Engineer - New Product Development

Role & responsibilities

• Handle end-to-end new product development activities for plastic painted components from customer enquiry/development stage through SOP.
• Review customer drawings, specifications, 3D models, colour requirements, surface finish requirements, and quality standards.
• Conduct product and process feasibility studies for plastic injection moulding and painting processes.
• Coordinate with customers and internal teams for clarification of technical requirements, specifications, and development timelines.
• Coordinate with Tool Room, Injection Moulding, Paint Shop, Quality, Engineering, Purchase, and Production teams for successful product development.
• Plan and conduct mould trials, painting trials, process trials, and validation activities for new components.
• Develop and optimize painting parameters such as surface preparation, primer, base coat, top coat, clear coat, curing temperature, spray parameters, and paint viscosity.
• Support colour matching and shade development as per customer-approved standards and samples.
• Monitor critical paint quality characteristics including colour, gloss, adhesion, coating thickness, appearance, texture, and surface defects.
• Coordinate for development of painting fixtures, masking arrangements, jigs, gauges, and other process aids.
• Prepare and maintain NPD documentation including APQP, PPAP, PFMEA, Process Flow, Control Plan, Work Instructions, Trial Reports, and inspection records.
• Support preparation and submission of PPAP samples and documentation to customers and ensure timely approval.
• Conduct dimensional, functional, and appearance validation of developed components.
• Carry out root cause analysis and corrective actions for development-related quality issues using tools such as 5 Why, Fishbone, 8D, and CAPA.
• Track project timelines, development status, open issues, trials, approvals, and SOP readiness.
• Support cost reduction and value engineering initiatives related to paint consumption, cycle time, rejection, manpower, and process efficiency.
• Monitor paint material consumption, process parameters, and opportunities for paint cost optimization and productivity improvement.
• Support production during initial production runs and ramp-up to ensure smooth transition from development to regular production.
• Participate in continuous improvement initiatives such as Kaizen, 5S, Poka-Yoke, Lean Manufacturing, and process optimization.
• Ensure all development activities are completed within the agreed quality, cost, and delivery timelines.

Preferred candidate profile

Plastic Paint shop