What does a Product Development Engineer do?

A product development engineer is an individual who has been expertly trained to develop, design, create, and manage new product ideas for businesses for which they are hired. Because product development is highly specialized, the trained engineer must be familiar with all phases of the Product Development Cycle (idea validation, design, prototype product, product testing, business planning, pilot production, manufacturing, and commercialization), and keep up with the latest technologies in a constantly evolving industry. In addition, the product development engineer might be able to combine technical knowledge, human factors, and creativity in order to make the industrial product successful in the marketplace.

Responsibilities of a Product Development Engineer

The responsibility of a product development engineer is to take an idea, and mold and develop the idea so that it can be successfully produced and sold. The product development engineer must then select the materials, as well as the type of prototyping, tooling, and manufacturing methods that will be cost effective and satisfy the company’s definition of the product. The engineer should also be able to generate drawings and three dimensional models that will be used for tooling, prototyping, defining patents, marketing and branding, and manufacturing. Some product development engineers, versed in numerous facets of business development and implementation will even help with advertising and packaging, along with the testing, if needed. A unique set of conditions manifests during the maturation of the product idea, which includes finances (profit versus overhead), accountability of duties, timelines (meeting deadlines), and goals (what should be accomplished within a given timeframe). A seasoned product development engineer will be quite used to these constraining conditions, consider these conditions to be nominal, and routinely deal with each arriving condition. A product development engineer can often be characterized as a person who relishes in learning and imitating how products are made (developing solutions), and how they function (understanding the inner workings). Inherently, most engineers have a tendency toward creativity, problem solving, and having vivid imaginations. These attributes, as well as others, provide product development engineers an advantage in designing products that appeal to consumers. Jessup Manufacturing works hard to hire and keep elite product development engineers in order to design, create, and implement new, modern, and state of the art products for their clients. Jessup appreciates and values what a product development engineer can do, as they know that quality engineers will often lead to business success. Fortunately, Jessup has attained a staff of highly trained, professional product development engineers, which is why they have obtained business success for the past fifty years. So if you are an inventor, or have an idea for a new or improved product, reach out to Jessup, and retain a business with a model of success for over half a century.