Equipment & Tooling Engineer

Equipment & Tooling Engineer

The Equipment & Tooling Engineer will play a critical role in supporting manufacturing equipment reliability, production performance, and continuous improvement activities for the permanent magnet manufacturing facility in Sumter, South Carolina. This position serves as the technical owner for equipment-related engineering activities and supports the full equipment lifecycle, including specification, procurement, installation, commissioning, optimization, and handover to production. The Equipment & Tooling Engineer will work closely with Operations, Maintenance, Automation Engineering, Quality, and external suppliers to ensure manufacturing equipment performs safely, reliably, and efficiently while supporting business growth objectives.

Key Responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

• Troubleshoot complex equipment-related issues and implement sustainable corrective actions
• Improve equipment reliability, uptime, throughput, and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)
• Support root cause investigations related to equipment failures and production losses
• Identify and implement equipment improvements to increase manufacturing performance
• Support development of preventive and predictive maintenance strategies

• Design, develop, and implement equipment modifications and upgrades
• Optimize manufacturing equipment to improve safety, quality, yield, throughput, and cost performance
• Evaluate equipment performance and identify opportunities for continuous improvement
• Support machine and process capability studies
• Develop technical solutions to improve manufacturing efficiency and reduce operating costs

• Develop equipment specifications, scopes of work, and technical requirements
• Support equipment selection, procurement, and supplier evaluations
• Lead or support capital projects from concept through production release
• Coordinate equipment installation, startup, commissioning, qualification, and acceptance activities (FAT/SAT)
• Support layout planning, manufacturing capacity planning, and equipment expansion initiatives
• Ensure successful handover of new equipment and technologies to production

• Develop and maintain tooling standards for manufacturing operations
• Coordinate tooling design, procurement, modifications, and life-cycle management
• Support spare parts strategies and critical tooling inventories
• Ensure tooling supports process capability and product quality requirements

• Coordinate equipment suppliers, contractors, integrators, and service providers
• Review technical proposals and equipment quotations
• Participate in technical risk assessments and mitigation planning
• Ensure supplier deliverables meet technical, quality, safety, and schedule requirements

• Maintain equipment-related engineering documentation, standards, and records
• Ensure OEM documentation, drawings, manuals, and technical data are properly controlled
• Develop and maintain operating, maintenance, and engineering procedures
• Support equipment safety reviews and regulatory compliance activities

• Collaborate closely with Operations, Maintenance, Automation Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, and EHS
• Support training and knowledge transfer for production and maintenance personnel
• Participate in cross-functional problem-solving and continuous improvement initiatives
• Serve as a technical resource for manufacturing equipment and tooling systems

Education and Experience:

• Recognized as degreed or holding an accredited certification in a relevant technical or engineering discipline
• Minimum 3–7 years of experience in manufacturing analytics, SPC, process engineering, or industrial data analysis
• Experience working within high-volume manufacturing environments
• Experience implementing SPC methodologies and process capability studies
• Demonstrates flexibility and a team-oriented mindset by supporting additional tasks and cross-functional needs as required

Preferred:

• Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Data Analytics, Statistics, Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field
• Automotive manufacturing experience
• Experience with MES systems and manufacturing databases
• Experience with Power BI, Tableau, SQL, or similar reporting tools
• Experience with Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma methodologies

Requirements:

• Travel Requirements: 10% (as needed, domestic or international travel)

Language

Skills:

English, German beneficial

Supervisory Responsibilities:

No formal direct reports

Employment at Will:

This job description is intended as an outline of the duties of the position at VACUUMSCHMELZE and is subject to change by VAC from time to time. It is NOT a contract of employment. Employment at VAC is voluntarily entered into and is subject to termination by you or VAC AT WILL, with or without cause at any time, either party believes such action to be appropriate.