Lean Manufacturing Engineering Intern- Summer 2027

Position Summary

The Shape Corp student engineering program provides students with hands-on experience in a dynamic manufacturing environment. The Lean Manufacturing Engineering Intern will support the Shape Excellence System (SES) by helping teams apply lean manufacturing standards, analyze performance, and improve safety, quality, delivery, cost, and productivity. This opportunity is designed to provide entry-level exposure to the work of an SES Engineer through practical continuous improvement projects and collaboration with plant leadership and production teams.

Essential Job Functions

• Support deployment and sustainment of Shape Excellence System standards across assigned manufacturing areas.
• Assist with identifying and reducing waste, process variation, production constraints, excess inventory, and non-value-added activity.
• Collect, organize, and analyze manufacturing data related to safety, quality, delivery, cost, productivity, downtime, scrap, and labor performance.
• Support value stream mapping, material and information flow analysis, standard work, workplace organization, visual management, and daily accountability activities.
• Participate in continuous improvement workshops, kaizen events, root-cause investigations, and corrective-action follow-up.
• Assist with flow and lead-time improvement activities using lean methods such as SMED, pull systems, Kanban, production leveling, and inventory segmentation.
• Observe production processes, document current conditions, perform time studies, and help develop future-state recommendations.
• Support development and revision of standard work, operator instructions, process maps, training materials, and improvement tracking tools.
• Help establish project baselines, track actions and results, and confirm that implemented improvements are sustained.
• Partner with Operations, Engineering, Quality, Maintenance, PC&L, EHS, and other teams to support plant improvement priorities.
• Assist supervisors and team leaders with practical application of SES tools and standards under the guidance of experienced team members.
• Prepare reports, presentations, and visual summaries to communicate project status, findings, benefits, and recommended next steps.
• Follow applicable safety requirements and identify or escalate unsafe conditions observed during assigned work.
• Perform additional duties as assigned by the supervisor, not otherwise specified in this position description.

Education & Experience

• Currently pursuing a bachelor's degree from an accredited program in Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Technology, Operations Management, or a closely related field.
• 3.0 GPA or higher on a 4.0 scale.
• Coursework or project experience involving lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, operations, statistics, process analysis, quality, or manufacturing systems.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Outlook.
• Able to spend time in a manufacturing environment observing processes and working with production teams.
• Able to work independently while also contributing effectively within a cross-functional team.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the confidence to engage employees at different levels of the organization.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills with attention to detail.

Preferred Qualifications

• Exposure to lean manufacturing methods such as 5S, standard work, visual management, value stream mapping, kaizen, SMED, Kanban, pull systems, or production leveling.
• Familiarity with structured problem-solving methods such as PDCA, A3, 5 Whys, fishbone analysis, or DMAIC.
• Experience collecting and analyzing data, conducting time studies, creating process maps, or developing performance dashboards.
• Exposure to ergonomic analysis, plant layout, capacity analysis, line balancing, or material flow improvement.
• Leadership experience through student organizations, team projects, employment, volunteer work, or other activities.
• Interest in building a career in manufacturing, operational excellence, or continuous improvement within an automotive or advanced manufacturing environment.