Position: Manufacturing Equipment Engineer (Bilingual Mandarin & English)
Location: Bowling Green, Ohio
Reports To: Plant Manager
Experience: 3-5 Years
Position Summary
The Manufacturing Equipment Engineer is a hands-on engineering role within the Maintenance Team responsible for equipment reliability, troubleshooting, equipment improvements, automation support, and new equipment implementation.
Key Responsibilities
Equipment Engineering & Development
- Assist in the design, development, modification, and improvement of existing and new manufacturing equipment, tooling, fixtures, and automation systems.
- Create and modify equipment drawings using AutoCAD.
- Support equipment installation, commissioning, startup, and qualification activities.
- Drive improvements in equipment safety, reliability, quality, productivity, and throughput.
- Support automation and equipment improvement projects.
- Own equipment performance throughout its lifecycle, including installation, commissioning, maintenance support, upgrades, and reliability improvements.
Equipment Reliability & Troubleshooting
- Serve as a key member of the Maintenance Team, providing hands-on support for troubleshooting equipment, repair, and reliability improvements.
- Independently diagnose equipment failures and perform repairs.
- Work side-by-side with maintenance technicians to restore equipment safely and efficiently.
- Perform equipment repairs, component replacement, fabrication, welding, modifications, and upgrades as required.
- Lead root cause analysis and implement corrective actions to eliminate recurring failures.
- Improve equipment uptime, reliability, maintainability, and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).
- Develop troubleshooting & maintenance procedures, and reliability improvements for critical equipment.
Process Improvement & Spare Parts Management
- Troubleshoot manufacturing process issues affecting safety, quality, productivity, and throughput.
- Support Lean Manufacturing and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Develop and maintain equipment BOMs and critical spare parts inventories.
- Improve spare parts availability and equipment maintainability.
Vendor & Supplier Support
- Work closely with equipment suppliers, contractors, and service providers in the United States and China.
- Communicate with Vendors in China and engineering teams in Mandarin and English.
- Support equipment installation, troubleshooting, upgrades, commissioning, warranty support, and spare parts sourcing.
- Coordinate technical issue resolution with suppliers and contractors to minimize downtime.
- Serve as a technical liaison between Operations, Maintenance, suppliers, contractors, and global engineering teams.
Travel Requirements
- Regular travel between company facilities in the Bowling Green area
- Occasional travel to supplier or customer locations may be required
Qualifications
Required
- Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, Manufacturing Engineering or a related field.
- 3-5 years of experience in manufacturing equipment engineering, maintenance engineering
- Proficiency in AutoCAD 2D/3D.
- Strong hands-on mechanical and electrical troubleshooting skills.
- Working knowledge of PLCs, HMIs, sensors, VFDs, motors, machine safety systems
- Bilingual in Mandarin Chinese and English.
- Strong understanding of Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) requirements and machine safety practices.
- Ability to read engineering drawings, electrical schematics, and technical documentation.
- Knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, TPM, Root Cause Analysis, and Continuous Improvement methodologies.
Preferred
- Experience with automated manufacturing equipment and material handling systems.
- Experience with conveyors, smart warehouse systems, Industrial automation, sand blasting equipment, plasma coating equipment, or similar industrial equipment.
- Experience troubleshooting PLC-controlled equipment.
Physical Requirements
- Ability to work in a manufacturing environment.
- Ability to stand, walk, bend, climb, and lift to 50 pounds.
- Comfortable working around industrial equipment and wearing required PPE.
- Ability to spend most of the workday on the production floor
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, or a related field
- 3-5 years of experience in manufacturing equipment engineering or maintenance engineering
- Proficiency in AutoCAD 2D/3D
- Strong hands-on mechanical and electrical troubleshooting skills
- Working knowledge of PLCs, HMIs, sensors, VFDs, motors, and machine safety systems
- Bilingual Mandarin Chinese and English proficiency
- Strong understanding of Lockout/Tagout requirements and machine safety practices
- Ability to read engineering drawings, electrical schematics, and technical documentation
- Knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, TPM, Root Cause Analysis, and Continuous Improvement methodologies
- Experience with automated manufacturing equipment and material handling systems
- Experience with conveyors, smart warehouse systems, industrial automation, sand blasting equipment, plasma coating equipment, or similar industrial equipment
- Experience troubleshooting PLC-controlled equipment
- Ability to work in a manufacturing environment and spend most of the workday on the production floor
- Ability to stand, walk, bend, climb, and lift up to 50 pounds
- Ability to work around industrial equipment while wearing required PPE
What We Do
Vital Chemicals USA LLC is a global leader in materials technology and a leading provider of high-quality chemical solutions in the United States. The company specializes in the production and distribution of specialty chemicals and rare-metals-based materials, employing a 'Source to Solutions' approach. Its capabilities support diverse sectors including semiconductors, energy, automotive, electronics, and optics, with a strong commitment to innovation and sustainability.







