ABSTRACT
At the 12 Japanese firms, distinctive differences in the roles of manufacturing engineers exist between the parts processing and assembly sector as compared to the material processing sector; among the automobile, electronics, and business machine industries in the parts processing and assembly sector; among the steel, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries in the material processing sector; and between firms in the same industry. The variations mainly concern task differences between product design engineers (research engineers), manufacturing engineers, and production workers; the interaction and communication between manufacturing engineers and workers and the involvement with products and production processes; and the fullness of the roles played by manufacturing engineers. These sectoral, industry, and company variations are attributed to the tangibility of products and production processes; the number of components, production processes, and product model changes; the maturity of industry, importance of new products, and strict legal regulations; and strategic management choices.
