Alternate Title(s) | Industrial Engineering Technician, Manufacturing Production Technician, Electro-Mechanical Technician, Electronics Maintenance Technician |
Minimum Education Requirements | Associate's degree, post secondary certificate |
Salary | See Bureau of Labor Statistics for more information |
Job Skills | - Analytical skills. Industrial engineering technicians must be able to help industrial engineers figure out how systems should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes. - Communication skills. Industrial engineering technicians receive instructions from industrial engineers. They must be able to clearly understand and follow instructions and communicate problems to their supervisors. - Critical-thinking skills. Industrial engineering technicians must be able to help industrial engineers figure out why certain processes or operations are not working as well as they might. They must ask the right questions to identify and correct weaknesses. - Detail oriented. Industrial engineering technicians must gather and record measurements and observations needed by industrial engineers. - Math skills. Industrial engineering technicians use the principles of mathematics for analysis, design, and troubleshooting in their work. - Observational skills. These technicians spend much of their time evaluating the performance of other people or organizations and then make suggestions for improvements or corrective action. They must gather and record information without interfering with workers in their environments. |
Job Duties | Industrial engineering technicians typically do the following: - Suggest revisions to methods of operation, material handling, or equipment layout - Interpret engineering drawings, schematic diagrams, and formulas - Confer with management or engineering staff to determine quality and reliability standards - Recommend changes to production standards in order to achieve the best quality within the limits of the capabilities of the equipment - Help plan work assignments, taking into account workers’ performance, the capabilities of machines, and production schedules - Prepare charts, graphs, and diagrams to illustrate workflow, routing, floor layouts, how materials are handled, and how machines are used - Collect data to assist in process improvement activities |
Job Profile | Industrial engineering technicians study the time and steps workers take to do a task (time and motion studies). To set reasonable production rates, they consider how workers perform operations such as maintenance, production, and service. They also observe workers to make sure that equipment is being used and maintained according to quality assurance standards. They then evaluate the resulting data to recommend or justify changes to the operations or to the standards for improving quality and efficiency. Industrial engineering technicians’ versatility allows them to be useful in a variety of projects. For example, they work in supply chain management to help businesses minimize inventory costs, in quality assurance to help businesses keep their customers satisfied, and in the growing field of project management to control costs and maximize efficiencies. Industrial engineering technicians generally work in teams under the supervision of industrial engineers. |
The information presented within this occupational profile was synthesized from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Outlook Handbook, 2016-17 Edition and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s Handbook of Occupational Groups & Families.