Associate Engineer, Equipment Engineering

Job Responsibilities:

The vacant position serves as the primary equipment owner for multiple SMT manufacturing platforms, including:

• Vitrox AOI Inspection Systems
• KED Flux Cleaning Systems
• Escal Flux Cleaning Systems
• Flonic Flux Cleaning Systems
• Heller Reflow Ovens
• ASM SR902L Reflow Oven
• Kolb Aqube Stencil Cleaning System
• Baking Ovens
• ESD Monitoring & Control Systems
• Technician Practical Certification Program

These systems support key SMT manufacturing functions including:

• Defect detection and quality assurance
• Flux residue management
• Solder reflow process stability
• Stencil cleanliness control
• Moisture-sensitive device management
• ESD protection across the SMT production floor
• Technician competency development and certification

The breadth of equipment ownership requires multidisciplinary technical competency spanning equipment engineering, preventive maintenance, troubleshooting, process interaction, and reliability engineering.

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Operational Support Responsibilities

The position is responsible for maintaining day-to-day equipment stability through:

• Equipment health monitoring
• Runtime performance analysis
• Heat Map trend monitoring
• Downtime response and escalation management
• Preventive maintenance planning
• PM execution verification
• Equipment walk-through inspections
• Early detection of developing equipment abnormalities

These activities provide the engineering governance necessary to sustain stable and uninterrupted SMT manufacturing operations.

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Reliability Engineering Responsibilities

In addition to operational support, the position performs reliability engineering activities including:

• Weekly downtime analysis
• Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
• Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) implementation
• PM quality auditing
• Maintenance effectiveness verification
• Spare parts strategy reviews
• Failure trend monitoring and risk mitigation

These activities are critical to preventing recurrence of chronic equipment issues and sustaining long-term equipment reliability improvements.

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Continuous Improvement Responsibilities

The role actively supports factory continuous improvement initiatives including:

• Equipment uptime improvement
• Reliability enhancement
• PM optimization and standardization
• Cost reduction through repair and refurbishment activities
• Technical coaching and knowledge transfer

The position also supports execution of reliability and maintenance improvement projects that contribute directly to productivity, maintenance effectiveness, and operational cost-control objectives.

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Business Risk Associated with Vacancy

1. Loss of Equipment Ownership Continuity

The position currently maintains ownership of multiple equipment categories across the SMT manufacturing process.

Critical knowledge associated with:

·        Equipment operating history

·        Chronic failure modes

·        PM optimization strategies

·        Troubleshooting methodologies

·        Equipment-process interactions

·        Vendor engagement pathways

cannot be fully transferred in the short term.

An extended vacancy may result in reduced responsiveness and increased equipment instability during the transition period.

2. Increased Downtime Exposure

The role serves as a key engineering resource supporting:

·        Major equipment recovery

·        SPC excursion investigations

·        Equipment abnormality analysis

·        Production escalations

Without replacement, remaining engineering resources will need to absorb these responsibilities, potentially leading to:

·        Increased response time

·        Longer recovery duration

·        Delayed root cause identification

·        Increased recurrence of equipment failures

These risks may directly impact SMT output and operational performance.

3. Reliability Improvement Setback

Current reliability activities supported by the position include:

·        Downtime trend analysis

·        CAPA implementation

·        PM quality auditing

·        Heat Map monitoring

·        Failure prevention activities

An unfilled vacancy will reduce available engineering bandwidth to sustain these initiatives and may slow the progress of ongoing reliability improvement programs.

4. Reduced Preventive Maintenance Governance

The position is responsible for engineering oversight of maintenance activities through:

·        PM verification

·        PM audits

·        Technical coaching

·        Technician competency support

Reduced engineering oversight can increase the risk of PM quality deterioration and delayed detection of maintenance-related gaps.

5. Extended Recovery Period for Replacement Capability

A new hire will require:

·        Recruitment lead time

·        Structured onboarding

·        Equipment-specific training

·        Reliability engineering development

·        Historical knowledge transfer