Advanced Manufacturing Engineer

The Advanced Manufacturing Sr. Engineer owns end‑to‑end automation for Water‑Cooled and Air‑Cooled HVAC products, including heat exchangers and full unit assembly for vertical and data center chillers. This role blends deep technical ownership with business impact—identifying high‑value automation opportunities, building investment cases, and leading execution through commissioning to deliver sustained performance gains.

• 1) Automation Delivery Across Products & Processes (Technical Core)

  Air‑cooled (finned‑tube coils): tube insertion/expansion, header/manifold joining (brazing), automated coil leak/pressure testing, and coil handling/fixturing.

  Final Assembly Automation

  Implement flexible automation/assist solutions for heavy assembly, refrigerant charging systems, piping/brazing/welding support, sensor installation, control integration, and end‑of‑line (EOL) test automation and reporting.

• 2) Controls, Test Systems & Manufacturing Digital Integration

  Own or support PLC/HMI/safety logic for manufacturing automation systems. Rockwell / Allen Bradley, Siemens are the typical PLC used.

  Drive reliability improvements through enhanced diagnostics, alarm rationalization, and fault recovery.

  Build/expand automated test capabilities (pressure/leak/functional) with recipe‑based execution and data capture. LabVIEW is typical test automation.

  Enable or improve traceability and test data capture through MES interfaces or structured data collection.

• 3) Business Case, ROI & Hard Savings Ownership (What Makes This Role Different)

  Identify and quantify hard savings opportunities tied to automation:

  Labor reduction (direct touch time, overtime reduction, staffing flexibility)

  Scrap and rework reduction (weld defects, leaks, brazing defects, coil/piping rework)

  Downtime reduction / uptime gains (availability improvements and reduced lost units)

  Yield / FPY improvement (fewer retests, fewer escapes, reduced MRB burden)

  Warranty/field failure reduction where attributable to process improvements

  Energy and consumables reductions (where meaningful: gas, nitrogen, helium, tooling wear, etc.)

  Build clear automation investment cases (Cap Ex requests) including:

  Baseline losses and constraints

  Proposed solution options (buy/build/integrate)

  Payback period, NPV/IRR (when applicable), and sensitivity analysis

  Implementation costs (equipment, integration, downtime, training, spares)

  Prioritize project pipeline with focus on:

  Fast payback (e.g., ≤12–24 months) for many initiatives

  Scalable solutions that can replicate across lines/products

  Own benefits realization:

  Create a savings tracking plan with Finance

  Validate savings post‑implementation (30/60/90 days and quarterly)

  Put controls in place to sustain the savings (standard work, training, audits)

  Define run‑at‑rate metrics and require demonstrable performance (cycle time, uptime, quality).

  Ensure maintainability: documentation, code management, spare parts, PM plans, and training packages.

• 5) Quality, Safety & Compliance

  Embed safety and compliance into automation design and commissioning:

  Risk assessments, guarding, interlocks, LOTO readiness, safety validation

  Partner with New Product Introduction Engineers, Manufacturing Engineering and Quality to maintain:

  PFMEAs, control plans, reaction plans, capability checks for automated processes

  Drive defect reduction and escape prevention across welding/brazing/leak test operations.

  Develop standards for automation:

  Preferred sensor types, safety architectures, HMI conventions, test data formats

  Reduce “tribal knowledge” dependence by building repeatable processes and troubleshooting playbooks.

10+ years of experience delivering manufacturing automation in production environments.

8+ years of experience building…