Manufacturing Engineer

Position Title: Manufacturing Engineer
Reports To: Engineering Manager
Location: Waukesha, WI

We design, manufacture and sell a wide selection of commercial-grade products, including:

• Picnic tables
• Park benches
• Speed bumps and wheel stops
• Waste receptacles
• Parking lot supplies
• ...and much more!

Position Summary


The Manufacturing Engineer is responsible for developing, implementing, and continuously improving manufacturing processes to ensure safe, efficient, and cost-effective production. This role serves as the technical bridge between Engineering, Operations, Quality, and Supply Chain to optimize throughput, reduce waste, improve product quality, and drive operational excellence. The Manufacturing Engineer owns process performance at the plant level, ensuring stable production, scalable capacity, cost control, and continuous improvement across equipment, tooling, and workflows.


Core Responsibilities

• Develop, implement, and optimize manufacturing processes, routings, work instructions, and standard work to ensure safety, quality, delivery, and cost targets are achieved.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives focused on productivity, OEE, scrap reduction, labor efficiency, and throughput improvements.
• Design and implement tooling, fixtures, automation, and error-proofing (poka-yoke) solutions to improve process capability and repeatability.
• Analyze production data to identify bottlenecks, downtime drivers, and quality losses; lead root-cause analysis and corrective action implementation.
• Partner with Quality to develop and maintain control plans, PFMEAs, process capability studies (Cp/Cpk), and standardized inspection methods.
• Support new product introductions by developing production processes, validating equipment readiness, and participating in pilot builds and launch activities.
• Drive cost-reduction initiatives through process optimization, cycle time improvements, material yield improvements, and value engineering.
• Collaborate with Maintenance and Operations to improve equipment reliability, preventive maintenance strategies, and uptime performance.
• Own and maintain accurate manufacturing documentation including routings, BOMs, work instructions, standard times, and process flow diagrams.
• Evaluate capital equipment needs; develop justifications, ROI analyses, and manage installation and commissioning activities.
• Ensure compliance with safety standards, regulatory requirements, and internal operational procedures.
• Provide hands-on floor support to troubleshoot production issues and ensure stable daily operations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial, or related Engineering discipline.
• 3-7 years of experience in Manufacturing Engineering or process improvement within a production environment.
• Strong knowledge of manufacturing processes, process flow development, and production optimization.
• Experience with data-driven problem solving and structured root-cause methodologies (5 Why, Fishbone, A3, etc.).
• Demonstrated experience improving productivity, quality, or cost in a manufacturing setting.

Preferred:

• Experience in job shop or mixed-model manufacturing environments.
• Familiarity with ERP/MES systems (NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, SmartFactory, etc.).
• Experience with automation integration, robotics, CNC, or assembly operations.
• Lean, Six Sigma, or formal continuous improvement certification.
• Experience supporting capital equipment implementation and ROI justification.

Key Competencies:

• Process optimization and operational excellence mindset
• Cross-functional collaboration and influence
• Data-driven decision making
• Structured problem solving and analytical rigor
• Hands-on technical troubleshooting ability
• Ownership of safety, quality, delivery, and cost performance
• Continuous Improvement leadership