Subject Matter Expert (SME) - Automation
Cupertino, California, United States
Operations and Supply Chain
Imagine what you could do here. At Apple, new ideas have a way of becoming extraordinary products, services, and customer experiences very quickly. Bring passion and dedication to your job and there's no telling what you could accomplish.
The people here at Apple don’t just create products — they create the kind of wonder that’s revolutionized entire industries. It’s the diversity of those people and their ideas that inspires the innovation that runs through everything we do, from amazing technology to industry-leading environmental efforts. Join Apple, and help us leave the world better than we found it.
Key Qualifications
- 3+ years of experience working on automation and robotics applications for mass production applications.
- Experience designing, deploying, qualifying, supporting, and project managing automated manufacturing process lines that incorporate machine vision (including cameras, lighting, and programming), motion control (including actuators, motors, pneumatics) and sensors, with expertise in most of those component groups.
- Ability to reconcile DFM feedback with design goals, anticipate risk and identify mitigation opportunities, drive root cause/corrective action and process optimization activities to closure efficiently with proper design of experiment (DOE) practices and detailed data analysis using statistical methods such as process capability, correlation, GR&R, etc. and software such as JMP, Matlab, etc.
- Ability to work independently on a variety of demanding, concurrent projects that often require creative solutions.
- Positive attitude with a hands-on approach, and a desire to drive innovation and create world-class products.
- Expertise with one or more brands (ABB, KUKA, Fanuc, etc.) six-axis industrial robots, their textual programming languages (RAPID, KRL, Karel, etc.), and their offline programming (OLP) packages (RobotStudio, KUKA.Sim, Roboguide, etc.), or equivalents.
- Extensive experience using CAD to review and design mechanical components and assemblies, and create proper engineering part drawings using GD&T practices.
- Expertise with PLCs (Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Beckhoff, Siemens, Allen-Bradley, etc.) and various PLC programming languages including Ladder Diagram, Structured Text and Function Block Diagram.
- Experience working overseas with international supply chains and contract manufacturers.
- Fluent spoken and written English skills with an ability to articulate complex, technical concepts and issues in a clear and concise manner to audiences of mixed backgrounds.
- Fluency in Mandarin Chinese is a plus.
- Consistent overseas and occasional domestic travel required (~25%)
Description
You’ll drive automation activities (including machine vision and robotics) for enclosure and module manufacturing processes as part of Manufacturing Design’s Automation SME team. Work with integrators, suppliers, contract manufacturers, and internal customers to develop sophisticated automation capabilities and implement them in the supply chain to exacting standards on aggressive project timelines. Drive design reviews, execute proof of concept, maintain and resolve issues lists, implement data logging and traceability requirements, review control logic and programming, and define qualification requirements for FAT/SAT.
Work with engineering teams to identify automation needs and opportunities, provide design for automation feedback, conceptualize required automation, assess associated design/schedule risk, provide new technology capability analysis, negotiate deliverables, and create proof of concept where necessary.
Work with operations teams and contract manufacturers to evaluate automation implementation risk, create technical requirements/RFP package, assess capabilities of automation integrators, provide DFM feedback, support integrator down-select activities, and estimate automation costs and capabilities.
Provide onsite technical support at FAT/SAT, development builds, production builds, and production ramp as needed to ensure equipment capability, availability, and productivity. Coordinate above activities with overseas counterparts to push process capability, ensure completion of work, and identify/mitigate risk ahead of schedule. Present detailed analysis to key decision makers to enable commercial and design decisions.
Drive ground breaking research and development activities both in-house and with industry partners to deliver step-change improvements to process capability. Maintain deep knowledge of equipment capabilities and key process drivers; keep abreast of the latest industrial developments and utilize new technologies in novel ways to enable improved capabilities; serve as subject matter expert (SME) for project teams.
Education & Experience
BS/MS in engineering (mechanical, manufacturing, automation, robotics, or equivalent