Engineer consultants are highly skilled professionals who can help with multiple types of engineering projects. Engineering consulting plays a vital role in different engineering phases, and they are involved in various industries. An engineering consultant can provide an engineering service that an organization may not have the staff expertise in a particular field.
What does an engineering consultant do?
Engineering consulting is advantageous to all businesses whose project needs temporary staffing assistance. Consultants are there to help the organization throughout the different phases of their project.
Consultant engineers are part of the client’s project team and offer professional service and advice to their clients. Engineers can help at any project point, depending on the client’s needs. The role can vary from technical assistance to managerial help. Collaboration with the client’s team members will be expected while coordinating required project tasks. They may also be asked to provide insights into different business areas.
Why hire engineering consultants?
Below I list the top four reasons why a company should use engineering consultants.
- Many companies don’t always have the time or the resources to hire full-time employees. Why hire full-time help for a 2-month project when you could hire a consulting engineer to support the project temporarily?
- Engineering consulting firms have experienced problem-solvers on staff who have been in similar project situations to what the client is experiencing.
- The consulting engineers have work experience and more than just theoretical knowledge on how to solve the issue.
- The consultant can be extremely honest with the client, and current staff may be concerned with verbalizing open issues because they may fear repercussions from the organization. Engineering consultants can speak on many topics because of their experience within the industry, so many people will listen to what they have to say.
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How to becoming an engineering consultant?
Engineering consulting is a challenging job as a profession. It usually requires prior work experience within the engineering field and a degree in your consulting industry.
As a result, you will not find an engineering professional who hasn’t at least had prior training or years of industry experience. Without training or experience, one must have a degree in the field they want to consult.
Students typically begin by selecting an engineering program that piques their interest. As a result, consulting engineering professionals can have various degrees covering virtually every engineering specialty. This is not surprising, considering that many engineering fields are complex and require high amounts of critical thinking.
Once you gain experience working in a field or get a degree in engineering, you can apply to a consulting engineering firm to find work as an engineering consultant. Finding projects on engineering services platforms that often post contract engineering jobs is also possible.
Types of automation engineering consulting services:
Below I list the six major types of engineering consulting services in the industrial automation industry.
Controls Engineers: Controls engineering consultants are trained in different programming types of programmable logic controllers (PLCs). These automation engineering contractors validate communications between robots and equipment using control systems. They are responsible for the functions of the automated equipment.
Design Engineers: These consultants are responsible for the product or system design. A design engineering consultant must create a client’s concepts into feasible manufacturing processes. These contract design engineers verify the manufacturing specifications of the components.
Electrical Engineers: A electrical engineering consultant will assist with electrical components, equipment, or control systems. These engineering contractors are responsible for everything automated with electrical power. They must also help with electrical layouts and electrical schematics.
Program Management: A program management consultant will supervise the entire project or program. Consulting managers will implement the plans, delegate tasks, and are responsible for getting their team to meet the goals set by the client. These consultants strive to improve the team’s performance while ensuring the operation is within budget and on time.
Robot Programmers: These automation consultants can program industrial robots to perform manufacturing tasks. The two primary goals of a contract robot programmer are to reduce cycle and decrease robot downtime. Consultants are expected to know how to program many different types of robot applications.
Weld Engineers: Contract weld engineers can aid with minor or significant welding applications. These engineering consultants will know multiple welding processes. Weld engineers can also support the development of welding specifications and make sure weld joints are to code.
Consulting Engineers: A Day in the Life.
Engineering consulting projects can be time-consuming and highly challenging. It takes cooperation from all workers on a project to succeed. Consulting engineers might find it difficult because sometimes they are on a project from start to finish, which means a project could last longer than 12 months.
Engineering consultants need to have excellent communication skills to understand the tasks and goals of their clients. The consultant may have to present new solutions, which could mean higher costs, and they must convince the client to accept the idea. Engineering consultants often have to come into a situation where the client is already struggling and help turn the project around.
Consultants often work very long hours a day to support their clients. Working more than 10 hours a day is typical for an engineering consultant. They may also work weekends and holidays, as this is often the only time to fix issues within a current manufacturing production line.
Consulting engineers work on all phases of a project.
Below I list the five phases of a project.
Concept or Design Phase: The development and early organization of a project where the scope is defined and planned details are organized.
Testing or Prototyping: This is when a product is created or tested through initial qualification and specification checks.
Installation or Integration: During this stage, the new construction and building of the process, infrastructure, or equipment are completed.
Qualification or Inspection: All systems, procedures, and processes are evaluated on the project.
Service or Support: The goal is to achieve minimal downtime for all equipment, products, or processes according to the client’s requirements.
The project’s duration depends on the phases of the project the consultant comes into a project. Some projects only require a day or two of consulting, while others could last a year or longer. The difficulty, labor force, and current status of the project will determine its time frame.
Most consulting jobs require the individual to be at the client’s facility; therefore, engineering consultants must be willing to travel. This means the consultants could spend 5% to 100% of their time at numerous client facilities. During this time, they could spend weeks or months away from home.
Where can engineer consultants find employment?
Good engineering consultants are highly sought after. Many sound engineers choose not to leave the consultant industry but are often offered very lucrative positions working for their clients.
Engineering consultants are available in all types of industries. A consultant may choose to work with a local engineering consulting firm, a multinational consulting firm, or an engineering services company outsourcing their services. It all depends on the contractor’s personal preference.
There are also many new alternative engineering service options for finding work compared to traditional engineering service jobs. Remote engineer consulting is also an option with engineering service firms like Fiverr, Freelancer, and Upwork. These roles are ideal for engineering professionals interested in project-based work who want to increase their knowledge within an industry. These jobs are readily available, and consultants can bid on projects posted by clients.
How do engineering consultants help a company?
Engineering consultants can help companies in several ways that I list below.
- Engineering: They can help make engineering projects more effective because of their past experiences with different engineering systems.
- Risk Assessment: They can discuss strategies for identifying and managing risks associated with engineering projects, including risk assessment techniques, mitigation measures, and contingency planning.
- Project Management: They can help lead teams within the customer’s organization to meet project targets and goals, ensuring success with the project.
- Cost Optimization: Consultants will explore methods to optimize project costs without compromising quality. These optimization techniques could be implemented through cost-cutting measures or other means like cycle time adjustments, preventative maintenance scheduling, or lean manufacturing principles.
- Emerging Technologies: They will discuss the impact of emerging technologies on engineering projects, such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0, or additive manufacturing, and how they can leverage these technologies to improve project outcomes.
- Project Development: A consultant can explore strategies for planning, designing, and implementing projects.
- Customer Compliance: Consultants are often well-versed in various customer specifications and know the latest specification and standards relevant to an engineering project, such as safety guidelines, specifications, or industry-specific certifications.
- Quality Control: They will help find and develop strategies for ensuring quality throughout the project lifecycle, including quality assurance processes, quality control inspections, testing methodologies, and quality management systems.
- Data Analysis: A consultant can discuss the use of data analytics in engineering projects to extract professional insights to make informed decisions and communicate the complex information that is collected effectively.
Employment Types For Engineering Consultants:
- W2 Employee: These engineering consultants work for an engineering services, contract, or consulting firm. They work on projects that their manager tells them to work on and often don’t get to choose which job or client project they work with.
- 1099 Self-Employed, Independent, or Freelance Employee: These engineering consultants work for themselves and have developed an extensive network of clients from years of experience within an industry. As a self-employed engineering consultant, you can choose your clients and projects and be flexible with how you devote your time. Some of these engineering consultants are often retired and work part-time on client projects.
If a career path as an engineering consultant interests you, check out the article what is a contract engineer to learn more about engineering consulting.
What are the Pros and Cons of engineering consulting?
When deciding if engineering consulting is right for you, it is essential to contemplate the positive and negative associations within the consulting industry. The items listed below will help you make an informed choice about working as an engineering consultant.
The Pros of Engineering Consulting:
- Increased Compensation: This career path can be very lucrative for great engineers. Clients are willing to pay top dollar for quality service. Many consultants set their hourly rates or consultant fees.
- Work-Life Balance: They can choose what project to work on and when they want to work. They may also have more flexibility on how to complete the work.
- Expanding Your Network: Consultants can meet many working professionals from different industries. Building an excellent working relationship with the client’s employees is a large part of the job. These strong relationships can later be leveraged while working on other projects or when the professional engineer seeks more work.
- Project Variety: They do not perform the same monotonous tasks as ordinary engineers who work at the same employer for a year. Every new project brings new challenges and the opportunity to work on the latest technologies.
The Cons of Engineering Consulting:
- High-Stress Work Environment: Consulting can be very stressful! Clients can be very demanding, and many times the reason you are there is because of your expertise in finding innovative solutions to help fix their problems.
- Travel Is Required: Projects are often not located near your home. Consultants spend much time away from friends and family as “road warriors.” Depending on the contractual requirements, rotation home may only be afforded every four weeks or more.
- Extended Hours: Consultants work many hours. Working only 40 hours is usually the bare minimum for consultants, as many averages more than 60 hours a week.
Engineering Consultant Salary:
The salary of an engineering consultant can vary depending on several factors, including location, level of experience, area of specialization, and the consulting firm or organization they work for. Please note that the figures listed below are approximate and may not reflect your specific industry salaries:
It is important to remember that bonuses, performance incentives, or other forms of compensation can also supplement salaries in the engineering consulting field. Senior consultants working with many different clients could earn even more depending on their professional engineering services. Researching the salary ranges specific to your job location, engineering degree, and industry is always advisable to better understand current salary rates.
Working as a consulting engineer.
Consulting engineering projects are renowned for their time-consuming and demanding nature. As previously mentioned, the successful completion of a project relies on the combined efforts of the consultant and the client’s employees. Consulting engineers face unique challenges as they provide unique engineering services depending on their profession. They can help with all five phases: concept, testing, installation, qualification, and project support.
This is precisely why engineers, not just consultants, must possess strong interpersonal skills and a touch of diplomacy, mainly when dealing with clients that have limited engineering knowledge in their field of expertise. Unfortunately, this is often the case, placing the burden on the engineer in charge to present sustainable options, which may entail higher costs, and persuade the client to accept them. Additionally, they may be asked to help manage or guide the client’s employees.
So, how does an engineering consultant bring a project to a successful realization? Undoubtedly, it requires extensive effort and technical expertise. A typical day for an engineering consultant begins with team meetings and understanding the client’s goals and targets. Consultants must stay informed about progress and make new decisions based on it.
Consulting engineers often collaborate closely with the client’s staff, sometimes from multiple groups within the client’s organization, depending on the project’s scope. Together, they estimate the timelines and work diligently to adhere to them. This phase is particularly challenging, as daily progress updates are necessary, and unforeseen issues can arise at any moment, potentially causing significant project delays.
Consulting engineers typically work onsite, so they often travel away from home. They will walk the site reviewing process flow, quality, and analyze all aspects of the work, aiming to identify and define any potential issues. They will help evaluate and provide possible solutions if they notice issues or faults. The consultant will notify their client manager of the problem and then propose the necessary changes. The consultant will help identify additional costs, and once the proposal is accepted, they will help implement the changes.
Bottom line, an engineering consultant helps complete the project, leaving their clients in better process flow than when they arrived.
Why are the best engineering consultants self-employed?
The best engineering consultants tend to work for themselves and choose projects that interest them the most. Why wouldn’t they? It would be wise to take advantage of the chance to advance their careers professionally. Many self-employed engineering consultants showcase their expertise on engineering service platforms to increase their client network. Places like JOINER Services use fully automated platforms to connect engineers directly with clients worldwide. Engineers upload their work credentials to their profiles and can start applying for available contract projects.
Usually, because self-employed workers are promoting themselves as the company, they must have years of experience to build their extensive portfolio of technical knowledge. They are focused on providing the best services because they want to retain the client’s business. These engineers are vested in the project because they often only have a handful of clients.
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If you are looking for engineering consultants or are an engineering consultant, join the JOINER Services engineering service platform. They provide engineering consulting for an array of industrial industries. Its platform also helps provide work for self-employed engineers and also works with other engineering service companies.
Contact JOINER Services today to learn more about their network engineers and consulting services.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Below, I list some FAQs about engineering consulting.
