Plastics Plant Engineer

Lane Enterprises, LLC; Wytheville (VA); On-site; USD 75,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Lane Enterprises, LLC is seeking a Plant Engineer to support plastics manufacturing operations with a strong focus on equipment reliability, process improvement, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement. This hands-on role works with production equipment, maintenance teams, operators, and plant leadership to boost safety, quality, efficiency, and overall plant performance.

The successful candidate will analyze downtime and production data, identify root causes, and implement sustainable

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Industrial, Manufacturing Engineering or related field is required.
• Approximately 4+ years of engineering experience in plastics manufacturing preferred.
• Hands-on experience with production equipment, maintenance teams, and plant operations.

Responsibilities

• Provide hands-on engineering support to daily plant and production operations.
• Troubleshoot equipment and processes to identify root causes and implement corrective actions.
• Improve equipment reliability, uptime, throughput, quality, and labor efficiency.
• Lead or support continuous improvement initiatives focused on safety, quality, productivity, waste reduction, and cost improvement.
• Assist with installation, commissioning, and startup of new or upgraded equipment.
• Develop and improve preventive and predictive maintenance programs.
• Analyze downtime, production data, scrap, and quality issues to identify improvements.
• Perform root cause analysis and develop sustainable solutions for recurring problems.
• Create and maintain process documentation, equipment specs, SOPs, and engineering records.

Skills

Preventive maintenance

Data analysis

Problem solving

Communication

MS Office / ERP familiarity

Education

Bachelor's in Mechanical/Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering

Tools

ERP

CMMS

CAD

Manufacturing data systems

Job description

Job Summary

The Plant Engineer will support our plastics manufacturing operations with a strong focus on equipment reliability, process improvement, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement. This position is intended for an engineer who enjoys being hands-on in a manufacturing environment, working directly with production equipment, maintenance teams, operators, and plant leadership to improve safety, quality, efficiency, and overall plant performance.

Essential Responsibilities

• Provide hands-on engineering support to daily plant and production operations.
• Troubleshoot manufacturing equipment, processes, and recurring production issues to identify root causes and implement corrective actions.
• Work closely with production and maintenance personnel to improve equipment reliability, uptime, throughput, quality, and labor efficiency.
• Identify opportunities to improve manufacturing processes, workflow, equipment performance, and overall plant efficiency.
• Lead or support continuous improvement initiatives focused on safety, quality, productivity, waste reduction, and cost improvement.
• Support the installation, commissioning, modification, and startup of new or upgraded manufacturing equipment.
• Assist with the development and improvement of preventive and predictive maintenance programs.
• Analyze equipment downtime, production data, scrap, quality issues, and other operational metrics to identify improvement opportunities.
• Perform root cause analysis and develop sustainable solutions to recurring equipment or process problems.
• Develop and maintain process documentation, equipment specifications, standard operating procedures, and engineering records.
• Collaborate with Operations, Maintenance, Quality, Engineering, and other departments to support plant objectives.
• Perform other engineering and operational duties as assigned.

Requirements

Required Skills & Abilities

• Familiarity with preventive maintenance programs and manufacturing equipment reliability practices.
• Ability to analyze manufacturing data and translate findings into practical process improvements.
• Strong problem-solving, organizational, and project-management skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively with plant leadership, engineers, maintenance personnel, production supervisors, and hourly employees.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications; experience with ERP, CMMS, CAD, or manufacturing data systems is beneficial.

Education And Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related engineering field required.
• Approximately 4+ years of engineering experience within a plastics manufacturing environment preferred.
• Hands-on experience working directly with manufacturing equipment, production processes, maintenance teams, and plant operations.
• Experience within plastics manufacturing, plastics extrusion, pipe manufacturing, polymer processing, or a similar continuous manufacturing environment strongly preferred.

Physical Requirements

• Must possess mobility to work in a standard office setting and use standard office equipment, including a computer.
• Subject to standing, walking, bending, reaching, stooping, and lifting of objects up to 50 pounds; may occasionally be exposed to dangerous machinery, extreme weather conditions, and extreme noise when working at plant locations.
• Ability to travel as needed to support plant requirements.
• Strong attention to detail, organizational skills and strong mathematical aptitude.

The base salary range for this position is $75,000 - $85,000/year.