Industrial and Manufacturing Engineers

HOW TO GET THERE

Typical pathway

A typical path starts in secondary school with strong grades in math, physics, chemistry, and computer-related courses. Many students then complete a university bachelor’s degree in industrial, manufacturing, mechanical, or a related engineering field, though exact program choices can vary by school and employer. Co-op terms, internships, or summer jobs in manufacturing, operations, quality, or process improvement can help build practical experience. Some people later add specialized training or a graduate degree, depending on the role. Entry-level work often focuses on production analysis, layouts, time studies, quality, safety, and helping improve efficiency.

THE WORK

What you may do

Legacy duties

• Plan and design plant layouts and facilities
• Study new machinery and facilities and recommend or select efficient combinations
• Develop flexible or integrated manufacturing systems and procedures
• Conduct studies and implement programs to determine optimum inventory levels for production and to allow optimum utilization of machinery, materials and resources
• Analyze costs of production
• Design, develop and conduct time studies and work simplification programs
• Determine human resource and skill requirements and develop training programs
• Develop performance standards, evaluation systems and wage and incentive programs
• Conduct studies of the reliability and performance of plant facilities and production or administrative systems
• Develop maintenance standards, schedules and programs
• Establish programs and conduct studies to enhance industrial health and safety or to identify and correct fire and other hazards
• Evaluate or assess industrial facilities
• Supervise technicians, technologists, analysts, administrative staff and other engineers.

SKILLS TO BUILD

Skills used in this Career