PE Industrial study guide
PE Industrial · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The PE Industrial and Systems Engineering exam is one of the discipline-specific Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exams administered by NCEES. NCEES describes the PE exam as testing for a minimum level of competency in a particular engineering discipline and designs it for engineers who have gained a minimum of four years of post-college work experience in that discipline. The PE Industrial study guide has 11 sections and about 3,736 words.
01Basic Engineering Practice
Basic Engineering Practice is the connective layer under every other topic: units, dimensions, balances, drawings, standards, and professional responsibility. Expect questions that are not conceptually hard but punish sloppy bookkeeping more than anything else.
307 words, about 2 min02Engineering Economics
Engineering Economics asks one question in many costumes: is this alternative worth its cost at a given interest rate and horizon? Single payment: F = P(1+i)^n.
334 words, about 2 min03Probability and Statistics
Probability and statistics supply the language for variability, and the exam tests whether you can pick the right model and avoid classic misreadings. Binomial: n independent trials with constant p; mean np, variance np(1−p).
341 words, about 2 min04Modeling and Optimization
This domain covers linear and integer programming, network models, decision analysis, queueing, and simulation. Formulate decision variables, objective, constraints, and nonnegativity.
337 words, about 2 min05Manufacturing Processes
Covers casting, forming, machining, joining, molding, and additive processes, plus the process-selection logic that ties them together. Casting families: sand, die, investment, and their trade-offs in finish, tolerance, and volume.
324 words, about 2 min06Production Planning and Scheduling
This domain covers forecasting, aggregate planning, the master schedule, MRP, capacity, and shop-floor sequencing. Moving averages lag demand changes; exponential smoothing uses F(t+1) = αA(t) + (1−α)F(t).
334 words, about 2 min07Facility Planning and Materials Handling
Layout, flow, space, and handling are evaluated with a small set of quantitative tools. Process (job shop) layouts group by function: flexible but travel-intensive.
333 words, about 2 min08Quality Engineering
Quality is quantified, and the exam tests both the formulas and the philosophy behind them. Costs are prevention, appraisal, internal failure, and external failure; external failure is usually the most expensive, so prevention dominates.
361 words, about 2 min09Work Design and Ergonomics
Methods analysis, work measurement, and fitting the task to the human. Use flow process charts and operation analysis, then eliminate, combine, rearrange, and simplify.
363 words, about 2 min10Supply Chain and Logistics
This domain concerns the flow of material, information, and money across firms, and the inventory math that supports it. EOQ balances ordering and holding costs and assumes constant demand, known lead time, and no shortages: total cost = (D/Q)S + (Q/2)H.
339 words, about 2 min11Safety, Health, and Environment
Protecting people, plant, and environment, measured with the formulas OSHA and EPA actually use. The hierarchy of controls, from most to least effective: elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, then personal protective equipment.
363 words, about 2 min