Design for Manufacturing - New Product Introduction Manager

Design for Manufacturing - New Product Introduction Manager

Columbia, MD

Full Time - Onsite

Our client is seeking a motivated and experienced New Product Introduction (NPI) Manager to join a dynamic team. The NPI Manager will oversee the introduction of new products from concept through production, ensuring alignment with design, quality, and manufacturing standards. This role requires a strong understanding of high-mix low-volume production environments and the ability to collaborate effectively across multiple teams.

Key Responsibilities

Project Management: Lead cross-functional teams to drive the NPI process, ensuring timely delivery of products to market.

Design for Manufacturing:

• Collaborate with engineering and design teams to optimize product designs for manufacturability and cost-effectiveness.
• Evaluate product designs for manufacturability, identifying opportunities to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and ensure design feasibility in a low-volume, high-mix environment. Work closely with design engineers to propose design modifications that improve production efficiency and product quality.
• Design for Test (DFT): Collaborate with design teams to ensure products are designed with testing in mind, developing and implementing strategies that improve testability and reduce issues during assembly and final inspection.

Material Planning: Coordinate material requirements and inventory levels to support production schedules and minimize lead times.

Quality Assurance:

• Implement and monitor quality control processes to ensure compliance with ISO 9001 standards and drive continuous improvement.
• Ensure product designs meet the company’s quality standards. Participate in failure analysis and root cause investigations to resolve product quality issues. Implement corrective actions and preventive measures to continuously improve product reliability.

Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA): Develop and manage processes for handling product returns and customer feedback to enhance product quality and customer satisfaction.

Configuration Management:

• Maintain accurate records of product specifications, changes, and updates throughout the production lifecycle.
• Work closely with engineering and production teams to ensure effective configuration management of product designs and documentation. Maintain control over design revisions, product configuration changes, and BOM (Bill of Materials) management, ensuring accurate and up-to-date information is accessible across all teams. Support the development of change control processes and ensure compliance with configuration management best practices.

Supplier Assessment: Evaluate and select suppliers to ensure quality, reliability, and cost-effectiveness of materials and components.

Production Lifecycle Management: Oversee the transition of products from development to full-scale production, ensuring all stakeholders are informed and aligned.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, or a related field
• 5 years of experience in new product introduction, manufacturing, or related roles, preferably in a high-mix low-volume production environment.
• Strong knowledge of Design for Manufacturing principles and ISO 9001 quality standards.
• Experience with production process development for complex electro-mechanical assemblies
• Proven experience in material planning, quality assurance, and configuration management.
• Excellent project management skills with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Familiarity with printed circuit board fabrication and SMT assembly processes.
• Strong analytical skills and attention to detail.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work collaboratively across teams.
• Proficiency in project management tools and software.