Process Engineering Specialist- Stampings & Fab

About SAN Automotive Industries SAN Automotive Industries Pvt. Ltd. is a forward-looking automotive component manufacturing company specializing in precision sheet metal stamping, metal fabrication, welded assemblies, tool and die manufacturing, and engineered metal components . Founded by our Managing Director, Mr.

Dinesh Gumber , SAN Automotive has built strong capabilities across 2-wheelers, 4-wheelers, construction equipment, agricultural machinery, electric mobility, and industrial applications . The company supplies to leading OEMs and Tier-1 companies across India and has experience working with reputed customers such as Maruti Suzuki, JCB, Mitsuba , and other established automotive and industrial companies. As SAN Automotive enters its next phase of growth, process improvement, cost optimization, automation, and new product development, we are looking for a strong Senior Process Engineer who can bring practical manufacturing knowledge, tool and die expertise, and innovative cost-reduction ideas to improve productivity and reduce dependency on manual labour.

Position Overview The Senior Process Engineer will be responsible for improving existing manufacturing processes, reducing production cost, developing better tooling concepts, converting general tools into progressive tools wherever feasible, and driving VA/VE initiatives across sheet metal and fabricated components. The ideal candidate should have strong experience in sheet metal stamping, press shop processes, tool and die development, process planning, critical part development, productivity improvement, and cost reduction . This role is important because the manufacturing industry is facing rising labour costs, low labour availability, and increasing customer pressure for cost competitiveness.

The selected candidate must be able to identify process gaps, improve cycle time, reduce manpower dependency, improve material utilization, reduce rejection, and suggest smarter manufacturing methods. Key Responsibilities 1. Process Development and Improvement Study existing manufacturing processes for sheet metal and fabricated components.

Identify process gaps, bottlenecks, excess handling, labour dependency, rejection, rework, and non-value-added activities. Develop improved process flows for new and existing components. Work on process simplification, cycle time reduction, manpower reduction, and productivity improvement.

Recommend better manufacturing methods for press shop, weld shop, assembly, and secondary operations. Standardize best practices for repeatable and efficient production. 2. VA/VE and Cost Reduction Lead VA/VE initiatives across existing and new products.

Identify cost-reduction opportunities in material, tooling, process, manpower, cycle time, welding, handling, packing, and inspection. Analyze current part manufacturing costs and suggest practical improvement ideas. Work with costing, production, quality, and tool room teams to implement cost-saving actions.

Develop process-change proposals that reduce cost without affecting quality or customer requirements. Track implemented VA/VE ideas and calculate actual savings. 3. Tool and Die Development Provide technical inputs for tool and die design, development, trials, and improvements.

Work closely with the tool room on new tooling concepts, die modification, tool life improvement, and process stabilization. Review tool layouts, strip layouts, operation sequences, forming stages, blank development, and process feasibility. Support development of tools for critical sheet metal components.

Identify opportunities to reduce the number of operations through better tooling. Improve tool performance, part consistency, and production efficiency. 4. Conversion from General Tools to Progressive Tools Study components currently manufactured through single-operation or general-purpose tooling.

Identify parts suitable for conversion into progressive tools, compound tools, combination tools, or improved stage tooling. Analyze feasibility based on volume, part complexity, investment, payback, quality improvement, and manpower saving. Develop process concepts for progressive tooling to reduce handling, improve output, and reduce dependency on manual labour.

Coordinate with tool design, tool room, production, and management for implementation. Support trials, validation, and stabilization of converted tooling processes. 5. Critical Part Development Support development of complex and critical sheet metal components.

Analyze drawings, tolerances, forming requirements, bending requirements, welding requirements, and assembly conditions. Identify possible manufacturing challenges before production launch. Support NPD teams in process planning, tool planning, trial execution, and sample development.

Work on problem-solving for parts with high rejection, dimensional variation, tool issues, or process instability. Ensure manufacturability is considered from the early stage of development. 6. Productivity and Manpower Optimization Identify areas where manual labour dependency can be reduced.

Suggest process improvements, fixtures, poka-yoke systems, semi-automation, progressive tooling, material handling improvements, and layout changes. Improve operator productivity through better process design and work methods. Study machine utilization, line balancing, changeover time, and output per manpower.

Support automation and low-cost automation ideas where feasible. 7. Process Documentation and Standardization Prepare process flow charts, operation sheets, work instructions, tool trial reports, VA/VE reports, and process improvement records. Maintain documentation for process changes and cost-saving projects.

Support control plan preparation and process feasibility documents. Ensure updated process documents are available to production and quality teams. Standardize successful improvements across similar components and processes. 8.

Cross-Functional Coordination Work closely with production, quality, NPD, tool room, maintenance, purchase, costing, dispatch, and senior management. Coordinate process trials, tooling trials, production improvements, and quality improvement activities. Support production teams during process stabilization and troubleshooting.

Coordinate with vendors, tool makers, fixture makers, and machine suppliers when required. Ensure process improvement ideas are practically implemented on the shop floor. 9. Quality and Rejection Reduction Analyze rejection trends, rework issues, dimensional problems, forming defects, burr issues, welding defects, and tool-related defects.

Work with quality and production teams to identify root causes. Recommend process and tooling improvements to reduce rejection and improve consistency. Support corrective and preventive action implementation.

Improve process capability and repeatability for critical components. Qualifications and Requirements Diploma / Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Tool & Die Making, Production Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or related technical field. Strong experience in sheet metal stamping, fabrication, press shop, tool and die development, process engineering, or manufacturing engineering.

Good understanding of press tools, progressive tools, compound tools, forming tools, bending tools, fixtures, jigs, and inspection gauges. Strong knowledge of VA/VE, cost reduction, productivity improvement, manpower optimization, and process improvement. Ability to read engineering drawings, part layouts, tool layouts, strip layouts, and process documents.

Experience in developing or improving critical sheet metal parts. Practical knowledge of press shop operations, welding operations, fabrication processes, and secondary operations. Ability to work with production, quality, NPD, tool room, costing, and senior management.

Strong communication skills in Hindi and English. Good working knowledge of MS Excel, PowerPoint, and technical documentation. Preferred Skills Experience in converting general tools into progressive tools will be strongly preferred.

Strong background in automotive component manufacturing and sheet metal parts. Experience in tool trials, die correction, process feasibility, blank development, strip layout review, and production stabilization. Knowledge of cost reduction through process change, material saving, cycle time reduction, operation elimination, and manpower reduction.

Experience in high-volume press shop production. Understanding of welding fixtures, assembly fixtures, poka-yoke systems, and low-cost automation. Ability to calculate cost savings and present improvement proposals to management.

Exposure to 5S, Kaizen, lean manufacturing, line balancing, SMED, and continuous improvement tools. Personal Attributes Strong technical and practical problem-solving mindset. Cost-conscious and improvement-oriented.

Hands-on approach to shop-floor problem solving. Strong ownership and accountability. Ability to challenge existing processes and suggest better alternatives.

Innovative, proactive, and future-focused. Strong coordination ability across departments. Detail-oriented and analytical.

Comfortable working in a fast-paced manufacturing environment. Strong follow-up discipline. What Success Looks Like in This Role The selected candidate will help ensure that: Existing processes are improved and standardized.

VA/VE ideas are generated, implemented, and tracked. Manufacturing cost is reduced without compromising quality. General tools are evaluated for conversion into progressive or improved tooling.

Labour dependency is reduced through better processes and tooling. Rejection, rework, handling, and downtime are reduced. Critical parts are developed with better process planning.

Productivity improves across press shop, weld shop, and fabrication areas. SAN Automotive becomes more competitive through smarter manufacturing methods.