Industrial engineers help quality shine through at Reynolds Metals. (total quality management at Reynolds Metals Co)

Having each worked more than 20 years in industrial engineering at Reynolds Metals, David B. Smith and E. William Moore have seen lots of changes within their department and within the company. They have watched computers replace mechanical calculators and slide rules. They have seen the duties of industrial engineers expand and move into new areas. They both agree, though, that one of the most important changes is occurring at their company now--the move to total management (TQM).

"There's no question in my mind that the movement toward the TQM concept is the most significant event I have seen in my 22 years with the compasny," says Smith, who is manager of IE operations, an area that falls within the company's corporate qualiuty assurance and technologies operations. "It's more than just changes in industrial engineering; it's corporate-wide and company-wide."

Reynolds Metals initially hired industrial engineers to work on methods improvement projects and to develop standards for cost systems. The company then expanded these functions to include capital programs and corporate policy issues. In recent years, though, the focus of the industrial engineering function has shifted away from administration toward continuous improvement and TQM approaches.

"I think there are twp dimensions of change associated with TQM," says Moore, manager of IE projects and technology, another part of the …