Research on the Necessity, Significance and Practical Path of Engineering Ethics from the Perspective of Industrial Engineering and Management

Abstract

Against the backdrop of deep advancement of Industry 4.0 and intelligent manufacturing, Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM), as a core discipline that optimizes production systems, integrates supply chain resources and improves human factors efficiency, has expanded its practical boundary from pure technical optimization to the coordination of interests among multiple stakeholders. Nevertheless, numerous enterprises ignore engineering ethical norms in the implementation of industrial engineering, triggering a series of problems including labor safety accidents, unfair supply chain operation and impaired occupational health of frontline workers. Taking three core fields of IEM, namely production system optimization, supply chain management and human factors engineering, as research entry points, this paper combines typical cases of ethical misconduct to analyze specific manifestations and negative impacts caused by the absence of engineering ethics. On this basis, it systematically demonstrates the internal necessity of integrating engineering ethics into IEM practices: engineering ethics acts as a fundamental defense line for enterprises to avoid legal risks and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of all stakeholders, as well as an essential prerequisite for enterprises to achieve long-term sustainable development. Meanwhile, this paper elaborates the multi-dimensional values of engineering ethics from enterprise, industry and social levels, and ultimately constructs a three-dimensional implementation system consisting of "university curriculum reform, establishment of enterprise ethical governance mechanisms and improvement of industrial norms". The study reveals that engineering ethics is not an additional requirement for IEM, but a core standard running through the whole process of system optimization, resource allocation and human factor design, which plays a pivotal role in promoting high-quality development of industrial engineering discipline and the sustainable transformation and upgrading of manufacturing industry.