Weld & Automation Technician - 3rd Shift - $2,500 Signing Bonus

Weld & Automation Technician

The Weld & Automation Technician is responsible for providing technical support for robotic welding, resistance welding, automated assembly equipment, fixtures, tooling, and related production processes within the Assembly, Bender and Weld (ABW) department.

This position is responsible for maintaining production equipment in a safe, reliable, and production-ready condition while supporting the manufacture of quality parts and minimizing equipment downtime. The Weld Technician troubleshoots equipment and process issues, performs repairs and adjustments, supports preventative and predictive maintenance activities, and works closely with production and quality personnel to identify and eliminate recurring problems.

As a 3rd-shift technical resource, this position is expected to independently evaluate equipment and process concerns, establish root cause, implement effective corrective actions, and escalate significant issues when necessary to ensure safe and efficient production.

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

• Provide technical support for robotic welding, resistance welding, MIG welding, automated assembly equipment, fixtures, tooling, and related ABW production processes.
• Ensure assigned production equipment is maintained in a safe, operational, and production-ready condition.
• Troubleshoot and repair mechanical, electrical, robotic, pneumatic, hydraulic, weld-control, and automation-related equipment problems.
• Respond promptly to production equipment downtime and work to safely restore equipment to normal operating condition.
• Diagnose recurring equipment and process failures and implement corrective actions designed to eliminate repeat downtime.
• Program, troubleshoot, adjust, and maintain industrial robots used in welding and automated assembly applications.
• Troubleshoot and adjust MIG and resistance welding processes to maintain required weld quality and process capability.
• Monitor weld parameters and make appropriate adjustments within established process and quality requirements.
• Troubleshoot weld controls, including Medar or similar resistance welding control systems.
• Adjust weld fixtures, automation tooling, sensors, clamps, locating devices, and related equipment to maintain part quality and production performance.
• Verify equipment and process adjustments produce parts that meet established quality requirements before returning equipment to normal production.
• Support troubleshooting of dimensional, weld-quality, fit-up, assembly, and process concerns.
• Read and interpret electrical, mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, and equipment schematic drawings.
• Utilize PLC diagnostics and controls information to identify equipment and process failures.
• Perform preventative and predictive maintenance activities on production equipment according to established schedules.
• Identify equipment conditions that may lead to future downtime and initiate corrective action before failure occurs.
• Complete assigned maintenance requests, work orders, projects, and technical assignments accurately and in a timely manner.
• Document equipment repairs, process changes, corrective actions, and other required maintenance information.
• Maintain appropriate spare parts and identify critical components needed to support production equipment.
• Assist with requisitioning replacement parts, components, and technical supplies as required.
• Support installation, qualification, launch, and improvement of new or transferred weld and automated assembly equipment.
• Collaborate with Manufacturing Engineering, Production, Quality, Tooling, Maintenance, and other departments during new program launches and takeover work.
• Support equipment and process runoff activities as required.
• Utilize data, root-cause analysis, problem-solving methods, and equipment history to identify and correct production issues.
• Identify opportunities to improve equipment reliability, cycle time, productivity, quality, and maintainability.
• Participate in continuous improvement activities focused on reducing downtime, eliminating waste, improving process capability, and increasing equipment effectiveness.
• Follow completed repairs and improvement activities to verify corrective actions remain effective.
• Communicate equipment conditions, open issues, repairs, temporary countermeasures, and required follow-up to production leadership and appropriate technical personnel.
• Provide clear communication at shift change regarding unresolved equipment or process concerns.
• Work with outside contractors and technical service providers when required.
• Maintain clean and organized work areas, tools, equipment, and technical workspaces.
• Participate in required technical, safety, quality, automation, robotics, and equipment training.
• Follow NASG standards, procedures, work instructions, and applicable division-specific requirements, including NASG ME-049.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Safety Responsibilities

Safety is a critical responsibility of the Weld Technician position.

The Weld Technician must:

• Perform all work in accordance with established safety procedures and applicable regulatory requirements.
• Follow all Lockout/Tagout requirements before performing maintenance, troubleshooting, adjustment, or repair activities when required.
• Understand and properly maintain machine guarding, interlocks, light curtains, safety switches, emergency stops, robot safety systems, and other safety devices.
• Never bypass, defeat, or alter safety devices unless specifically authorized under an approved troubleshooting or maintenance procedure.
• Verify safety devices and guarding are properly restored before equipment is released back to production.
• Identify and immediately report unsafe equipment or workplace conditions.
• Stop equipment when conditions exist that could create an immediate risk to employees, equipment, or product.
• Follow all required PPE requirements.
• Maintain safe work practices when entering or working around automated equipment and robotic cells.

Quality Responsibilities

• Maintain weld and assembly processes within established quality and engineering requirements.
• Verify that equipment adjustments and repairs do not negatively affect part quality.
• Support investigation and correction of weld-quality and assembly concerns.
• Understand the relationship between tooling, fixtures, weld parameters, equipment condition, and finished-part quality.
• Assist Production and Quality personnel with containment and troubleshooting when equipment or process conditions may have affected product quality.
• Maintain process settings within approved parameters unless changes are properly authorized.
• Support root-cause analysis and permanent corrective actions for recurring quality concerns.
• Ensure equipment and process conditions support production of conforming product.

Minimum Qualifications

Education

Required:

• High school diploma, Grade 12 education, or equivalent GED.

Preferred:

• Associate degree, technical diploma, apprenticeship, certification, or equivalent technical training in one or more of the following areas:
• Industrial Maintenance
• Electrical / Industrial Electronics
• Robotics
• Automation
• Electrical Controls
• Welding Technology
• Mechanical Engineering Technology
• Mechatronics
• Industrial Millwright
• Related technical discipline

Equivalent combinations of education, technical training, and relevant work experience may be considered.

Experience

• Five or more years of relevant manufacturing experience preferred, with demonstrated experience supporting robotic welding, automated assembly, or similar production equipment.
• Experience programming and troubleshooting industrial robots.
• Knowledge of MIG welding and resistance welding principles and applications.
• Experience with production MIG and/or resistance weld controls.
• Experience troubleshooting automated manufacturing equipment.
• Experience with PLC diagnostics as related to production equipment troubleshooting.
• Experience troubleshooting electrical and mechanical equipment.
• Working knowledge of pneumatic and hydraulic systems.
• Experience adjusting automated fixtures, weld tooling, sensors, clamps, and related production equipment.
• Understanding of stamped metal components and welding/assembly processes preferred.
• Knowledge of geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) preferred.
• Industrial electrician, millwright, maintenance technician, automation technician, or similar technical experience preferred.
• Reference NASG ME-049 for applicable division-specific requirements.

Technical Knowledge And Skills

The successful Weld Technician should demonstrate working knowledge and competency in the following areas:

• Industrial robotics and robotic programming.
• Robotic weld-cell troubleshooting.
• MIG welding processes.
• Resistance welding processes.
• Weld-control programming and diagnostics.
• Medar weld controls or similar resistance welding systems.
• PLC diagnostics and machine controls.
• Industrial electrical systems.
• Mechanical troubleshooting and repair.
• Pneumatic systems.