Evolving opportunities for production engineering graduates

We are witness to strong hiring of production engineers in e-commerce, knowledge-based consultant firms for data analytics and supply chain solutions like Amazon, Stellium, Infosys, Wipro, etc.    

Initiatives such as Make in India, Start Up India, Stand Up India, and the ongoing focus on Ease of Doing Business in India are bringing certain energy back to manufacturing. This is also creating new opportunities for engineering graduates. However, the current wave also has an additional (and perhaps larger) one following it. The opportunities in core manufacturing for production engineers are also coupled with industry and consulting opportunities in areas such as Supply Chain Management, Optimisation, Lean Manufacturing, and Analytics.

Production Engineering is considered as a core branch of engineering which primarily covers two broad areas; manufacturing technology and industrial engineering. A graduate in Production Engineering completes many theory and practical courses from both the domains which helps them towards roles in Manufacturing, Automation, Operations Management, Logistics & Supply Chain Management, Quality Assurance, Data Analytics, etc. Manufacturing typically encompasses design and operation of various machine tools for metal machining, metal forming like rolling, forging, extrusion, etc., casting and welding, automation of manufacturing systems, unconventional operations like electro-discharge, electro-chemical, electron beam, water jet, and many more. This is how Production Engineering has been looked at traditionally.

There is a growing realisation that the theory subjects under Industrial Engineering - like Production Planning & Control, Statistical Quality Control, Operations Research, Human Factor & Ergonomics, Motion & Time Study, Supply Chain Management, Engineering Economics, and Modelling Simulation - develop quantitative data handling aptitude and management skills in the graduates besides Production Engineering skills. As the Production Engineering graduates already have a solid foundation in Industrial Engineering, they often prove to be successful managers in the future. We have always seen a strong placement trend for production engineering in traditional manufacturing companies like Maruti Udyog, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Vedanta, etc. Now, we are witness to strong hiring of production engineers in e-commerce, knowledge-based consultant firms for data analytics and supply chain solutions like Amazon, Stellium, Infosys, Wipro, etc.    

There are a few contributory reasons for this trend. One is as mentioned above that engineering curriculum has evolved to add subjects and skill sets that have a growing overlap with Management. The other is the growth of distribution businesses such as e-commerce companies, which demands rigorous focus on Supply Chain Management. Thirdly, India is a massive market and any large business will have supplier-customer relationships spread across a vast area with a 1.3bn population. This calls for tight integration and optimisation of processes and the trend has only become stronger since the implementation of GST 2 years ago, which has made India truly one nation, one market.

We have only begun to scratch the surface with emergent technologies and solutions such as Big Data Analytics and automation, and their application to critical business functions such as Lean Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management. The future is no doubt abundant with opportunities for enterprising engineers who can integrate Engineering and Management.

About the Author:

Dr. Sanjay Kumar Jha is Head of Department, Production Engineering, BIT Mesra and is an award-winning professor whose research areas include Green Manufacturing, Artefacts Manufacturing and Friction Stir Welding. He has authored several publications and is a member of several professional bodies and editorial boards.