Computer integrated machinery jobs .

[sammi_davis]

Computer integrated machinery jobs , anyone have one ? My wife is taking the classes for this and I was curious about how difficult it may be for her to find a job ? She is a math nut , and the professor thinks she will do well with the classes . Thanks in advance for any advice .

 

[flatblackzj]

are you talking like computer integrated machining and manufacturing? if that's where you're going, there's plenty of demand for design functions(in CAD/CAM) as well as CNC engineering, programming and manufacturing. Automation is all over the place, the more you know, the greater the $.

 

[sammi_davis]

are you talking like computer integrated machining and manufacturing? if that's where you're going, there's plenty of demand for design functions(in CAD/CAM) as well as CNC engineering, programming and manufacturing. Automation is all over the place, the more you know, the greater the $.

Thats the general course of study , cad , cnc . She is planning on getting her bachelors degree , and wanted me to ask on here as we both thought there might be some people in the field .

 

[jeepinmatt]

Experience will get you farther than a degree, but both will get you a long way. Don't expect to get rich, but you can make a solid living. And if you're good at it, then you will have plenty of job security.

But honestly that could be said about most everything.

I work in HEAVY manufacturing, and of the 1800ish people where I work, about 1/3 of them are machinists running CNC machines. Another couple hundred are the support staff who deal with engineering, tooling, programming, and maintaining the machines. We don't have as much automation as the smaller industries, but skilled workers are always in demand, both from an hourly and salary standpoint. In the past 2-4 years, there has been a trend towards "reshoring" and bringing manufacturing back to the US, as all of the cost savings that drove the outsourcing of so much to Asia has proven to be a false promise because of quality and delivery issues. So in general there should be a trend of manufacturing growth in the US over the next decade (but I'm no expert, so do your own research ) so finding a job shouldn't be too difficult. I believe the best advice I can give is for her to get her hands dirty and run machines and actually be involved in the manufacturing. The best drafters/programmers/engineers are the ones who have made parts and been involved in the process. Just because you can draw it in CAD or make the formulas work out doesn't mean you can actually make the part.

If you have any more specific questions, post em up, and I'll do my best to answer.

 

[Croatan_Kid]

I'm a machinist myself. We do smaller, made to order type stuff, although we do keep quite a few things in stock and ready to ship. I haven't yet finished my degree, but I will eventually. Hopefully within a year or so I can get back and finish just to say I did it and it never hurts to have papers.


I can definitely attest to what jeepinmatt said about the quality and delivery issues with Chinese crap. We get a few select castings from overseas and have been slowly weeding them out with a lot of R&D, new tooling, and better manufacturing processes. If we can match or come close to the price of the cast stuff, we'll just make it ourselves. Waiting for 6 months to a year for crates to come through customs only to receive porous or out of tolerance parts gets very old! A lot of companies like to buy from other companies with that "Made in the USA" sticker on their products.

I also agree that starting in the machine shop is a good idea. If she wanted to get in to programming and moving up the ladder, then she would at least know what it takes to get a part through the entire process.



The weirdest part is, I got the job I have now at a place 10 miles from my house that I never knew existed. You might be surprised the same way, just have to ask around. Her getting a job in the field shouldn't be a problem though.