engineers use continuous improvement:

Facilitated communication and coaching cross-functional teams towards development of standard work, lean practices, process documentation, and continuous improvement.
Assisted in developing long-term strategy in continuous improvements around safety & environmental compliance, quality, productivity, and capacity planning.

2. Lean Manufacturing

Here's how industrial engineers use lean manufacturing:

Collected cell layout information and engineering data; made recommendations for cell layout design considering ergonomic issues using Lean Manufacturing methods.
Coordinated Lean manufacturing throughout the five facilities to recognize the bottlenecks and process improvements needed to simplify processing and minimize cost.

3. Sigma

In Greek alphabets, sigma is the 18th letter that means "to sum up". In statistics, the lower case symbol of sigma is the unit of measurement for standard deviation which is used to assess the variability in a given set of data. While the upper case symbol is for summation notation means to add up all the given numbers in the data set.

Here's how industrial engineers use sigma:

Provided training to mail processing managers and employees on standardization and lean/six sigma tools and processes using nationally developed training material.
Generate and implement improvement projects based upon Six Sigma methodology to obtain Green Belt certification year with year.

4. Project Management

Here's how industrial engineers use project management:

Complete project management from concept, to design, costing, vendor selection, management presentation and implementation including contractor interface.
Provided project management for office and manufacturing tenant improvement projects from concept to completion, including preliminary design and cost estimates.

5. Logistics

Logistics is a complete organization and implementation of a problem. Logistics are often considered in a complex business operation, as some works need detailed plannings. Logistics are also used in military action.

Here's how industrial engineers use logistics:

Assisted in transportation logistics' dedicated fleet including rate negotiations and efficient routing per dealership in each geographical region.
Worked on national level process improvement projects focused on optimizing and improving logistics system performance throughout the organization.

6. Lean Six Sigma

Here's how industrial engineers use lean six sigma:

Coached employees in Lean Six Sigma certification process and daily improvement opportunities.
Implement manufacturing process improvement and Lean Six Sigma program.

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7. Value Stream

A value stream applies to any of the phases or stages that a buyer has the willingness to pay to transport a product or service across the main flows needed to manufacture the product or service.

Here's how industrial engineers use value stream:

Develop manpower capacity analysis for each value stream in order to address dynamic output requirements.
Performed Value Stream Mapping on production parts families to successfully establish production bottlenecks.

8. Cost Reduction

Here's how industrial engineers use cost reduction:

Developed strategic plans with business managers to address business development, cost reduction, performance enhancements, and internal activities.
Generated 23% cost reduction by developing manufacturing strategy and reducing CAD manufacturing cost at lower outlay facility.

9. Data Analysis

Here's how industrial engineers use data analysis:

Provided recommendations for achieving productivity improvement based on quantitative (statistical data analysis and data validation) and qualitative analysis.
Conducted and completed data analysis and modeling of trend analysis study, normalizing data and producing charts from defined data.

10. CAD

Here's how industrial engineers use cad:

Provided quality and/or process improvements to the CAD generated semi-auto insertion programs to improve production yields.
Coordinated CAD and mechanical design with other technical teams including manufacturing, installation and stress engineering.

11. Process Flow

Here's how industrial engineers use process flow:

Reconfigured plant floor-space resulting in significant improvement of throughput and process flow and smaller assembly footprint for electrical control panel assembly.
Worked collaboratively within the Industrial Engineering department to set manpower requirements, standard operating procedures, and efficient process flow metrics.

12. Facility Layout

Here's how industrial engineers use facility layout:

Designed and directed the consolidation and relocation of manufacturing operations, facility layout, assembly line, and redesigned work processes.
Improved facility layouts and manufacturing processes resulting in shorter cycle times and higher yields for electronic cards and consumer-packaged options.

13. Capacity Analysis

Here's how industrial engineers use capacity analysis:

Validated manufacturing processes and performed capacity analysis evaluations.
Developed a comprehensive capacity analysis on four component manufacturing cells based on time study analysis coupled with productivity improvement action items.

14. Shop Floor

Here's how industrial engineers use shop floor:

Developed, implemented and maintained efficiency/productivity/waste reporting system to inform management and facilitate continuous improvement analyses at the shop floor level.
Evaluated shop floor activity, extracted information, analyzed results and integrated findings into clear recommendations.

15. Material Flow

Material flow refers to the transportation of raw materials, components, work-in-progress inventory, integrated objects, and final products flowing from one place to the other to get integrated or delivered. This plays a significant role in the functioning of supply chain management. It is possible through warehouses among distributors, retailers, and dealers.

Here's how industrial engineers use material flow:

Study operations sequence, material flow, functional statements, organization charts and project information to determine worker functions and responsibilities.
Optimized material flow of manufacturing area through layout improvements based on capacity requirements, material flow, and operator work-methods.

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What skills help Industrial Engineers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on industrial engineer resumes?

Dr. Maria Benavides Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Chemistry Program Coordinator, Assistant Chair, University of Houston - Downtown

Apart from a good foundation in the chemistry discipline, skills that will stand out on resumes include: experience in various analytical techniques, excellent communication skills both verbally and in writing, ability to work collaboratively (team player), and the ability to think critically to find solutions to problems (problem solving). Another valuable skill nowadays would be to be competent in the use of technology for communication purposes (Zoom, etc.).

What soft skills should all industrial engineers possess?

Dr. David Grewell Ph.D.

Department Chair and Professor, North Dakota State University

Communication, problem-solving abilities, leadership, and organizational skills are all key in allowing IE’s to be successful in the workplace and to build teams that can collaborate and adapt to unexpected changes, challenges, and setbacks in the workplace. These skills also help them to leverage the resources to solve problems quickly with low costs allowing them to move on to the next challenge facing the world today in today’s complex economy, in particular when facing a pandemic.

What hard/technical skills are most important for industrial engineers?

Dr. David Grewell Ph.D.

Department Chair and Professor, North Dakota State University

An IE must be able to break down complex problems into manageable issues and provide solutions for these problems that face the world in today's complex interconnected systems. A background in statistics, design and analysis, process management, and a strong foundation in the engineering disciplines make this possible.

What industrial engineer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Dr. Kamran Abedini

Professor and Chairman, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

First of all, I do not recommend a gap year or any interruptions in education as it could require additional warm-up and setup for starting it again in the future. However, if they "need" to do so, I recommend they at least take one course so that they understand the trend and the expectations of students in an educational environment. For example, in the last couple of semesters, both faculty and students have learned and experienced new methods of virtual learning and assessment. If you just plan on coming to school after a few semesters, you would be highly surprised by the changes, taking you much time to prepare, and it would cause falling behind your coursework.

What type of skills will young industrial engineers need?

Diran Apelian

Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Director Advanced Casting Research Center (ACRC), University of California

Talent will be the most in-demand asset in the 21st century. It is not about capitalism or socialism - the 21st century is all about "talentism".

Those graduates who will succeed and lead will have:
an understanding of the human dimension;
the ability to harvest the data revolution;
skills in line with the Industry 4.0 pathways; and
commercial and business acumen.

What technical skills for an industrial engineer stand out to employers?

Tracy Farrell

Adjunct Instructor, Clarkson University

Technical skills that employers are seeking include "real" computer skills like Microsoft Office Suite tools, proper communication skills via email and website development and postings, developing proper document format that is appropriate to send to stakeholders (i.e., letter formatting, report writing, email formatting); strong communication skills that include speaking professionally and respectfully to stakeholders as well as writing professionally (i.e., making eye contact when speaking, proper handshake, respectful dialogue including questioning); project management - knowing how to organize work and develop a timeline that includes who will be responsible for what and follow through; data analysis - being able to not only present data in an organized and understandable manner; but, be able to interpret data correctly offering the justification behind what they are interpreting and why.

Respectfully, today's graduates do not understand that being able to text and use social media does not prepare them for "real" computer skills. Many students that I have in high school and in college do not have proper writing skills, document formatting skills, or document management skills to know how to save documents properly and where to save to.

Do you want to know more?

List of industrial engineer skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for an industrial engineer resume and required skills for an industrial engineer to have include:

Continuous Improvement
Lean Manufacturing
Sigma
Project Management
Logistics
Lean Six Sigma
Value Stream
Cost Reduction
Data Analysis
CAD
Process Flow
Facility Layout
Capacity Analysis
Shop Floor
Material Flow
Production Processes
Management System

SQL
Plant Layout
Statistical Analysis
Motion Studies
Ergonomics
Inventory Control
Corrective Action
Data Collection
Production Schedules
Cost Analysis
Process Improvement
Capacity Planning
ERP
Production Efficiency
SPC
Lean Principles
Kaizen Events

ISO
VBA
Process Control
OEE
Technical Support
Assembly Line
Production Floor
Production Lines
Cost Savings
Labor Standards
Cost Estimates
Kanban
Engineering Support
Product Quality
MRP

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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