Since our founding in 1943, Kaman has had a mindset of constant improvement and creativity.  In this way, we fulfill our most important responsibility: providing our customers with solutions to their critical technical and systems challenges.  With the resources to pursue large scale endeavors, we continue to recognize and encourage each person’s ability to create significant change.

Kaman Precision Products is looking for an Industrial Engineering and Continuous Improvement Manager. This key position works under the indirect supervision of our Director of Operations to help drive operational efficiency in all production areas. We work to create the methods and standards for our Operations and Industrial Engineering teams to follow, as well as develop and lead initiatives across the company to improve operations, assembly, test, etc. As part of this team, you will be working across the Kaman enterprise to strengthen the Industrial Engineering discipline and deepen our use of IE and lean manufacturing methodologies. This position is located in  Middletown, Connecticut.

Industrial Engineering:

• Manage and coordinate the Industrial Engineering group functions, assignments and priorities.
• Provide technical analysis and support to production and various departments in methods improvements, performance, cost/budgets, evaluation of problems and corrective action plans, capital planning, and the other improvement engineering functions.
• Define and manage the systems and procedures to apply labor standards/routings, which will be used for lead-time, capacity planning, and performance reporting.
• Coordinate and direct MRP/IIS related issues/policies that affect both production and support departments.
• Create and update the production base plan and the manpower plan each month for manufacturing supervision, including the Director of Operations.
• Analyze and coordinate the production cost performance position periodically, including making presentations at program reviews and communicating to manufacturing management any unfavorable trends.
• Create and maintain improvement engineering policies and procedures in coordination with the Director of Operations.
• Ensure that the improvement engineering staff has sufficient training to perform all necessary tasks.
• Prepare and monitor department budgets and annual goals and objectives.
• Support production in the preparation and monitoring of overhead budgets.
• Provide guidance in production’s overtime plan and the staffing levels needed to meet schedule and performance goals.
• Respond to special requests from KAC external customers.
• Coordinate and reconcile budgets and base plans with Finance.
• Maintain proficiency in utilizing PC software for spread sheets, word processing and e-mail, and have an understanding of the MIS System Report language and its capabilities (focus).

Continuous Improvement:

• Responsible for lean initiatives throughout the Division.
  • Includes Value Stream Mapping, Facilitating Kaizen activity, follow-up efforts, etc.
• Continue to improve divisional performance with the use of Lean thinking, Kaizen, 6-sigma and other performance improvement methodologies.
• Assist site management to coordinate, plan and execute performance improvement initiatives.

• A 4-year degree in Industrial Engineering or a closely related field, plus 1 to 2 years of graduate work.  Improvement engineering related major desirable.
• 7 to 10 years to qualify including 3 years of supervisory experience.