Jobs / Architecture and engineering / 17-2112.03
Manufacturing Engineers
Design, integrate, or improve manufacturing systems or related processes. May work with commercial or industrial designers to refine product designs to increase producibility and decrease costs.
- US jobs
- 365,740 (SOC 17-2112 group, "Industrial Engineers")
- Median wage
- $102,440 a year
- Job family
- Architecture and engineering
Can agents do the work of manufacturing engineers?
We read the evidence at the level of the job family, Architecture and engineering:
- Task levelUnexploredNo task-level benchmark in our collection tests architecture or engineering design work, such as CAD modeling or engineering calculations.
- Project levelNot yetWhole projects are mostly out of reach. The Remote Labor Index includes 3D, CAD, and architecture projects; across all its projects, the best agent completed 15.8% to a standard a client would accept. GDPval includes mechanical engineers, and its deliverables score higher, but those tasks are one-shot and fully specified.
Benchmarks for the job family
These cover work in architecture and engineering, not always this occupation's tasks.
- 1846 EloClaude Opus 5.5 (Adaptive Reasoning, Max Effort, Default Fallback) · 23 Sep 2026Unrated
Typical tasks
From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.
- Troubleshoot new or existing product problems involving designs, materials, or processes.
- Investigate or resolve operational problems, such as material use variances or bottlenecks.
- Identify opportunities or implement changes to improve manufacturing processes or products or to reduce costs, using knowledge of fabrication processes, tooling and production equipment, assembly methods, quality control standards, or product design, materials and parts.
- Apply continuous improvement methods, such as lean manufacturing, to enhance manufacturing quality, reliability, or cost-effectiveness.
- Provide technical expertise or support related to manufacturing.
- Incorporate new manufacturing methods or processes to improve existing operations.
- Review product designs for manufacturability or completeness.
- Determine root causes of failures or recommend changes in designs, tolerances, or processing methods, using statistical procedures.
- Prepare reports summarizing information or trends related to manufacturing performance.
- Prepare documentation for new manufacturing processes or engineering procedures.
- Design layout of equipment or workspaces to achieve maximum efficiency.
- Communicate manufacturing capabilities, production schedules, or other information to facilitate production processes.
Other job titles for this occupation (24)
Facility Engineer · Manufacturing Engineer · Plant Engineer · Process Engineer · Process Improvement Engineer · Advance Manufacturing Engineer · Automation Engineer · Design Engineer · Engineer · Foundry Process Engineer · Lean Manufacturing Engineer · Manufacturing Applications Engineer · Manufacturing Automation Engineer · Manufacturing Controls Engineer · Manufacturing Electrical Engineer · Manufacturing Process Engineer · Manufacturing Project Engineer · Manufacturing Quality Engineer · Manufacturing Specialist · Manufacturing Systems Engineer · Methods Engineer · Process Manufacturing Engineer · Product Manufacturing Engineer · Project Engineer