Hands-On Lean Engineer: Drive Safer, Faster Manufacturing

Fleetwood Group, Inc.; Holland (MI); On-site; USD 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Fleetwood Group, Inc. is seeking a Continuous Improvement Engineer to drive safer, simpler, more reliable and efficient manufacturing processes on the floor. You will observe, partner with operators and leaders, identify opportunities, test ideas, and help turn improvements into standard work.

You will apply Toyota Production System and Lean principles to improve flow, reduce waste, and develop better working methods, with a bias toward practical, implementable solutions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial or a related field.
• Manufacturing engineering experience preferred; furniture/workshop environments are valuable.
• Experience with Lean Manufacturing or Toyota Production System preferred.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes and engineering principles.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze problems, identify root causes, and develop practical solutions.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills with operators, supervisors, engineers and leadership.
• Ability to use data and analytical tools to support decision-making with a hands-on approach.
• CAD experience, preferably SolidWorks, is beneficial.
• Experience with process mapping, time studies, capacity analysis, standard work and layouts is beneficial.
• Familiarity with furniture manufacturing materials, processes, and equipment is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Spend significant time on the floor observing processes, talking with team members, understanding problems, and identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Work with production teams, supervisors, and other engineers to improve safety, quality, delivery, productivity, cost, and employee experience.
• Apply TPS and continuous improvement principles such as standard work, visual management, 5S, flow, pull, waste elimination, root-cause problem solving, PDCA, and mistake-proofing.
• Identify and eliminate non-value-added work, unnecessary motion, excess WIP, bottlenecks, rework, downtime, and other sources of waste.
• Take improvement ideas from observation to analysis to experiment to implementation to standardization.
• Lead and participate in improvement projects with simple, practical solutions that can be implemented.
• Use data and engineering analysis when appropriate, while understanding the problem source on the floor.
• Support manufacturing engineering activities including process development, equipment improvements, tooling, fixtures, layouts, material flow, capacity analysis, and methods.
• Assist in evaluating and implementing new equipment, technology, and processes for safety, quality, delivery, or cost gains.
• Collaborate with Product Development and Engineering to ensure new products are designed with manufacturing and flow in mind.
• Develop ability to recognize problems, ask good questions, and help others solve problems.

Skills

Lean Manufacturing

Problem solving

Communication

Hands-on

SolidWorks

Education

Engineering degree

Tools

SolidWorks

Process mapping

Time studies

Capacity analysis

Standard work

Layouts

Job description

Fleetwood Group, Inc. is seeking a Continuous Improvement Engineer to drive safer, simpler, more reliable and efficient manufacturing processes on the floor. You will observe, partner with operators and leaders, identify opportunities, test ideas, and help turn improvements into standard work.

You will apply Toyota Production System and Lean principles to improve flow, reduce waste, and develop better working methods, with a bias toward practical, implementable solutions.