Estimating and Costing Engineer

About Flow-Turn:

Flow-Turn is a global leader in the manufacturing of powered belt curves and spiral inclines/declines, based in Union, New Jersey. Since 1980, we have delivered simple, efficient, and reliable products to a diverse range of national and international customers. In 2011, the company was acquired by Hermann Miedel and rebranded to Flow-Turn. The Miedel family proudly runs operations at Flow-Turn. In 2024, Flow-Turn was recognized as a Minority-Owned Business.

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Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced Estimating and Costing Engineer who knows what it is like to work on a manufacturing floor. You will develop accurate estimates for conveyor curves and other material handling products built in our own fabrication shop, and help maintain, modernize, and expand Flow-Turn's Excel-based estimating and pricing platform.

This is not a desk-only role. The right candidate has worked in or alongside a metal manufacturing operation and understands, from firsthand experience, how sheet metal parts are cut, punched, formed, welded, painted or powder coated, and assembled, and what each of those steps really costs in time, labor, and material. You will combine that shop-floor knowledge with strong Excel skills, including VBA programming, Power Query, complex formulas, structured data, and workbook integration.

Salary: $85,000–$100,000

Key Responsibilities:

• Prepare detailed cost estimates for conveyor curve and material handling products, including material, labor, machine time, tooling, and finishing costs.

• Read and interpret engineering drawings, specifications, and bills of materials (BOMs) to price new and existing products.

• Evaluate sheet metal fabrication processes (laser/plasma cutting, punching, press brake forming), welding, machining, painting/powder coating, and assembly to determine accurate labor and manufacturing costs.

• Spend time on the shop floor with production leads and operators to verify routings, cycle times, setups, and process assumptions behind each estimate.

• Account for material yield, scrap, nesting, and secondary operations when costing sheet metal parts.

• Review supplier quotes and work with Purchasing to keep material, paint/coating, and outside-service costs current.

• Maintain and improve the Excel/VBA estimating and pricing tool while keeping established costing logic intact.

• Add new products, options, and features to the pricing tool using table-driven setups instead of hard-coded logic.

• Use Excel formulas, structured tables, PivotTables, and Power Query to manage supplier data, material costs, and labor rates.

• Troubleshoot VBA macros, linked workbooks, and data connections.

• Document calculation methods so estimates are consistent and easy to review.

Project Handoff and Collaboration

• Create and validate detailed internal cost sheets for project review and approval.

• Compare estimated vs. actual costs on completed jobs with Production and adjust labor and material assumptions.

• Support project handoffs to Operations, Engineering, and Project Management.

• Participate in project kickoff meetings.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, or a related field.

• 5+ years of experience in cost estimating, manufacturing engineering, or a related role within a metal manufacturing or fabrication company.

• Firsthand experience working on or directly supporting a manufacturing floor, with a practical understanding of how production really runs (setups, routings, cycle times, bottlenecks).

• Hands-on knowledge of sheet metal processes, including laser/plasma cutting, punching, press brake forming, welding, and machining.

• Working knowledge of paint and finishing processes (pretreatment, wet paint, powder coating) and how they affect cost and lead time.

• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, specifications, and BOMs, including GD&T and sheet metal flat patterns.

• Advanced Microsoft Excel expertise, including complex formulas, structured tables, named ranges, PivotTables, data validation, workbook architecture, and internal/external workbook references.

• Advanced VBA application development experience required, including development and maintenance of large or business-critical Excel applications; reusable functions and procedures; Excel object model programming; arrays and dictionaries; event-driven code; error handling; debugging; and performance optimization.

• Experience using Power Query to import, transform, combine, and refresh data from multiple sources.

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills, with close attention to detail and accuracy.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience estimating conveyor systems, curves, or other material handling equipment.
• Experience designing configuration-based or rules-based estimating tools and improving legacy spreadsheet applications.
• Familiarity with ERP/MRP systems and integrating estimating or costing tools with business systems.
• Familiarity with SQL, Power BI, databases, APIs, or other data-integration technologies. xhyhwjd
• Experience with source control or structured software-development practices is a plus.