What does a production engineer do?
A production engineer is responsible for monitoring the production operations, ensuring everyone's adherence to safety protocols, and evaluating the staff's performance, strategizing on maximizing productivity to deliver efficient results that would drive revenues and increase profitability. Production engineers inspect the reliability of production equipment and machinery, conducting preventive maintenance, and repair inconsistencies to prevent production delays. They also identify areas of improvement with the manufacturing processes and escalate best practices for improvement. A production engineer must be knowledgeable about technological advancements and incorporate ideas to minimize costs without sacrificing the quality of services.
Production engineer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real production engineer resumes:
- Prepare tooling and gauging for CNC turning centers, manage the tooling cabinets, and rapport with vendors for tool sharpening.
- Complete DMAIC project and 8D that lead to the resolution of vibration issue, project result in a $2M save.
- Lead work cells to become a team; Harmonize/unite/motivate assembly personnel using Kaizen approach.
- Lead several independent, cross-functional projects and improve manufacturing quality, reduce cost, ensure environment are supported and FDA compliant.
- Install new filtration systems for aluminum boring machine centers.
- Have prepared and used FMEA, PPAP documents and perform MSA studies.
- Support the establishment of current DMAIC document and statistical attachments as part of team.
- Direct and train an improvement team in six sigma methodology to deliver 300K in annual savings.
- Prepare sheet metal designs, sigma drawings, fix production problems, verify quality requirements are fallow.
- Develop and mentore a rapidly growing group of production engineers engage in several DoD and NASA research programs.
- Develop specifications and procedures for assembly and test that aid and ease manufacture which include jigs and fixtures.
- Analyze extrusion / melt spinning process and identify opportunities to improve throughput, reduce cost, and improve quality.
- Modify PLC programs and add error proofing for the addition of new part models to assembly and CNC machining lines.
- Apply proven expertise in filtration, solids and slurry handling to expeditiously troubleshoot and solve problems, significantly improving plant production.
- Work closely on new initiatives from inception to production, run doe's experiments, and analyze data from different vendors.
Production engineer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 9% of Production Engineers are proficient in Java, Continuous Improvement, and Lean Manufacturing. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Listening skills, and Math skills.
We break down the percentage of Production Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Java, 9%
Developed the whole project simulation in Java Language including Pro-E modeling.
- Continuous Improvement, 7%
Conducted time studies and created continuous improvement studies, creating benchmarks in the cell manufacturing processes and identify process improvement opportunities.
- Lean Manufacturing, 5%
Managed multiple projects of improvements to existing processes for the manufacturing of current products using different Lean Manufacturing tools and methods.
- Sigma, 4%
Completed Green Belt-equivalent Six Sigma training and offered cost savings through batch composition optimization and reduction in operational occurrences.
- Technical Support, 4%
Provide technical support to maintain production capability, quality, and environmental compliance in a high purity polymer process.
- Process Control, 4%
Monitored important parameters of the plant on a daily basis and identified deviations, fine-tuned process controls and suggested corrective measures.
"java," "continuous improvement," and "lean manufacturing" are among the most common skills that production engineers use at work. You can find even more production engineer responsibilities below, including:
Creativity. The most essential soft skill for a production 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 production engineer resume shows how their duties depend on creativity: "monitored production planning control and inventory control with continuous improvement in manufacturing system of cooling units. "
Listening skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling production engineer duties is listening skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "these engineers often operate in teams, but they also must solicit feedback from customers, vendors, and production staff." According to a production engineer resume, here's how production engineers can utilize listening skills in their job responsibilities: "communicated and trained all control plan administrators, team leaders, and team members on initiated process changes. "
Math skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of production engineers is math skills. This skill is critical to many everyday production engineer duties, as "industrial engineers use the principles of calculus, trigonometry, and other advanced topics in mathematics for analysis, design, and troubleshooting in their work." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "design tools: orcad, autocad, pads, solidworks, pspice, mathcad"
Problem-solving skills. production 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 production engineers do with problem-solving skills on a typical day: "provided engineering solutions for various safety, repair, and continuous improvement problems regarding plant machinery. "
Speaking skills. A commonly-found skill in production engineer job descriptions, "speaking skills" is essential to what production engineers do. Production engineer responsibilities rely on this skill because "industrial engineers sometimes have to explain their instructions to production staff or technicians before they can make written instructions available." You can also see how production engineer duties rely on speaking skills in this resume example: "presented and expedited solutions for department of continuous improvement. "
Writing skills. Lastly, "writing skills" is an important element of what a production engineer does. Production engineer responsibilities require this skill because "industrial engineers must prepare documentation for other engineers or scientists, or for future reference." This resume example highlights how production engineer duties rely on this skill: "supervised the workers in production lines and writing daily production reports. "
The three companies that hire the most production engineers are:
- Meta626 production engineers jobs
- Ingevity113 production engineers jobs
- Goodman Manufacturing29 production engineers jobs
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Compare different production engineers
Production engineer vs. Chemical engineer
A chemical engineer provides support for chemical operations and testing new processes. The processes they successfully come up with are used to make different products from gas, oil, food, and drink. It is their job to assist in designing new chemical processes and make improvements. They implement fresh ideas to improve standard quality and efficiency. They must be good planners and schedulers of project activities to help chemical technicians to achieve their project objectives and provide technical support to maintain safe, stable, and reliable operations.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, production engineer responsibilities require skills like "java," "continuous improvement," "tcp ip," and "lean manufacturing." Meanwhile a typical chemical engineer has skills in areas such as "chemistry," "co-op," "chemical process," and "troubleshoot." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Chemical engineers tend to make the most money working in the energy industry, where they earn an average salary of $97,766. In contrast, production engineers make the biggest average salary, $111,622, in the technology industry.The education levels that chemical engineers earn slightly differ from production engineers. In particular, chemical engineers are 3.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a production engineer. Additionally, they're 2.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Production engineer vs. Development engineer
A Development Engineer is responsible for the development and validation of products, systems, and components. They are also responsible for quality control of work and continuous improvement of engineer activities.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that production engineer responsibilities requires skills like "continuous improvement," "lean manufacturing," "process control," and "production process." But a development engineer might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "python," "c #," "software development," and "javascript."
On average, development engineers earn a higher salary than production engineers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, development engineers earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $105,648. Whereas production engineers have higher pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $111,622.In general, development engineers achieve higher levels of education than production engineers. They're 7.2% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 2.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for production engineers in the next 3-5 years?
Jerry Leth
VP/General Manager, MANA
Production engineer vs. Engineer
Engineers are highly trained professionals who determine the feasibility of various projects, usually related to the construction industry. They are considered experts in mathematics and science, two disciplines that they need to use in designing and coming up with plans for projects. They should also be well-versed in different construction or industrial materials, and they ensure that appropriate materials are used for the project. They also ensure that the projects meet the requirements of the groups that hired them. They create spaces that would both address the needs of the end-users and the industry standards. They also ensure that the projects they make would stand the test of time.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a production engineer is likely to be skilled in "continuous improvement," "lean manufacturing," "sigma," and "process control," while a typical engineer is skilled in "python," "cloud," "c++," and "c #."
Engineers earn the best pay in the automotive industry, where they command an average salary of $97,672. Production engineers earn the highest pay from the technology industry, with an average salary of $111,622.When it comes to education, engineers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to production engineers. In fact, they're 3.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.8% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Production engineer vs. Equipment engineer
The duties of an equipment engineer depend on one's organization or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around designing and developing mechanical and electronic equipment, analyzing and improving existing systems, performing customization according to customers' preferences, installing and removing attachments, and conducting regular maintenance procedures. An equipment engineer must also address issues and complaints, providing corrective measures promptly and efficiently. Furthermore, it is essential to coordinate with team members and other specialists, inspect and test new systems, and adhere to the company's policies and regulations.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between production engineers and equipment engineers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a production engineer might have more use for skills like "java," "tcp ip," "production process," and "lifecycle management." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of equipment engineers require skills like "equipment performance," "semiconductor," "project management," and "preventive maintenance. "
Equipment engineers enjoy the best pay in the energy industry, with an average salary of $108,645. For comparison, production engineers earn the highest salary in the technology industry.equipment engineers reach similar levels of education compared to production engineers, in general. The difference is that they're 0.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of production engineer
Updated January 8, 2025
