Where is the future for Industrial Engineers?

Since about 1970 industrial engineering curriculum has integrated the methods of operation research scientists. With these analytical methods and the advancing technologies for the computer, modeling complex production and service systems will become more feasible. All the other fields of engineering have had the opportunity to set up experiments to develop the science behind the physical phenomenon. The industrial engineering field now has the same ability to talk analytically about systems.
In the future the IE will be using more of the OR techniques coupled with advanced PC based modeling packages to analyze production and service problems. Companies will expect the IE to develop a representative model of their systems and give accurate predictions about future performance. While modeling is used by many of the larger companies it has failed to penetrate the market as a viable and required tool.
With the advent of E-Business the companies will need more advanced and accurate techniques of predicting outcomes. These techniques will come from computer simulation. The ability to run the business 24x7 will force the company to be more flexible in their approaches. These 24x7 systems will be database and technology driven. The modern IE will need to be aware of and able to use the tools available in IT as well as the methods of the OR scientist to be successful in this new age.