Quality Manager

About the role

The Stryten factory in Salina, Kansas is one of the largest lead-acid battery manufacturing sites in North America with 800 employees capable of producing more than 35,000 quality batteries per day. These batteries can be found in your car, in your boat or RV, or, in your lawn and garden equipment. Stryten proudly supports the local community by regularly participating in Project Salina, the Salvation Army Angel Tree program, and providing more than 100 volunteers for the Smoky Hill River Festival.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership in the day to day activities for all departments within the facility and partner with the Engineering community to solve problems and improve quality.
• Regular responsibilities require management of product and process data collection and summary, corrective action system updates, Calibration, internal auditing, and key customer communications.
• Responsible for the Control Plan (CP) and Process Flow Diagram (PFD) for the site. CP and PFD must be compliant to all corporate procedures.
• Responsible for auditing the process and operator tasks are compliance to the CP, Corporate process, and product specifications.
• Responsible for auditing and validating that plant Work Instructions are the most current and are available to all operations for proper use.
• Responsible for quality team coverage on the production floor and lab testing in compliance with testing and control plan requirements.
• Responsible for the calibration system of all gauges that have impact on product quality. Verification that all gauges are calibrated on time or early, MSA evaluations are completed, and plant follows documented calibration procedures.
• Verify incoming material requirements for Material Specifications.
• Responsible for compliance with the periodic sampling of in-process components.
• Responsible for the coordination of short term and long-term capability studies in conjunction with the plant process engineering team for continuous improvement.
• Conduct research on product defects, test performance, plant reject and scrap, and drive process or product improvements.
• Develop timely response to customer quality concerns and drive permanent corrective actions into the plant.
• Lead structure problem solving training within the plant and lead by example.
• Affiliate with conducting and preparation of quality audits and reports.
• Work with teams on problem solving initiatives and link actions and outcomes to Control Plans, PFMEA’s, plant inspection points, and Customer returns.
• Responsible for maintaining routine electrical testing of final product.
• Cook up efforts with the team with corrective action resolution for internal KPI’s and external customer issues (assembly plant complaint and warranty initiatives).

Requirements

• Minimum of 4 year technical degree in science, engineering or quality.
• Preferrably degree in engineering.
• 5-8 years related experience as a quality engineer or equivalent at a corporate and/or manufacturing plant, preferably a tier I supplier in the automotive industry.
• CQE preferred.
• Six Sigma Certification (Green Belt or Black Belt) preferred.

Skills

• Demonstrate leadership skills.
• Proficient in problem solving - root cause analysis, 5 why, etc.
• Must be quality and customer oriented.
• Knowledgeable in IATF 16949 quality standards; APQP methodology; Control Plans, FMEAs, and PPAPs.
• Knowledgeable in Six Sigma and Lean tools.
• Familiarity with Quality Operating Systems.
• Must be able to work independently and in a team-oriented environment on multiple projects.
• Strong skills in statistical methods.
• Strong verbal/written communication and interpersonal skills.
• Strong computer skills - Windows-based programs.

Competencies

• Leadership skills.
• Problem solving - root cause analysis, 5 why, etc.
• Quality and customer orientation.
• IATF 16949 quality standards; APQP methodology; Control Plans, FMEAs, and PPAPs.
• Six Sigma and Lean tools.
• Quality Operating Systems.
• Statistical methods.
• Verbal/written communication and interpersonal skills.
• Computer skills - Windows-based programs.