Education for the Manufacturing World of the Future (1985) / Chapter Skim
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The U.S. Manufacturing Engineer: Practice, Profile, and Needs
The U.S. Manufacturing Engineer: Practice, Profile, and Needs
Pages 21-47
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From page 21... ...
Brummett is chief engineer of Detroit Diesel-Allison, Martinsville, Indiana, and president of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.
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From page 22... ...
He or-she must understand production, production control, design, facilities planning, plant layout, methods engineering, quality control, work standards, systems engineering, statistical process control, processing, and manufacturing engineering management in other words, the whole spectrum of manufacturing concerns. Based on an education that provides the ability to adapt to changing requirements, both organizational and technological, manufacturing engineers of the future must seek change and be willing to learn throughout their 35- to 45-year working life.
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From page 23... ...
These constraints include the supply of motivated manufacturing workers, the need to bring sociotechnical improvements into manufacturing, safety and health protection in the workplace and the product, and prevention of pollution during the manufacturing process. Manufacturing engineers also need to think about and receive training for whole new areas of operation such as manufacturing in space.
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From page 24... ...
Under the heading of "concurrent engineering," manufacturing engineers work as a team to coordinate product design between the product engineer and the manufacturing support groups and to evaluate the feasibility and producibility of the product. Once the product has been reviewed and approved by each group, it is released to production.
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From page 25... ...
These same people will, in turn, provide the support for automated machine tools in a cell or flexible manufacturing system and monitor for problems that cannot be resolved by automation. Such a change in duties means that greater technical skills will be required of the shop floor worker in the factory of the future, when retraining production personnel will be a critical factor for achieving successful factory operations.
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From page 26... ...
, scientists, and manufacturing technologists. Engineers from most engineering disciplines especially industrial, mechanical, and electrical-become manufacturing engineers by participating in production operations.
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From page 27... ...
Support and production personnel will work directly with information and through automated equipment systems supplied by the designers and engineers. The entire enterprise will be more integrated, allowing less opportunity for the discontinuity, confusion, and inefficiency so commonplace in today's factories.
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From page 28... ...
Those who do understand manufacturing processes, tooling, materials handling, and systems the manufacturing engineers-often learned their profession on the factory floor. Manufacturing engineers know how factories are run but, lacking sufficient education in either modern technologies or the business environment, they are ill-prepared for leadership in the factory of the future.
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From page 29... ...
Middle managers and supervisors make daily operating decisions. The factory of the future will continue to demand both practical technical and social skills on their part, in light of integrated communication networks; a larger cadre of knowledgeable workers and technical specialists; and increased artificial intelligence capabilities, office automation, common data bases, and decision support.
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From page 30... ...
The underlying concept of structuring a full career path provides a good example of an alternate way of creating a major resource of competent engineers and managers. Recently, a new professional classification, "advanced manufacturing engineers," has been implemented in large companies such as General Electric, General Motors, Ford, and Caterpillar.
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From page 31... ...
Foreign competitors have demonstrated that maintaining the good efforts of the entire manufacturing work force is indispensable to formulating and implementing strategy in the factory of the future. Manufacturing engineers must be aware of the new considerations that are part of the manufacturing revolution and must be prepared to handle the situations that arise.
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From page 32... ...
sponsors a series of biannual salary surveys to track the salaries of manufacturing engineers and managers (see Table 21. As detailed by Langer,5 the median annual cash compensation of full-time managerial personnel who participated in the 1984 survey was $42,960, while the median annual salary for engineers in manufacturing was $32,000.
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From page 33... ...
In 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education reported a crisis in American education.6 Among its pertinent findings were an overall decline in high school science achievement and a lack of adequate math preparation in secondary schools. The fundamentals of technology should be a part of everyone's education, yet many of the nation's high schools do not offer the math and science courses necessary to qualify graduates for consideration by accredited engineering colleges.
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From page 34... ...
Work Experience, On-the-Job Training, and Apprenticeships Manufacturing engineering has been and still is an applications function. Approximately 70 percent of practicing manufacturing engineers in U.S.
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College and University Education in Manufacturing In 1983, American colleges and universities awarded more than 105,000 engineering degrees (see Table 31. This table, based on information gathered by the Engineering Manpower Commission of the American Association of Engineering Societies, also details the
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From page 36... ...
Because manufacturing is an emerging discipline without a firm home in colleges and universities, little information is readily available on the academic preparation of manufacturing engineers. Table 4 shows the 1984 roster of programs in manufacturing engineering and engineering technology accredited by the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET)
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From page 37... ...
University of Nebraska at Omahaa Waterbury State Technical College (Waterbury, Conn.) a Both associate and bachelor's degrees are ABET-accredited.
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From page 38... ...
Detroit Diesel-Indianapolis, for example, has initiated a program which allows students and faculty to use selected equipment during slack time. Implementation of additional cooperative work experience programs in manufacturing engineering will mean productivity earlier in manufacturing careers.
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From page 39... ...
Because it is increasingly important for the manufacturing engineer to be involved in lifelong learning, several options in the form of cooperative programs involving industry, educational and professional organizations, and government need to be available at all levels of career development. Although various forms of corporate educational institutions are growing, the stronger trend is probably toward a working relationship between existing colleges and universities and corporations.
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From page 40... ...
At the present time, there are few places where college and university faculty can obtain concentrated upgrading in emerging technologies without committing extended periods of time and meeting the associated financial requirements. In early 1985, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers initiated a new continuing education program for those in the field of manufacturing.
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From page 41... ...
Faculty become involved in management decisions and contribute to improving industrial practice, while the program educates manufacturing engineers of high quality. The program helps some schools build their strengths in teaching fundamental engineering science while developing a stronger orientation toward engineering practice.
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From page 42... ...
The Ministry of International Trade and Industry has contributed $50 million to this effort, testifying to its seriousness. In the United States, establishment of a system of institutes at selected schools with the best productivity-oriented manufacturing engineering capability could be an important vehicle for improving industry-academia collaboration and productivity in manufacturing.
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From page 43... ...
Alliance members benefit by gaining: A larger number of graduates with computer skills; Preferential treatment in recruiting employees through the university and increased corporate visibility among students; New applications software developed at Brigham Young at no cost; · Assistance in training employees in new techniques; · Close contact with a center of research on new methodologies and applications; and · A ready source of consulting expertise and talent for solving technical problems. Brigham Young benefits from: · Students gaining experience using the latest computer and highperformance graphics equipment; · Students using advanced software tools for class assignments and research projects; · Faculty, in close association with industry, developing research projects on current industrial problems; and · Faculty, with industry support, developing computer-related manufacturing curricula to better prepare students for industrial careers.
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From page 44... ...
In mid-December 1982, IBM awarded planning grants to 46 universities to prepare final proposals for an MSE education curriculum grant. Following a comprehensive review, IBM awarded grants of approximately $2 million each to five universities for developing graduate programs: Lehigh University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Stanford University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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From page 45... ...
However, these efforts must be expanded to reach full manufacturing potential and to allow the United States to compete strongly in the international marketplace for manufactured goods. · Increased funding should be provided for studies in manufacturing engineering education to complement funding directed toward manufacturing research.
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From page 46... ...
Manufacturing engineering is a relatively new discipline in the United States. As in any emerging discipline, an extended period of time is required for a new philosophy and the accompanying practical ideas to be widely accepted.
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From page 47... ...
9. Society of Manufacturing Engineers.
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