Anodizing Process Specialist

We’d like you to join our team at KEI

A family owned and operated company located in Kitchener, Ontario for more than 75 years, Kuntz Electroplating Inc. (KEI) has become the benchmark for quality and service in premium plated and painted products to the automotive and motorcycle industries. We presently serve automotive exterior and interiors, motorcycle, appliance, gaming, heavy truck, and other specialized industries in a Tier 1 and Tier capacity. We supply chrome plated and powder coated components to the world’s largest and most recognizable brands who rely on us to optimize their part designs with world-class process capability to provide the highest quality to them and their customers.

We pride ourselves in being an environmentally conscious and sustainable company where the health and safety of our employees is and will always remain our highest priority. At KEI you will find a safe, positive and dynamic work environment, where people treat each other with mutual respect and fairness, where there is opportunity for personal growth and fulfillment; with a real team spirit

The Position

**JOB SUMMARY**:
**RESPONSIBILITIES**:

- Work with the Continuous Improvement (CI) team to launch new programs, improve operational efficiency and reduce rejects
- Drive initiatives for anodizing quality to meet customer specifications
- Process monitoring and improvement from pretreatment, electro-brightening, anodizing, colouring (electro and dye colouring) and through to meticulous chemical sealing
- Recommend improvements of equipment, procedures or facilities to improve productivity, quality and safety.
- Design of anodizing fixtures (tooling), coordinating with fabricators, and validation of tooling prototypes, P&ID for tanks and filtration
- Communicate with program managers, production managers and customer contacts to understand and meet customer requirements
- Serve as department representative on various teams and committees; Collaborate with CI team to establish anodizing process controls and equipment configuration for a variety of products and finishes.
- Work with the CI team to develop new processes and problem solve; recommend and coordinate needed changes based on process analysis.
- Monitor performance metrics to ensure established targets are met and facilitate corrective actions when required; assist department staff with resolving complex or unusual operation problems.
- Evaluate Standard Work Processes to produce best-in-class finish quality and maximize productivity.
- Contribute to preventative maintenance schedules to assure peak performance and quality.
- Report immediately any equipment performance or upstream material concerns for prompt remediation by technical and/or operation support personnel.
- Adhere to plant quality procedures in assigned job to meet customer requirements and customer specific requirements.
- Comply with all management systems to which KEI subscribes (ex. Quality and Environmental systems).
- Coordinate activities and special projects in order to ensure quality and meet timelines; help with scheduling production and flow of product, work with maintenance and electricians to ensure preventative maintenance is done on all production equipment.
- Active role in APQP and Lean Kaizen events

**QUALIFICATIONS**:

- 5+ years Anodizing experience
- Post-Secondary education in a related technical field preferred
- Experienced in anodizing production procedures and technology including knowledge in cleaning and pretreatment, electro-brightening (electro-polishing), type II anodizing, electro-colouring, dye colouring, chemical sealing
- Experience with automotive customer specifications and anodizing product quality testing
- Understand the importance of your activities in maintaining and improving quality and the associated risks to customers of non-conforming products
- Ability to work with and communicate effectively with the all levels of the organization
- Ability to work independently and draw from experience to troubleshoot with mínimal supervision
- Comfortable in a dynamic environment with shifting priorities, timelines and requirements
- Experience with lean manufacturing and standard work procedures.
- Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, etc.)
- Committed to continuing education and continuous improvement.

**SKILLS REQUIRED**:

- Ability to work in a fast paced continuously changing environment.
- Excellent people skills; including mentoring and team building.
- Good leadership and managerial skills; listens thoroughly to issues and responds appropriately; demonstrates assertiveness when appropriate.
- Strong relationship-building ability, proactive, results-oriented, and resourceful.
- Concern for quality demonstrated by continually reviewing and initiating process improvements.
- Ability to meet deadlines without compromising accuracy, excellent product quality and attention to detail.
- Excellent problem solvin