WHAT DOES AN EQUIPMENT ENGINEER DO?
Published: Feb 21, 2025 – The Equipment Engineer supports new product development by improving productivity, reducing costs, standardizing processes, and expanding production capabilities. This position ensures equipment functionality, safety, and efficiency through testing, optimization, and performance analysis. The engineer also provides technical support for equipment maintenance, process engineering, and system troubleshooting, including software validation and debugging of control systems.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Equipment Engineer
1. Equipment Engineer Functions
- Task Management: Performs complicated work-related tasks on various product lines
- Test Equipment Design: Design new electro-mechanical test equipment
- System Upgrades: Design upgrades to existing electro-mechanical systems
- Problem Solving: Incorporate permanent solutions to known test failure modes
- Installation and Commissioning: Install and commission new equipment in a production environment
- Troubleshooting: Debug mechanical and electrical problems with the test equipment
- Documentation Management: Maintain documentation necessary for the operation of the equipment fleet - Wiring diagrams, Piping and instrumentation diagrams, and models
- Vendor Management: Work with and manage outside vendor supply chain (machine shops, material suppliers, laser cutters, fabricators, etc)
- Logistics and Planning: Plan, document, and execute the movement of the test lab equipment at the beginning of the new year
- Design Review: Host design reviews
- DFMEA Leadership: Host DFMEA meetings
2. Equipment Engineer Job Description
- Design Review: Design reviews on the new installs
- Specification Development: Develop equipment specifications, acceptance test criteria, and risk analysis
- Vendor Coordination: Work with vendors to schedule, prioritize, develop, document, and implement new equipment lines and upgrades
- Equipment Installation: Installation of new and conversion or upgrade of existing equipment
- Process Commissioning: Works with process engineers to commission and qualify new equipment and processes
- Progress Tracking: Track progress and keep up the schedule
- Procedure Development: Develop and maintain safety and standard operation procedures
- Training and Certification: Manage new equipment training, certification, safety, and job hazard assessment
- Performance Tracking: Track equipment performance and reduce downtime
- Process Analysis: Equipment dysfunction-related process analysis studies and troubleshooting
- Maintenance Support: Work with vendors and process engineers to support, troubleshoot, repair, and maintain production, Research and Development lines
- Inventory Management: Manage spare parts and backup equipment, reduce cost, and improve operation efficiency
3. Equipment Engineer Overview
- Audit Support: Support internal, 3rd party, and vendor audits including equipment annual physical count
- Operational Planning: Participate in determining and providing an optimum plan of operation, equipment, space requirements, and related facilities for assigned areas
- Training and Guidance: Provide the production team with in-depth training and technical guidance
- Process Documentation: Develop/Review/Revise work instructions and procedures in support of manufacturing processes
- Problem Resolution: Resolve manufacturing constraints, smooth the production line, and reduce risk
- Process and Equipment Development: Support the development of new methods, processes, and equipment and apply them to the manufacturing operation
- Maintenance Scheduling: Set up and maintain a preventive maintenance schedule
- Fab and Cleanroom Management: SPD Fab and Cleanroom Management including lab temperature, humidity, particulate counts, air circulation
- Water Supply Monitoring: DI water supply and purity monitoring
- Chilled Water Supply Management: Chill water supply management
- Gas Supply Management: Toxic gas and high-pressure gas supply management
- Waste Treatment: Work with EHS on toxic waste treatment including solid, liquid, and gas
4. Equipment Engineer Details and Accountabilities
- Equipment Maintenance: Maintain all equipment in good working condition and ready for use at all times
- Instrument Management: Manage operation, calibration, maintenance, and troubleshooting of flow cytometers and cell sorters
- Troubleshooting: Must be able to troubleshoot and fix problems on the spot with minimal instrument downtime
- Communication: Communicate quickly regarding system defects and work actively toward resolution
- Training Program Development: Create training programs to use flow cytometers and cell sorters and modify them as appropriate
- Training and Guidance: Provide training necessary for independent acquisition and analysis of multi-color FACS samples in facilities cytometers, specifically instrument use, general facility etiquette, safety, basic troubleshooting, software, and data interpretation
- QC/QA Management: QC/QA following documented SOPs, generate new SOPs and protocols
- Report and Documentation: Author and prepare technical reports, protocols, and operational plans
- Testing Execution: Execute testing following defined quality processes
- Record Keeping: Maintain accurate records of all work performed
5. Equipment Engineer Roles
- Product Development Support: Provides support for new product developments, encompassing productivity improvements, cost improvements, standardization of processes and manufacturing methods
- New Product: Expansion of new product lines, installation and startup of new equipment, and introduction of new products
- Functional Testing Coordination: Coordinates equipment functional testing to ensure system safety, operations, and functionality
- Design Optimization: Optimize existing and new equipment designs to maximize cost-effectiveness and equipment efficiency
- Technical Documentation Management: Maintains current records on equipment manufacturers' technical notices, upgrades, and safety issues
- Reliability Studies: Studies equipment performance and reliability
- Design Reviews and Analysis: Perform Design Reviews, Design for Manufacturability (DFM), Design for Assembly (DFA), Ergonomic study, Manufacturing Gap analysis
- Technical Support: Provides technical support to manufacturing equipment repair and process engineering organizations
- Issue Resolution: Establishes programs and solutions for increasing uptime and for equipment problems that affect the manufacturing process
- HMI and PLC Understanding: Understand Human Machine Interface (HMI), Programmable Logic Controllers, and ladder logic programming to identify the issues
- System Debugging: Debugging vision systems and sensors
- Equipment Characterization: Perform equipment characterization and system measurement analysis through GRR's
- Software Validation: Perform equipment software validation, run studies, and report generation