Manager, Manufacturing Engineering

Manager, Manufacturing Engineering

Job Description

DESTACO, a Stabilus Company, is a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance automation, workholding, and remote handling solutions. The company serves customers in variety of end-markets, including the automotive, life sciences, consumer goods, packaging, aerospace, and nuclear sectors.


Built on a legacy of over 100 years, DESTACO offers a comprehensive portfolio of products to engineer precise movement, placement and control solutions that drive productivity and uptime for manufacturers around the world. The DESTACO family of products consists of industry-leading brands such as DESTACO Manual and Power Clamps, Camco and Ferguson Indexers, Robohand Grippers and CRL Manipulators and Transfer Ports.


DESTACO is based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and operates globally through ~700 employees across 11 locations.

With nearly 90 years of demonstrated expertise, The Stabilus Group is one of the world's leading providers of motion control solutions for customers across a broad spectrum of industries.


Stabilus, approaching 1.5B EUR in revenue, is headquartered in Koblenz, Germany and employs more than 7,000 team members across 34 locations in 18 countries.


Stabilus SE is listed in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and included in the MDAX index.

Position Summary

The Manager , Manufacturing Engineering is responsible for the oversight of the facilities CNC programming, process development responsibilities, Maintenance, capital expenditure, and continuous improvement.


The manager of manufacturing engineering position oversees the development and implementation of manufacturing processes to maintain proper product functionality as well as cost efficiency; ensures the engineering team and other manufacturing departments work together cohesively and is responsible for the development of equipment to aid in the manufacturing process; leads and directs the work of assigned manufacturing engineers and project engineers. S/he requires exceptional cognitive and deductive reasoning skills and possess excellent communication skills, since communication across various levels and functions of the organization to gather data needed to complete assigned projects is crucial. S/he will strive for continuous improvement and look for routes to accurately reduce manufacturing cost, improve product quality, and improve overall throughput through programming optimization and machining process improvements.


S/he participates in developing, evaluating, and improving production and processing methods and controls in manufacturing to achieve operational excellence. S/he is responsible for recommending and implementing effective programming methodologies, standardizing best practices across the department, and ensuring the latest technological advancements are incorporated into the site's machining practices and processes. S/he assists in establishing work measurement standards and plays an active role in ensuring safety, quality, and successful implementation of continuous improvement methods (lean, Kaizen, 6S, etc.) aligned with the Company's goals. S/he assists in evaluating machines and their processes as well as onboarding new capital equipment for maximum manufacturing effectiveness by applying knowledge of fundamental machining practices and methodologies.


The Manufacturing Engineering Manager reports to the Plant Manager. This position is in Wheeling, IL and requires travel up to 10%. Reporting to the position are Programmers, Manufacturing Engineers. The position requires the ability to build and maintain strong relationships with engineering, materials, operations, and quality, and work and communicate across at various levels across the organization.


Key Job Responsibilities included but not limited to:


Job Requirements:

• As a member of the manufacturing leadership team, fosters a culture of transparency, disciplined problem solving, high performance work teams, and continuous improvement. Strives to ensure the appropriate team, tools and processes are in place to support these desired cultural traits.
• Leads and promotes safety awareness with other key members of the plant team. Promotes accident prevention and employee involvement regarding a safe work environment. Ensures employees understand the safety expectations of the organization.
• Leads and fosters the continuous improvement roadmap for the plant. Leverages continuous improvement tools to drive continued operational improvements and ensures engagement of the entire manufacturing team through strong communication and clear direction.
• Plans and communicates with manufacturing engineering team to ensure efficient workflow and on-time delivery off programs and onboarding of new equipment (Transition of parts from incumbent equipment to new equipment) to internal customers.
• Coaches, provides feedback to, and develops associate manufacturing engineer team members. Motivates and manages the team to achieve annual goals/objectives set at the individual and organizational level.
• Improves manufacturing efficiency by creating and optimizing programming methodologies and leveraging the most efficient fixture and tooling available. Completes ongoing industry/trade related training to maintain a suitable understanding of industry best practices related to machining practices and processes.
• Makes recommendations to modify or replace equipment as necessary to support new products, demand or improve productivity.
• Participates in new product development and launch using the defined stage gate process.
• Analyze and design lean manufacturing cells using effective systems and simulation tools to optimize, use of space, equipment, material, and personnel.
• Assist in developing plant layout in planning rearrangement of facilities, equipment, and operations for better utilization of space.
• Work closely with research and development, quality assurance and maintenance personnel to prevent problems with products and tooling/fixtures.
• Ensure all manufacturing safety regulatory policies and procedures are implemented and always maintained.
• Stay informed concerning new manufacturing technologies and equipment to manufacture and reduce cost through efficiencies.
• Support all current and new product introductions.
• Determine and eliminate root causes and diminish occurrences in the manufacturing process.
• Able to assist in reducing cost through re-engineering product/material.
• Assist in the assessment of vendor/subcontractor evaluation for consideration.
• Responsible for training vendors/subcontractors on new product launches to meet target date.
• Works closely with engineering, new product development team, production and quality.
• Supports Destaco policies and procedures, including those governing the quality system as defined by ISO 9001.

Job Requirements:

• Minimum 5 years experience in manufacturing engineering and maintenance.
• Experienced in continuous improvement.
• Demonstrated proficiency with MS Office tools (Word, Excel).
• Analyzes, solves, and implements solutions independently.
• Ability to read and interpret blueprints.
• In-depth understanding of assembly processes
• Strong organizational skills, keeps timelines and meets deadlines.
• Ability to direct and guide from others.
• Working knowledge of manufacturing methods, tooling, fixturing and materials
• High energy, tenacity to get results, does what it takes to win.
• Self-starter prefers to work in a strong team environment.
• Excellent communicator including verbal, and written skills.

Education and Certification Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering or related technical field preferred

Travel Requirements:

• Ability to travel up to 10% of the time.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, age, genetic information, or any other factors prohibited by law.