Production engineering is a combination of manufacturing technology with management science. A production engineer typically has a wide knowledge of engineering practices and is aware of the management challenges related to production. The goal is to accomplish the production process in the smoothest, most-judicious and most-economic way.
Production engineering encompasses the application of castings, joining processes, metal cutting & tool design, metrology, machine tools, machining systems, automation, jigs and fixtures, and die and mould design. Production engineering also overlaps substantially with manufacturing engineering and industrial engineering.
In industry, once the design is realized, production engineering concepts regarding work-study, ergonomics, operation research, manufacturing management, materials management, production planning, etc., play important roles in efficient production processes. These deal with integrated design and efficient planning of the entire manufacturing system, which is becoming increasingly complex with the emergence of sophisticated production methods and control systems.
The Production Engineer possesses a wide set of skills, competences and attitudes based on market and scientific knowledge. These abilities are fundamental for the performance of coordinating and integrating professionals of multidisciplinary teams.
[1] The production engineer should be able to:
Work opportunities are available in public and private sector manufacturing organizations engaged in implementation, development and management of new production processes, information and control systems, and computer controlled inspection, assembly and handling.