MANUFACTURING Jobs

Assembler ​• Brewery Worker • Butcher • Computer Programmer • Distribution Centre Operative • Equipment Technician • Food Packaging Operative • Food Technologist • Garment Technologist • Heat Treatment Operator • Inspector• Manufacturing Engineer • Meat Process Operator • Mechanical Designer Packer • Pattern Cutter • Production Worker • Purchasing Manager ​• Quality Control Analyst • Safety Technician • Sewing Machinist • Warehouse Worker

purchasing manager

You would buy the best quality equipment, goods and services for your company or organisation at the most competitive rates.

It would be your aim to save money for your company or organisation.

You would need to analyse information from suppliers to check the quality of their goods or services and the cost. You could negotiate with the suppliers to try and get a lower price.

There are lots of different industries or areas you could work in, so what you would buy would depend on your employer.

For example, you could buy:

• Raw materials and engineering components for a manufacturing company
• Wholesale goods from a producer to be sold by a shop
• Furniture, stationery and cleaning services for your organisation’s offices

You would:

1. Decide what goods, services and equipment your employer needs.
2. Check and forecast stock levels
3. Research and identify new products and suppliers
4. Assess information and tenders from potential suppliers
5. Negotiate prices and agree contracts
6. Make sure that suppliers deliver on time
7. Process payments and invoices
8. Keep up with market trends

In larger organisations you might run a purchasing department and lead a team of buyers and administrators.

In smaller companies, you might combine purchasing responsibilities with other management duties.

safety technician

You would establish a safe workplace according to legal standards and foster a culture of attention to health and safety.

Your work will be largely focused on prevention so you need to be conscientious and ready to act in emergencies.

You would:

• Support the development of saftey policies
• Conduct risk assessment and enforce preventative measures
• Review existing policies and measures and update according to legislation
• Initiate and organise training of employees
• Inspect premises and the work of staff to identify issues or non-conformity (e.g. not using protective equipment)
• Oversee installations, maintenance, disposal of substances etc.
• Stop any unsafe acts or processes that seem dangerous or unhealthy

You would also record and investigate incidents to determine causes and handle worker’s compensation claims and prepare reports on occurrences and provide statistical information to management

mechanical designer

You would design and test components and machines like wind turbines, pumps for clean water and medical prosthetics to help people who have mobility difficulties.

You would oversee the set-up of the machines and check that they work properly.

You could work on different projects in many industries including:

• Manufacturing
• Construction
• Water
• Power
• Health
• Transport

For example, you could work in renewable energy to install off-shore wind turbines. You could design the pumps and valves that deliver clean water to homes and businesses or you could design and test improvements to prosthetic implants to help people with limited mobility.

Depending on the job you would:

• Turn research ideas into technical plans, using computer aided design/modelling (CAD/CAM) programs
• Survey mechanical systems and equipment to check they're working properly
• Research and assess new products and innovations
• Present design plans and data to managers and clients
• Produce technical documents for projects
• Oversee maintenance programmes and quality control

You would support the contract team in your company when they bid for new projects.

You would manage and lead a project team of technicians, designers and craftspeople who carry out installation and maintenance work.

equipment technician

Engineering construction technicians install, service and repair machines and equipment in buildings, factories and industrial plants.

Your day-to-day duties may include:

• planning and design – using CAD software to draw up plans, showing the measurements and layout of projects
• fabrication and assembly – cutting and welding pipework, and putting up the steel columns and beams of a building's framework
• fitting and maintenance – installing and servicing equipment in factories and industrial sites, like conveyor lines
• inspection and testing – checking for faults in machinery, and testing newly installed systems​

assembler

You would put products together on a production line and assemble everything from cartons and boxes to toys and furniture.

Your day-to-day duties could include:

• following assembly instructions
• putting together parts in the right order
• re-stocking supplies for your work area
• reporting problems in the assembly process to your team leader
• carrying out simple quality checks
• packing goods ready for dispatch
  

production worker

You would work in a factory so the production line in many types of manufacturing, for example:

• Vehicle assembly
• Brewing
• Food products
• Textiles
• Pharmaceuticals
• Building materials

You would need prepare orders, meet quality standards and  timescales.
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Having a good knowledge of health and safety regulations would be very important. You would also need to keep up to date with quality standards for manufacturing.

computer Programmer

You will write code to create software programs. Programmers turn the program designs created by software developers and engineers into instructions that a computer can follow. Programmers must debug the programs—that is, test them to ensure that they produce the expected results. If a program does not work correctly, they check the code for mistakes and fix them.

Computer programmers typically do the following:

• Write programs in a variety of computer languages, such as C++ and Java
• Update and expand existing programs
• Debug programs by testing for and fixing errors
• Build and use computer-assisted software engineering (CASE) tools to automate the writing of some code
• Use code libraries, which are collections of independent lines of code, to simplify the writing

Programmers work closely with software developers, and in some businesses, their duties overlap. When this happens, programmers can do work that is typical of developers, such as designing the program. This entails initially planning the software, creating models and flowcharts detailing how the code is to be written, writing and debugging code, and designing an application or systems interface.

Some programs are relatively simple and usually take a few days to write, such as creating mobile applications for cell phones. Other programs, like computer operating systems, are more complex and can take a year or more to complete.

food technologist

You would test food for safety and quality and find ways to keep food fresh for longer or you would invent new processes and products, such as fat-free food.

You would help to develop a wide range of products in the food and drink industry and make sure they are safe for consumers.

As a food scientist, you would use scientific techniques to:

• Get accurate nutritional information for food labels
• Investigate ways to keep food fresh, safe and attractive
• Find ways of producing food more quickly and cheaply
• Test the safety and quality of food

As a food technologist, you would plan the production of food and drink products.

For example, you would:

• Blend together new ingredients to invent new recipes and ideas
• Modify foods, for example, to create fat-free products
• Conduct experiments and produce sample products
• Design the processes and machinery to make products in large quantities

Some jobs, such as doing research for a supermarket chain, may involve quality control as well as product development.

You would need to explain your ideas to other scientists and factory staff, and be confident in reporting any problems with processes. You need to meet strict health and hygiene rules and food production regulations.

You would also gain knowledge and experience of areas like chemical engineering, production planning, market and consumer research, and financial management.

warehouse worker

You would handle the goods and products in warehouse or stockroom. It would be your job to to keep them safe and make sure they are delivered to customers on time.

Your role would be important in making sure customers are not disappointed by damaged items or late deliveries.

You could be based in a warehouse, retail store or factory.

Wherever you work, you would:

• Receive deliveries of goods and supplies
• Check for damaged or missing items
• Store goods
• Move stock around by hand, using lifting gear or a forklift truck
• Pack orders
• Load, and sometimes deliver, goods
• Keep records of stock
• Keep paperwork up to date
• Clean work areas

Understanding and following health and safety rules would be essential in this job. 

Meat process operator

You would produce meat for people to buy in shops and supermarkets and cook at home. You would also produce meat for food made by caterers and served in cafes and restaurants.

There are several places you could work.

In an abattoir, you would handle animals and birds. You would ensure that they are slaughtered humanely and with as little distress as possible.

A wholesale meat factory is where meat is prepared. Working here, you would cut, de-bone and prepare the carcasses before they are sold to retailers.

You could work as a butcher to prepare meat specifically for caterers.

You could produce and package meat products for shops and caterers in a meat or poultry processing plant.

Depending on where you work, you might use knives and other cutting equipment, such as a band saw, to cut up and prepare carcasses. You might also do deliveries.

Personal hygiene is extremely important in this job. You would also need to understand the importance of food hygiene and follow health and safety regulations.

garment technologist

You would help turn designs into clothes that people want to buy and wear.

You would select and source different fabrics for a designer to use. You would explain to a designer how clothes can be made in the most efficient way.

You would have specialist knowledge of:

• Production methods such as stitching and pattern-cutting
• Different textiles and their properties
• Manufacturing processes for clothes
• Fashion and retail

The design and buying teams will rely on your expertise through all stages of product development from design to testing and then manufacturing the clothes for the shops.

You would:

• Suggest changes to designs
• Advise on suitable fabrics
• Make sure that the clothes are made in the best way
• Check that the garments can be produced within the budget
• Oversee fabric testing and fittings of first samples
• Respond to product queries
• Analyse product returns and faults

You would work closely with other staff such as designers, pattern cutters and graders, and buyers.

brewery worker

You would make beer for people to enjoy in pubs and restaurants or buy in shops.

Some large breweries make huge quantities of beer. Small microbreweries make limited quantities of specialist and craft beers, often experimenting with different flavours and methods of brewing.

Depending on where you work you could concentrate on certain parts of the brewing process or work on all the stages.

You would:

• Get equipment ready for brewing
• Prepare, weigh and mix ingredients
• Keep records of ingredients
• Monitor the temperature and quality of the beer as it brews
• Wash and clean brewing containers and the work area
• Sterilise equipment

When the brewing process is complete you would fill the clean kegs, casks, bottles or cans and label them correctly.

You might load the beer on to lorries for distribution. At some smaller breweries you may also deliver to local customers.

Large breweries use computerised machinery and so increasingly only certain work, like weighing and measuring, is done by hand.

You would often be supervised by a technical brewer who would be responsible for the entire brewing process.

You would need to have a reliable and responsible approach to hygiene, and health and safety issues.

food packaging operative

You would help to prepare food and drink for sale in the shops by keeping production lines running smoothly.

You would work on the machines and production lines that put finished food and drink products into containers, cans or packets.

You could be packaging:

• Meat
• Fish
• Fruit
• Vegetables
• Pre-cooked meals
• Soft drinks
• Confectionary

You would work quickly and accurately to meet production targets. You would need to have good observational skills and patience to do repetitive tasks.

You would:

• Check the quality of products for quality and remove defective items
• Keep machines supplied with packaging materials and labels
• Report machine faults to shift supervisors and maintenance staff
• Make minor adjustments to machine settings to changes from one product or container to another
• Keep the machines and production areas clean
• Put the products into boxes or crates to be sent to shops and supermarkets

You might also move the packaged items around the warehouse using pallet trollies or a forklift truck.

It’s important to follow strict health and safety guidelines, and have good standards of personal hygiene.

packer

You would pack products safely in boxes or other containers, ready to be sent to shops, homes or businesses.

You might pack products by hand, operate a packing machine or look after packaging materials and labels.

You would:

• Pack goods with padding and protection such as bubble wrap or polystyrene
• Seal containers using glue, staples or shrink-wrap
• Weigh and clearly label packaged goods ready to be sent out
• Clean work areas
• Report any problems during the shift to supervisors

In the case of heavy goods, such as washing machines or vehicle parts, you would use loading and lifting gear. You might also use a forklift truck to move goods to storage areas.

You would need to be able to carry out repetitive tasks quickly and carefully. This would mean following health and safety rules closely, particularly when working with dangerous materials.

quality control analyst

You would check that products meet quality standards and are safe for customers to buy.

You would also help to set up and manage quality control systems.

You would:

• Deal with feedback and complaints from customers
• Refer issues to managers when needed
• Assess suppliers
• Check and update quality control policies
• Train new staff
• Write reports for quality managers.
• Work in a team under the supervision of a quality manager

You would also have specialised tasks depending on where you work.

For example, if you worked in food and drink production, you would:

• Find and remove faults in the production process
• Test microbiological, chemical and physical samples
• Check labels
• Check that methods are in line with legislation

If you work in manufacturing engineering, you would:

• Monitor each stage of production
• Use statistical analysis to make sure that machined parts are within tolerance limits
• Run tests to check for defects

You would need technical knowledge of your industry. You would also need good knowledge of quality control standards and legislation.

inspector

You will protect people by making sure that risks in the workplace are properly controlled. You will ensure employers comply with all aspects of health and safety laws and that workplaces are not the cause of ill health, injury or death.

You will do this by inspecting business premises, advising employers and investigating accidents, and through enforcement of the law.

Health and safety inspectors work mainly for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), although you might find employment in local authorities and large organisations. You will work either for a general team or specialise in a particular area, such as construction, forestry or hazardous goods.

Your work could include:

• Visiting business and industrial premises to inspect processes and procedures and ensure good health and safety practice
• Investigating accidents and complaints and determining if there has been a breach of health and safety law
• Carrying out examinations of machinery, working environments and structures, taking measurements of noise, heat, and vibrations, and taking photographs and samples where necessary
• Ensuring workers are provided with suitable protective equipment, such as eye goggles, ear protectors or appropriate types of gloves and clothing
• Investigating precautions taken to prevent industrial diseases
• Investigating procedures for working in hazardous environments or with potentially harmful substances
• Keeping up to date with new legislation and health and safety standards
• Staying informed about developments within particular sectors, e.g. in agricultural or construction settings
• Providing specialist advice and information on health and safety to businesses and organisations and advising on changes required
• Negotiating with managers and operators to try to eliminate possible conflicts between safety considerations and production/profit
• Writing reports on results of inspections and investigations and completing detailed paperwork
• Determining when action, i.e. notices or prosecution, may be necessary and gathering and presenting the appropriate evidence
• Developing health and safety working programmes and strategies
• Developing methods to predict possible hazards drawn from experience, historical data and other appropriate information sources
• Preparing for, and presenting court cases if a decision is made to prosecute (this differs in Scottish law) and also appearing as a witness in court or at an employment tribunal
• Providing training and educational support to employers and new or trainee employees

butcher

You would prepare meat and poultry so it’s safe to eat and sell it in shops, supermarkets or at local markets.

You might also make and sell your own specialist sausages, burgers and pies.

You would:

• Order and pay for stock
• Check deliveries for content and hygiene
• Move meat stock to cold storage areas
• Keep a record of the source of the meat and poultry
• Create attractive counter and window displays
• Cut, bone and trim meat
• Serve customers at the counter and take payments

You would use your in-depth knowledge to advise customers on how to prepare and cook meat and poultry safely. You would also help them with getting the right type and cut of meat for the meal they want to cook.

You might deliver products to markets, wholesalers and customers’ premises.

You could specialise in halal, kosher or organic foods, depending on the demands of the local community.

You would need to meet hygiene, and health and safety standards, and have a high standard of personal cleanliness.

heat treatment operator

You would use various methods to clean, strengthen or soften metals, so they can be used for components in manufacturing products like aircraft and cars.

You would work with a variety of metals including iron, steel and alloys. You would apply treatments to clean, harden, temper (strengthen) and anneal (soften) them.

You would:

• Load untreated products into a furnace or tank
• Set the temperature controls for particular treatments
• Monitor the treatment cycle in line with instructions
• Cool products by air drying, or using water, oil or chemical baths (known as quenching)
• Clean oxides and scale from products using steam sprays or with chemical cleaning solutions
• Test samples for hardness and other properties to make sure they meet the manufacturer's specifications
• Record test results on a computer system

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You would use a range of equipment including:

• Gas and vacuum furnaces
• Salt baths
• Chemical solutions
• Welding torches

Some jobs are done with computer-controlled equipment so you would also be responsible for programming instructions into the machines.

It is important to have a basic knowledge of metallurgy and how materials react. You will also need to be aware of safety and quality standards.

pattern cutter

You would use a fashion designer’s drawings to create pattern templates, which would be used to make up sample clothing or other items.

You would act as a link between the design and production stages.

You would:

• Drape pieces of material over a dummy and pin them to fit
• Cut out a pattern based on the pieces
• Use computer aided design and traditional hand-drawing methods to make up patterns
• Create new pattern templates based on drawings and adjust existing patterns
• Work with machinists to make up sample garments based on the initial pattern
• Work with designers and garment technologists to make further changes and produce the final pattern

Your finished pattern would be passed to the pattern grader to resize as required before production begins.

You would need high concentration levels, an eye for detail, and good IT and traditional drawing skills to translate designs into patterns.

sewing machinist

You would stitch pieces of material together to make products such as clothes and furniture.

You would:

• Choose the right sewing machine settings for each job
• Feed fabric sections through the machine
• Stitch together clothing or fabric products
• Check that finished work matches pattern instructions
• Clean, oil and look after machines
• Follow health and safety guidelines

You would need to be good at following plans.

You could specialise on one machine such as a flatbed, or use a number of machines to produce different finishes. You might also use computerised sewing machines that read from a digital design pattern.

You may work with a variety of fabrics, such as cotton, synthetics, wool and leather, and on a number of different product lines. You may stitch industrial textiles, for example those used in making sails or car mats.

distribution centre operative

You would organise the storage and distribution of goods ensuring that the right products are delivered to the right location on time and at a good cost. You may also be involved in transportation, stock control, warehousing and monitoring the flow of goods.

Understanding the whole supply chain is important so that you can coordinate it effectively and liaise with suppliers of raw materials, manufacturers, retailers and consumers.

You will:

• Use IT systems to manage stock levels, delivery times and transport costs
• Use associated information systems to coordinate and control the order cycle
• Use data from IT systems to evaluate performance and quality and to plan improvements
• Allocate and manage staff resources according to changing needs;
• manage staff
• Liaise and negotiate with customers and suppliers
• Develop business by gaining new contracts, analysing logistical problems and producing new solutions
• Understand, work with and possibly help to develop e-commerce
• Continually try to improve and develop business performance within the constraints of legislation, fuel costs and rising environmental pressures

You may also be required to:

• Implement health and safety procedures
• Manage staff training issues
• Motivate other members of the team
• Project manage
• Set objectives
• Plan projects
• Work on new supply strategies
• Plan vehicle routes
• Use specialist knowledge, such as mechanical-handling systems, to provide consultancy services