Also called: Production Engineer, Process Engineer
Designs how a product gets built: the machines, tools, steps and layouts on the factory floor.
A new electric bike is coming to your plant. You decide which robots weld the frame, design fixtures to hold parts, and write work instructions. When the first bikes come off the line crooked, you trace it to a bent fixture and fix it.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in manufacturing, industrial or mechanical engineering.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering.
Growing much faster than average (about 11% over 10 years). Tracks industrial engineers; reshoring is boosting demand.
Low risk for 10 years. AI and digital twins help plan production lines; setting up machines, solving floor problems and launching new products stay hands-on.
Classes: Physics, Shop or machining CTE, Statistics, CAD class.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2112.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.