Machine Shop Manager / Estimator

Job Description

Job Description

B&L Engineering is a locally owned industrial job shop serving manufacturing and industrial customers throughout the region. Our capabilities include CNC and manual machining, welding and fabrication, millwright work, rigging, electrical, plumbing, and other industrial services.

We are looking for an experienced Machine Shop Manager / Estimator to oversee our machining department.

Our machine shop handles a wide variety of custom work including one-off parts, repair work, short production runs, prototypes, and components used in larger industrial projects. This is not a repetitive high-volume production environment.

The person in this position does not need to be the best machinist in the shop, but they do need enough machining knowledge to understand customer requirements, recognize possible equipment or process limitations, ask the right questions, and work with our experienced machinists to develop solutions.

Responsibilities

• Review customer prints, samples, and repair requirements
• Estimate and quote machining projects
• Help determine material, tooling, setup, machining, and outside-processing requirements
• Determine the best manufacturing approach using CNC, manual machining, or a combination
• Schedule and prioritize machine shop work
• Manage the day-to-day workload of a small team of experienced machinists
• Communicate directly with customers about projects, technical questions, schedules, and possible solutions
• Recognize potential machine, tooling, tolerance, or process limitations before making commitments
• Work with machinists to solve unusual or difficult machining problems
• Order job-specific materials and tooling
• Coordinate outside services such as heat treating, grinding, plating, black oxide, and similar processes
• Coordinate machining work with other B&L departments
• Track job progress and delivery dates
• Compare estimated versus actual labor hours to improve future quoting

Qualifications

We are looking for someone with:

• Several years of hands-on machining experience
• Strong blueprint reading skills
• Knowledge of CNC and manual machining
• Understanding of GD&T, tolerances, tooling, workholding, and fixturing
• Ability to recognize machining limitations and potential problems
• Experience planning machining processes
• Strong communication skills with employees, customers, and vendors
• Good organization and the ability to manage multiple projects at once
• Leadership, supervision, estimating, or project coordination experience preferred
• CNC programming or CAM experience is a plus, but is not required to be the primary programmer

A college degree is not required . We place more value on hands-on machining knowledge, communication, leadership ability, and practical problem-solving experience.

Current Equipment

Our CNC department includes:

• Haas VF-6 Vertical Machining Center
• Haas VF-3 Vertical Machining Center
• Haas CNC Lathe

We also maintain manual mills, lathes, and other conventional machining equipment used for repair and custom work.

What B&L Offers

• Straight day shift
• Typically a 40-hour workweek
• Stable year-round employment
• Health insurance
• Retirement benefits
• Paid time off and holidays
• Small-company work environment
• Variety of custom machining work
• Opportunity to play an important role in the future direction of the machine shop

We are looking for someone who can take ownership of the department, communicate well with both customers and employees, and work with the experience already in our shop to keep projects moving from quote through completion.