Product Engineer

Company: Hawk Corporation is a global manufacturer of friction materials headquartered in the Cleveland, Ohio area. Its materials which comprise brake pads, clutch facings, and transmission components are found on equipment including aircraft, mining and construction equipment, heavy truck, agriculture equipment, power sports, motorcycles and military vehicles, to cite a few examples.  We sell to the leaders in the industry including Caterpillar, Eaton, John Deere, CNH and many others. The company has grown steadily in recent years and its 2007 revenues were $228.7 million.

Hawk operates primarily through its Wellman Products Group where products are branded as "Wellman", "Hawk" and "Velvetouch".  It operates 11 manufacturing sites and sales offices throughout the world, including factories in Italy, China, Canada and several in the U.S. The financial headquarters is in downtown Cleveland and there are Cleveland area locations in Solon, Akron and Medina.

The Company embraces 6 core values as its way of conducting business with its customers, supply chain and family of employees. They are integrity, meritocracy, bias for action, teamwork, customer orientation, and fun. These values form a unifying theme to what Hawk stands for and how it operates.

 

Reporting

Relationship:  Reports to the Director of Product Engineering

 Location:  Medina, Ohio

 

Education:  Minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree, Mechanical or Industrial.  Minimum GPA of 3.0.  Masters Degree is a plus.

 

Characteristics:  Must be an excellent communicator, facilitator and coach, as well as possess strong analytical abilities.  Must demonstrate commitment to Hawk, WPG’s Values and Total Quality philosophy.  Must demonstrate working knowledge in all disciplines of World Class Manufacturing Techniques.  Thorough knowledge of design engineering principles and practices.  Knowledge of methods, processes, tools and equipment used in manufacturing operations.  Must have a strong sense of urgency, the ability to meet deadlines, a strong working knowledge of computers, and the ability to work flexible hours.  Must have strong project management and product development skills.  Utilizes a team approach to problem solving.  Individual must be a motivated self-starter with the ability to work independently and/or in a cross-functional work team environment.

 

Work Experience:  Minimum of 5 years experience in project management and/or design engineering, preferably in brake, transmission and/or clutch design.  Experience working with friction materials and/or their applications is preferred.  Experience working with customers, supply chain and engineering resources to design and/or reverse engineer products or component assemblies in a lean, pull-type, reduced inventory production system.  Good understanding of part manufacturability, design-for-quality, and Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) is required.  Solid modeling experience is desired. Knowledge of Computer Aided Design (CAD), Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), is preferred.  Knowledge of diverse manufacturing processes is a plus.  Six Sigma training and/or certification is also a plus (Green or Black Belt).

 

Principal Area of 

Responsibility: Individual is responsible for managing the program launch of new products or component assemblies for Wellman Products Group including but not limited to cost estimating, process design, determining customer specifications, prototype delivery and production launch, assisting supply chain in sourcing efforts, managing cost models, and continuous process improvement to meet or exceed sales and operating plan commitments.  Will be a key driver in the success of Wellman Products Group and will manage the launch schedules for prototype and New Product Introduction (NPI) delivery.  This individual will work closely with internal teams consisting of a product manager or business unit manager, manufacturing engineer, quality engineer, tooling engineer, purchasing agent, sales manager and/or assembly technician.

 

Specific Duties:

·  Manages program launches for new product introductions into the WPG manufacturing system by following Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) and Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) procedures and processes.  This includes participating in print reviews, FMEA’s and other interactions with customers and internal WPG teams.  Efforts are managed and documented through use of APQP checklists.  Individual will also build initial part router and bill of material for new products and prototypes in MRP system (QAD).

·  Completes cost estimating for new part opportunities and communicates to Wellman Products Group (WPG) Product Managers, following all APQP procedures.  Discerns technical specifications from customer inputs.  Actively suggests alternatives to allow for reduced manufacturing and tooling costs.  Must be able to discuss the product application with customer design engineers to help come to mutually beneficial design changes.

·  Manages and coordinates the activities required to produce prototypes.  Responsible for designing the process and providing engineering support to manufacturing for prototype delivery.  Responsible to meet delivery commitments as well as ensure a first quality part is produced.

·  Continuously improves project cost position by assisting supply chain management in locating/approving new sources and presenting cost reduction design alternatives to customers who retain design control.

·  Work with manufacturing engineering on design modifications that would permit simplified manufacturing methods, less expensive tooling or other improvements in the manufacturing process.

·  Conduct special product engineering studies and analysis of manufacturing costs.

·  Coordinates Engineering activities in New Product / New Customer development, supports Marketing efforts.

 

·  Supports all Six Sigma and other continuous improvement projects within the organization.  If not already certified, completes training and certification of Green/Black Belt as available.  Uses problem-solving techniques for root cause analysis and implement preventative and/or corrective action.

 

·  Set-up and direct testing programs to increase our capabilities and understanding thereof.  Maintain working relationships with all suppliers and challenge them to assist in development/improvement efforts.

 

·  Identifies and solves problems, directly or indirectly, employing fact-based decision-making and identifying support as required.

 

·  Details performance versus established metrics in regular reports.  Regularly communicates team accomplishments and issues to management as appropriate.  Leads team meetings as appropriate.

 

·  Performs tasks with a positive, team-oriented approach in a “no-boundaryâ€� fashion.  Must remain respectful, open-minded and blameless in dealings with others while working in concert with internal and external customers’ needs. 

 

·  Must be willing to travel as required to perform the objectives of this function.

 

 Physical and

Mental Demands:

·  Incumbent must physically and mentally perform the job demands as listed above.