Quality Warranty Engineer

Stabilus; Gastonia (NC); On-site; USD 85,000 - 115,000; Full time

Job summary

Stabilus is seeking a Quality Warranty Engineer at our Gastonia, NC headquarters. You will own warranty and 8D responses, review customer portals, and drive continuous improvement in the Quality System and manufacturing processes.

Responsibilities include leading corrective actions (CP, PFMEA, 8D), performing capability studies, analyzing scrap, and training associates on QAP changes. Travel domestic and international will be required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent.
• Certification in Six Sigma, CQE/CQM, Reliability, or Quality Lead Auditor.
• English fluency required; German is a plus.
• Knowledge of STABILUS drawings and specifications.
• Experience with quality tools such as DoE, SPC, PFMEA.

Responsibilities

• Answer and handle customer concerns via portals, emails or phone calls.
• Monitor production processes for conformance to procedures.
• Upload failure mode data into customer portals with Technical Factors.
• Perform capability studies and follow up on corrective actions.
• Create monthly quality performance reports.
• Lead corrective actions and quality meetings (CP, PFMEA, 8D).
• Train associates on QAP changes and use of quality inspection equipment.
• Travel to domestic and international locations as needed.

Skills

Quality tools (DoE, SPC, GR&R)

Root cause analysis

Problem solving

Communication

English fluency

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

Tools

SAP

MS Office

Job description

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Quality Warranty Engineer

HQ - Sales Plant Quality Permanent Full Time Gastonia, NC, US

Quality Warranty Engineer

Job Summary:

Since 1934, Stabilus has offered components for diverse applications. We started out as a manufacturer of retrofittable stabilizers for the American automotive industry in 1962 and were the first company in the world to produce gas springs as standard equipment. Since then, we have continued to establish our pioneering role: With a wide range of applications, our unique product range and decades of experience, we are the world's leading manufacturer of solutions based on gas springs, dampers and electromechanical drives.

The Quality Warranty Engineer position is located at our U.S. Corporate Headquarters in Gastonia, NC.The person in this role commits to continuous improvement in delivering a gas spring product to the customer which meets all specifications described on the internal drawing and that the processes used in the manufacture/assembly are operated under controlled and capable conditions. They will be the quality expert as well as the voice of the customer in their assigned functional area as well as the facility as a whole. They will be responsible to review and manage customer portals including Warranty, 8D’s and 5Why’s responses.

The goals of the position are:

• Continuous improvement of the Quality System and manufacturing/assembly processes through the use of any and all appropriate quality tools such as DoE, SPC, GR&R, etc.
• Waste reduction through constant reduction in scrap, rework and non-value-added work steps.
• Determine and quantify the causes for product returns or failures. Report effectiveness of the Quality System by performance of work center specific process, product or series production audits and being instrumental in the correction of any deviations noted.
• Determine and quantify the effectiveness of their assigned functional area through capability analysis, QAP monitoring and sound quality principles.

Main Tasks

• Responsible to answer and handle customer concerns by managing customer portals, emails or phone calls.
• Monitors and observes production processes to ensure conformance to procedures.
• Solely responsible for the proper and timely uploads into customer portals for defining and listing the failure mode and who was responsible for such failure, completing Technical Factors.
• Performs capability studies on all processes, evaluates data issues reports, follows up on corrective actions.
• Collects, organizes, and reports quality performance data. Creation of monthly report on trends.
• Team leader for corrective actions or other quality meetings including Controls Plans (CP), Process Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (PFMEA) and 8D.
• Responsible for analysis and initiation of scrap reduction efforts.
• Assumes the role of trainer when changes are made to any QAP to relay the information to all associates affected by the change.
• Trains associates on the proper use and care of any new quality inspection equipment.
• Read and interpret customer drawings as well as STABILUS standards and perform validation testing as described herein.
• Use the Lab Technicians teardown analysis for reporting and determining causes, interprets their findings into a customer report.
• Provides technical guidance and direction to Quality Technicians, Auditors and Inspectors.
• Attending and managing visits to customer locations.
• Travel to various domestic and international locations required.

Secondary Tasks

• The job holder is obliged to follow the existing procedures and work instructions and act accordingly.
• Remains current with technical skills by attending training classes, special technical and administrative courses, seminars, exhibits and trade shows as needed.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Education, Training, Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent or 5 to 10 years related experience and/or training, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Must have certification in at least one of the following: Six Sigma, CQE/CQM, Reliability, Quality Lead Auditor.

Experience

• Must have an in-depth knowledge of variation reduction practices including SPC, MSA and PFMEA fundamentals, standard quality “Core Tools” and practices.
• Must know proper usage and care of standard in process gauges as well as specialized test equipment.
• Requires the ability to read and interpret STABILUS engineering drawings and specifications.
• Performs routine laboratory procedures as needed.
• Provides assistance to production areas in field of expertise to train or assist in problem solving.
• Perform tear down and failure analysts of parts, as necessary.
• Assists in launch support activities.
• Ability to generate technical reports.
• Follows established guidelines and design specifications for quality audits. Judgment and problem-solving skills are required to determine root causes and solutions to off standard situations.
• Works with sensitive equipment and gages where errors could impact the accuracy of measurements and calibrations.
• Works with finished products and conducts audits where errors could be costly if undetected. Customer relations and/or company revenues could also be affected through negligence.
• Conducts quality audits of others work where failure to follow established procedures could affect the quality of the product.
• Travel to customer sites, domestic and international, as a point of contact for discussion on product failure and to establish sort activity.
• Additional basic skills required: Concerns and Supplier Database, Analysis Database and QM Systems maintenance.

Job Knowledge and Skills

• Language Skills – Due to the nature and accountability of this position, fluency in English is required; other language skills such as German is a plus.
• Software Skills – MS Office – High level, SAP, Customer specific (web-based portals, modern-based downloads of certain information, etc).
• Reasoning Ability, Resourcefulness and Initiative –
  • Strategic and lateral thinking, plus ability to anticipate and be proactive
  • Strong analytical, numerical, and reasoning skill
  • Strategic planning skills
  • Ability to manage multiple tasks/priorities
  • Be able to anticipate and identify opportunities as they arise
  • Creative thinking, good judgment and initiative are mandatory
• Interpersonal Skills –
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills. The ability to communicate clearly and effectively with all levels of the organization internally and externally.
  • Participative management type – advocates team concept.
  • Ability to get along with diverse personalities. Tactful, mature.
  • Ability to establish credibility and be decisive, but able to recognize and support the organization’s preferences and priorities. Emphasis on development of strong 2-way communication skills; listen, communicate, and test one’s own understanding as well as that of dialogue partner(s).
  • The ability to write, present and communicate, complex and comprehensive business reports.
  • Articulate strategies and exercise leadership in their execution.
  • Communicate effectively with associates in foreign affiliates, by being aware of and taking into consideration cultural differences.

Other Duties:

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.