A production engineer typically is involved in the production and manufacturing process and must be knowledgeable about the entire process. One of the duties includes keeping the costs of manufacturing to a minimum while at the same time not affecting the quality of the products. He or she also calculates the costs of the final product. The production engineer is often considered a crucial part of the company he or she works for because of the extensive knowledge and understanding required for the job.
One of the ways the production engineer tries to keep costs low is by evaluating the production equipment and making sure that it is as efficient as possible. Production engineers also make sure that the employees in the manufacturing department are doing their jobs correctly. They also must make sure that the number of products manufactured will meet the demands of customers.
Another of the responsibilities of a production engineer is to calculate yield, which is the ratio of quality products to the total number of products produced. One way to increase the yield is by putting quality control programs in place, which is another job responsibility. Detailed procedures must be created, documented, developed, implemented and established, and the product must be tested at various stages as part of the quality control.