Manufacturing Engineer

Gerflor Usa • Crystal Falls, MI

32d • Onsite

About The Position

Connor Sports is seeking a Manufacturing Engineer for its production site in Iron County, Michigan. This role is responsible for improving manufacturing processes, equipment reliability, safety, quality, productivity, and cost. The position leads continuous improvement initiatives, manages manufacturing and capital projects, and partners with Production, Maintenance, Quality, and Safety to enhance overall plant performance. The ideal candidate will be a hands-on problem solver utilizing data, Lean manufacturing principles, and structured problem-solving to develop practical and sustainable improvements.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Manufacturing, Mechanical, Industrial, Electrical Engineering, or related technical field; equivalent relevant manufacturing experience may be considered.
• Manufacturing, process engineering, maintenance engineering, reliability, or similar industrial experience.
• Strong mechanical and technical problem-solving skills with experience in continuous improvement and structured root cause analysis.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities and communicate effectively with operators, skilled trades, engineers, contractors, and plant leadership.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications.

Nice To Haves

• 3-7+ years of manufacturing engineering or related experience.
• Lean Manufacturing or Six Sigma training/certification and experience with 5S, Kaizen, Standard Work, FMEA, and Value Stream Mapping.
• Capital project, equipment installation, CMMS, and preventive/predictive maintenance experience.
• Knowledge of automated equipment, PLC-controlled systems, robotics, industrial controls, AutoCAD, SolidWorks, or similar engineering software.
• Formal project management training or PMP certification.

Responsibilities

• Identify and implement improvements in safety, quality, productivity, cost, throughput, and equipment performance.
• Lead Lean and continuous improvement activities using tools such as 5S, Kaizen, Standard Work, 5 Why, Pareto analysis, and FMEA.
• Analyze production processes, downtime, cycle times, workflow, capacity, and equipment utilization to identify improvement opportunities.
• Eliminate waste, bottlenecks, process variation, unnecessary motion, and recurring production issues.
• Develop and maintain standard work, process documentation, and manufacturing procedures.
• Identify opportunities for automation, tooling improvements, equipment upgrades, and process simplification.
• Establish measurable project baselines and verify that implemented improvements achieve sustainable results.
• Incorporate safety and ergonomics into equipment, process, and facility improvements.
• Partner with Safety, Production, and Maintenance to identify hazards and implement engineering controls.
• Conduct risk assessments for new and existing equipment and processes.
• Support improvements related to machine guarding, lockout/tagout, ergonomics, material handling, and equipment safety.
• Participate in incident investigations and develop engineering solutions to prevent recurrence.
• Ensure new equipment and modifications meet applicable safety and company requirements.
• Lead manufacturing and capital projects from concept through installation, startup, and final validation.
• Develop project scope, schedules, budgets, resource requirements, and implementation plans.
• Coordinate equipment suppliers, contractors, Production, Maintenance, Quality, Safety, and other stakeholders.
• Manage equipment installations, facility improvements, process changes, and manufacturing technology projects.
• Track project milestones, costs, risks, and deliverables and communicate status to plant leadership.
• Develop cost estimates, business cases, and ROI analyses for proposed projects.
• Ensure projects are completed safely, on schedule, within budget, and achieve defined performance objectives.
• Partner with Maintenance to improve equipment reliability, maintainability, and uptime.
• Analyze downtime and maintenance data to identify chronic and high-impact equipment failures.
• Lead root cause analysis of recurring failures and implement permanent corrective actions.
• Support development and optimization of preventive and predictive maintenance programs.
• Identify opportunities to reduce reactive maintenance and increase planned maintenance.
• Improve equipment accessibility, serviceability, standardization, and spare-parts strategies.
• Support maintenance KPIs including equipment uptime, MTBF, MTTR, PM completion, and planned versus unplanned maintenance.
• Ensure equipment upgrades consider long-term reliability and maintainability.
• Provide technical support to Production and Maintenance during equipment and process problems.
• Troubleshoot issues involving equipment, tooling, materials, process parameters, and workflow.
• Support equipment commissioning, startup, qualification, and production ramp-up.
• Develop specifications for manufacturing equipment, tooling, fixtures, and supporting systems.
• Conduct trials and validate process changes before full implementation.
• Provide technical documentation and training for operators and maintenance personnel.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental & Vision benefits.
• Flexible Spending, Health Reimbursement Arrangement and Health Savings Accounts.
• Company paid Life Insurance, Short and Long-Term Disability.
• Voluntary benefits including Legal, Identity Theft, Supplemental Life, Critical Illness, Accident, and Pet Insurance Programs.
• 401k & Company provided match.
• Paid Time Off, Paid Holidays and Paid Parental Leave.
• Wellness Program, Service Awards, Educational Assistance, EAP, Product Discounts.
• Monthly Company Provided Lunches
• Champion of the Month Programs
• Quarterly Offsite Employee Events

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level