Back to 1930s, SJTU already offered some industrial engineering courses in Department of Mechanical Engineering. Industry Management major was set up during 1940s. The department is one of oldest IE departments in China. The goal of the department is to become world class leaders in Industrial Engineering education. The department offers Bachelor degrees in Industrial Engineering (including Logistics Engineering), Ph.D. degrees in Industrial Engineering, and Master of Science degrees in Management Science and Engineering major. 

Its main research fields are production systems engineering, quality and reliability, logistics and supply chain management, service engineering and product engineering.

There are four academic directions in the department: Production Systems Engineering, Logistics and Supply Chain management, Quality and Reliability and Service Engineering. The department has carried out many projects funded by the Chinese NSF, 863 High Tech, Shanghai Committee of Science and Technology, as well as companies.