What Do Manufacturing Engineers Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)

Job Description

Manufacturing Engineers design, integrate, or improve manufacturing systems or related processes. May work with commercial or industrial designers to refine product designs to increase producibility and decrease costs. They also troubleshoot new or existing product problems involving designs, materials, or processes.

Other tasks include:

• Investigate or resolve operational problems, such as material use variances or bottlenecks.
• Identify opportunities or implement changes to improve manufacturing processes or products or to reduce costs, using knowledge of fabrication processes, tooling and production equipment, assembly methods, quality control standards, or product design, materials and parts.
• Apply continuous improvement methods such as lean manufacturing to enhance manufacturing quality, reliability, or cost-effectiveness.
• Provide technical expertise or support related to manufacturing.
• Incorporate new manufacturing methods or processes to improve existing operations.
• Review product designs for manufacturability or completeness.

We asked Manufacturing Engineers how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.

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70% of them said they were satisfied with their job and 60% said they find that their job makes the world a better place or helps to make someone else’s life better.

Typical Day At Work

On a daily basis, Manufacturing Engineers communicate manufacturing capabilities, production schedules, or other information to facilitate production processes. They apply continuous improvement methods such as lean manufacturing to enhance manufacturing quality, reliability, or cost-effectiveness.

A typical day for a Manufacturing Engineer will also include:

• Prepare reports summarizing information or trends related to manufacturing performance.
• Troubleshoot new or existing product problems involving designs, materials, or processes.
• Supervise technicians, technologists, analysts, administrative staff, or other engineers.
• Provide technical expertise or support related to manufacturing.
• Prepare documentation for new manufacturing processes or engineering procedures.

We asked some Manufacturing Engineers a few questions to find out what else does their work day look like. Here is what we found.

	Do you have telephone conversations everyday in this job?	86% said yes
	How important is it to work in a team in this job?	62% said very important
	Do you have group discussions everyday in this job?	85% said yes
	Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job?	14% said yes
	Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job?	14% said yes
	Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job?	30% said yes

Other responsibilities

Besides their typical day, Manufacturing Engineers also train production personnel in new or existing methods. They may also estimate costs, production times, or staffing requirements for new designs.

On a weekly to monthly basis, Manufacturing Engineers Investigate or resolve operational problems, such as material use variances or bottlenecks. They might also Design tests of finished products or process capabilities to establish standards or validate process requirements.

In addition, they Incorporate new manufacturing methods or processes to improve existing operations.

Although specific duties may vary, many of them Supervise technicians, technologists, analysts, administrative staff, or other engineers.

To some Manufacturing Engineers, it is also their responsibility to Design layout of equipment or workspaces to achieve maximum efficiency.

Working life

More than 40 hours per week

Regular schedule like a 9 to 5

In a typical work week as a Manufacturing Engineer, you can expect to work more than 40 hours per week.

Is this right for me

People who are suitable for this job tends to like work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They like working with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery..

They also like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

You can read more about these career personality types here.

Explore other careers

http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/industrial-engineers.htm

http://www.iienet2.org/Default.aspx

http://www.asee.org/

http://ncees.org/