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.
$102,440 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
of the working time. Estimate.
- 94%
- 2%
- 4%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 8%. Today's estimate: 14%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 24 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apply continuous improvement methods, such as lean manufacturing, to enhance manufacturing quality, reliability, or cost-effectiveness.Done daily by most who do it. | 15% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 1.3 work weeks | 2%Half by May 2028 | |
| Troubleshoot new or existing product problems involving designs, materials, or processes.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 11% | 4.2 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | 20%Half by Apr 2027 | |
| 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.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 9% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 4.2 work days | 8%Half by Oct 2027 | |
| Incorporate new manufacturing methods or processes to improve existing operations.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 9% | 3.3 work days6.7 h to 2 work weeks | 0%Half by Oct 2028 | |
| Investigate or resolve operational problems, such as material use variances or bottlenecks.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 9% | 3.3 h1.3 h to 1.7 work days | 27%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Develop sustainable manufacturing technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, minimize raw material use, replace toxic materials with non-toxic materials, replace non-renewable materials with renewable materials, or reduce waste.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 8% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 3.3 work weeks | 0%Half by Apr 2029 | |
| Provide technical expertise or support related to manufacturing.Done more than weekly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 7% | 1.7 h25 min to 5 h | 51%Half by now | |
| Prepare reports summarizing information or trends related to manufacturing performance.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 4% | 4.2 h1.7 h to 1 work day | 30%Half by Dec 2026 | |
| Determine root causes of failures or recommend changes in designs, tolerances, or processing methods, using statistical procedures.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 3.3 work days | 9%Half by Sep 2027 | |
| Design tests of finished products or process capabilities to establish standards or validate process requirements.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 1 work week | 2%Half by Apr 2028 | |
| Prepare documentation for new manufacturing processes or engineering procedures.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 5 h2.1 h to 2.5 work days | 15%Half by May 2027 | |
| Design layout of equipment or workspaces to achieve maximum efficiency.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 2% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 1 work week | 2%Half by Apr 2028 |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
- Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing25,680 people
- Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services25,420 people
- Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing20,060 people
- Machinery Manufacturing (3331, 3332, 3334, and 3339 only)18,200 people
- Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing17,250 people
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.