Quality Engineer (56974)

PREMIUM GUARD INCORPORATED•Albion, IL

49d•$75,000 - $100,000•Onsite

About The Position

Premium Guard, Inc. is seeking a Quality Engineer for its Albion, IL location. This role is primarily focused on facilitating OE Customer issues and implementing quality systems and programs throughout the corporate structure for continuous improvement. The Quality Engineer will evaluate and recommend solutions for quality resolution efforts to maintain process flow and quality standards at minimum cost. Responsibilities include ensuring data collection and record maintenance for product characteristics, creating and coordinating quality system control plans for consistency across supplier, in-process, and customer levels, and standardizing quality reports. The position ensures quality procedures meet ISO/TS 16949 and customer-specific standards, monitors quality system measurables to identify concerns, and administers quality assessments for supplier and internal audits. The role also involves facilitating advanced quality planning techniques such as PFMEA's, DFMEA's, dimensional layouts, and statistical techniques to ensure process capability. The incumbent will work to achieve and maintain quality levels to enhance new business and meet customer requirements, request corrective action when processes or products are unacceptable, and develop programs to meet established product standards. This includes establishing controls for customer quality improvements, managing costs, and ensuring customer satisfaction through follow-up. Strong communication skills are essential for internal and external interactions, and extensive experience in controlling quality, customer requirements, processes, and product capabilities is necessary, along with a general knowledge of production department processes. The Quality Engineer meets frequently with the Quality Engineering Manager and other departments to provide project status and problem overviews, and has frequent contact with customers and/or sales representatives, often in response to complaints, requiring coordination of replies using methods like 5-Why and 8-D Root Cause analysis. Ongoing challenges include gaining customer approvals on control plans, product samples, and plant surveys. Travel to customer sites may be required. The incumbent will become familiar with customer-specific requirements and coordinate with Quality Control, Manufacturing, and Purchasing for new program transitions to production. Knowledge of product design engineering and the ability to interpret design-engineering characteristics are required, as is comprehension of geometric tolerance drawings. Recommendations concerning staffing, quality standards, and cost reductions are expected, along with reviewing new filter designs to ensure quality characteristics can be met.

Requirements

Four to five years of job-related experience or equivalent.
Extensive experience in controlling quality, customer requirements, processes and product capabilities.
General knowledge of processes in production departments.
Good communication skills to deal with others, both internally and externally.
Knowledge of product design engineering.
Ability to interpret design-engineering characteristics for subordinates and plant personnel.
Comprehension of geometric tolerance drawings is a requirement.
3-5 years experience in Quality or related position
Strong project Management Skills
Knowledge of quality concepts and principles
Problem solving skills
Bachelor of Science degree in related field or equivalent in education and experience

Responsibilities

Facilitating OE Customer issues.
Providing various quality systems and programs throughout the corporate structure to utilize resources committed for continuous improvement efforts.
Evaluating and making necessary recommendations on various quality resolution efforts for maintaining the process flow and quality standards at minimum cost.
Ensuring data is collected and records are maintained to apprise department heads of product characteristics information needed to make decisions with respect to customer and corporate requirements.
Creating and coordinating quality system control plans for consistency between suppliers, in process, and customer levels to establish continuity throughout the corporate structure.
Standardizing quality reports to customer accounts, assuring that quality procedures meet ISO/TS 16949 and customer specific standards, and other elements of the quality system standard as required by management.
Monitoring quality system measurables to identify supplier, internal and external concerns.
Administering quality assessments for both supplier and internal audits.
Serving and facilitating advance quality planning techniques such as PFMEA’s, DFMEA’s, dimensional layouts for ensuring proper metrological techniques are used, statistical techniques to ensure target capability of processes are met, and final report submittals and modifications of same to meet specific customer requirements.
Achieving and maintaining a quality level to enhance new business and to meet customer requirements.
Requesting corrective action when a process or product is unacceptable per established standards or developing programs to meet established product standards and to determine if a product is acceptable.
Establishing necessary controls to meet customer quality improvements, keeping costs in line to compete in the marketplace and to follow up with customers to assure complete satisfaction.
Dealing with others, both internally and externally, to “sell” the needed changes or improvements in quality.
Determining function, fit, appearance and testing of products as related to company as well as customer quality standards/requirements.
Controlling quality, customer requirements, processes and product capabilities.
Providing a general knowledge of processes in production departments.
Meeting frequently with the Quality Engineering Manager and other associated departments to provide an overview of project status and problems.
Making frequent contact with customers and/or sales representatives, generally in response to customer complaints and requiring coordinating a reply to customer for resolution, i.e., 5-Why, 8-D Root Cause, etc., with input from plant management, engineering and other supporting departments.
Gaining customer approvals on control plans, product sample approvals, and plant surveys.
Traveling to customer site as needed.
Becoming familiar with customer specific requirements in manuals and Internet web sites.
Meeting with Quality Control, Manufacturing, and Purchasing to coordinate and ensure a smooth transition to production of new program.
Possessing knowledge of product design engineering and being able to interpret design-engineering characteristics for subordinates and plant personnel.
Making recommendations concerning staffing requirements, quality standards and cost reductions.
Reviewing new filter designs and ensuring that quality characteristics can be met.
Supporting all company policies, procedures, and programs relating to personnel, quality, safety, and environmental issues.
Supporting the APQP process with quality engineering activities.
Taking leadership role in product management of new programs.
Initiating cost savings review projects to eliminate unnecessary waste in process and design.
Providing rapid and meaningful investigation of special project/assignments to assist management in the development of solutions to quality problem areas.
Contributing to improve departmental capability by providing arbitration, guidance, direction and training to support personnel in other departments.
Ensuring customer satisfaction by being responsive to their needs and conducting timely follow up of quality problems and/or statistical controls.
Working with customers, through Sales and Engineering under the direction of the Quality Engineering Manager and Plant Manager.