How are production employees deployed in manufacturing and mechanical engineering?

How are production employees in manufacturing and the Mechanical engineering used?

Manufacturing and mechanical engineering offer a range of employment opportunities for production employees. These range from simple labour as a production helper or production assistant to skilled activities with a great deal of experience, such as the design and development of machines and systems.

Estimated reading time: 13 minutes

What are the production employee jobs?

In most cases, the production employees work directly on the assembly lines, the machines and the systems. Technicians and engineers are responsible for the development, planning and design of the systems. Another very important area of activity is quality assurance.

Here you can find production employees at work:

• When operating machines: Lathes, CNC machines, milling machines and more need to be controlled and monitored.
• In production: The production employees manufacture components and assemblies. This is done, for example, by machining, assembly or welding.
• In maintenance and servicing: The machines and systems also need attention in the form of maintenance and care. This helps to avoid breakdowns or to recognise faults at an early stage and take remedial action.
• Quality assurance: The manufactured products must be checked. The aim here is to ensure that the required quality is present by fulfilling all the requirements for the goods.
• Transport and storage: Materials and raw materials have to be stored and transported. Human labour is also required here.

Typical professions in this field are

• Machine and system operators: They monitor the production systems and machines and operate them as required.
• CNC millers or turners: They operate the CNC machines and programme them for the work steps and processes.
• Industrial mechanics: They are employed to maintain and repair the machines and systems used in production.
• Production mechanics: They manufacture, process and assemble components.
• Machining mechanics: They manufacture components using machining technology.
• Production planners: They plan and control the processes for production.

What is the difference between manufacturing and production?

As a term, production is more comprehensive in its meaning than manufacturing. In fact, manufacturing is a sub-area of production. It concentrates on the manufacture of finished products. Semi-finished parts, materials or raw materials are transformed for this purpose.

Production, on the other hand, encompasses all phases from the raw material to the delivered end product. This includes manufacturing as well as planning, procurement, quality control, packaging and distribution.

Let's take car production as an example. Assembling the components, machining the parts and painting them are all part of production. Production includes manufacturing, but also the procurement of components, logistics and delivery to the customer.

What are the tasks of production employees in manufacturing and mechanical engineering in detail?

The tasks of production employees are very varied. They work on the assembly lines, the machines and the systems. There it is their job to replenish, check, control and pack. No training is required for these activities.

Jobs in production are particularly sought-after, as new employees are constantly being sought here. Production employees work on the machines, set them up and maintain them. They are also responsible for the transport of goods and quality assurance.

While the exact tasks vary depending on the application, they can generally be summarised as follows:

• Monitoring and operating the various machines and systems for production
• Various activities in the assembly of parts
• Sorting parts, materials and raw materials
• Checking products for defects and monitoring processes to ensure that everything runs smoothly
• The transport of goods and various activities within the warehouse
• General quality control to ensure that the products are what they are supposed to be according to plan
• Preparing the parts for dispatch, including packaging
• Various clean-up tasks as part of production

For these tasks, the production employees are located inside production halls and warehouses. They can also work on loading ramps. All of these places are often dusty and sometimes noisy. Production workers therefore need to have a thick skin in the face of these conditions.

What does a machine and plant operator do?

Machines and systems are used in production. Here it is necessary to operate these and more. This looks like this in detail:

• The processing of orders: The production concept is often based on the fact that orders are received and then have to be processed. Then there is customer service. Production employees must also be active here.
• Operation, maintenance and repair: A machine and plant operator must set, monitor, maintain and repair the machines. The aim is to ensure that everything runs smoothly and to maintain functionality. If system problems occur, they must be identified and rectified. The operators must also provide support if there are questions about the functions and processes.
• Programming: In order to commission the machines and systems for a task, they must be set according to the requirements. There are menus for this and the appropriate options must be selected here.
• Coordination: In order to fulfil the requirements for greater efficiency, there is constant coordination with superiors. This allows process techniques to be tracked and continuously improved.

Machine and plant operators can specialise. There are a number of areas to choose from. These include

• Working with metals and plastics
• Use in textile technology
• Use in the food sector
• Working in the paper industry and printing

Employees who have completed vocational training in this field, industrial mechanics or similar training are particularly in demand as machine and plant operators. Operators also need knowledge of working with machines and computer-controlled systems.

In addition, employees must be able to work independently and proceed in a structured and careful manner. They must also have a sufficient sense of responsibility and be reliable and able to work in a team.

That sounds like a lot of demands on the employee. However, there are also a lot of benefits on offer, such as a secure job with a responsible role. In addition, there is often a company pension scheme, special payments for holidays and Christmas, cost allowances and a company doctor.

What does a process mechanic do?

Process mechanics are tasked with operating the machines and machine groups required for certain manufacturing processes. They monitor them, maintain them and control them.

The process mechanics' work is based on the raw materials they work with and the customer's requirements. They programme the systems accordingly. They also carry out manual work and monitor all of the processes in production in order to achieve the result desired by the customer.

During production, the process mechanics repeatedly take samples. These are used to check the quality. If necessary, they also make adjustments if the result is not quite what was desired.

Once the work has been completed or there is a break in the processes, the process mechanics are responsible for cleaning the equipment and systems used. If necessary, they change the oils and top up the coolants.

There are also various specialisations available for process mechanics. These include, for example, plastics and rubber technology, glass technology and coating technology.

The workplace of a process mechanic is generally located in production halls and workshops. The daily work and the place of work remain relatively the same, so this job is particularly appealing to those who want stability and a consistent job.

What are the tasks of a cutting machine operator?

Machinists can be found in the production of components. These are required for machines, engines and turbines. CNC-controlled machine tools are used for machining.

Machining mechanics must be well versed in CNC production. They plan and prepare the work tasks. They are also responsible for maintaining the CNC machines themselves. They work primarily in toolmaking and mechanical engineering, light metal construction and the automotive industry.

The assembly of components in mechanical engineering - what is important?

A very important part of manufacturing and mechanical engineering is the assembly of components. Those who specialise in this area have a strong position on the market. This applies both to companies on the market and to employees on the labour market.

Assembly is carried out according to customer-specific requirements. Often enough, this involves customised machines. This means that it is not always simply a matter of machines that are mass-produced. Rather, we are talking about machines and systems that are manufactured according to individual customer requirements. This is primarily a question of the local conditions, for example the dimensions of the production halls, and what is to be achieved with the machines. Will they ultimately be used to manufacture toys or vehicles?

When customised machines are manufactured, it is an entire project. This means that the machines have to be designed, manufactured according to requirements, installed on site and set up. Assembly is used everywhere. Be it in the planning stage, when the assembly itself is also planned. Be it during production, when the parts are assembled, or during installation on site, when the assemblies are installed.

The customers supply the production documents for this and the planning and execution are based on these. This often involves various components with mechanical, hydraulic and pneumatic applications. Of course, electrical installations are also regularly included.

At the same time, the manufacturing company prepares documents for the customised machines for the entire project. These are handed over to the customer and the customer's operators are instructed in the handling of the machines.

These are some of the manufacturing processes and techniques used in machine construction:

• Cutting materials, for example with band saws
• The production of welded constructions, including the use of various materials such as stainless steel
• Conventional milling and turning
• CNC milling
• CNC grinding
• 3- to 5-axis milling in CNC machining
• The assembly of modules
• The assembly of complete systems
• Carrying out electrical installations
• Laser labelling of the components
• Measuring work, such as layer thicknesses and roughness
• Thermal processing of materials and assemblies
• Moulding sheet metal and frames

This also requires the deployment of various employees with different qualifications. For example, unskilled labourers carry out simple assembly work on components, for example using screws. Qualified welders, on the other hand, are responsible for the welding work. This includes the production of containers, machine frames, the permanent joining of parts and more.

Electricians carry out the connections. They install and set up the switch boxes. They also have further qualifications for surface finishing, installing IT systems, sensors and more.

Quality control - what's behind it?

Quality control is important in production in order to ensure the required standards. The aim is to fulfil the customer's requirements for the product and thus ensure good and, above all, ongoing cooperation.

Those responsible for quality control have their guidelines from the company, according to which they check the finished products. But that's not all. They also monitor how services are provided in connection with production and find out where they can be optimised. They also help to better organise internal company processes.

From the above, there are various possible applications for the employees entrusted with quality control. These are

• Raw material inspection: The inspectors check the raw materials supplied. What are their properties and are they suitable for their intended roles in production?
• Process control: The employees ensure that the individual processes are carried out in accordance with the specifications. The main aim here is to ensure that the quality standards that are to be achieved with the processes are actually met.
• Production testing: Here, employees take random samples during production in order to find defects as early as possible.
• The final inspection: The finished products are checked to ensure that they have the properties specified for them to the required extent.
• Error analysis: Any errors and defects found are identified and the reasons behind them are analysed in detail. Improvements are then developed in this area.
• Quality documentation: In this area, it is the task of the employees to record the data collected during the checks. The checks themselves are also documented so that it can later be proven what was checked and when. Recording the quality data also serves to recognise which process changes have led to which results.

It is the task of quality control employees not only to find errors, but also to work towards eliminating and preventing errors in the future. To this end, they prepare suggestions for improvement and continuously strive to optimise processes.

Conclusion

In manufacturing and mechanical engineering, there is a wide range of possible applications for production employees. These range from simple loading of equipment and tidying and packing to more demanding tasks such as setting up automatic systems for quality control and analysing the results of the checks.

Manufacturing is itself a component of production. However, while production ranges from the delivery of raw materials or starting parts to delivery to the customer, manufacturing is solely concerned with the conversion of raw materials or starting parts into end products.

The tasks of the employees vary considerably. They may consist of packing the products into boxes or maintaining machines and systems for production.