Process Improvement Engineer

Sage Automotive Interiors; Abbeville (SC); On-site; USD 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Sage Automotive Interiors seeks a Process Improvement Engineer to own procedures and drive continuous improvement across manufacturing processes and equipment. The role analyzes safety, process specs, cost savings, and quality variance while supporting new product scale-up.

The incumbent will lead root-cause analyses, coach teams, and interact with major OEMs to ensure performance standards are met and improvements are sustained.

Qualifications

• Ability to communicate with all areas of the company and outside customers.
• Self-starter with excellent time management; manage multiple tasks with accuracy.

Responsibilities

• Participate in all aspects of the Sage Safety Process.
• Travel between plants as needed.
• Generate, update, and present data reports to Upper management.
• Use DMAIC, 5-Why, Fishbone diagrams, Pareto, or Toyota A3 for root cause analysis.
• Apply 4S/5S, Lean, and Six Sigma to optimize processes and lead team members.
• Support development and scale up of new products; optimize specifications in mass production.
• Navigate ERP system and databases to optimize process.
• Create charts and visualizations to illustrate performance and gaps.
• Lead daily meetings to reduce nonconforming material.
• Coach production associates to ensure policy conformance.
• Interact with OEMs like Toyota, Daimler, Stellantis, GM for satisfaction and standards.

Skills

Communication

Time management

Multi-tasking

Coaching

Leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in STEM

Tools

JOMAR ERP

SPC

COAs

SDS

Job description

The Process Improvement Engineeris a process owner responsible for maintaining procedures and systems that will drive continuous improvement and innovation of a manufacturing process or a range of manufacturing equipment. This role will also be immediately tasked with analyzing and reporting on opportunities regarding safety, process specifications, indirect material and quality variance, and cost savings projects.

Responsibilities:

• Participate in all aspects of the Sage Safety Process
• Travel between plant(s) as needed
• Generate, update, and present data reports and presentations to Upper management
• Utilize DMAIC, 5-Why, Fishbone diagrams, Pareto’s, and/or Toyota A3 for root cause analysis and systematic problem solving
• Utilize 4S/5S strategies, Lean methodologies, and Six Sigma to optimize processes and lead team members
• Recommend strategies for cost reduction and process improvements.
• Support the development and scale up of new products; optimizing specifications once products enter mass production
• Navigate ERP system, local databases/control systems, and historical technical documents to optimize process
• Create and maintain relevant charts, visualizations, and graphics to illustrate process performance and highlight process gaps
• Participate/Lead daily meetings with the goal of dispositioning and reducing the creation of Nonconforming material
• Assist in leading and coaching production associates and with the goal of 100% conformance to Plant/Process policies and procedures
• Interact and interface with Automotive OEMs including Toyota, Daimler, Stellantis, and General Motors, ensuring their satisfaction and compliance with their performance standards
• All other duties as needed/directed by supervisor

Qualifications/Skills:

Required:

• Ability to communicate with all areas of the company and with outside customers
• Self-starter with excellent time management skills. Should have ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously while maintaining a high level of accuracy in all work.

Preferred:

• Technical expertise and/or willingness to take a hands-on approach to troubleshooting
• Experience and proficiency in coaching, leading, and managing people
• Working knowledge of JOMAR ERP system preferred/ability to learn
• Working knowledge of SPC, COAs, SDS, etc preferred/ability to learn
• Experience in making data driven decisions in a manufacturing environment
• Experience with DMAIC, Six Sigma, Lean Processing, or Toyota Production Systems
• Bachelor’s degree in STEM, skills and interest in Chemical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or similar field