Production Engineer, Category Area Wood, Pigment & Veneer

Inter IKEA Group; Warszawa; On-site; PLN 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

IKEA in Warsaw seeks a Production Engineer for the Category Area Wood, Pigment & Veneer. You will work in a small three-member micro-team to improve product quality and production workflow, traveling to supplier sites to resolve issues and support product implementation on the factory floor.

The role requires experience in quality/compliance, strong analytical and communication skills, and willingness to travel up to 50% of time. Knowledge of wood processing is a plus.

Qualifications

• Proven experience from Quality & Compliance / Production environment.
• Good knowledge of materials properties, production processes and technologies.
• Wood processing knowledge is a plus.
• Ability to think out-of-the-box and improve products.

Responsibilities

• Develop supplier relationships and field visits to understand issues firsthand.
• Oversee audits, action plans and continuous improvement on production.
• Handle claims from A to Z and ensure supplier compliance to specs.
• Identify product improvement opportunities and support product development.
• Collaborate with Product Engineer to implement on the factory floor.

Skills

Quality & Compliance

Project management

Analytical thinking

Communication

Time management

Driving license

Production processes

Material properties

Wood processing knowledge

Job description

Production Engineer, Category Area Wood, Pigment & Veneer

Full-time

Welcome to Category Area Wood, the home of four wood related categories. With about 250 co-workers and 200 suppliers across the world, we create a strong wood supply chain for more sustainable and affordable IKEA products for the many.

Wood is an essential material and important part of the IKEA heritage. We can proudly say that around 60% of our sales in IKEA are connected to wood-based products. In Category Area Wood, we procure and source wood-based articles that our many customers enjoy amongst which are iconic IKEA families such as BILLY, PAX, IVAR, KALLAX, POÄNG and our kitchen ranges.

Our culture is entrepreneurial and based on trust. We have the space to lead, explore and learn from mistakes.

As Category Pigment & Veneer we are passionate about creating and supplying desirable, high-quality, and sustainable furniture that are affordable to the many and will complement our customer's home with timeless styles (materials, shapes and colors).

You will work in a small, 3-member micro-team with a Business Developer who negotiates prices and take care of the overall commercial relation with the supplier and a Supply Planner who handles logistics. As part of the annual action plan, you will be responsible for the constant improvement of the quality of IKEA products as well as the production process and workflow through tools such as 5S, Lean, and machine capacity utilization. You will also perform:

Developing relationships with suppliers – the micro-team regularly travels to the field in order to understand and solve issues firsthand, we see production from the ground up, help with the implementation of action plans, and cooperate in audit processes.

Operation – resolving claims from A to Z, regular communication with suppliers (emails, calls), meetings with management and the team, securing implementation of specifications, product requirements, compliance to product requirements at Suppliers. In addition to this, you will participate on setting of the audit plan, preparation, gap analysis and gap closing. Assessing production risks and striving towards stable processes.

Managing Quality Complianceby requesting specific articles from Suppliers for spot checks, conducting spot checks in product documentation, in case of deviations - agree and confirm causing party, root cause analysis including containment, corrective and preventive actions.

Identifying Product Improvement opportunities, together with its implementation once approved by stakeholders.

Being part of the Product Development - support Product Engineer in the development phase with production knowledge and Suppliers’ input, implement product on the factory floor.

Luboš has been working at IKEA for 15 years, now as a Production Engineer. He says this about his work experience:

"When you mention IKEA, 90% of people think of a huge department store. They have no idea what's behind it. At IKEA Purchasing, we are like the lighting and sound engineers just like in the theatres. We are not in the forefront, but our important task in the background is to ensure the quality of products for IKEA customers. And we have perfect scenery, I mean the entire supply-chain landscape of a large, international company."

Position requires travelling up to 50% of working time

Please read what you need for the role:

Proven experience from Quality & Compliance / Production environment, good knowledge of materials properties, production processes and technologies, wood processing knowledge is a plus.

The ability to think out-of-the-box and critically in the constant search for ways to improve our products, challenge suppliers’ production processes, share best practices and good examples.

Analytical thinking, which you will use in analysing processes from the beginning of product implementation, to data evaluation and finding improvements, cost savings, better design or quality,

Patience and good communication to help you find common ground with suppliers of different nationalities and to meet IKEA’s business demands,

The ability to manage time well, to balance between the factory floor and office work.

Driving license (cat. B)

Multitasking – readiness to work with many tasks / projects simultaneously.

Project management

The job location for this position is in Warsaw, Poland.

Travelling is a part of the assignment since our Production Engineers work closely with our suppliers.

Please note that we will be interviewing continuously, which means that we may close the application process earlier than stated if we find the right candidate.