ManufacturingEngineer

The work

A design that cannot be made is not a design. Manufacturing engineers own tooling, process, rate and yield, and they are usually the first people to find out that a tolerance on a drawing is unreasonable.

A typical day

• 01Design tooling and fixtures
• 02Write and improve process instructions
• 03Work the line when a build stops
• 04Feed manufacturability back into design

How people get in

• Apprenticeship

  One of the strongest routes in this field. Paid, hands-on, and highly regarded on the shop floor.

• Engineering degree

  Manufacturing, mechanical or industrial engineering.

How it unfolds

1. EntryDegree or apprenticeship. This is one of the disciplines where the apprenticeship route is genuinely equal.
2. Years 1-3On the floor: process, tooling, and finding out what the drawing did not say.
3. Years 4-8Owning a production cell or an introduction, and the rate it has to achieve.
4. LaterOperations or industrialisation lead.

Is there a job in it

The hard parts

You are between design, who want it exactly as drawn, and production, who need it to be makeable at rate. Both are right. Problems arrive when the line is stopped and everybody is watching.

What you would need

• Process design
• Metrology
• Lean methods
• CAD