What does a sustaining engineer do?
A sustaining engineer is responsible for monitoring industrial operations, including the efficiency of processes and the performance of tools and equipment, ensuring high-quality deliverables for business objectives. Sustaining engineers evaluate the safety and security of the operations, strategizing techniques to manage potential hazards that may cause delays in the production. They also work with the management to identify opportunities to maximize productivity and maintain cost-reduction procedures, especially on materials and equipment. A sustaining engineer handles operational issues, as well as assessing incident reports for immediate resolution.
Sustaining engineer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real sustaining engineer resumes:
- Manage the deployment and implementation of IPX/IGX/BPX switches worldwide.
- Manage all design and manufacturing operations through strict FDA, MDD quality system requirements.
- Manage donations tracking and CRM software including outreach emails, mailings, printing, and mailing list management.
- Manage the manufacturing of defense and aerospace electro-mechanical print circuit boards from prototype to production level.
- Participate in DFM, DFT, and DFE processes for all new product introduction (s) (NPI).
- Evaluate and specify perishable tooling for CNC machines.
- Have taken TCP/IP, networking and data storage training courses.
- Work with the networking products like routers, switches, adapters.
- Perform troubleshooting of systems using Unix, Linux, Zenix, RedHat.OS.
- Provide test-relate support of DFT and DFM at product level to the manufacturing department.
- Revise and update projects per customer requests and customer changes using Solidworks 2005 and PDM works.
- Monitor multiple systems across various platforms and storage devices (VMWare, ZFS, AWS).
- Handle customer escalations, conduct remote sessions, troubleshoot production issues, and reproduce customer issues in lab.
- Create and modify drawings in SolidWorks and AutoCAD, create and modify BOMs, perform special product report generation
- Ensure compliance with ISO 9001 and AS9100 in regards to configuration management, process control and quality management.
Sustaining engineer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 5% of Sustaining Engineers are proficient in Troubleshoot, Lean Six Sigma, and Lean Manufacturing. They’re also known for soft skills such as Speaking skills, Writing skills, and Creativity.
We break down the percentage of Sustaining Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Troubleshoot, 5%
Trained technicians to test and troubleshoot TEMPEST products.
- Lean Six Sigma, 4%
Implement manufacturing process improvement and Lean Six Sigma program.
- Lean Manufacturing, 4%
Improved profitability of mature products manufactured in company's plant by implementing Lean Manufacturing principles.
- Sigma, 4%
Process improvement projects following a Six Sigma DMAIC methodology.
- Solidworks, 4%
Translated Pro-E drawings into SolidWorks 3D models.
- CAD, 4%
Work with CAD Designers and Engineers and check the accuracy of all engineering drawings.
"troubleshoot," "lean six sigma," and "lean manufacturing" are among the most common skills that sustaining engineers use at work. You can find even more sustaining engineer responsibilities below, including:
Speaking skills. One of the key soft skills for a sustaining engineer to have is speaking skills. You can see how this relates to what sustaining engineers do because "industrial engineers sometimes have to explain their instructions to production staff or technicians before they can make written instructions available." Additionally, a sustaining engineer resume shows how sustaining engineers use speaking skills: "identified, addressed, and resolved complex system issues impacting paypal site performance across multiple product lines. "
Writing skills. Many sustaining engineer duties rely on writing skills. "industrial engineers must prepare documentation for other engineers or scientists, or for future reference," so a sustaining engineer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways sustaining engineer responsibilities rely on writing skills: "employed iso procedures and writing requirements, which are similar to capability maturity models (cmm). "
Creativity. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of sustaining engineers is creativity. This skill is critical to many everyday sustaining engineer duties, as "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." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "spare parts inventory requirements based upon equipment life failures and data analysis. "
Listening skills. A big part of what sustaining engineers do relies on "listening skills." You can see how essential it is to sustaining engineer responsibilities because "these engineers often operate in teams, but they also must solicit feedback from customers, vendors, and production staff." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical sustaining engineer tasks: "performed failure analysis on returned compressors, and communicated the results to customers. "
Math skills. Another crucial skill for a sustaining engineer to carry out their responsibilities is "math skills." A big part of what sustaining engineers relies on this skill, since "industrial engineers use the principles of calculus, trigonometry, and other advanced topics in mathematics for analysis, design, and troubleshooting in their work." How this skill relates to sustaining engineer duties can be seen in an example from a sustaining engineer resume snippet: "attended ipm, advanced statistics, algor fea software and iso audit training. "
Problem-solving skills. Lastly, "problem-solving skills" is an important element of what a sustaining engineer does. Sustaining engineer responsibilities require this skill because "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 highlights how sustaining engineer duties rely on this skill: "coordinate new pcba fabrication, functional validation, and identify and drive resolution of design issues. "
The three companies that hire the most sustaining engineers are:
- Church & Dwight Co.13 sustaining engineers jobs
- Lockheed Martin12 sustaining engineers jobs
- Cree10 sustaining engineers jobs
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Compare different sustaining engineers
Sustaining engineer vs. Reliability engineer
A reliability engineer is in charge of determining and managing the asset reliability risks of businesses. Reliability engineers are professionals who solve problems related to engineering. They are equipped with a better understanding of the principles of performance evaluation and prediction for product safety. The job requires knowledge of the field of engineering, strong communication, interpersonal skills, management skills, attention to detail, and reliability. They are also expected to become experts in engineering systems.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a sustaining engineer are more likely to require skills like "solidworks," "cad," "windows," and "post sales." On the other hand, a job as a reliability engineer requires skills like "ruby," "jenkins," "azure," and "continuous improvement." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Reliability engineers really shine in the start-up industry with an average salary of $139,857. Comparatively, sustaining engineers tend to make the most money in the health care industry with an average salary of $88,869.On average, reliability engineers reach similar levels of education than sustaining engineers. Reliability engineers are 3.9% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Sustaining 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.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real sustaining engineer resumes. While sustaining engineer responsibilities can utilize skills like "troubleshoot," "post sales," "c++," and "data analysis," tool engineers use skills like "python," "jenkins," "ruby," and "continuous improvement."
On average, tool engineers earn a higher salary than sustaining engineers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, tool engineers earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $94,406. Whereas sustaining engineers have higher pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $88,869.In general, tool engineers achieve similar levels of education than sustaining engineers. They're 1.6% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for sustaining engineers in the next 3-5 years?
Andrea Welker Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Engineering Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Villanova University
Sustaining engineer vs. Process engineer
A Process Engineer is responsible for coming up with innovative ways to process particular raw materials into different kinds of products. They can also modify various existing machines or maintain their quality by monitoring its functions and conducting tests and examinations. A Process Engineer must do numerous analyses and research to gather data that would help determine possible improvements or decisions to uphold. Furthermore, A Process Engineer also has the task of procuring and installing new equipment, collecting and interpreting data, assessing risks, and ensuring that tasks are done safely.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from sustaining engineer resumes include skills like "windows," "post sales," "c++," and "design changes," whereas a process engineer is more likely to list skills in "continuous improvement," "project management," "statistical analysis," and "minitab. "
Process engineers make a very good living in the technology industry with an average annual salary of $87,797. On the other hand, sustaining engineers are paid the highest salary in the health care industry, with average annual pay of $88,869.Most process engineers achieve a similar degree level compared to sustaining engineers. For example, they're 2.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.8% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Sustaining engineer vs. Project engineer
A Project Engineer develops the plan that the entire team or company will undertake. The project engineer develops the plans, strategies, and goals of a project and then gives it to the management for approval and allocation. The Project Engineer will also recommend material, equipment, and the type of personnel needed. This position is integral in the smooth flow of any project, so hiring someone to hold this position will decide the success of a project.
Types of sustaining engineer
Updated January 8, 2025
