What Does a Manufacturing Process Engineer Do?

A manufacturing process engineer is a professional responsible for overseeing, optimizing, and developing processes that enable a manufacturing business to operate safely and efficiently. One of the primary duties of a manufacturing process engineer is to oversee operations to ensure that they are compliant with regulations and meet company standards. A process engineer generally uses software to monitor operations and determine how they can be improved. It also is common for this type of engineer to perform risk management duties, especially those that pertain to safety and environmental issues.

In most cases, a manufacturing process engineer is responsible for the effectiveness of all technological processes and the quality of products. For this reason, he or she often develops guidelines for all operations. When a new process engineer is introduced into an established system, he or she normally revises existing guidelines to address areas of inefficiency.

Training is another common responsibility of a manufacturing process engineer. Once he or she has developed and distributed guidelines for technological processes, he or she might then work with department leaders to ensure that all workers understand new practices. An engineer might also assess workers to ensure that they follow new standards.

Many manufacturing organizations run on a management model by which processes are continually being improved. For this reason, the process engineer participates in much troubleshooting. When problems are recurring, he or she might analyze intelligence to determine what causes a problem. A process engineer, then, optimizes all related processes, enabling his or her organization to run more smoothly.

It is important that a process engineer is in tune with company goals established at the executive level. He or she might communicate often with executives to learn how best to direct his or her attention. It is also common for this type of engineer to meet with a quality assurance manager to learn which standards are prioritized and which issues need to be addressed.

A manufacturing process engineer normally is in charge of all manufacturing facilities. He or she is familiar with state or federal regulations and codes and keeps administrative records that track inspections. When there is a malfunction at a manufacturing facility, a process engineer often is considered part of the first response. In other words, he or she is among the first professionals notified and usually is required to take immediate action. For this reason, a process engineer may be on call 24 hours a day.