What is the prospect of product structure design engineers? Is the legendary occupation of eating by experience really like this?
The product structure design engineer mentioned here refers to the MD engineer mentioned in the industry, which is closely related to the designer ID. For example, in an industrial design company, the two most common occupations are ID and MD. The former is engaged in product design, while the latter is engaged in product structure design. In manufacturing enterprises, product structure designers are also very important. The position of product structure designer is very common in many industries, such as household appliances, consumer electronics, medical devices, smart life products, daily necessities, machinery and other industries. The main responsibility of the product structure designer is how to realize the function of the whole product, specifically involving the design of function realization, internal structure of the product, support and connection mode between parts, layout of parts, adaptability of use environment, ergonomics and so on. Most of the employees in this professional position are professionals in machinery and molds.
Experience is very important for a product structure designer. To be clear, this profession can earn money by eating from experience. Experienced product structure designers are still very popular in the industry, and people with rich design experience can generally eat spicy food.
So, what key skills does a competitive product structure designer need to master? This is still related to the industry. Generally speaking, the key skills to be mastered include a solid foundation of professional theoretical knowledge (for example, mechanical design, sheet metal, materials science, mechanical analysis, mold design, etc. ), the application of necessary drawing design software (for example, AutoCAD, UG, Creo, Solidworks, CATIA, etc. ), industry standards, product standards, safety standards, etc. If you have mastered one or two 2D drawing softwares (such as AutoCAD, CAXA, Zhongwang CAD) and 3D modeling softwares (such as UG, Creo, Solidworks, CATIA, etc.), you have the ability to model complex surfaces and are familiar with bottom-up design methods and top-down design methods. Familiar with product development process, structural design, mold structure (plastic mold, hardware mold), processing technology, material characteristics and performance, various safety standards, industry standards, product standards and other knowledge, it is best to master some knowledge of cost accounting, patent analysis, patent evasion, then you will be very handy when you start product structure design.
Of course, a good product structure designer also needs to master the relevant common sense of industrial design, understand certain market information, and pay attention to the balance between user experience and function realization.
A considerable number of newcomers who have just entered the product structure design industry are not directly qualified for the design work. At this time, they can only be assistant structural designers, even draftsmen and three-dimensional model modelers, and they need the guidance of their predecessors. Novice designers are inexperienced, and structural design involves many disciplines. As long as you are not familiar with a certain knowledge or do not fully grasp it, it may lead to the difficulty or even impossibility of product realization, even lead to a series of dies being scrapped, or delay the mass production time, thus causing customers to cancel orders. Therefore, the department manager or boss is unlikely to give an important design task to a novice, and the trial and error cost of the novice is too expensive.
In many companies, newcomers, especially those who have just graduated or just graduated to work, usually work as technicians and assistant engineers for the first two or three years. They will not be assigned independent design tasks, mainly to help engineers, that is, to start with "old hands." Only by accumulating certain design experience, mastering design ideas and methods, forming their own design concepts, and adding their own basic design knowledge, can they gradually grow into real design engineers and undertake design work and tasks independently. Being able to be unique in design work can only be achieved through countless practices and countless experiences, during which many trial and error processes may be experienced.
From the characteristics of the industry, the professional position of product structure designer really needs a lot of design experience. The longer the working hours, the richer the design experience, and the higher the salary. As the saying goes, "the older you get, the more popular you are."
If you are a new product structural designer with little design experience, try to be modest and honest in your work, learn from the master and try to accumulate experience.