What are the best ways to stand out in your first year of Manufacturing Engineering?

My top three: - Listen with intent to understand. - Pay attention to front line operators and their experience. - Treat everyone with respect.

Show up on the floor and talk to people. Listen to their concerns, ask questions, make them feel heard, solve the problems you can and help them understand the reasons behind the ones you can’t solve. If that seems like too much work, my friend Ken recommends strapping a pair of rubber chickens on the bottom of your steel toe boots that squawk every time you take a step. Depends on how you want to stand out.

Mine are: 1) In school there is a right answer and you have all of the needed info. In industry not so much so you need to get comfortable making decisions with imperfect information. 2) Get to know the operators and maintenance folks - listen to them and never under appreciate their experience. 3) Never loose your desire to learn.

A recommendation I have used and share with new employees is the "The first 90 days" book that recommends doing some task in the first 30 days, then next 60 days and finally by 90 days you should be well acclimated with the new job/company. The one task I feel is important is to reach out to as many people in the group you interact with, set up a 20 minute introduction and ask them what they do and how you would like me to work with or support them. This short meeting builds great relations and helps you get integrated into the organization in your first 30 days.

Now that I'm a manager, these are some of the things I wish I had done when I was a fresh Manufacturing Engineer. 1. Do not be afraid to step up and take the lead in problem solving whenever an issue arises. 2. When giving an update regarding an issue to your superior, structure your update to include a background of the problem, what you have done, what is currently in progress and what is the upcoming plan. 3. Speak up and contribute in meetings. 4. Learn presentation skills and participate in presentations whenever an opportunity arises. These are some of the tips I have for aspiring Manufacturing Engineers to differentiate yourself from the rest.

This does take me back to being 20ish and having been shown a particular way to machine graphite. At the time I developed a process that could cut 75% off the raw material cost, took this to my line manager and he put my idea to the companies reward scheme for new ideas. 1st part was a ￡500 cash reward, amazing at the time. Being proactive for your own benefit 1st and others will notice, prepare to make mistakes along the way, stay curious and inventive.

One way of being proactive is being curious - about the product being manufactured, about the process being used for manufacturing, understanding 'why' the operating procedures were set up that way. In an early career position, the first year is all about learning and absorbing from the senior engineers and the operating workforce. The quicker you can understand why something is done in a certain way, the faster you will be able to provide improvement ideas and solutions - thus making you an active contributor to the process and therefore the organization Within manufacturing, successful execution brings about more task ownership - be mindful that it does not take you into firefighter mode as opposed to systematic problem solving!

Always be willing to help, let someone else say I'm not doing that. You say, how do you want it and where. For what date and time

In my experience Morning standing meetings before shift start and cross function obeya meetings are effective ways are communication

Start by knowing your stakeholders and map on how your deliverables impact their roles and vice-versa. Plan regular 1:1 meetings in order to understand role scope boundaries. Cultivate a clear, honest and fast communication, in another words, build up a relationship settled in trust.

Read multiple times before sending an email. Never make any assumptions. Get up, walk to the senior colleagues' office to ask questions.

Communication is crucial for effective coordination and understanding. Both good, bad or indifferent we must endeavour to keep the communication lines open. Radio silence can effect your teams and customers in a very adverse way.

As said Communication along with motivation to learn from operators who are skilled is key.Then we need to apply learnings in our design application.Also there are lots of manufacturing journals to discover and learn.After reading we can watch the associated manufacturing videos through key terms learnt thru journals.Also these applies to daily floor learnings.Then we shd knw the Cam environments from wr we can learn digitally and virtually for any issues in manufacturing. Materials study is imp.to know the imp of wastage of time on manufacturing machines.All these shd be physically observed and learned to know the perspectives of finishing and methods used.Also we shd know the imp of setup and changeovers employed b4 manufacturing.

Go to conferences. I cannot stress this enough, you will see more emerging tech per square foot at a conference. Probably a little dated now, but I subscribed to several magazines in my field and adjacent fields. It was a great way to keep up with emerging tech, conferences, and suppliers that would have otherwise taken quite a lot of time to curate.

Leverage Technology: Stay updated with the latest manufacturing technologies like 3D printing, robotics, and automation. Engaging with these technologies can give you a competitive edge.

One thing I have found very useful is to be updated with all the technological advancements in the segment. This will not only improvise the product or process but also will engage the employees in learning and development which will lead in job satisfaction

Fresh minds are always good in manufacturing environments, in my opinion. In the era of the short video, many of us have seen a handful of technologies we did not even know could exist. I have seen and heard the "we have always done it like this" and the "if it works it works", but the advances in technology are there to make things easier for everybody. Embracing technology and in this case industrial automation for manufacturing is the path to follow, and even the most stubborn operator will be grateful for not having to break his back everyday if a robot can do it for him.

Although, manufacturing technologies are key to sustainability and revolution there r other factors This has lot to do with the budget and size of the industry.Because recently the Industry 4.0 trends were sky rocketing but there were other human factors to be considered due to the introduction of robots and automation.Nw industry 5.0 is the trend so people are working alongside with robots and cobots and smart machines.so the emphasis of people in robotic technology. Also we shd be aware of the risks and resilience strategies to be adopted for extreme connectivity issues from technologies.So a more human centric approach with robots for 5.0 is value driven using technologies of Iiot, big data,cobots ,digital twins by preserving resources.

Being humble and learning from the most experienced people is the key, when people see that you are willing and eager to learn they will help you, you just have to look for the right people.

Be willing to work period. Just because you are not trained does mean you cannot help. The more people can rely on you the more you will gain and learn.

- Be flexible in your work, be it helping others or doing something that you are not use to it. - Be flexible whenever somebody requests you for deviations if they are reasonable. - be flexible in your working time also, if there is a need you need to attend

Make yourself available. Be prepared to stay beyond 5pm if needed. Learn from everyone. Offer your service once you are done with your task. Don't hesitate to get your hands dirty.

Technology is disruptive on an annual basis in today's manufacturing environment. Be prepared to adapt to changing production requirements. Have a good understanding of lean manufacturing principles and be able to implement them to drive change.

The only thing you can control is yourself. Let me re-iterate that, the only thing you can control is yourself. You cannot control supply chain issues, you cannot control an assembler being out due to illness, and you cannot control the weather. You can control how you talk to the supplier, how you make them feel in a call, and ask for their help. You can control letting the floor know why a deadline is important, and to offer to help put the "whacha-ma-call-it" together. You can call the end user ahead of time, tell them that there have been some delays and give them a reasonable new timeline that they can go forward with. We can control a lot, when we control ourselves.

Always keep this in mind, you have to treat people the same way you want to be treated, when solving problems in engineering you are going to face a lot more than just numbers or simulations, you have to deal with bureaucracy and all the areas involved in taking decisions.

By being professional in your industry you can always maintain a positive reputation for yourself and your company. It can enhance your career prospects and the reputation of your employer. Keep in your mind that professionalism will build a trust and respect.

Above all, a professional approach to how we conduct ourselves is paramount to success. Whether this is for your customers, your fellow colleagues or the business you represent. We all must show our professionalism and strive towards being the best at what we do to promote both ourselves as individuals and our businesses.

It takes nothing to act like a human being and show humility and respect. It takes more effort to act a dick and be unprofessional.

Have a positive attitude, this means more than everything put together, it will be the one strength that will truly enhance your career.

Getting involved on the plant floor in your first year is very important. Do the job the operators have to do. Understand the process by doing, not by reading work instructions. Understand the quality of the part by measuring parts/product just like operators do. How can you own a process without being able to do it yourself? If you put some time in on the floor, you will learn a lot about how the manufacturing process actually works, and gain the respect of the people working the floor. Gaining that respect early on will help you immensely down the road. I would also recommend getting involved with the people maintaining the equipment to learn what you can provide as the engineer to make their jobs easier.

As a fresh engineer, must have a mindset of never stop learning. Do not restrict to learn from only the engineer level, do take opportunity to learn from the technicians and operators. Do spend more time in the line. If do not understand please ask and also take initiative to search for answer online. Do take opportunities to have close communication with suppliers to get to the latest trend and what is new and upcoming. Do join online communities also to get the updates and know what the competitors doing. Do try to expose ownself to higher management by joining any meeting or discussion if got chance. This to help understand how and what the management guys do, think and plan.

Go through the process in detail and don’t leave any minor detail out and you will see where improvements are needed. Always respect and learn from operator and plant folks.

Be curious! Ask why, why, why, why, why! You’d be surprised at how a fresh new set of eyes can improve efficiency and workflow by getting curious about the process!