Manufacturing Engineering v. Industrial Engineering: What’s the Difference?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the engineering field remains in a strong growth pattern, offering many openings across diverse industrial and scientific subfields.
What’s blatantly obvious is that our highly technological and mechanized society demands people who can provide expertise, ideas, solutions, and the tools to handle the world’s production needs.
Currently, there are numerous, diverse subfields within engineering—industrial, civil, chemical, electrical, software, aerospace, and more—which can complicate our grasp of what type of engineering is needed to accomplish certain tasks.
Two of these subfields (manufacturing and industrial) are so closely aligned that it can be difficult to distinguish their purposes. As experts who daily perform these two services, Quintec is happy to provide a basic explanation of each.
Manufacturing Engineering
Manufacturing engineering is primarily concerned with the design, control, and overall maintenance of both integrated systems and the machinery or equipment built for production purposes.
Another way of saying this is Quintec’s engineers focus their attention on selecting the best equipment and machinery needed to improve (or to create from scratch) a customer’s product or system.
At Quintec, our manufacturing engineers provide solutions for wide-ranging production challenges by offering the following skills and services:
Software evaluation
ROI analysis
Automation supervision
CAD drawings
Operations research
Systems assessment and management
Examples of what our manufacturing engineers can do for clients include…
Automating a warehouse by integrating computer software with new technology and robots.
Reducing overhead costs for a production business by implementing agile fabrication processes.
Designing a new and more efficient layout for a material handling facility.
Identifying trouble spots and pain points in manufacturing processes and equipment.
Essentially, our manufacturing engineers inspect and troubleshoot all facets of an existing system, while also crafting entirely new (or redesigned) systems that will work better and more efficiently.
Industrial Engineering
While manufacturing engineers concern themselves with systems, controls, and equipment, industrial engineering focuses on how people and machines cooperate to improve on the efficiency, overhead costs, and safety associated with that company’s production stream.
At Quintec, our industrial engineers practice the latest methods and can reference many of our own highly successful models to address a wide range of customer needs like:
Maximizing overall production
Converting older systems to the latest in automation and robotics
Consulting on lean manufacturing practices
Reducing injuries to workers and/or damages to product
Quintec’s industrial engineers assess existing systems and work methods for proficiency and offer complementary solutions where improvements can be made.
They also design alternatives that consider the many different moving parts typically associated with material handling and supply chain industries, such as employees, tools, machines, materials, information, and energy.
Depending on our customers’ needs, Quintec’s industrial engineers…
Observe assembly line strategies including both machinery and hired personnel.
Calculate the production, movement, sorting, and storage of inventory.
Assess energy consumption with specific attention to different times of day or work shifts.
Evaluate fabrication timelines.
Design control systems to ensure customers’ quality standards are met.
Confer on all aspects of material handling or supply chain logistics including product specifications, vendor options, manufacturing capabilities, budgetary goals, and more.
What Type of Engineering Do You Need?
Considering the information above, perhaps the best way to differentiate these two engineering subfields is to say that manufacturing engineers spend their time determining the best technology, equipment, and machinery for a project, while industrial engineers spend their time observing how people and machines work together to ensure that a system or a process is efficient, safe, and sustainable.
Because Quintec has been performing these services (and more) for over 20 years, we know exactly the type of engineering solution you will need, and our team is always ready to improve and enhance your operations.
Our acute attention to detail; our proficiency in material handling, production line, and supply chain logistics; and our deep connections and strong relationships with the leading vendors and designers in automation and robotics guarantees our clients the finest turnkey solutions in our industry.
Whether you’re a new or returning customer, we invite you to contact our consultants who are always available and ready to answer any of your questions and to provide solutions for your material handling, production, or manufacturing needs!
