Manufacturing Engineer - Machining
American Crane & Equipm
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Job summary
ACECO is hiring a Manufacturing Engineer focused on machining at our on-site Douglassville, PA facility. You will work directly with shop floor teams to improve machining processes, material flow, and manufacturability in a custom, engineer-to-order environment.
The role requires strong hands-on shop floor experience, cross-functional collaboration, and the ability to translate design intent into efficient manufacturing steps.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a closely related field strongly preferred.
- Hands-on machining experience with CNC and manual machining.
- Experience in custom or engineer-to-order manufacturing and DSN/GDT knowledge is a plus.
Responsibilities
- Develop and optimize machining and material preparation processes.
- Drive lean initiatives to improve cycle time, throughput, quality, and cost.
- Collaborate across Engineering, Production, Quality, Purchasing, Safety, and Leadership.
- Support ERP transition and capital equipment projects.
Skills
Education
Tools
Job description
We are looking for a Manufacturing Engineer with strong machining expertise to develop, optimize, and support the manufacturing processes behind our custom crane and material handling equipment.
This role sits at the intersection of engineering and production. You'll work directly with the people who build our products — and with the engineers who design them — to make sure we're manufacturing efficiently, accurately, and on time.
We are looking for someone who understands what happens on the shop floor, can read a blueprint and see both the design intent and the manufacturing reality, and knows how to close the gap between the two.
The right person will spend time in the machine shop and on the production floor, not just behind a desk. You'll study our processes, identify what's working and what isn't, and drive real improvements — in cycle time, throughput, quality, and cost.
You won't get lost here. Your perspective will matter, your judgment will be relied upon, and your impact will be visible across the organization.
This is a hands-on manufacturing engineering role focused on machining processes within a custom, engineer-to-order manufacturing environment.
ACECO builds electric overhead cranes, hoists, and heavy material handling equipment. Every product is engineered to order. That means standard playbooks only get you so far — you need to understand the fundamentals deeply enough to apply them to custom work, every time.
The Manufacturing Engineer owns the development and optimization of machining and material preparation processes. You'll optimize routing, work cell layout, and material flow. You'll perform time studies, support make-versus-buy decisions, provide design-for-manufacturability input, and lead lean initiatives tailored to an engineer-to-order environment.
You'll also play a key role in supporting capital equipment projects, the transition to a new ERP system, and collaboration with Quality, Safety, and Supply Chain to keep manufacturing running at its best.
Success requires someone who can move comfortably between a conversation about machining tolerances on the shop floor and a design review with Engineering — and who can translate what they see in both settings into better processes, better decisions, and better outcomes.
- Think like a manufacturer — you see a drawing and immediately consider how it gets made, not just what it looks like
- Are comfortable spending real time on the shop floor, not just reviewing data from your desk
- Understand machining processes deeply enough to optimize them, not just document them
- Can read blueprints and fabrication drawings and spot both design intent and manufacturing risk
- Enjoy collaborating across departments — Engineering, Production, Quality, Purchasing, Safety
- See continuous improvement as a mindset, not just a project
- Are comfortable making make-versus-buy recommendations backed by real analysis
- Can perform time studies and translate the results into actionable process improvements
- Take ownership of outcomes rather than simply following instructions
- Prefer working exclusively at a desk or in a lab environment
- Have engineering experience only in high-volume, repetitive manufacturing — our work is custom, every time
- Want to design products but not concern yourself with how they're manufactured
- Prefer theoretical process improvement without hands-on shop floor involvement
- Avoid difficult conversations about efficiency, quality, cost, or process change
- Are uncomfortable working full-time on-site in an active manufacturing environment
- Prefer maintaining legacy processes rather than driving real improvements
- Build strong working relationships with Manufacturing leadership, machine shop and fabrication teams, Engineering, Quality, and Purchasing
- Develop a thorough understanding of ACECO's products, manufacturing capabilities, and current machining processes
- Spend meaningful time on the shop floor learning how work flows through material prep, machining, fabrication, and assembly
- Begin reviewing released drawing packages with production to identify outsourcing scope for machining, heat treating, and specialty work
- Learn the current ERP system and understand how manufacturing data is structured
- Identify early opportunities for process improvement and quick wins
- Own the review and scoping of outsourced services — machining, heat treating, and specialty work — including vendor vetting and pricing
- Begin performing time studies for part families in the machine shop and crane components in fabrication
- Provide design-for-manufacturability input during design reviews and contribute manufacturing input to estimating and quoting
- Support the ERP transition by ensuring manufacturing data is accurate, structured, and maintainable
- Collaborate with Engineering and Production to redline drawings for design changes
- Begin developing and improving manufacturing processes for material prep and machining
- Drive measurable improvements in machining processes — routing, work cell layout, material flow, throughput, and rework reduction
- Lead lean initiatives tailored to the engineer-to-order environment — reducing cycle time, improving first-pass yield, and eliminating waste
- Support capital equipment projects with drawing reviews, installation planning, and coordination
- Collaborate on the development of manufacturing KPIs and continuous improvement metrics
- Provide routine feedback to Engineering on design improvements that increase quality and efficiency
- Operate as a trusted manufacturing engineering resource across the organization
- Continue driving process optimization and standardization while maintaining flexibility for custom builds
- Support equipment purchase recommendations with data-driven analysis of capabilities and efficiency gains
- Identify new technology opportunities to support and advance manufacturing
- Contribute to building a stronger continuous improvement culture on the shop floor
You’ll work directly with the shop floor, not just review reports about it. Your improvements will be visible in the parts that come off the machines.
Every crane is engineered to order. You’ll solve real manufacturing challenges on custom products — not optimize the same widget a million times.
You’ll collaborate with Engineering, Production, Quality, Purchasing, Safety, and leadership. You’ll understand the full picture.
ACECO is continuing to invest in people, technology, equipment, capabilities, and operational scale. The work you do will support that growth directly.
You’ll play a key role in ensuring manufacturing data and processes are ready for the next generation of systems.
You’ll support equipment purchases, facility improvements, and the identification of new technology to advance manufacturing capabilities.
- Develop and improve manufacturing processes for material prep and machining
- Optimize routing, work cell layout, and material flow to improve throughput and reduce rework
- Perform time studies to obtain setup and run times for part families in the machine shop and crane components in fabrication
- Lead lean initiatives tailored to engineer-to-order environments — reduce cycle time, improve first-pass yield, and eliminate waste while maintaining flexibility for custom builds
- Maintain a deep understanding of manufacturing capabilities and areas where additional oversight is prudent
- Review released drawing packages with production to identify scope for outsourced services — machining, heat treating, and specialty work
- Define and scope outsourcing requirements; obtain pricing and vet vendors for implementation
- For QAM work, drive collaboration with QA/QC for subcontracted work
- Provide manufacturing input to estimating and quoting, including labor hours and make-versus-buy decisions
- Provide design-for-manufacturability input during design reviews
- Supply and coordinate manufacturing input to estimating and quoting
- Collaborate with Engineering and Production to redline drawings for design changes and ensure in-process components and materials are updated
- Provide routine feedback to Production Engineering on design improvements and enhancements to increase quality and efficiency
- Support CapEx projects with drawing reviews, installation planning, and coordination with necessary resources
- Collaborate on recommendations for equipment purchases to improve efficiency
- Identify new technology required to support manufacturing
- Support the transition of the ERP system by ensuring manufacturing data is accurate, structured, and maintainable
- Collaborate in the development of manufacturing KPIs and implementation of a continuous improvement mindset
- Collaborate with Safety on plant equipment and processes related to EHS
Other duties as assigned.
This role requires full-time, on-site availability Monday–Friday.
Candidates should be located within a reasonable daily commuting distance of:
If relocation is required, the selected candidate must relocate prior to starting. American Crane & Equipment Corporation does not provide relocation assistance.
- Strong machining knowledge and hands-on manufacturing process experience
- Ability to interpret blueprints, fabrication drawings, and project schedules
- Experience developing and optimizing manufacturing processes in a custom or engineer-to-order environment
- Practical understanding of lean manufacturing principles applied to low-volume, high-mix production
- Ability to perform time studies and translate results into actionable improvements
- Experience with make-versus-buy analysis and outsourcing coordination
- Strong cross-functional collaboration with Engineering, Production, Quality, and Purchasing
- Comfort working on the shop floor alongside production teams
- Effective communication with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Initiative and ownership mindset — identifies problems and drives solutions
- Bachelor's degree in Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a closely related field strongly preferred
- Associate degree with significant relevant manufacturing engineering experience will be considered
- Equivalent demonstrated experience may be considered when supported by a strong technical manufacturing background
- Meaningful experience in manufacturing engineering with a focus on machining processes
- Hands-on machining experience — understanding of CNC machining, manual machining, tolerances, fixturing, and tooling
- Experience interpreting blueprints, fabrication drawings, and GD&T
- Experience in custom manufacturing, engineer-to-order,
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