What are the responsibilities and job description for the Manufacturing Process Engineer position at Ramstedt & Associates?
Company Description Circuit Assembly has built cable assemblies, wire harnesses, custom connectors and box builds since 1969. We are ISO 9001:2015, AS9100D and ITAR registered, and we build for aerospace, defense, medical and industrial customers out of our Irvine, California facility.
We are a high-mix, low-volume manufacturer. We run hundreds of active part numbers, build quantities that range from a single unit to several hundred, and assemblies that get more complex every year. That mix is what makes this an engineering job rather than a production-line job.
WHY THIS ROLE EXISTS
A drive to expand our capacity and bring all outsourced orders in house when complex applications with difficult connectors are required. This role will be charged with expanding our capacity to respond to new and complex orders.
This position closes that gap. You will own the first article build on our most complex assemblies — physically building it yourself at the bench — and turn what you learn into the work instructions, tooling and process controls that let our assemblers repeat it reliably.
This is a hands-on engineering role. If you enjoy being hands on using various tools, testing and developing SOPs and training others this is a good fit for you.
WHAT YOU WILL OWN
First article builds
• Build the first article on new and complex assemblies yourself, at the bench.
• Work from customer prints, wire lists, schematics and specifications; find drawing conflicts and unbuildable features before they reach the floor.
• Select and qualify the crimp tooling, dies, applicators and fixtures each build requires.
• Establish build sequence, wire routing, breakout points and harness dress before the job is released to production.
• Prepare first article documentation for customer submission, including AS9102 FAI packages where required.
Work instructions and document control
• Write illustrated, revision-controlled work instructions directly from the first article build — photos, crimp and torque specs, tooling call-outs, and defined inspection points.
• Own document control on the production floor so the only paperwork at a workstation is the traveler and the print.
• Build travelers that carry sequential operations, QC sign-offs, and the specific tool used at each crimp operation.
• Keep work instructions current with customer ECOs and drawing revisions.
• Perform process FMEA and apply risk criteria on new and high-consequence builds.
Production support
• Be the first call when a build issue comes up — a contact that will not seat, a crimp that will not pass pull test, a routing that will not fit the envelope.
• Run root cause analysis and documented corrective action on build defects.
• Reduce assembly time on repeat jobs through fixturing, kitting and build sequence improvement.
• Develop realistic labor standards for quoting, based on measured build time rather than estimate.
• Train assemblers on new processes and walk them through the first production run after the first article is released.
Tooling and test
• Qualify and maintain crimp tooling; set pull-test frequency and record retention that will catch tool wear between annual validations.
• Design and build test adapter harnesses that connect the assembly under test to the harness tester.
• Own the electrical test method for each assembly — continuity and detection of shorts or opens, hi-pot (dielectric strength) where applicable, terminal contact resistance and insulation resistance.
• Own calibration status and traceability for every tool used on customer product.
Standards and audit support
• Apply IPC/WHMA-A-620 Class 3 acceptance and rejection criteria to crimping and soldering, and verify connector polarity and orientation.
• Support AS9100D registrar audits and customer supplier audits — you are the person who can show an auditor how a process is actually controlled.
• Recommend incoming inspection criteria to Quality, and give DFM feedback on purchased cable, connectors and contacts.
This role owns process control. Quality owns the quality management system.
WHAT WE REQUIRE
• Five or more years building and engineering cable assemblies and wire harnesses in a manufacturing environment. Aerospace, defense or medical strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated hands-on bench capability. You can build the assembly, not only specify it.
• Wire processing equipment — Schleuniger, Komax or equivalent: setup, blade changes, calibration, and crimp force monitoring.
• Crimp tooling and dies — hand tools and pneumatic applicators, die selection, pull testing, and crimp height verification.
• Mil-spec circular and rectangular connectors — contact insertion and removal, backshell assembly, potting, shielding and braid termination.
• Reading and building from customer prints, wire lists, schematics and harness drawings without assistance.
• Writing work instructions a production assembler can actually follow.
• Mastery of IPC/WHMA-A-620 Class 3 — acceptance and rejection criteria for crimping and soldering. Working knowledge of IPC-A-610.
• Inspection skills, including GD&T and verification of connector polarity and orientation.
• Working knowledge of ISO 9001 and AS9100 quality management systems.
• Electrical test methods for harnesses — continuity, shorts and opens, hi-pot, contact resistance, insulation resistance.
• Proven collaboration across functions and across cultures. You will work daily with production, quality, purchasing and estimating here in Irvine, and regularly with our manufacturing team in Shenzhen.
Strongly preferred
• IPC/WHMA-A-620 certification (CIS or CIT), or J-STD-001.
• AS9100 environment experience, including FAI and AS9102 submission.
• Test adapter harness design and build.
• ISO 13485 or IATF 16949 exposure.
• Lean or Six Sigma methods applied to process documentation and tooling qualification.
• ERP experience for routings, work instructions and lot traceability (we run Fishbowl).
- Bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing, Mechanical, Electronics or Industrial Engineering — or equivalent depth of hands-on experience.