What does a manufacturing project engineer do?
A manufacturing project engineer specializes in designing and developing a variety of equipment and systems, ensuring compliance with the industry's laws and standards. It is their duty to determine and identify the needs of every project, conceptualize plans, coordinate with staff and other experts, create prototypes and test structures, and develop guidelines. They may also provide technical support, assess existing systems, and implement solutions when necessary. Furthermore, they must maintain an active communication line with the workforce while implementing the facility's safety policies and regulations.
Manufacturing project engineer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real manufacturing project engineer resumes:
- Lead several independent, cross-functional projects and improve manufacturing quality, reduce cost, ensure environment are supported and FDA compliant.
- Perform risk analysis in accordance with ISO and cGMP requirements.
- Design showroom booths, and displays using SolidWorks for the company showroom fairs.
- Determine and assign equipment to be used, design tools and fixtures, write and debug CNC programs.
- Develop ISO procedures, generate equipment process instruction and procure equipment and tooling as required.
- Develop CNC programs and setup drawings utilizing Pro/Engineering and Pro/Manufacturing software for machining centers, lathes and flexible manufacturing cells.
- Review GMP records, protocols and reports in order to approve product for release or initiate change to improve quality system.
- Perform IQ/OQ/PQ to validate mold components and processes by following customer protocols or self develop protocols and complete OQ/PQ validation reports.
Manufacturing project engineer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 11% of Manufacturing Project Engineers are proficient in Project Management, Lean Manufacturing, and Capital Projects. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Listening skills, and Math skills.
We break down the percentage of Manufacturing Project Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Project Management, 11%
Coordinated with appropriate Manufacturing, Engineering and Project Management Personnel to develop root cause and implement corrective actions.
- Lean Manufacturing, 8%
Initiated lean manufacturing processes including standardization, high flexibility of manufacturing-tools, total productive maintenance (TPM).
- Capital Projects, 5%
Proposed and managed capital projects up to $1M for automation and equipment additions and upgrades.
- CAD, 5%
Performed all CAD work, using SolidWorks and AutoCAD, including mold design, tooling design, floor plans, etc.
- Continuous Improvement, 5%
Provided training for multiple new facilities.o Key implementation goals include Continuous Improvement and meeting the operational needs of the facility.
- Aerospace, 5%
Conceptualized and developed fabrication processes along with innovative tooling designs for complex Aerospace applications.
Most manufacturing project engineers use their skills in "project management," "lean manufacturing," and "capital projects" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential manufacturing project engineer responsibilities here:
Creativity. The most essential soft skill for a manufacturing project engineer to carry out their responsibilities is creativity. This skill is important for the role because "industrial engineers use creativity and ingenuity to design new production processes in many kinds of settings in order to reduce the use of material resources, time, or labor while accomplishing the same goal." Additionally, a manufacturing project engineer resume shows how their duties depend on creativity: "spearheaded the facilities zoning and accountability project by reducing inventory levels per the value streams to better inventory turns. "
Listening skills. Many manufacturing project engineer duties rely on listening skills. "these engineers often operate in teams, but they also must solicit feedback from customers, vendors, and production staff," so a manufacturing project engineer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways manufacturing project engineer responsibilities rely on listening skills: "developed models in solidworks communicated with production workers to find areas to improve. "
Math skills. This is an important skill for manufacturing project engineers to perform their duties. For an example of how manufacturing project engineer responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "industrial engineers use the principles of calculus, trigonometry, and other advanced topics in mathematics for analysis, design, and troubleshooting in their work." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a manufacturing project engineer: "trained on doe, statistics for engineers and current good manufacturing practice (cgmp). ".
Problem-solving skills. manufacturing project engineer responsibilities often require "problem-solving skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "in designing facilities for manufacturing and processes for providing services, these engineers deal with several issues at once, from workers’ safety to quality assurance." This resume example shows what manufacturing project engineers do with problem-solving skills on a typical day: "bring current manufacturing issues to the attention of design engineering for resolution and drawing changes. "
Speaking skills. Another common skill required for manufacturing project engineer responsibilities is "speaking skills." This skill comes up in the duties of manufacturing project engineers all the time, as "industrial engineers sometimes have to explain their instructions to production staff or technicians before they can make written instructions available." An excerpt from a real manufacturing project engineer resume shows how this skill is central to what a manufacturing project engineer does: "represented the project engineering department on the corrective action board developing and reporting on corrective action to eliminate production non-conformities. "
Writing skills. Another skill commonly found on manufacturing project engineer job descriptions is "writing skills." It can come up quite often in manufacturing project engineer duties, since "industrial engineers must prepare documentation for other engineers or scientists, or for future reference." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day manufacturing project engineer responsibilities: "process design and improvement, new process machine design, sample product design, technical report writing, mold design. "
The three companies that hire the most manufacturing project engineers are:
- Morgan Truck Body32 manufacturing project engineers jobs
- Abbott7 manufacturing project engineers jobs
- Caterpillar7 manufacturing project engineers jobs
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Compare different manufacturing project engineers
Manufacturing project engineer vs. Supplier quality engineer
A Supplier Quality Engineer ensures that the supplier's quality standards are in accordance with the requirement of the organization. They also report supplier performance and quality to management.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between manufacturing project engineers and supplier quality engineer. For instance, manufacturing project engineer responsibilities require skills such as "project management," "capital projects," "cad," and "aerospace." Whereas a supplier quality engineer is skilled in "quality system," "process control," "quality standards," and "as9100." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Supplier quality engineers tend to make the most money working in the professional industry, where they earn an average salary of $87,103. In contrast, manufacturing project engineers make the biggest average salary, $105,952, in the education industry.supplier quality engineers tend to reach similar levels of education than manufacturing project engineers. In fact, supplier quality engineers are 3.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Manufacturing project engineer vs. Design engineer
A design engineer is responsible for creating systems and applications based on their expertise. Design engineers work through client specifications based on business needs. A design engineer also provides recommendations on improving existing systems to boost its performance and increase efficiency. Design engineers must have an excellent command of computer systems, programming codes, and technical data to ensure the system's stability and high-quality processes. A design engineer should also have strong analytical and time-management skills to perform tasks and meet deadlines.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that manufacturing project engineer responsibilities requires skills like "lean manufacturing," "capital projects," "cad," and "continuous improvement." But a design engineer might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "c++," "ul," "work ethic," and "engineering design."
Design engineers earn a lower average salary than manufacturing project engineers. But design engineers earn the highest pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $86,213. Additionally, manufacturing project engineers earn the highest salaries in the education with average pay of $105,952 annually.design engineers earn similar levels of education than manufacturing project engineers in general. They're 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for manufacturing project engineers in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Richard Onyancha
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Department Head, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Manufacturing project engineer vs. Process engineer internship
A process engineering intern performs various tasks for an organization. These include collaborating with the technical team on cost savings, process efficiency improvements, and technology advancement, attending meetings with leadership teams, and participating in customer trials. Additionally, they may assist with the leadership or management teams in creating standard operating procedures. They are responsible for coordinating with engineers and work on projects assigned by the leadership. Ideal candidates for this role must have a degree in mechanical or industrial engineering, excellent communication skills, and knowledge and experience in process observation.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a manufacturing project engineer is likely to be skilled in "project management," "capital projects," "aerospace," and "design engineering," while a typical process engineer internship is skilled in "process engineering," "data analysis," "powerpoint," and "data collection."
Process engineer interns typically earn similar educational levels compared to manufacturing project engineers. Specifically, they're 0.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.9% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Manufacturing project engineer vs. Tool engineer
A tooling engineer is responsible for creating and adjusting tools or parts for cars, heavy equipment, and other products that need customized or personalized components. Your duties and responsibilities will include creating design blueprints, using computer-aided (CAD) software to develop two- and three-dimensional prints, and validating and evaluating products. As a tooling engineer, it is your responsibility to ensure compliance with operational standards such as the ISO 9000. You also have to provide technical assistance to manufacturing personnel and quality assurance.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between manufacturing project engineers and tool engineers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a manufacturing project engineer might have more use for skills like "capital projects," "aerospace," "design engineering," and "engineering projects." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of tool engineers require skills like "python," "java," "linux," and "jenkins. "
The technology industry tends to pay the highest salaries for tool engineers, with average annual pay of $94,406. Comparatively, the highest manufacturing project engineer annual salary comes from the education industry.In general, tool engineers hold similar degree levels compared to manufacturing project engineers. Tool engineers are 4.1% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of manufacturing project engineer
Updated January 8, 2025
