Principal Tooling Engineer

GE Appliances, a Haier company•Louisville, KY

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The GE Appliances’ Principal Tooling Engineer is a member of the Metal Stamping Advanced Manufacturing Engineering (AME) team which owns and maintains the engineering standards for metal stamping tooling and equipment for the company. The Principal Tooling Engineer will be responsible for managing and executing tooling projects, ensuring that all tooling and equipment are compliant with standards and executed within the project or program deliverables (cost, quality, and delivery). Principal Tooling Engineers are responsible for New Product Introduction (NPI) programs and product line projects to drive product cost out and factory productivity. The Principal Tooling Engineer will be a key liaison between the project team and the plant operation and manufacturing teams; ensuring that plant priorities and objectives are clearly understood and considered for the area under their ownership. This includes developing specifications, design for manufacturing, and applying lean principles to product and process designs, transferring knowledge to the factory teams, and developing team member capabilities.

Requirements

Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering or related discipline OR equivalent hands-on experience in technical/manufacturing disciplines OR graduate of a certified tool & die apprenticeship program
7+ years of experience with tooling procurement as well as tool & die design concepts, die components and applications
Proficient in 3D CAD (NX, SolidWorks, Creo or equivalent)

Nice To Haves

Experience managing tooling & equipment procurement projects: Including specification development, supplier selection, technical reviews, installation and qualification of tooling / equipment.
Experience with specification, design, and installation of tool and die equipment in a large-scale manufacturing environment, die change systems, and associated processes.
Prior NPI program experience

Responsibilities

Manage tool and die equipment procurement projects including specification development utilizing GE Appliances standards, supplier selection, early supplier engagement, technical reviews, factory layout development, installation and qualification of high quality, right sized and cost-effective tooling & equipment. Ensure all tooling and equipment is reliable and robust and designed to maximize Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).
Grow the AME organization’s capability by mentoring, guiding, and helping more junior tooling engineers and/or cross-functional team members regarding tooling design and execution as well as adding to the body of knowledge of the department (training, developing new processes, supporting Hoshin objectives, etc.).
Own the project metrics such as capital equipment & tooling budgets, program schedule deliverables, reliability, quality and labor targets. Work with the internal customer to perform trade-off analysis on competing metrics if necessary and drive decisions based on overall business impact.
Coordinate design efforts between part design engineers and internal customers to develop a robust Tool and Die operational plan and execution that meets product and operational requirements.
Own the program metrics as applicable to assigned projects like manufacturing labor plan (VLOH), equipment and tooling budgets and quality of in-house manufactured parts/product. Work with the program / projects team(s) to perform trade-off analysis on competing metrics if necessary and drive decisions based on overall business impact.
Facilitate / lead the use of the Production Preparation Process (3P) while developing manufacturing tooling, equipment and processes. Utilize cross-functional participation to ensure that the tooling, equipment and processes are compatible with the entire value stream. Efforts include right-sized equipment, workstation design, material presentation, standard work and single piece flow.
Ensure all equipment executed in GEA factories comply with Industry and Governmental Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) standards.
Utilize Human Organizational Performance (HOP) principles to ensure that all equipment / tooling / processes are implemented with the health and safety of the operators in mind.
Work with functional leaders to ensure equipment & processes support business initiatives of Bill of Process (BoP), Lean Manufacturing, Ergonomic Design and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
Work with factory operations and Lean teams to understand Value Stream and how your projects impact this. Ensure material flow, workstation set up, model mix, etc. are considered when workstations / equipment is designed.
Utilize the 9-Step Process for tooling and equipment design; Work with cross-functional team to develop Manufacturing Control Plans (MCP) and Manufacturing Control Instructions (MCI).
Work with the design team to ensure Design for Manufacturing & Assembly (DFMA) is considered part design.