Manufacturing

 

Career and Major Information
Earnings
Related Occupations

 

Career and Major Information:

Walters State's two-year concentration in Manufacturing is designed to prepare successful graduates for entry-level employment in the field with a broad range of knowledge in many subject areas.  Technicians today are not asked to specialize in one area.  For this reason, jobs included here are extremely variable and should be researched individually using the 2004-2005 Occupational Outlook Handbook or similar resource. 

The example used here is industrial production manager.  The duties of this job may range from trouble-shooting problems to managing materials, inventory, facilities, personnel, and financial resources.  They may also be responsible for the development of new products and processes in cooperation with other departments, quality improvement and cost control, monitoring product standards, and production analysis and problem solving.  In some jobs, they may also be involved in price negotiations and in budget development and execution. 

Most jobs may be found in the manufacturing industry.

Because of the diversity of manufacturing operations and job requirements, there is no standard preparation for this occupation; however, the better qualified applicants for jobs have some postsecondary education, and as production operations become more technologically sophisticated, employers will increasingly seek managers with higher education.  As a whole, employment of engineering technicians is expected to increase about as fast as the average for all occupations through 2012 with increased opportunities for those certified in more technically specific fields.

 

Earnings:

The Tennessee Career Information Delivery System website lists the salary range for a beginning-level position in this field in Tennessee as $38,325 to $42,100 annually.  With experience, the range increases to $54,145 to $90,750.  The national average is higher by about $3,000 to $4,000 per year.  Salary figures quoted are based on national figures. Local or regional salaries may be lower.

 

Related Occupations:

Associate Engineer

Operations Technician

Process Technician

Manufacturing Technician

Safety Technician

Mechanical Engineering Technician

Associate Process Engineer

Quality Assurance Technician

 

Much of the above information was collected from the 2004-2005 Occupational Outlook Handbook published by the U.S. Department of Labor.  For additional information on these and many other careers, please visit the following web sites:

 

 Occupational Outlook Handbook - U.S. Department of Labor

www.bls.gov/oco/

 

Tennessee Career Information Delivery System (TCIDS)

http://tcids.tbr.edu/.

 

 

For information regarding specific degree program requirements, curriculum, or faculty, please see the department website at http://www.ws.edu/teched/default.asp.