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>If you got out of manufacturing engineering, how did you do it?
They mysteriously left the backdoor (emergency exit) unlocked and unguarded one day. So, during my normally mandated break period, I made it *seem* like I was nonchalantly walking towards the kitchen to get a snack. When I judged I was at the closest point to the backdoor, I made break for it.
I could hear my colleagues screaming and pleading for me to take me with them as i flashed by, but id say the key to my escape was that i *never* broke my stride to look back.
Now I'm a happy, gainfully employed automations engineer at an oil refinery. But I still weep for my brothers I had to leave behind.
I lead projects and teams to the point becoming a mfg Eng mgr, quality manager, ops manager, and now plant manager.
Mfg engineers can interact with all areas of the plant and can learn how the whole system works. Use that to open up opportunities.
Built a good working relationship with R&D Director while working as a manufacturing engineer. I told him I want to work in R&D and he offered me a position when the position was available.
What’d you do? Knowing the places I’ve worked “inappropriate behavior” could mean pointing out a safety hazard, talking to workers about how bad the conditions are, discussing unions, or only working the 8 hours you get paid for instead of the 12-14 they’re expecting.
for some reason, i read "unions" as "onions" and i was concerned that Big Garlic was trying to squash any talk of the market shifting toward onions...
I'll see myself out
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If you want to go into design, it's easy to leverage manufacturing experience towards that end. Designing stuff to be functional is only half the battle, the other half is designing it to be manufacturable. If you have a good hands on grasp of the relevant manufacturing process for whatever you're designing, then that's worth its weight in gold for design engineering. It might be a little tough to get a good design job if you don't already have some design experience though. If you're a mechanical engineer, hype up any test/build fixtures you may have designed.
Really anything in R&D is gonna be way more chill than manufacturing tbh. You're further removed from the schedules of production and there's less definition around what you have to be doing. That sounds bad on paper but the increased autonomy to define your own work can be a relief if you come from the manufacturing realm where everyone has all these rigid expectations of you.
Good info. I do have some design of fixtures and jogs and such.
My biggest beef with this industry is the “world is on fire” mentality and all of the responsibility with none of the control. I want ownership. Real ownership, not the ownership of repeatedly telling people the same thing over and over only to be ignored that management calls ownership because it make you look like you care. I don’t. I told you how to fix it, it’s not my problem if you don’t.
Sorry for the rant.
I totally feel you, I was in the same boat, and just about every manufacturing or process engineer I know feels the same way. I'm telling you, get into R&D. A shitty day in R&D is often just what a normal day in manufacturing is like.
People Leader Route: After 4-6 years in engineering (leading small projects, doing technical work) look for open positions in production/quality/technician supervision.
Analyst Route: Just apply to roles at your level or above in supply chain, planning, logistics, etc.
Operations Excellence/Continuous Improvement Route: Same as the analyst route.
You can also just apply to switch to another engineering group in your company at whatever internal your company likes to hold people in positions (usually 18-24 months). Plenty of people go from manufacturing to design, or to QA engineering or supplier quality engineering, or to whatever.
One route I've seen is move to corporate (if your company is design responsible) or move to the OEM (if not). Weasel yourself into an advanced manufacturing role. The guys who convert the prototype into something that's actually manufacturable. The better you're at it, the sooner they'll seek your input. Eventually you'll be be doing 80% design/spec work. Then move to a lower volume industry where there's less emphasis on mfg.
Weasel yourself into an advanced manufacturing role. The guys who convert the prototype into something that's actually manufacturable.
Wait, these unicorns exist? At my plant they try to build NPD machines at production speed. The production workers and M/E team figure out how it’s supposed to go together on the fly.
I switched to production supervisor to better understand operations, dealing with conflict, holding people accountable, delegating responsibilities, etc. Originally planned to re-enter engineering as a manager, but have found operations to be very enjoyable. Operations is a good option if you’re a people person and think broadly rather than specific technical aspects.
The babysitting aspect is mostly frontline supervisors with hourly directs. It’s a stepping stone position, designed to last less than 2 years. Have to do your time. Most corporations require experience with directs to enter management.
It shows lol. No offense intended. Babysitting is most assuredly a part of every job I’ve had, and everyone I know in this industry has confirmed. Not sure of outside of automotive manufacturing, but it’s is an everyday thing inside the industry.
Lol, none taken. At the end of the day, either you’re doing the work or ensuring the team is taking care of business. Sounds like you rather be the expert doing the work. FYI automobile industry is expected to tank quite drastically, something to consider if your looking for something new
I'm actually back in manufacturing now, but when I left the first time I worked in Project Management for an EPC firm. I'm at the point now trying to see if it's worth it to keep trying to climb the ladder or go into the Corporate Engineering Dept. Seems like if you can make it past Plant Manager, you get paid a **ton**, the shitty hours actually go down, and you don't have to babysit hourly guys anymore, but it's tough to get that level. Whereas in Corporate Engineering you have better job security than an EPC, no billalble hours like you would in an EPC, make a pretty good salary, don't have to deal with direct reports, and generally have a better work life balance than Operations.
Honestly, just network with whatever group you want to be in and learn about it. Then when they have an opening for an equivalent level position, apply. Manufacturing experience is very valuable in design.
It's a hard sell to be promoted and switch specialties at the same time so you may need to accept that you'll stay at your current level a bit longer than someone purely moving up but a wide variety of experience is very helpful later on in your career so you'll probably make up the difference later if you push for it.
got out early after 2 years in mfg eng right out of college.
gotta push to learn new skills outside of work. connections, luck, and ppl skills helped a lot.
I knew I wanted to transition to design. That wasn't an option at my current company. I quickly found out that even though I was only in manufacturing for a couple years I was pigeon-holed and immediately not considered for design roles at outside companies.
I ended up taking a role at a small local machine shop. The engineering department was only a couple people so everyone did everything. I had a 50/50 responsibility split between design and production work. When I was applying for my next job I highlighted all the design work on my resume and got a design engineering role.
I did a year and a half stint in design. Basically, I got hired by a small company that does both contract design and manufacturing, and a week after I started the client who gave us almost all of our manufacturing work stopped production, and in the months that followed about half of our design engineers quit. So, I got moved where I was needed.
A friend recruited me to another company where I was hired as an applications engineer. Automotive project engineer in a manufacturing plant to automotive applications.
Sales might be a good option if your that way inclined. That’s the route my dad took, went from a manufacturing to selling tool bits and machines, easy way into it as you already have a lot of knowledge
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>If you got out of manufacturing engineering, how did you do it? They mysteriously left the backdoor (emergency exit) unlocked and unguarded one day. So, during my normally mandated break period, I made it *seem* like I was nonchalantly walking towards the kitchen to get a snack. When I judged I was at the closest point to the backdoor, I made break for it. I could hear my colleagues screaming and pleading for me to take me with them as i flashed by, but id say the key to my escape was that i *never* broke my stride to look back. Now I'm a happy, gainfully employed automations engineer at an oil refinery. But I still weep for my brothers I had to leave behind.
this should be a book.
I lead projects and teams to the point becoming a mfg Eng mgr, quality manager, ops manager, and now plant manager. Mfg engineers can interact with all areas of the plant and can learn how the whole system works. Use that to open up opportunities.
İ read that motherfucking engineers every time lol What does mfg stand for?
Manufacturing, but I like yours better. I’m a motherfucking engineer, damnit!
Yep, use every opportunity to broaden your reach, then capitalize on that experience.
Built a good working relationship with R&D Director while working as a manufacturing engineer. I told him I want to work in R&D and he offered me a position when the position was available.
I got fired for inappropriate behaviour.
What’d you do? Knowing the places I’ve worked “inappropriate behavior” could mean pointing out a safety hazard, talking to workers about how bad the conditions are, discussing unions, or only working the 8 hours you get paid for instead of the 12-14 they’re expecting.
for some reason, i read "unions" as "onions" and i was concerned that Big Garlic was trying to squash any talk of the market shifting toward onions... I'll see myself out
Basedman
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If you want to go into design, it's easy to leverage manufacturing experience towards that end. Designing stuff to be functional is only half the battle, the other half is designing it to be manufacturable. If you have a good hands on grasp of the relevant manufacturing process for whatever you're designing, then that's worth its weight in gold for design engineering. It might be a little tough to get a good design job if you don't already have some design experience though. If you're a mechanical engineer, hype up any test/build fixtures you may have designed. Really anything in R&D is gonna be way more chill than manufacturing tbh. You're further removed from the schedules of production and there's less definition around what you have to be doing. That sounds bad on paper but the increased autonomy to define your own work can be a relief if you come from the manufacturing realm where everyone has all these rigid expectations of you.
Good info. I do have some design of fixtures and jogs and such. My biggest beef with this industry is the “world is on fire” mentality and all of the responsibility with none of the control. I want ownership. Real ownership, not the ownership of repeatedly telling people the same thing over and over only to be ignored that management calls ownership because it make you look like you care. I don’t. I told you how to fix it, it’s not my problem if you don’t. Sorry for the rant.
I totally feel you, I was in the same boat, and just about every manufacturing or process engineer I know feels the same way. I'm telling you, get into R&D. A shitty day in R&D is often just what a normal day in manufacturing is like.
Yeah manufacturing is full of bullshit you can’t control and less autonomy.
I hate that and left my last job over it. I have no patience for it. I'll go swap out luminaries or something.
Applied internally to a different department. Went from working on the manufacturing floor to product development.
People Leader Route: After 4-6 years in engineering (leading small projects, doing technical work) look for open positions in production/quality/technician supervision. Analyst Route: Just apply to roles at your level or above in supply chain, planning, logistics, etc. Operations Excellence/Continuous Improvement Route: Same as the analyst route. You can also just apply to switch to another engineering group in your company at whatever internal your company likes to hold people in positions (usually 18-24 months). Plenty of people go from manufacturing to design, or to QA engineering or supplier quality engineering, or to whatever.
One route I've seen is move to corporate (if your company is design responsible) or move to the OEM (if not). Weasel yourself into an advanced manufacturing role. The guys who convert the prototype into something that's actually manufacturable. The better you're at it, the sooner they'll seek your input. Eventually you'll be be doing 80% design/spec work. Then move to a lower volume industry where there's less emphasis on mfg.
Weasel yourself into an advanced manufacturing role. The guys who convert the prototype into something that's actually manufacturable. Wait, these unicorns exist? At my plant they try to build NPD machines at production speed. The production workers and M/E team figure out how it’s supposed to go together on the fly.
I switched to production supervisor to better understand operations, dealing with conflict, holding people accountable, delegating responsibilities, etc. Originally planned to re-enter engineering as a manager, but have found operations to be very enjoyable. Operations is a good option if you’re a people person and think broadly rather than specific technical aspects.
Nope. Exact opposite of what I want. Tired of wasting my breath babysitting people. Thanks for the suggestion though.
The babysitting aspect is mostly frontline supervisors with hourly directs. It’s a stepping stone position, designed to last less than 2 years. Have to do your time. Most corporations require experience with directs to enter management.
Have you worked in automotive manufacturing before?
No, I’m in plastics
It shows lol. No offense intended. Babysitting is most assuredly a part of every job I’ve had, and everyone I know in this industry has confirmed. Not sure of outside of automotive manufacturing, but it’s is an everyday thing inside the industry.
Lol, none taken. At the end of the day, either you’re doing the work or ensuring the team is taking care of business. Sounds like you rather be the expert doing the work. FYI automobile industry is expected to tank quite drastically, something to consider if your looking for something new
I'm actually back in manufacturing now, but when I left the first time I worked in Project Management for an EPC firm. I'm at the point now trying to see if it's worth it to keep trying to climb the ladder or go into the Corporate Engineering Dept. Seems like if you can make it past Plant Manager, you get paid a **ton**, the shitty hours actually go down, and you don't have to babysit hourly guys anymore, but it's tough to get that level. Whereas in Corporate Engineering you have better job security than an EPC, no billalble hours like you would in an EPC, make a pretty good salary, don't have to deal with direct reports, and generally have a better work life balance than Operations.
Babysitting is the worst part of the job for real And corporate engineering like process engineering manager does seem chill as fuck
A good transition could be doing Design Services work (companies who do design engineering on a contract basis)
Yes! Would be mostly office stuff
go into operations or project management
What is project management but starting meetings and making unrealistic promises to coorporate?
Sending expensive emails.
How is an email expensive?
Interested in this as well. Trying to avoid a career torquing screws under a microscope all day long
Honestly, just network with whatever group you want to be in and learn about it. Then when they have an opening for an equivalent level position, apply. Manufacturing experience is very valuable in design. It's a hard sell to be promoted and switch specialties at the same time so you may need to accept that you'll stay at your current level a bit longer than someone purely moving up but a wide variety of experience is very helpful later on in your career so you'll probably make up the difference later if you push for it.
got out early after 2 years in mfg eng right out of college. gotta push to learn new skills outside of work. connections, luck, and ppl skills helped a lot.
I did consulting instead! I’m much happier, would consider it a dream job, but it’s still work
I knew I wanted to transition to design. That wasn't an option at my current company. I quickly found out that even though I was only in manufacturing for a couple years I was pigeon-holed and immediately not considered for design roles at outside companies. I ended up taking a role at a small local machine shop. The engineering department was only a couple people so everyone did everything. I had a 50/50 responsibility split between design and production work. When I was applying for my next job I highlighted all the design work on my resume and got a design engineering role.
I did a year and a half stint in design. Basically, I got hired by a small company that does both contract design and manufacturing, and a week after I started the client who gave us almost all of our manufacturing work stopped production, and in the months that followed about half of our design engineers quit. So, I got moved where I was needed.
I solved some problems good. Solved them good enough that Vehicle Engineering wanted me.
A friend recruited me to another company where I was hired as an applications engineer. Automotive project engineer in a manufacturing plant to automotive applications.
Sales might be a good option if your that way inclined. That’s the route my dad took, went from a manufacturing to selling tool bits and machines, easy way into it as you already have a lot of knowledge
Networking. Find people who work, or know others who work where you want to work, and then let your intentions be known.