ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 describes manufacturing engineers at six firms (JS1, JS2, JC1, JC2, JP1, JP2) in Japan’s material processing sector. The roles of manufacturing engineers at the two firms each in the steel and pharmaceutical industries of the material processing sector largely resemble each other. The following key feature of manufacturing engineers in each industry is identified: the full roles of production process engineers (JS1 and JS2 firms in the steel industry); and the limited roles of production process engineers (JP1 and JP2 firms in the pharmaceutical industry). Concerning the fullness of their roles, the role played by manufacturing engineers at the JC1 and JC2 firms in the chemical industry is intermediate between the role played by the engineers in the steel and pharmaceutical industries. However, the manufacturing engineers at the JC2 firm play more innovative roles than the manufacturing engineers at the JC1 firm. The human resource management practices for manufacturing engineers at the six Japanese material processing firms are similar to those at the benchmark J firm in many ways, such as the importance of on-the-job training (OJT).
