While many jobs in metal fabrication and manufacturing don’t require a 4-year degree, there are still a number of careers that do. Today, we’re going to take a look at one of the great job “rivalries” in this area — industrial designer vs industrial engineer.
Industrial Design vs Industrial Engineering
One of the most popular blogs we’ve ever published at EVS Metal (4000+ unique reads and counting!) covered the differences between industrial design and engineering. While we were somewhat surprised by the activity, we can’t say we were entirely shocked. After all, there does seem to be quite a bit of confusion around what each of these jobs covers and how they differ — a quick Google search on the topic returns more than 520 MILLION hits for the keyword phrase.
Job Outlook for Industrial Designers vs Industrial Engineers
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that there are about 31,000 commercial and industrial designers (IDs) employed in this country, and job growth is expected to be 6% between now and 2030. The median wage range for IDs in the manufacturing industry is currently just under $72,000.
In contrast, the BLS puts the number of industrial engineers (IEs) at nearly 300K, with average job growth expected at a whopping 14% through 2030 (faster than average). This equates to about 40K more IE jobs becoming available over the next 10 years. The median wage for an IE working in metal fabrication is approximately $89,000 .
How do the job responsibilities of IDs differ from IEs?
In general, industrial designers are concerned more with form than function. This doesn’t mean that IDs think function is unimportant; rather, their job is to focus on usability with an emphasis on the aesthetics of the end product.
Industrial engineers, on the other hand, are tasked with a greater focus on the underlying mechanics and functionality of an end product — function over form. Their job is to ensure that a part or finished item works correctly and satisfies the requirements set by QA and the customer.
Ideally, IDs and IEs work as a team to design and engineer products that are attractive, economical and usable.
EVS is proud to employ an outstanding staff of skilled industrial engineers and designers; they play a huge part in our end-to-end manufacturing capabilities. Discover how our IEs and IDs can add value to your manufacturing supply chain by simply requesting a quote online, or giving us a call at (973) 839-4432 today.
