Senior Manufacturing Engineer (North Tonawanda and Niagara Falls, New York)

Job Description

Job Description

Salary: $95k to $120k DOE

Imagine working at the forefront of innovation in fluid-flow technology, with over 1400 colleagues across the globe, and contributing to a legacy of excellence that spans eight manufacturing facilities on four continents. Armstrong Fluid Technology is more than just a leader in our industry; we are a community of the brightest and most creative technical and marketing minds driven by a shared mission to engineer the future and safeguard our planet.

As part of our team, you'll be immersed in an environment that fosters growth, creativity, and collaboration. Here, you'll have the opportunity to push boundaries, tackle exciting challenges, and develop cutting-edge solutions that promote energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact. Every day offers the chance to make a meaningful contribution to a more sustainable future, driving innovations that help lower global carbon footprints. Together, were creating a legacy that goes beyond businessone thats changing the world for the better.

Job Summary/Basic Functions:

As a Senior Manufacturing Engineer, you will be responsible for optimizing production processes, enhancing product and process development, ensuring product quality, and driving lean manufacturing initiatives. You will lead process improvements, implement new technologies, and collaborate across departments to meet safety, quality, and on-time delivery goals. Your role will involve overseeing process documentation, conducting value stream analysis, supporting new product introductions, and ensuring smooth transitions between engineering changes and manufacturing.

Specific Duties / Essential Functions:

Production Optimization & Process Improvement:

• Analyze and optimize manufacturing processes to enhance efficiency, reduce cycle times, and eliminate bottlenecks.
• Implement technical improvements and new technologies to boost productivity, product quality, and throughput.
• Develop and apply sustainable manufacturing practices that minimize environmental impact.
• Perform regular process reviews, control points identification, and corrective actions to ensure First-Time Quality (FTQ) and continuous improvement.
• Coordinate the transition of completed projects to the shop floor, ensuring smooth handoff to operations teams.

Product & Process Development:

• Support the development of new products and processes, ensuring effective collaboration between manufacturing, technical, and quality teams.
• Collaborate on the creation and monitoring of labor routings, process control plans, and testing plans for new products.
• Participate in Kaizen activities and other process improvement initiatives aimed at increasing operational efficiency.
• Coordinate updates to labor routings, process controls, and work instructions to improve productivity, quality, and FTQ.
• Build the capability and knowledge of welding on both inhouse and supplier sites, continuously improve the performance of welding process.

Manufacturing Support & Performance:

• Drive throughput and on-time delivery (OTD) improvements across the manufacturing departments, ensuring that production goals are met.
• Develop and monitor new product work cells to optimize workflows and support manufacturing performance.
• Plan and conduct value stream analysis to identify the best sequence of operations and optimize the production flow.
• Support the daily triage reporting and provide weekly updates to ensure alignment with customer fulfillment and performance goals.

Engineering Change Order (ECO) Process:

• Review and sign off on engineering drawings in PDM, ensuring timely processing of new and revised versions.
• Coordinate improvements in productivity for manufactured parts in alignment with drawing changes.
• Participate in weekly Engineering Change Review Board (ECRB) meetings to ensure project deadlines and goals are met.

Safety & Quality Initiatives:

• Contribute to plant safety and quality initiatives, including Job Hazard Analyses (JHAs) and FTQ metrics.
• Collaborate with the Safety Committee to monitor and improve JHA metrics across work cells.
• Implement corrective actions to address quality and safety concerns based on FTQ metrics and employee feedback.
• Actively participate in monthly Health & Safety Committee meetings, presenting actions supporting safety and quality improvement.

Cross Department Collaboration:

• Work closely with technical, quality, procurement, and production teams to resolve complex manufacturing issues, optimize processes, and meet product specifications.
• Support the procurement team in sourcing materials and suppliers that meet quality and cost standards.
• Assist the Quality Department with Corrective Action (CAR) meetings and the development of Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) documentation.

Lean Manufacturing & Continuous Improvement:

• Drive lean manufacturing initiatives, including cycle time measurement, bottleneck identification, and implementation of lean principles such as 5S, Kaizen, and value stream mapping.
• Lead or participate in continuous improvement activities to streamline processes and reduce waste, driving higher efficiency and product quality.

Promote the adoption of lean principles across the organization, including collaborating with the AFSS (Automated Factory Systems and Services) team to integrate lean practices into automated systems.

Preferred Qualifications/Education/Experience:

Education and Experience

• Engineering degree in Industrial, Manufacturing, or Mechanical Engineering
• 10 years of demonstrated experience in manufacturing technology functions, ideally within an industrial, automotive, or aerospace manufacturing environment.
• 5 years of fabrication engineering experience and 5 years experience of welding.
• 5 years of experience in Lean manufacturing; experience leading Lean promotion is preferred.
• Experience working in pump assembly or similar industries (e.g., fluid systems, machinery, or mechanical products) is preferred.

Technical Skills

• Strong background in large assembly processes, painting, welding and testing.
• Proficiency in designing fixtures and tooling; experience with SolidWorks.
• Proficiency in CAD software (e.g., AutoCAD, SolidWorks) for designing and reviewing assembly drawings. Ability to design jigs and fixtures for manufacturing processes.
• Familiarity with statistical process control (SPC), root cause analysis, and failure mode effects analysis (FMEA).
• Strong understanding of process improvement methodologies such as Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, and 5S.
• Experience integrating new automation technologies and systems into production environments, leading to improved throughput and quality.
• Familiarity with Infor ERP system (preferably LN 10.7).
• Experience in developing and optimizing process control plans and testing plans.

Soft Skills

• Self-directed with the ability to work autonomously and collaboratively, focused on results.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills to work effectively with diverse stakeholders.
• Proficiency in English for both written and spoken communication.
• Detail-oriented with robust organizational and problem-solving abilities.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Regular shop floor presence will be expected