Batch & Furnace Engineer

Purpose of the Job

The Furnace & Batch Engineer is accountable to establish and maintain processes and procedures to safely operate the batch house and furnaces to meet codes, specifications, and continuously improve the glass making process by eliminating waste, improving safety, reducing cost, increasing capacity and productivity, and improving the product per customer requirements.

The Technical Leader

• Ensuring a safe, clean and environmentally compliant work environment and building a culture where safety is first priority
• Establishing safe, efficient and effective methods for all critical tasks and audit performance
• Ensuring that all controls plans, work instructions, standard work, and other procedures related to the technical operation of the batch house and furnaces ensure the safety of employees
• Developing risk assessments for critical tasks including emergency response

• Safety Metrics – RIR, TIRR, Risk Reduction

• Identifying, understanding, and teaching others the Critical Process Characteristics require to provide our customers with a quality product, beginning with the base glass
• Developing and implementing procedures and systems to ensure glass/products consistently meet or exceed customer expectations, include supporting experiments or trials for new and existing products

• Key Glass Related Product Characteristics

• Conducting process audits to review Critical Process Variables and implementing sustainable corrective actions for process shifts or upsets
• Responsible for determining condition and executing necessary maintenance on the batch, and melting assets and coordinates all available resources (internal and external) to execute the proper maintenance activities – this include but is not limited to hot repair, securing assets during upsets, and regular up-keep of critical equipment
• Partner with maintenance, operations and other members of the technical team to resolve equipment issues and improve equipment reliability
• Determining process and product capability (Cpk)
• Implementing control charting schemes for Critical product and process variables
• Developing and implementing control plans and standard work to ensure that all processes and products meet specifications at the lowest cost
• Identifying and eliminating special causes of process variation (troubleshooting)
• Analyzing process data, providing feedback and making recommendations to optimize performance
• Working with glass insulation melter network, identify and implement process best practices
• Lead plant technical representative during major capital projects in the batch and furnace areas
• Identifying and requesting capital funding for equipment, modifications, etc.

• Operational Efficiencies – Production Line Uptime and Bushing Availability
• Batch System Performance Metrics
• Critical Glass Product and Process Variables
• Unit Cost
• Environmental Compliance

• Educating, training, and coaching primary employees in the batch and glass melting process, process control procedures, autonomous maintenance requirements and emergency response procedures
• Coaching, counseling, and training of new engineers as part of their development plans
• Partnering with employees to develop and implement standardized work for critical tasks

• Individual Goals and Objectives
• Employee Training Plans

• Minimum of 3 years’ experience within a manufacturing or technical environment or leadership development program. Glass batch/melting experience preferred.
• Bachelor’s Degree. Engineering or Science preferred.

• Understands customer needs, environmental requirements, product specifications, basic cost drivers, Critical Product Characteristics, and the Critical Process Variables that impact these elements
• Understands and works with…