Supplier Development Engineer

Position Summary:The Supplier Development Engineer is responsible for communicating and delivering the technical requirements (Engineering, Manufacturing and Quality deliverables) to the supplier base in accordance with established standards.  Ensure fully conforming, process capable and efficient supplied products at competitive cost without detriment to overall delivery or final product performance.Duties and Responsibilities:The following reflects management’s definition of essential functions for this job but does not restrict the tasks that may be assigned.  Management may assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time due to reasonable accommodation or other reasonsResponsible for communicating the Technical Requirements including applications knowledge, design intent, manufacturing guidance and the established HydraForce quality requirements to the supply base.Optimize the hydraulic performance of parts and the manufacturing processes, seeking to engineer out redundancies in the supply base manufacturing processes, eliminating waste while optimizing part to part interaction and process capability.Work with the supply base, internal customers and Category Managers, monitoring and supporting action to respond to current supplier performance in terms of impact, cost, efficiency, process capability, quality and warranty costs.Function as primary interface between Engineering/design, Purchasing and suppliers to alleviate discrepancies in product specifications and support the evaluation of opportunities to achieve the best technical hydraulic and efficient cost-effective solutions when launching new HydraForce parts into the supply base.Lead supplier advance product quality efforts in coordination with Engineering/design and program management through launch of new product programs, utilizing sourcing strategy in conjunction with Category Managers.Based upon metrics agreed with the Quality and Engineering departments, define areas of improvement where parts and processes can be honed to provide the best hydraulic performance and efficiency while minimizing unnecessary design variation.Represent the voice of the HydraForce supply base internally in all relevant APQP activities.Partner with Supplier Quality Engineers to assist with the development of PPAP documentation (dimensional verification requirements, process flow charts, control plans, FMEAs, MSA and material analysis) as required by the HydraForce Quality Management System.Lead technical review of new and transferred components with suppliers during Supplier Design Reviews (NPI) and Supplier Readiness Review processes.In cooperation with the Supplier Quality Engineers drive effective responsiveness to non-conformance issues raised by the HydraForce facilities in accordance with Company requirements as defined by the site Quality managers. Work with the site Purchasing, Manufacturing and Quality departments at all HydraForce facilities to share information and ideas as they relate to supplier issues.Assist Supplier Quality Engineers and Design Engineering to resolve repeat non-conformances for long term improvement in component specification.Aid in performing business assessments at suppliers, in collaboration with SQE’s, to ensure new and existing suppliers develop and maintain tools to ensure consistent supply and quantity components to HydraForce.Actively identify new technologies/process for new product design and/or cost reductions, establish and provide new and innovative solutions for future business growth.Physical Requirements:While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to do the following:Lift and move a minimum of 5 pounds without assistanceWork Environment:This job primarily operates in a professional office environment with some time on the shop floor. The noise level in the work environment can be quiet to moderate to loud.