Industrial Engineering Technicians

Summary

Industrial engineering technicians help industrial engineers to devise processes to better employ resources at work sites.

Quick Facts: Industrial Engineering Technicians
2010 Median Pay	$48,210 per year $23.18 per hour
Entry-Level Education	Associate’s degree
Work Experience in a Related Occupation	None
On-the-job Training	None
Number of Jobs, 2010	62,500
Job Outlook, 2010-20	4% (Slower than average)
Employment Change, 2010-20	2,600

What Industrial Engineering Technicians Do

Industrial engineering technicians plan ways to effectively use personnel, materials, and machines in factories, stores, hospitals, repair shops, and offices. As assistants to industrial engineers, they help prepare machinery and equipment layouts, plan workflows, conduct statistical production studies, and analyze production costs.

Work Environment

Industrial engineering technicians work in various industries and businesses to coordinate activities that ensure the quality of final products or services. Most work full time.

How to Become an Industrial Engineering Technician

Industrial engineering technicians typically need an associate’s degree or a postsecondary certificate. Associate’s degree programs are typically offered by community colleges or technical institutes, and certificate programs are offered at vocational and technical schools.

Pay

The median annual wage of industrial engineering technicians was $48,210 in May 2010.

Job Outlook

Employment of industrial engineering technicians is expected to grow 4 percent from 2010 to 2020, slower than the average for all occupations. The growing emphasis on cost control through increasing efficiency will keep up demand for industrial engineering technicians’ services in most industries, including nonprofits.

Similar Occupations

Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of industrial engineering technicians with similar occupations.

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Contacts for More Information

Learn more about industrial engineering technicians by contacting these additional resources.

What Industrial Engineering Technicians Do About this section

Industrial engineering technicians help to prepare layouts for machinery, equipment, and workflow.

Industrial engineering technicians plan ways to effectively use personnel, materials, and machines in factories, stores, health care organizations, repair shops, and offices. As assistants to industrial engineers, they help prepare machinery and equipment layouts, plan workflows, conduct statistical production studies, and analyze production costs.

Duties

Industrial engineering technicians typically do the following:

• Suggest revisions for methods of operation, material handling, or equipment layout
• Interpret engineering drawings, schematic diagrams, and formulas
• Confer with management or engineering staff to determine quality and reliability standards
• Suggest changes to production standards for achieving the best quality within the limits of equipment capacity
• Help plan work assignments, taking into account worker performance, machine capacity, and production schedules
• Prepare charts, graphs, and diagrams to illustrate workflow, routing, floor layouts, how materials are handled and how machines are used

Industrial engineering technicians study the time and steps workers take to do a task (called "time and motion" studies). To set reasonable production rates, they consider how workers are doing operations such as maintenance, production, and service.

They also observe workers to make sure that the equipment is being used and maintained according to quality assurance standards. They then evaluate the resulting data to point out or justify changes to the operations or the standards to improve quality and efficiency.

Industrial engineering technicians generally work in teams under the supervision of industrial engineers.

Work Environment About this section

Industrial engineering technicians work in varied industry settings, but still perform the same basic functions.

Industrial engineering technicians held 62,500 jobs in 2010. They work in various industries and businesses to coordinate activities that ensure the quality of final products or services. 

The following industries employed the largest numbers of industrial engineering technicians in 2010:

Industrial engineers usually ask industrial engineering technicians to help carry out certain studies and make specific observations. Consequently, these technicians are often at the physical setting where the product is being manufactured or where the services are being delivered.

Industrial engineering technicians usually work standard schedules. Most work full time.

How to Become an Industrial Engineering Technician About this section

Becoming an industrial engineering technician usually requires either an associate’s degree or a post-secondary certificate.

Industrial engineering technicians typically need an associate’s degree or postsecondary certificate. Associate’s degree programs are typically offered by community colleges and technical institutes, and certificate programs are offered at vocational and technical schools.

Education

High school students interested in becoming industrial engineering technicians should take courses in math, science, and drafting, where available. Courses that help students develop computer skills are helpful when they later need to learn computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing software, known as CAD/CAM.

After high school, students interested in becoming industrial engineering technicians can continue at a vocational-technical school or at a community college or technical institute.

Vocational-technical schools include postsecondary public institutions that serve local students and emphasize training needed by local employers. These programs generally award a certificate. 

Community colleges offer programs similar to those in technical institutes, but there are more theory-based liberal arts courses in community colleges. Students who complete the program earn an associate’s degree.

ABET (formerly the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) accredits engineering programs.

Generally, prospective industrial engineering technicians should major in applied science, industrial technology, or industrial engineering technology.

Important Qualities

Analytical skills. Industrial engineering technicians must be able to help industrial engineers figure out how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.

Detail oriented. Industrial engineering technicians must gather and record measurements and observations needed by industrial engineers.

Communication skills. Industrial engineering technicians follow instructions from industrial engineers. They must be able to clearly understand and follow instructions, and communicate problems to their supervisors.

Critical-thinking skills. Industrial engineering technicians must be able to help industrial engineers figure out why a certain process or operation is not working as well as it might. They must ask the right questions to identify and correct weaknesses.

Math skills. Industrial engineering technicians use the principals of mathematics for analysis, design, and troubleshooting in their work.

Observation skills. These technicians spend much of their time evaluating the performance of other people or organizations to make suggestions for improvements or corrective action. They must gather and record information without interfering with workers in their environments.

Pay About this section

The median annual wage of industrial engineering technicians was $48,210 in May 2010. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $31,560, and the top 10 percent earned more than $73,440.

Median annual wages in the industries employing the largest numbers of industrial engineering technicians in May 2010 were the following:

Industrial engineering technicians usually work standard schedules. Most work full time.

Job Outlook About this section

Employment of industrial engineering technicians is expected to grow 4 percent between 2010 and 2020, slower than the average for all occupations.

Industrial engineering is versatile because of its wide applicability in many industries. The growing emphasis on cost control through increasing efficiency is expected to sustain demand for industrial engineering technicians’ services in most industries, including nonprofits.

Like industrial engineers, industrial engineering technicians work in a wide range of industries, including major manufacturing industries, health care, consulting and engineering services, and research and development. This is because one focus of industrial engineering is reducing internal costs, which is valuable to even the fastest growing industries.

Industrial engineering technicians’ versatility allows them to be useful to a variety of businesses, governments, and nonprofits. They work in supply chain management to help businesses minimize inventory costs, in quality assurance to help businesses keep their customers satisfied, and in the growing field of project management to control costs and maximize efficiencies.

Contacts for More Information About this section

For more information about accredited programs, visit

 ABET

For more information about industrial engineering, visit

Institute of Industrial Engineers

For information on general engineering education and career resources, visit

American Society for Engineering Education  

Technology Student Association