Furnace and Batch Engineer

IKO Industries; Lancaster (SC); On-site; USD 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Health plan

Retirement savings plan

Diversity & Inclusion

Industry leader

Job summary

IKO Glass Fiber Inc. in Chester, SC is seeking a Furnace / Batch Engineer to lead furnace and forehearth operations, ensuring safety, efficiency and continuous improvement at the site.

You will work with production on process control, energy usage, and cost reduction while maintaining high-quality standards. The ideal candidate holds a bachelor's degree in ceramic, mechanical, or chemical engineering with at least five years of furnace experience and Six Sigma certification.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in ceramic, mechanical or chemical engineering required.
• Minimum five years furnace and manufacturing experience.
• Green Belt or Black Belt Six Sigma certification preferred.
• Excellent communication skills, verbal and written.
• Ability to work in high temperature environments and lift up to 50 lbs.

Responsibilities

• Operate furnace and forehearth to ensure safe, efficient, and cost-effective operation.
• Lead safety and housekeeping efforts within assigned projects and areas.
• Direct multiple projects and drive continuous improvement efforts.
• Monitor energy usage and optimize input costs.
• Document processes, job instructions, and changes for standardization.

Skills

Furnace operations

Safety leadership

Team collaboration

Quality improvement

Education

Bachelor’s degree in ceramic, mechanical, or chemical engineering

Tools

Six Sigma (Green/Black Belt)

Job description

Job Description Furnace /Batch Engineer

IKO Industries Ltd. is a market leader in the manufacturing of roofing and building materials. IKO is a Canadian owned and operated business with production facilities worldwide and has many years of unparalleled success in the roofing materials industry. Quality, integrity, and trustworthiness are the values that underlie this success, and we have built this company by hiring people who hold these values. People like you!

Location: IKO Glass Fiber Inc., Chester, SC

Department: Production

Type: Full Time (FT/PT/Cont)

What’s in it for you?

• Competitive salary
• Competitive health and benefit plan
• Competitive matched retirement savings program
• The opportunity to join a continuously growing organization with focus on Diversity and Inclusion
• The opportunity to work with an industry leader in manufacturing

When you join us your responsibilities will be to;

• Must have the ability & willingness to perform at the expected level of attendance at IKO Glass Fiber; to work every day, on time, as scheduled.
• Promote and maintain IKO safety goals and ensure a safe work environment for all employees.
• Leads safety and housekeeping efforts and corrective actions within assigned projects and areas.
• Exemplifies safety in all actions and leads by example.
• Responsible for meeting established goals and objectives.
• Acts as a technical resource for the organization.
• Utilizes SPC methods and six sigma methodology to eliminate special cause and reduces common cause variation while striving for continuous improvement.
• Ensures customer satisfaction through process control and standardization.
• Operates, control and maintains furnace and forehearth to ensure safe, efficient, and cost-effective operation.
• Monitors energy prices and usage and recommends the most cost-effective energy input.
• Monitors furnace and forehearth condition and takes appropriate preventive actions to prevent furnace outage or leaks.
• Knows response to power outage procedures, as well as glass leak procedures, etc.
• Writes and maintains job instructions, process setup sheets and process check sheets utilizing coach and primary employee feedback.
• Initiate cost reduction ideas into the fiberglass melting and forming process to further the goal of being the safest, high-quality, low-cost fiberglass producer.
• Conducts production trials with both product and or process improvement studies that support continued improvement efforts.
• Directs multiple projects simultaneously and prioritizes completion of projects according to company objectives.
• Documentation of projects and process changes are communicated and updated.
• Ensure process setups are documented, communicated, and adhered to on a daily basis to meet customer and company standards.
• Maximizes production efficiency.
• Identifies opportunities for productivity improvements and takes appropriate action.
• Optimizes existing processes and products.

Furnace Engineer Functions:

• Responsible for all aspects of the assigned manufacturing processes, including batch, furnace, and sizing, as well as safety, value (productivity) and quality.
• Maximizes furnace life through inspections, repairs, and maintenance as well as proper operational control (temperature, pressure, etc.).
• Orders and inventories supplies needed to maintain furnace and forehearth area.
• Trains, develops, and works with furnace techs to ensure stable and consistent furnace operations.
• Trials new raw materials and gathers data to support or disprove merit.
• Monitor the condition of all equipment in the batch, furnace and forehearth area and initiate necessary repairs needed to meet performance and production goals.
• Ensure melting temperature profile is maintained in the furnace and forehearth as well as all other important process parameters to ensure high glass quality and high fiber forming efficiencies.
• Maintain and troubleshoot system from batch truck and rail unloading, batch mixing, transporting, and charging through the furnace and forehearth.
• Maintain proper gas to oxygen ratios in the furnace and forehearth using thermox.
• Keeps and inputs all batch formulas.
• Verifies calibration on batch weighing system.
• Profiles and cleans gas/oxy burners and forehearth pencil burners.
• Operate, calibrate, and maintain electric boost system.
• Opacity reading qualified.
• Other tasks as required.

Our Ideal Candidate;

• A bachelor’s degree in ceramic, mechanical, or chemical engineering is preferred along with five-years minimum furnace and manufacturing experience.
• Green Belt or Black Belt certification preferred.
• Excellent communication skills, verbal and written.
• Ability to provide simple and accurate instructions.
• Ability to work at times in a high temperature environment.
• Frequent lifting or moving materials up to 10 lbs.
• Ability to lift up to 50 lbs.
• Regularly required to sit, stand, walk, bend, climb, reach, and grasp.
• Ability to climb stairs, ladders and work from heights.

Work Authorizations and Travel;

SOME TRAVEL I9 VERIFICATION REQUIRED

Benefits of Employment:

IKO recognizes that its success is due to the strength of its employees. A primary goal of IKO is to promote individual employee's sense of accomplishment and contribution so that employees enjoy their association with IKO. The Company invests in its employees so that they are the most knowledgeable in the industry, and undertakes great efforts to nurture loyalty to, and teamwork at, IKO. We are pleased to offer competitive compensation, health care, a progressive and challenging workplace and a commitment to teamwork and integrity.

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