My day begins with a production meeting to discuss the status of our builds and any issues that the teams need help resolving. Throughout my day, I’ll spend time working on cost out projects, doing various shop capacity and strategy analyses and help our teams solve problems that are stopping their engine builds. Towards the end of the day, I will attend another production meeting to discuss the day's progress and any new issues that came up.
CAREER
Manufacturing Engineers
Overview
Salary Median (2020)
$88,950
Projected Job Growth (2019-2029)
+10.1% (faster than the average)
Most Common Level of Education
Bachelor's degree
Career
Roadtrip Nation Leaders in This Career
What Manufacturing Engineers Do
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.
Other Job Titles Manufacturing Engineers May Have
Facility Engineer, Manufacturing Engineer, Plant Engineer, Process Engineer, Process Improvement Engineer
How Leaders Describe a Typical Day at Work
I attend hours of meetings every day in which my team decides the actions which we will take next. These can be from day to day operations, community involvement, or future planning five to ten years from now.
Tasks & Responsibilities May Include
- Troubleshoot new or existing product problems involving designs, materials, or processes.
- 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.
Education
Level of Education Attained by Manufacturing Engineers
Most common level of education among people in
this career: Bachelor's degree (52%)
Some college, no degree
Bachelor's degree
Master's degree
Other*
*All other responses combined for clarity.
Majors Related to Career
Educational Paths Suggested by Leaders
Suggested Path
High School
Bachelor
Engineering, General
Graduate
Business Administration and Management, General
Additional Skills & Experiences That Can Help You Excel
There are two important skill sets to have for this job: problem-solving and people skills. Being able to work through manufacturing problems that arise and helping others work through problems is critical to the success of the shop. People skills are just as important as problem-solving skills. In manufacturing, you work with all types of people and being able to effectively lead in all types of situations is critical to a shop’s success.
During my college coop program, I had the opportunity to work in several functions which allowed me to see issues from multiple perspectives. You need to learn how a manufacturing plant functions and how it relates to the rest of the company. You need to develop leadership skills and decided if you enjoy managing people. Along the way, it is very important to have mentors.
Getting Started
Recommended First Step for:
High School Students
Pursue what you want to do in life. The experiences you have along this path will determine how your career is shaped. Talk to people about what they are doing to figure out what you like.
College Students
Everyone
This page includes information from theO*NET 26.1 Databaseby the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under theCC BY 4.0license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
