Here are some definitions for industrial engineering.

Industrial engineers look at the big picture of what makes society perform best. We design optimal combinations of people, information, materials, and equipment that produce innovative and efficient organizations. We work and consult in every industry, including communications, ecommerce, entertainment, finance, food, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, sports, travel, and transportation. We focus on information-intensive, technology-based industries.

Industrial and systems engineering is a field of study that focuses on the analysis of complex systems with the aim of improving their performance. Somewhat unique and in contrast to other engineering disciplines, is the field's explicit inclusion of the human decision-maker as a central contributor to the inherent complexity of such systems but also as a primary benefactor of the results of their analyses.

As defined by the institute of industrial engineers, industrial engineering is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. A majority distinction between industrial engineering and other branches of engineering is that the industrial engineer must consider not only the behavior of inanimate objects as they are governed by physical laws but also the behavior of people as they operate together in organizations, and as such it is often called the people orientated engineering discipline.