Position Summary:
The Principal Tooling/Vision Engineer is a "hands-on" position that plans, directs, and coordinates manufacturing equipment and processes to produce high quality injection/blow molded plastic product.
- Responsible for coordinating the molding efforts on new program launches, setting up and/or revising manufacturing processes and assisting the manufacturing operations in problem solving and continuous process improvements.
- While monitoring the effectiveness of processes this individual quantifies results, documents, and presents findings to management and prepares reports.
- This position also mentors and provides training to other injection/blow molding personnel.
Primary Responsibilities:
Function as a Plastics/Vision Subject Matter Expert (SME) to assist with the development, production, and maintenance of plastic parts:
- Troubleshoot problems with existing parts by determining root cause and resolving issues from non-conforming materials. Take immediate actions as needed to improve quality and keep production going.
- Assist as needed with Change Requests, First Article Inspections, Validation/Verification of new parts and changes following our policies and processes around quality control.
- Travel as needed to work with vendors.
- Develop and implement machine vision systems utilized to measure various plastic part parameters.
- Specify machine vision components, acquire quotes, and facilitate purchase justifications.
- Specify lighting, controllers, lenses, and filters as needed for the machine vision systems.
- Design machine vision mounts, supervise fabrication and installation of the machine vision mounts.
- Systems shall include image acquisition and processing.
- System shall be able to provide pattern recognition.
- Maintain various machine vision software applications.
- Assist suppliers with drafting quality protocols and overseeing their execution including use of reject artifacts to challenge and verify the machine vision system’s reject detection and rejection mechanisms.
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Develop and deploy a relevant operator interface that will facilitate:
- Table of inspection results, Pass/Fail counters for each rejectable attribute.
- Manual inspection results counter reset function by maintenance technicians.
- Analyze and interpret data collected from vision systems that are specific to the tooling applications. Namely, develop a time-stamped record for each inspection variable and attribute data, such as a .csv file with a one row per inspection data recording method or some other approved database method.
- Ability to train and support others in the use of the vision systems. This must include remote login capability in order to support machine vision systems remotely.
- Create a means to consistently reject bad parts and approve good parts. Minimize false rejects.
- Monitor and report issues with injection/blow molds and make recommendations for refurbishment based on production factors such as cycles, process capability and tooling history.
- Develop new processes, assess, and document new and existing processes. Implement and evaluate changes to existing processes designed to improve product quality, productivity, and overall equipment efficiency.
- Implement technical solutions including statistical methodology to meet customer cost, quality, and delivery expectations.
- Use Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, and other techniques to analyze process data to determine capabilities as well as improvement.
- Provide technical leadership and mentorship to process technicians, operators, and other molding personnel.
Education, Skills, & Experience:
- Bachelors degree in Engineering or Material Science with 10 years of experience in vision OR
- An Associates degree with 15 years of experience in vision system OR
- In lieu of a degree, high school diploma/GED with 20 years of experience in vision system
- Designing, building, maintaining, troubleshooting machine vision systems.
- Familiar with a wide range of molding processes including injection molding, blow molding, structural foam, compression molding, vacuum forming, etc.
- Experience with tooling systems preferred but not required
- Working in a regulated industry (design control), preferably FDA project management.
- Able to travel in the 75% range. Most travel will be drivable from the Raliegh/Durham area.
- Knowledge of statistical methods is a plus.
- Able to prioritize projects and multitask between multiple projects in parallel.
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