James Downs Email & Phone Number

Chicago, Il, Us

London, Gb

Senior Engineer with a with a can do attitude that specializes in creative thinking, but enjoys keeping things simple, effective and flexible. Lead Engineer on NPD projects while maintaining Sustaining role for legacy products. Have a knack for solutions to issues and knows how to get products implemented.

Product Engineering responsibilities are to evaluate and investigate design change requests from internal/external customers, taking action and making changes to improve product quality, reliability, manufacturability and cost. Compile, prepare and present data on project updates and provide technical presentations to staff and management on engineering designs. Interface with new and existing suppliers on product changes and new product development for improved cost, quality and design on projects. Design and analyze complete and accurate 3-D models using Autodesk Inventor. Create bill of materials and other documentation such as ECN’s and PPAP’s necessary for the release and implementation products. Complete modeled assembly drawings for use in product manuals. Design fixtures needed to meet the process and economic requirements of the product.

While continuing as Product Engineer, Manufacturing Engineer, I also have taken on the roll as Quality Process Coordinator at Aquion, Inc. My focus is to drive quality to the source. Enable / empower employees to focus on quality production and for those employees to take responsibility for their own outputs.Quality Team / QA Technicians Manager, ISO 9001:2015 Management Representative / Coordinator. Report Quality issues to suppliers and manage improvements.

Manufacturing / Quality engineering responsibilities are to assess process improvement changes, examine Corrective Actions Requests, complete root causes analysis, and implement temporary / permanent corrective actions and verify effectiveness. Work with both internal and external resources to justify and implement new equipment and processes. Determine product testing requirements of new products entering into production and procure equipment to satisfy those requirements. Trouble-shoot machine mechanical, electrical and process problems as they occur. Generate accurate equipment set-up and operating work instructions. Complete assembly work instructions. Develop and program Access Databases for the reporting and tracking of Production and Quality metrics. Implement equipment that is needed to improve operator ergonomics in production.

- Ensured Continuous Improvement initiatives were implemented thru completion, by developing work instructions of component assemblies and continued 5S implementation throughout production.- Improved production by designing new fixturing for Pines Bending Machines, designed and built assembly table that combine assembly and testing of Quick Connectors- Justified and implemented new and used machinery by procuring New Media Blasting Station and price compared current costs on of items located in upcoming auctions to ensure a maximized purchase savings value.

Des Plaines, Il, Us

- Developed process FMEA’s on factory machined components and created work instructions on faucet and sub assemblies produced in the Des Plaines facility for transfer to the Milwaukee and Michigan City facilities.- Key member of team that facilitated transfer and closure of Des Plaines facility to the Milwaukee, Wisconsin facility for machining, and finishing and to the Michigan City, Indiana facility for faucet assembly.- Completed PPAP and First Article Inspection on all foreign and domestic sourced manufactured components.- Vendor development with Taiwan and China suppliers by communicating engineering specifications and quality issues on products, also by conducting multiple supplier certification inspections of their facilities.- Production improvements, by implementing 5S in various assembly areas, completing training for quality inspectors of machined components, developing simplified component pressure decay testing procedures.

Addison, Il, Us

- Production improvements by completing plant layout changes to improve material flow that led to a decreases in material handling. Modified machines with custom designed components for decrease in machine setup and change over times and reduction of machine cycle times.- Developed production and machine time tracking metrics to properly gage daily production. Added machine time counters to machines and trained staff on how to report daily information.- Implemented new machinery into production by training operators and setup technicians and completed trouble shooting startup issues with the new machines and existing machines. - Facilitated plant move from Chicago, IL facility to new 75k sq. ft. Addison, IL facility. Designed layout using AutoCAD. Coordinated with contractors on epoxy finishing of the flooring and painting of the facility.- Worked with Sales on customer Artwork, by completing graphic design work for screen and litho printing operations.