Similarly, in the undergraduate IE curriculum, students are tasked with constructing and implementing linear programs to optimize sets of parameters given certain constraints. This is accomplished using computers and yet no thought is given to the interaction that must occur between humans and the machines they use. More specifically, a good interface can be linked to increased productivity and increased productivity can be linked to increased revenues. Thus, interface design is an application area that can be focused on when teaching students how to mathematically optimize the behavior of computerized systems. In our technological society, human-computer interaction is an intrinsic component of the designs our students will be tasked with developing and implementing.
Computers play a pervasive and critical role in the majority of products on the market today.
In addition, the manufacturing processes required to produce these products are to a large extent computerized. Consideration must be given to the design of the FMS' interfaces to ensure optimal use of such systems. This is a facet of FMSs that has been overlooked both in practice and in the classroom. The impetus for adopting a total system's approach to undergraduate IE education that incorporates HCI, must come from the top. We are at a crossroads in the IE discipline.