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Manufacturing Engineers

Also called: Manufacturing Engineer, Plant Engineer, Process Engineer, Process Improvement Engineer

Where in the military? In the military: see titles from the Air Force, Army, or Navy.

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What they 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.
On the job, you would:
  • 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.

Knowledge

Engineering and Technology
  • product and service development
  • mechanical
Manufactured or Agricultural Goods
  • manufacture and distribution of products
Math and Science
  • arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics
  • physics
Arts and Humanities
  • English language

Skills

Basic Skills
  • reading work related information
  • using math to solve problems
Problem Solving
  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it
People and Technology Systems
  • thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
  • figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it

Abilities

Ideas and Logic
  • group things in different ways
  • make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
Verbal
  • listen and understand what people say
  • communicate by speaking
Math
  • add, subtract, multiply, or divide
  • choose the right type of math to solve a problem
Visual Understanding
  • see hidden patterns

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Attention to Detail
  • Integrity
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Dependability
  • Cooperation
  • Initiative

Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Computer aided design CAD software
  • Autodesk AutoCAD Hot Technology In Demand
  • Dassault Systemes SolidWorks Hot Technology In Demand
Desktop communications software
  • Eko
Electronic mail software
  • IBM Notes
  • Microsoft Outlook Hot Technology

Education

Education: (rated 4 of 5)
bachelor's degree or
associate's degree
usually needed

Get started on your career:

Find Training Find Certifications Find Licenses Apprenticeship.gov

Job Outlook

Bright Outlook
New job opportunities are very likely in the future.
Salary
$95,300
$60,850
$129,620
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See more details at O*NET OnLine about manufacturing engineers.