Manufacturing Engineer

Grand Rapids Chair Company•Byron Center, MI

About The Position

The Manufacturing Engineer is responsible for designing, developing, and continuously improving manufacturing processes that deliver safe, efficient, and repeatable production of high-quality furniture products. This role owns process definition, process controls, and process outputs, ensuring all operations consistently meet established quality standards, cost targets, and delivery requirements. This position is hands-on and data-driven, with a heavy emphasis on problem solving, root cause analysis, and standardization to eliminate defects, reduce waste, and improve flow across the value stream.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in manufacturing engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).
3–7+ years of manufacturing engineering experience in a production environment (furniture, wood products, metal fabrication, upholstery, or similar preferred).
Strong working knowledge of lean manufacturing principles, process mapping, standard work, and waste elimination.
Demonstrated experience implementing process controls and quality systems.
Proficiency in structured problem-solving methodologies (A3, 5-Why, PFMEA, SPC, root cause analysis).
Ability to read and interpret drawings, routings, and technical documentation.

Responsibilities

Process Development & Standardization Design, document, and implement robust manufacturing processes for furniture components and assemblies (wood, metal, upholstery, finishing, packaging).
Develop standard work, work instructions, routings, and labor standards to ensure consistent, repeatable output.
Define optimal process sequences, layouts, tooling, fixtures, and material flow to support safety, quality, delivery, and cost objectives.
Lead new product launch (NPL) from a manufacturing perspective, ensuring processes are production-ready before launch.
Process Controls & Quality Systems Establish and maintain process controls (control plans, poka-yoke, inspection points, in-process checks, capability targets) to ensure output meets quality requirements.
Ensure all processes comply with internal quality systems, documented standards, and customer requirements.
Monitor key process indicators (defect rates, first-pass yield, scrap, rework, cycle time) and take corrective action when performance deviates from standards.
Partner with Quality to ensure that quality is built into the process—not inspected in at the end.
Process Output & Performance Ownership Own the performance of assigned processes, ensuring they consistently produce good quality products at the required rate and cost.
Analyze production data to identify variation, instability, or waste and lead structured improvement efforts.
Support capacity planning, line balancing, and takt-based production planning to meet demand.
Problem Solving & Continuous Improvement Lead and facilitate structured problem-solving activities using A3, 5-Why, Fishbone, PFMEA, and root cause analysis.
Investigate defects, downtime, safety incidents, and quality escapes; implement permanent corrective actions.
Drive continuous improvement initiatives to reduce scrap, rework, labor inefficiencies, and process variation.
Act as a technical problem solver on the shop floor, supporting supervisors and operators in resolving daily production issues.
Cross-Functional Collaboration Partner with Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, Engineering, Maintenance, and Product Development to optimize end-to-end process performance.
Provide manufacturing input on product design for manufacturability, assembly, packaging, and serviceability.
Support training supervisors and operators on new or revised processes and standards.
Support maintenance with equipment troubleshooting, providing guidance with PM creation and spare part identification of new and existing equipment.
Strong ownership of processes and equipment within your valuestream