Recent advances in computing technology create unprecedented opportunities for modern mathematical and statistical tools to play crucial roles in solving industrial challenges.Statistics is an integral part of today's information-rich industrial environment. One key function of statistics is to learn from data or turn data into useful information and knowledge. Statistical techniques such as design of experiments provide a systematic approach to examine the effects of many contributing factors efficiently, and offer the opportunity to discover how to desensitize systems of the effects of uncontrollable sources of variation. Both design of experiments and statistical process control are very important in the manufacturing industry. In addition, methodologies such as multivariate techniques, reliability and life models, categorical data analysis and response surface modeling are used on a daily basis to improve quality of products and productivity of processes. Statistics plays an equally essential role in non-manufacturing areas such as data mining, credit scoring, marketing, pattern recognition, environmental sciences and medical research.
Mathematical modeling and computer simulation have emerged rapidly as major tools in the area of engineering design and manufacturing processes. Mathematics-based engineering provides a fast and economical means to help engineers to understand a complex system without going through traditional laboratory testing or on-site experiments. For example, mathematical modeling of the behavior of a thermostat in a cooling system enables the design engineers to explore different operating situations and design changes without extensive testing. Modeling of metal forming processes offers manufacturers the opportunity to make design changes on tool and die equipment and evaluate the impact effectively.
Mathematical techniques such as discrete optimization and matrix theory have provided efficient algorithms for designing facility layouts, optimizing buffer size and maximizing through-put. Moreover, many manufacturing problems have a large number of constraints and variables, and large scale system decomposition is a critical tool to handle this type of challenge. As more and more financial institutions move toward on–line services, the security of electronic transmission becomes a critical component in the development of such services. The fields of coding theory and cryptography contribute significantly in this area.