What is Process Engineering? A Complete Guide

When I graduated from college, I wasn’t entirely sure what process engineering was. If you feel this way too, keep reading to learn everything you need to know about what it means to be a process engineer!

What is process engineering?

The forms of waste that process engineers are typically concerned with are based on the 8 wastes of Lean manufacturing. These are:

• Defects
• Overproduction
• Waiting
• Non-Utilized Talent
• Transportation
• Inventory
• Motion
• Excess Processing

🤿 DIVE DEEPER: Read my article here to learn more about each of the 8 wastes of Lean as well as examples of each in both manufacturing and daily life.

The types of production processes that process engineers typically encounter can be linked to standard chemical engineering unit operations. In general, processes involve converting raw materials to an end product via some unit operation or combination of different unit operations. 

Some examples of standard unit operations include:

• Combination (mixing)
• Separation (distillation or crystallization)
• Reaction (catalytic reactions)

For example, your process may first involve a mixing step where various raw materials are combined and then a reaction step where the raw materials react to form the end product. 

Although process engineering is often heavily based in the field of chemical engineering, it is also common for mechanical or industrial engineers to work as process engineers. Depending on your background, your focus in the process may differ slightly. For example, chemical engineers may focus on the chemistry involved in the process, mechanical engineers may focus on the equipment, and industrial engineers may focus on the overall flow of the process and the people involved.

Is process engineering a good career?

Process engineering is a very good career that provides job stability, competitive compensation, and ample opportunities for growth.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, engineering positions are expected to grow by 6% between 2020 and 2030.

What is a typical salary for a process engineer?

The salary you can expect as a process engineer will typically depend on your level of experience.

Based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, you can expect the following annual salary at each of these career milestones as a process engineer:

• Entry-level: $73,885 
• 5 years of experience: $105,550
• 10 years of experience: $137,215

What industries can you work in as a process engineer?

As a process engineer, you can work in a variety of different industries based on where your interests lie. Every industry that produces goods for a customer likely involves some production process that a process engineer can help to design or optimize.

Some examples of industries that you can work in as a process engineer include:

What does a process engineer do?

Process engineers have a variety of responsibilities within a company to ensure every process functions safely and efficiently with minimal waste. These responsibilities commonly include:

1. Cost Savings Projects

Cost savings projects are a staple task for most process engineers. They can be based on either material savings, such as finding a cheaper alternative raw material, or time/capacity gains savings, such as increasing the line speeds for a process or eliminating a bottleneck.

2. OEE Improvements

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is a standard metric by which companies measure their productivity. It is based on three categories:

• Availability
• Performance
• Quality

Therefore, process engineers will typically work on uptime improvements, line speed attainment efforts, and yield improvements to improve OEE.

3. Process Troubleshooting

One of the most critical jobs of a process engineer is to ensure that all aspects of the production process are performing smoothly every day. If a process is not achieving its performance targets, process engineers will help to troubleshoot any issues that are occurring.

Root cause analysis tools are often very helpful in these situations to determine what is causing the issue.

Process engineers will also help standardize a process by writing standard operating procedures (SOPs), completing training sessions for operators, and completing corrective and preventative actions (CAPAs) for all issues that arise.

4. Safety Initiative Support

The number one priority of every company, especially one that may involve dangerous manufacturing processes, should always be safety. 

Process engineers help support safety initiatives by completing process hazard assessments (PHAs) and/or pre-startup safety reviews (PSSRs) whenever they are implementing a new process or a change to a current process.

Also, if any safety concerns appear within the business, process engineers may need to support corrective actions to resolve these issues.

5. New Product/Equipment Qualifications

One of the more interesting parts of being a process engineer is having the opportunity to support the launch of new products or new equipment design and qualifications.

During these projects, process engineers will often spend a lot of time running trials, and in the case of new equipment qualifications, they will likely need to participate in Factory Assessment Testing (FAT) and Site Assessment Testing (SAT).

🖋️ AUTHOR’S NOTE: In my very early career, I had the opportunity to work on a large-scale equipment design, qualification, and implementation project internationally. This project took several years to complete and gave me the opportunity to travel while working on a very massive, challenging, and rewarding project. Therefore, these types of projects are why I strongly believe that process engineering is one of the best starting points for young engineers to get massive amounts of experience early in their career.

6. Other Department Support

Process engineering is also a very cross-functional position. As a process engineer, you will spend a portion of your time working with and supporting other departments across the organization.

For example, you will support the quality department by assisting with customer complaint investigations and working on yield improvements.

You may also support the customer service, marketing, sales, and finance teams by helping to create new parts in the company’s ERP system and defining BOMs, routings, and expected yields for each of these parts.

Furthermore, you will support the operations team by troubleshooting any production issues that come up and the R&D team by helping with scale-up trials during new product launches.

7. Continuous Improvement Projects

And last but certainly not least, is continuous improvement projects. The goal of continuous improvement projects is to constantly be working towards fully optimizing a process by reducing waste or defects. Continuous improvement can be broken down into two main areas:

• Lean Manufacturing: reduction of waste in a process
• Six Sigma: reduction of defects or variability in a process

Continuous improvement is really the basis of everything that a process engineer does. We are always striving to make improvements to a process in order to reduce waste, maximize productivity, and maximize profits.

Therefore, it is critical that process engineers clearly understand and use the principles and tools of both Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma.

How do you become a process engineer?

What degree do you need for process engineering?

 In order to pursue a job in process engineering, you will need at least a Bachelor’s Degree in an engineering discipline, such as:

• Chemical Engineering
• Materials Science & Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Industrial Engineering

Typical coursework in these disciplines includes:

• Chemistry
• Math
• Physics
• Thermodynamics
• Fluid Mechanics
• Heat & Mass Transfer
• Separations
• Process Design
• Process Dynamics & Control
• Unit Operations & Process Technology

A degree in a related field, such as a different sector of engineering, or a natural science such as chemistry, physics, or biology, may be able to get you a job in process engineering, but it may be slightly more challenging to do so.

Do you need a Master’s degree or PhD for process engineering?

If you want to pursue a job that is more heavily focused on research, you may want to consider an advanced degree, such as a Master’s degree or a PhD, but this is not typically necessary for the majority of career paths.

What are valuable certifications for process engineering?

Instead of pursuing an advanced degree in a specific engineering discipline, it may be more advantageous to consider pursuing education in some of the below areas depending on your career goals:

• Lean Six Sigma Certification: Many companies will have a Lean Six Sigma certification listed as a required or desired qualification on their job postings. As discussed earlier in this article, Lean Six Sigma principles are the basis of many process engineering roles so this certification can definitely give you a leg up on other applicants. The Lean Six Sigma certification is broken down into different levels: Yellow Belt, Green Belt, Black Belt, and Master Black Belt.
• MBA: If you want to pursue a managerial role within a company, you may need to consider an MBA in order to learn more about the business side of your role. Typically, you can choose an area of focus for your MBA depending on whether you want to focus more heavily on operations, finance, R&D, or a different area of the business.
• Project Management Certification (PMP): If you have the desire to lead projects and people during your career, you may want to consider pursuing the globally recognized PMP certification.

What skills do you need as a process engineer?

Many people believe engineering requires only hard skills, such as technical expertise. While it is true that process engineers need to be competent in many technical areas, such as physics, math, chemistry, etc., it is also critical that they have strong soft skills.

Some examples of soft and hard skills that you will need to succeed as a process engineer are:

You will develop both of these types of skills as you gain experience in your career so it’s not necessarily a prerequisite that you know everything when you start. The most critical thing is that you are willing to learn and that you take the time to ask questions!

What software might a process engineer use?

Process engineers use many different software applications on a daily basis to complete their work. This ranges from simple programs, such as the Microsoft Office suite of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, to more complex process design and statistical analysis software.

Here are some examples of software that you may use on a regular basis as a process engineer:

• Statistical Analysis: Minitab or JMP
• Data Analysis: Microsoft Excel or Matlab
• Project Management: Microsoft Project
• Technical Drawing & Modeling: AutoCAD or SolidWorks
• Presentation Creation: Microsoft PowerPoint
• ERP Systems: SAP, PeopleSoft, or Oracle
• Process Design & Optimization: AspenTech
• Word Processing: Microsoft Word

What does a typical day look like for a process engineer?

Each workday can look very different for a process engineer, but this is what keeps the job interesting!

For example, I work for a company that has a large portfolio of products that we can run on our casting line. Some formulations are easy to run while others can be particularly difficult. When we are running a more difficult product, I may spend the majority of my time troubleshooting issues in the process whereas, on other days, I may spend the majority of my time working on cost savings or continuous improvement projects.

Beyond these two main tasks, there are many other things that process engineers will work on. For example, we also spend time completing data analysis in Excel, Minitab, Matlab, or JMP and we support many other departments throughout the business.

For example, we may work with some other departments in the following ways:

• Quality: Assisting with customer complaint investigations and CAPAs (Corrective and Preventative Actions)
• R&D: Supporting scale-up of new product launches
• Environmental Health & Safety: Supporting safety initiatives, completing PHAs (Process Hazard Assessments) and PSSRs (Pre-Startup Safety Reviews) as necessary
• Customer Service, Marketing, & Sales: Responding to RFQs (requests for quote), creating new parts in the ERP system, and providing product BOMs
• Marketing & Finance: Defining yields and routings for accurate product costing
• Logistics: Scheduling production runs and trials

Overall, process engineering is a very collaborative job.

Therefore, as a process engineer, it is critical to:

• Know your audience
• Always be respectful
• Speak openly
• Ask questions

What are potential career paths for a process engineer?

Process engineering is a good starting point for many career paths since it gives you a taste of many functions within the business. This multitude of career paths can be broken down into two main categories: CLIMB THE CHAIN or BRANCH OUT.

1. Climb the Chain

One potential career path is to continue climbing the chain in your current department. The exact job roles between a process engineer and the CEO can differ company-to-company, but it may look something like the following:

This career path may be right for you if:

• You enjoy process engineering and want to continue in this general area of the business
• You want to take on a leadership role

2. Branch Out

Another direction you may want to consider for your career is to branch out into a different department. 

Since process engineers are often closely involved with many different areas of the business, you will likely get a taste for different job roles in other departments. If any of these peak your interest, you can always decide to change it up!

Some common areas that process engineers may decide to pursue are: 

This career path might be right for you if:

• You are bored of process engineering and want a change
• You are interested in a different area of the business

What is the benefit of starting your career as a process engineer?

Process engineering is a great job at any step in one’s career, but I believe it is a particularly good choice for those who are just starting in their career post-graduation. 

This is because process engineering…

✔️ Gives you a deep understanding of the process which can help in all areas of the business.

✔️ Introduces you to challenging problems early on in your career.

✔️ Teaches you how to interact with people from a variety of backgrounds.

✔️ Gives you multidisciplinary experience.

✔️ Develops advanced technical and soft skills.

Conclusion

I hope this article gave you some clarity on what a process engineer is and what we do on a day-to-day basis. 

If you have any other questions about process engineering that I did not answer in this article, please leave them in the comments section below!