Continuous Improvement Engineer
Position Overview
Join Eck Industries as a Continuous Improvement Engineer and play a key role in driving operational excellence across our manufacturing operations. This hands-on, shop floor-focused position partners closely with production and plant leadership to identify opportunities, eliminate waste, improve processes, and deliver measurable gains in safety, quality, productivity, efficiency, and cost. The ideal candidate enjoys being on the manufacturing floor, analyzing data, solving problems, implementing sustainable improvements, and building a culture of continuous improvement throughout the organization.
Core Responsibilities
- Lead and drive continuous improvement initiatives across manufacturing and support departments.
- Develop and manage a pipeline of improvement projects focused on safety, quality, delivery, productivity, capacity, labor efficiency, and cost reduction.
- Partner with cross-functional teams to prioritize, execute, and sustain operational improvement projects.
- Facilitate Kaizen events, 5S activities, process improvement workshops, and structured problem-solving efforts.
- Coach supervisors, engineers, and plant personnel on continuous improvement principles and best practices.
- Conduct time and motion studies to establish accurate labor standards and identify efficiency opportunities.
- Analyze labor performance, production data, and operational metrics to uncover trends and improvement opportunities.
- Evaluate manufacturing processes, workflows, and plant layouts to improve throughput, material flow, ergonomics, and resource utilization.
- Develop current-state and future-state process maps while identifying bottlenecks, constraints, and process variation.
- Establish meaningful KPIs and performance measurement systems to track results and support data-driven decision-making.
Preferred Experience
- 2–5 years of manufacturing or engineering experience.
- Experience in a foundry, casting, metalworking, machining, or other heavy manufacturing environment.
- Experience with aluminum casting or non-ferrous foundry processes.
- Lean Manufacturing or Six Sigma training/certification.
- Experience with time studies, labor standards, line balancing, or capacity modeling.
- Experience leading Kaizen or rapid improvement events.
Qualifications and Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Technology, Operations Management, or related discipline.
- Manufacturing experience, engineering experience, or significant manufacturing internship/co-op experience.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Demonstrated ability to collect, analyze, and interpret manufacturing data.
- Ability to conduct time studies and analyze labor content.
- Ability to develop and implement standard work.
- Authorized to work in the United States
Salary Range
$85k-$115k, based on skills and experience.
Skills Required
- Authorized to work in the United States
- 3+ years of work experience with time studies
- Bachelor's degree in Industrial, Manufacturing, or Systems Engineering, or a related field
- 3-7 years of manufacturing experience
- Experience in aluminum casting or heavy manufacturing environments
- Experience with time and motion studies
- Experience with ERP systems and part routing control
- Experience with standardized part costing
- Experience with Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma
- Experience with Statistical Process Control (SPC)
- Ability to lead through influence rather than authority
What We Do
Eck Industries, Inc. is a fourth-generation, family-owned aluminum foundry based in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Established in 1948, the company specializes in producing premium, technically complex sand and permanent mold castings. They serve critical global markets, including aerospace, defense, marine, and advanced industrial sectors, such as hybrid and electric vehicles and space flight, delivering high-quality components that meet stringent design and material requirements.
