Tooling engineers design new tools for manufacturing equipment. They prepare tooling quotation requests. They estimate costs and delivery time, manage tooling construction follow-up and supervise the routine maintenance of tools. They also analyse data to determine the cause of major tooling difficulties and develop recommendations and action plans for solutions.
ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:
the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.
These occupations require some skills and knowledge of tooling engineer. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of tooling engineer with a significant experience and/or extensive training.
This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of tooling engineer.
Production processes: Materials and techniques required in the production and distribution processes. Engineering principles: The engineering elements like functionality, replicability, and costs in relation to the design and how they are applied in the completion of engineering projects. Manufacturing processes: The steps required through which a material is transformed into a product, its development and full-scale manufacturing. Quality and cycle time optimisation: The most optimal rotation or cycle time and over-all quality of a tool or a machine’s processes. Mathematics: Mathematics is the study of topics such as quantity, structure, space, and change. It involves the identification of patterns and formulating new conjectures based on them. Mathematicians strive to prove the truth or falsity of these conjectures. There are many fields of mathematics, some of which are widely used for practical applications. Technical drawings: Drawing software and the various symbols, perspectives, units of measurement, notation systems, visual styles and page layouts used in technical drawings. Physics: The natural science involving the study of matter, motion, energy, force and related notions. Engineering processes: The systematic approach to the development and maintenance of engineering systems. Cae software: The software to perform computer-aided engineering (CAE) analysis tasks such as Finite Element Analysis and Computional Fluid Dynamics. Reverse engineering: The process of extracting knowledge or design information from anything man-made and reproducing it or anything else based on the extracted information. The process often involves disassembling something and analysing its components and workings in detail. Ict software specifications: The characteristics, use and operations of various software products such as computer programmes and application software. Industrial engineering: The field of engineering concerned with the development, improvement, and implementation of complex processes and systems of knowledge, people, equipment, etc. Cad software: The computer-aided design (CAD) software for creating, modifying, analysing or optimising a design. Multimedia systems: The methods, procedures and techniques pertaining to the operation of multimedia systems, usually a combination of software and hardware, presenting various types of media such as video and audio. Mechanics: Theoretical and practical applications of the science studying the action of displacements and forces on physical bodies to the development of machinery and mechanical devices.
These skills are necessary for the role of tooling engineer.
Use a computer: Utilise computer equipment or digital devices to facilitate quality control, data management, and communication. Follow instructions given by a computer programme, create computer files or documents. Execute analytical mathematical calculations: Apply mathematical methods and make use of calculation technologies in order to perform analyses and devise solutions to specific problems. Use computer-aided engineering systems: Use computer-aided engineering software to conduct stress analyses on engineering designs. Adjust engineering designs: Adjust designs of products or parts of products so that they meet requirements. Provide cost benefit analysis reports: Prepare, compile and communicate reports with broken down cost analysis on the proposal and budget plans of the company. Analyse the financial or social costs and benefits of a project or investment in advance over a given period of time. Perform scientific research: Gain, correct or improve knowledge about phenomena by using scientific methods and techniques, based on empirical or measurable observations. Create a product’s virtual model: Create a mathematical or three-dimensional computer graphic model of the product by using a CAE system or a calculator. Use technical drawing software: Create technical designs and technical drawings using specialised software. Build a product’s physical model: Build a model of the product out of wood, clay or other materials by using hand or electrical tools. Read engineering drawings: Read the technical drawings of a product made by the engineer in order to suggest improvements, make models of the product or operate it. Use cad software: Use computer-aided design (CAD) systems to assist in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimisation of a design. Determine production feasibility: Determine if a product or its components can be produced by applying engineering principles. Estimate duration of work: Produce accurate calculations on time necessary to fulfil future technical tasks based on past and present information and observations or plan the estimated duration of individual tasks in a given project. Approve engineering design: Give consent to the finished engineering design to go over to the actual manufacturing and assembly of the product.
This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of tooling engineer. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.
Material mechanics: The behaviour of solid objects when subjected to stresses and strains, and the methods to calculate these stresses and strains. Electromechanics: The engineering processes that combine electrical and mechanical engineering in the application of electromechanics in devices that need electricity to create mechanical movement or devices that create electricity by mechanical movement. 3d modelling: The process of developing a mathematical representation of any three-dimensional surface of an object via specialised software. The product is called a 3D model. It can be displayed as a two-dimensional image through a process called 3D rendering or used in a computer simulation of physical phenomena. The model can also be physically created using 3D printing devices.
These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of tooling engineer. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.
Manage supplies: Monitor and control the flow of supplies that includes the purchase, storage and movement of the required quality of raw materials, and also work-in-progress inventory. Manage supply chain activities and synchronise supply with demand of production and customer. Ensure compliance with environmental legislation: Monitor activities and perform tasks ensuring compliance with standards involving environmental protection and sustainability, and amend activities in the case of changes in environmental legislation. Ensure that the processes are compliant with environment regulations and best practices. Communicate with customers: Respond to and communicate with customers in the most efficient and appropriate manner to enable them to access the desired products or services, or any other help they may require. Operate precision measuring equipment: Measure the size of a processed part when checking and marking it to check if it is up to standard by use of two and three dimensional precision measuring equipment such as a caliper, a micrometer, and a measuring gauge. Manage health and safety standards: Oversee all personnel and processes to comply with health, safety and hygiene standards. Communicate and support alignment of these requirements with the company’s health and safety programmes. Attend trade fairs: Attend exhibitions organised to enable companies in a specific sector to demonstrate their latest products and services, study the activities of their competitors, and observe recent market trends. Plan allocation of space: Plan best allocation and utilisation of space and resources, or re-organise current premises. Determine production capacity: Determine how many parts or tools can be manufactured by one machine during one production cycle. Use cam software: Use computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) programmes to control machinery and machine tools in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimisation as part of the manufacturing processes of workpieces. Plan manufacturing processes: Determine and schedule production and assembly steps. Plan manpower and equipment needs taking ergonomic considerations into account. Advise customers on new equipment: Advise individual or corporate customers on the acquisition of new equipment such as machinery, tools or systems by identifying their needs and comparing the products that would suit them best. Provide advice to technicians: Offer help and advice to service technicians in case of machine malfunctions and other repair tasks. Monitor production developments: Monitor parameters to keep an eye on the production, developments and costs within your area of control. Design prototypes: Design prototypes of products or components of products by applying design and engineering principles. Liaise with engineers: Collaborate with engineers to ensure common understanding and discuss product design, development and improvement. Set production facilities standards: Ensure a high standard of safety and quality in facilities, systems, and workers’ behaviour. Ensure adherence to procedures and audit standards. Ensure that machinery and appliances in the production plant are appropriate for their task. Set up the controller of a machine: Set up and give commands to a machine by dispatching the appropriate data and input into the (computer) controller corresponding with the desired processed product. Train employees: Lead and guide employees through a process in which they are taught the necessary skills for the perspective job. Organise activities aimed at introducing the work and systems or improving the performance of individuals and groups in organisational settings. Render 3d images: Use specialised tools to convert 3D wire frame models into 2D images with 3D photorealistic effects or non-photorealistic rendering on a computer. Analyse production processes for improvement: Analyse production processes leading toward improvement. Analyse in order to reduce production losses and overall manufacturing costs. Perform market research: Gather, assess and represent data about target market and customers in order to facilitate strategic development and feasibility studies. Identify market trends.
