What are the responsibilities and job description for the Manufacturing Process Optimization Engineer (Automation & Machining) position at GKN Automotive and Careers?
A day in this role
You start with a walk through the machining and assembly cells, scanning dashboards for bottlenecks. A CNC line is protecting the schedule—cycle time is creeping up—so you dive into method changes and fixture tweaks to cut setup and changeover minutes. By mid-morning, you’re on the floor with maintenance, tracing an intermittent fault in a Siemens PLC and reviewing an Allen‑Bradley routine to stabilize a motion profile.
After lunch, you meet with the Quality Engineer to refine PFMEAs and update control plans, then revise process flow diagrams to reflect a recent design change. You open the plant layout to reconfigure a workcell and plan utilities for a new piece of capital equipment. Before the shift ends, you facilitate a quick Kaizen, document outcomes, and schedule targeted training to raise operator capability on the revised standard work.
Your impact
- Reduce setup time, changeovers, and operator effort through improved methods, tooling, and standardized work.
- Drive cycle-time reduction in bottleneck cells to increase throughput.
- Troubleshoot machining processes and PLC logic (Siemens & Allen‑Bradley) to eliminate chronic faults.
- Modify processes to elevate safety, quality, and cost efficiency, and to incorporate engineering design updates.
- Support financial goals: build budgets, schedule expenditures, and manage project costs.
- Lead capital projects from specification and runoff to installation and contractor coordination.
- Maintain current equipment drawings and production layout documentation.
- Engineer robust solutions for recurring equipment and process failures.
- Identify skills gaps and deliver targeted departmental training.
- Coordinate TPM/PM along with proactive and predictive maintenance to maximize uptime.
- Own PFMEA, control plans, and process flows in partnership with the Quality Engineer.
- Coach shop-floor teams on problem solving and develop clear standard work instructions.
- Manage external contractors to execute process and equipment improvements.
- Collaborate across all levels to optimize machinery and manufacturing processes.
- Lead Kaizen events and capture/document the results.
- Operate with awareness of key environmental aspects and related operational controls.
What you bring
Essential
- 2 years’ experience in high-volume machining, assembly, and automation.
- Hands-on application of Lean Enterprise tools and thinking.
Preferred
- Strong interpersonal, organizational, and communication skills.
- B.S. in Mechanical, Industrial, or related Engineering field.
- Proficiency with MS Word and Excel; familiarity with MfgPro and Kronos.
Why join us
- Build within a market leader poised for growth.
- Shape innovative, ground-up projects and see them through to launch.
- Competitive pay and benefits backed by financial stability.
- Long-term career path in a culture that values commitment and development.
Key proficiencies
- PLC troubleshooting (Siemens & Allen‑Bradley)
- Engineering fundamentals and degree-level knowledge
- Manufacturing environment experience
- Process development and optimization
- Basic computer literacy