Job Title: Manufacturing Technician – Secondary Operation Job status: Full-time employee, Hourly Department: Operations Reports to: Secondary Manager Summary/Objective The Manufacturing Technician – Secondary Operations is a hands-on, mechanically inclined technical role responsible for driving productivity, equipment capability, and process stability across secondary machining operations. This role requires a strong mechanical aptitude and the ability to set up, operate, and maintain a variety of precision machines including CNCs, Brother machines, Broaches, Drills, Hones, Mills, Thread Rolls, and Lathes. The technician owns machine performance and setups, supports operators in achieving expected production rates and quality standards, and drives continuous improvement through disciplined execution and 6S practices. Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Productivity, Quality & Process Improvement - Own and support achievement of expected production rates, including actual pieces per hour and cycle time performance.
- Partner directly with machine operators to achieve production rate, quality, and scrap targets, providing hands-on technical support and coaching.
- Identify, troubleshoot, and eliminate causes of downtime, inefficiency, and scrap.
- Perform machine setups, changeovers, and adjustments across CNCs, Brother machines, Broaches, Drills, Hones, Mills, Thread Rolls, and Lathes to ensure jobs are running correctly before releasing to operators.
- Recommend and implement process, setup, tooling, and job layout improvements to improve throughput and first-pass yield. Document setup sheets, productivity improvements, and scrap reductions, and verify results are sustained through standard work.
- Hold processes accountable to scrap reduction expectations, supporting root cause analysis and corrective actions when targets are missed.
- Enforce and improve 6S standards, ensuring machines, tooling, and work areas remain organized, safe, and audit-ready.
Equipment Reliability & Capability - Establish, execute, and document preventive maintenance programs for assigned equipment.
- Perform regular machine capability studies; diagnose issues and complete or coordinate repairs and rebuilds as required.
- Provide hands-on technical support and machine setup expertise across CNCs, Brother machines, Broaches, Drills, Hones, Mills, Thread Rolls, and Lathes – including tooling selection, offsets, feeds, speeds, and fixturing adjustments.
- Ensure equipment consistently meets safety, quality, and production capability requirements.
Training & Technical Development - Train machine operators on equipment care, basic maintenance, and standard operating practices.
- Provide advanced machine setup, changeover, and troubleshooting training to designated operators, including hands-on instruction on fixture loading, tooling changes, program selection, and first-piece verification.
- Act as a technical resource to raise overall department capability, consistency, and ownership.
Operational Support - Operate production equipment as needed to support business and scheduling requirements.
- Provide technical input to department supervisors for employee evaluations.
- Perform additional duties as assigned by the supervisor.
Safety & Compliance: - Ensure all maintenance activities comply with safety standards and regulatory requirements.
- Conduct regular safety audits and inspections of equipment and work areas.
- Implement and enforce lockout/tagout procedures and other safety protocols.
- Stay updated on OSHA and other relevant regulations to ensure compliance.
Qualifications - Minimum 2 years of technician experience, preferably in a job shop or high-mix machining environment.
- Mechanically hands-on with a strong mechanical aptitude and proven ability to set up, adjust, and troubleshoot CNCs, Brother machines, Broaches, Drills, Hones, Mills, Thread Rolls, and Lathes.
- Demonstrated experience performing independent machine setups including program loading, tooling, fixturing, offsets, and first-piece inspection – comfortably working without step-by-step direction.
- Effective verbal and written communication skills with operators, supervisors, contractors, and technical support.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced production environment.
- Demonstrated continuous improvement and 6S mindset.
- Ability to coach and counsel employees
- Good verbal and written communication skills
- Strong leadership and supervisory skills
Physical Requirements - Ability to stand for extended periods
- Ability to lift up to 50 lbs with or without assistance
- Ability to work in a manufacturing environment with exposure to noise, oil, and metal chips
Core Competencies - Accountability for Results – Owns rate, scrap, and process performance.
- Teamwork & Collaboration – Works side-by-side with operators to achieve shared goals.
- Achievement Orientation – Drives continuous improvement and measurable results.
- Change Catalyst – Challenges the status quo and leads improvement actions.
- Service Orientation – Anticipates and meets internal and customer requirements.
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