Automation Engineer (Surry)

Summary:

Our client is a well-established U.S. manufacturer of premium wood products used across residential and commercial applications. With a vertically integrated operation spanning the full supply chain from forest to customer, the company has built a strong reputation for quality, consistency, and manufacturing expertise.

The Manufacturing / Controls Engineer will play a key role in improving the performance, reliability, and automation of the company's manufacturing operation. This position combines traditional manufacturing engineering and continuous improvement responsibilities with hands-on controls and automation engineering, including PLC programming, troubleshooting, and optimization.

This is a highly visible, hands-on position for an Engineer who enjoys being close to the manufacturing floor and solving real operational problems. Working cross-functionally with Operations, Maintenance, Quality, and Leadership, this individual will evaluate existing processes, identify opportunities for improvement, troubleshoot production challenges, and implement practical solutions that improve overall manufacturing performance.

Why Consider This Opportunity?

• Make a Measurable Impact: Take ownership of projects that directly improve productivity, throughput, quality, cost, and overall manufacturing efficiency.
• Continuous Improvement Focus: Lead Lean and process improvement initiatives designed to create more consistent manufacturing processes.
• High Visibility: Work cross-functionally with Operations, Maintenance, Quality, and Leadership while presenting recommendations and helping drive meaningful operational improvements.
• Established Manufacturing Organization: Join a vertically integrated U.S. manufacturer with more than 50 years of experience and an established reputation within the building products industry.

Key Responsibilities:

• Program, modify, troubleshoot, and optimize PLC-based control systems supporting manufacturing equipment and automated production processes.
• Diagnose controls and automation issues involving PLCs, HMIs, VFDs, sensors, motors, instrumentation, and related electrical/control components.
• Provide hands-on engineering support to the manufacturing floor, troubleshooting equipment, controls, and process issues to minimize downtime and improve production performance.
• Analyze existing manufacturing processes and automated equipment to identify opportunities to improve safety, productivity, quality, throughput, reliability, and cost.
• Partner closely with Maintenance and Operations to troubleshoot recurring equipment failures and improve equipment reliability, performance, and uptime.
• Develop and implement controls and automation improvements that increase equipment capability, reduce manual intervention, improve process consistency, and eliminate production bottlenecks.
• Support the design, programming, installation, startup, commissioning, and validation of new or modified manufacturing equipment and automated systems.
• Work with equipment vendors, integrators, and internal teams on controls-related capital projects, equipment upgrades, and automation initiatives.
• Maintain and improve PLC programs, HMI applications, control logic, system documentation, and equipment-related technical documentation.
• Identify production bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and sources of waste while developing and implementing practical engineering solutions.
• Lead Lean manufacturing and continuous improvement initiatives utilizing tools such as 5S, Kaizen, root cause analysis, and process mapping.
• Develop, document, and improve SOPs and standardized manufacturing processes.
• Work with Quality to reduce defects, improve product consistency, and address recurring manufacturing and equipment-related issues.
• Analyze scrap, rework, yield, downtime, cycle time, and production data to identify root causes and improvement opportunities.
• Support cost reduction initiatives through automation, process improvements, waste reduction, equipment optimization, and material utilization.
• Assist with the evaluation and selection of new manufacturing equipment, controls platforms, automation technology, and capital improvements.
• Support plant layout changes, line improvements, workflow optimization, equipment modifications, and other capital projects.
• Track and analyze manufacturing KPIs including productivity, downtime, OEE, yield, throughput, and efficiency.
• Collaborate across Engineering, Operations, Maintenance, Quality, and Leadership to drive sustainable improvements throughout the manufacturing operation.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering.
• Experience programming PLC's is required.
• 3-10 years of engineering or process improvement experience within a manufacturing environment.
• Strong understanding of Lean manufacturing and continuous improvement methodologies, including 5S, Kaizen, and root cause analysis.
• Proficiency in Excel and experience working with ERP systems; JD Edwards experience is a plus.