BRINGING OUTSIDERS IN

One of the most important lessons in business is that when you create value for your customers, you have the opportunity to capture value for your shareholders. Over the years, industrial engineers have made significant contributions -- ones that helped to improve the bottom line -- to their firms. The majority of these contributions can be characterized as an internal focus, identifying improvements in the company's own processes and systems. While such improvements translated into better competitiveness or resolved a technical challenge important to the success of the business, they largely were invisible to the firm's external customers. The companies that make each and every department and employee customer facing are those most likely to lead their industries. IEs can take three actions that can allow their companies to become part of such success stories: looking down the customer chain, analyzing economic relationships and investing in relationships.