What are the responsibilities and job description for the Production Engineer position at AIT Global, Inc.?
Job Title: Production Engineer
Location: Maple Grove, MN
Location: Maple Grove, MN
Position Summary:
The Production Engineer will support the safe, repeatable, and efficient manufacture of sheet-metal components and assemblies. The role connects product design with shop-floor execution by improving manufacturability, developing production methods, resolving fabrication issues, and strengthening quality, cost, and delivery performance. The engineer will work closely with design engineering, production, quality, supply chain, and fabrication partners.
Key Responsibilities:
- Review and assemblies for manufacturability, fabrication feasibility, tolerance capability, access, assembly sequence, and cost.
- Provide DFM feedback to design teams covering material selection, bend radii, bend reliefs, hole-to-edge and hole-to-bend distances, weld access, fasteners, hardware, and finish requirements.
- Develop and maintain manufacturing process plans, routings, work instructions, tooling requirements, inspection points, and standard work for fabricated products.
- Support laser cutting or punching, bending/forming, welding, grinding, hardware insertion, finishing, assembly, and final inspection processes.
- Collaborate with operators and supervisors to resolve manufacturing constraints, drawing interpretation issues, nonconformances, rework, and production bottlenecks.
- Drive root-cause analysis and corrective actions using structured methods such as 5 Why, fishbone, Pareto analysis, and 8D, as appropriate.
- Participate in prototype, first-article, pilot-build, and production-readiness reviews; capture lessons learned and update manufacturing documentation.
- Estimate cycle times, labor content, tooling needs, material utilization, and fabrication cost to support planning and continuous improvement.
- Improve flow, workstation layout, material movement, changeover, ergonomics, and work-cell performance using Lean manufacturing principles.
- Partner with Quality on control plans, inspection methods, dimensional verification, weld quality, finish quality, and disposition of nonconforming material.
- Coordinate technical topics with external sheet-metal suppliers and fabricators, including manufacturability, capability, quality, and corrective actions.
- Promote compliance with applicable safety practices, company procedures, customer requirements, and controlled engineering documentation.
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Production, Industrial Engineering, or a closely related discipline.
- Hands-on production engineering experience in sheet-metal fabrication or fabricated mechanical assemblies.
- Practical knowledge of sheet-metal design and manufacturing, including blank development, bends, forming, welding, fastening, and finishing.
- Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, dimensions, tolerances, weld symbols, bills of material, and manufacturing specifications.
- Experience creating process plans, routings, work instructions, shop-floor documentation, and production-readiness deliverables.
- Working knowledge of DFM, root-cause analysis, corrective action, and Lean manufacturing techniques.
- Ability to communicate effectively with design engineers, operators, quality teams, suppliers, and operations leadership.
- Proficiency with standard office tools and exposure to ERP/MRP and engineering document-control environments.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience with HVAC, thermal-management, electrical enclosure, industrial equipment, or similar fabricated products.
- Experience with 3D CAD and drawing review. SolidWorks or an equivalent mechanical CAD system is preferred.
- Knowledge of GD&T principles, tolerance stack-up, weldments, fixtures, jigs, and first-article inspection.
- Exposure to CNC laser or turret punching, press brakes, MIG/TIG welding, powder coating, plating, and assembly processes.
- Experience applying PFMEA, control plans, standard work, time studies, line balancing, and value-stream improvement.
- Familiarity with supplier development, make-versus-buy analysis, should-cost thinking, and fabrication quotation review.
- Experience supporting new-product introduction, engineering changes, configuration control, and low-to-medium-volume/high-mix manufacturing.