Position summary
The Application Engineer turns the solution into a buildable, priced system.
Whether the concept comes from a Solutions Engineer or from the Application Engineer reading the RFP directly, the equipment, the layout, the manifest and the number are the Application Engineer's.
The Application Engineer is our expert on Fives equipment and how it applies. On pursuits where the operation itself has to be designed, a Solutions Engineer sets the flow, the rates and the block layout, and the Application Engineer equips it. On everything else, including replacements, expansions, defined-scope RFP responses and repeat work, the Application Engineer carries the pursuit from the specification through to the priced proposal.
Character qualifications
Innovation - We create a culture of relentless improvement of solutions and processes to make every day better.
Integrity - We are open, honest, and committed to giving the straight story every time.
Service - We serve our clients, families, communities, and most importantly our people who are empowered and safe in making decisions and taking actions that dare to make us better.
Ownership - We take full, personal, individual responsibility for our actions and our work.
Essential duties & responsibilities
Intake & qualification
• Give the technical feasibility read on bid/no-bid. The commercial decision sits above this department.
Solution development
• Decide how Fives equipment answers the requirement, and size and select it to hit throughput, product profile and operating hours at a price that wins.
• Own the detailed layout in SketchUp and AutoCAD.
• Own the system manifest and equipment list.
Estimating & cost
• Build the complete mechanical estimate for the scope: material and installation labor, at the most economical configuration that satisfies the requirement.
• Develop the bill of material.
• Document cost drivers, assumptions, exclusions and risk allowances well enough that another engineer can review the estimate without rebuilding it.
• Author the Cost Review Document.
Proposal assembly
• Own the technical narrative: scope of work, description of operation, clarifications and exceptions.
Customer & supply
• Obtain and evaluate vendor and subcontractor pricing, and recommend selection.
Execution & turnover
• Hand execution a package they can build from: the reasoning and assumptions, not only the drawings.
Contributes to
• Reviewing the RFP, contract and statement of work for risk
• Protecting the project budget and gross margin
• Customer operational data analysis
• Process and material flow design across functional areas
• Block-level layout and technology class per area
• Third-party and partner selection
• Technology feasibility evaluation
• Standard-hours and cost-data studies
• Estimating tool and SAP improvement
• Specification compliance and acceptance criteria
• Risk assessment
• Customer meetings with Sales
• The technical basis for acceptance criteria and test procedures
• Technical support to the Project Manager in early phases
Working with the rest of the team
PartnerThey bringYou keepSolutions EngineerThe operation design: process and material flow, rates, block layout, and the technology class in each areaThe equipment, the detailed layout, the manifest and the estimateSenior Application Engineer / Senior Electrical Estimating EngineerThe estimating standard, rates and cost data, and review and sign-offThe estimate on your bidElectrical Estimating EngineerElectrical and controls architecture and the electrical estimateThe mechanical scope and how the two fit togetherOffering ManagerProposal schedule, bid strategy, workload prioritizationThe technical content and its qualityOperations / Project ManagementAcceptance criteria and field execution of the testThe technical basis the criteria are built on
Qualifications
Education and experience
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 5 to 8 years in applications engineering, estimating, or industrial system design.
• Required: demonstrated ownership of material and labor estimates for capital equipment or industrial systems.
• Preferred, not required: material handling, conveyor, or sortation experience. Candidates from adjacent capital-equipment industries are expressly welcome.
• Proficiency with 2D and 3D layout tools. SketchUp and AutoCAD are the department standard; equivalent tools are acceptable with willingness to convert.
• Strong Excel. SAP exposure a plus.
Skills
Language. Reads and interprets customer specifications, technical drawings, contracts and statements of work. Communicates technical concepts clearly to technical and non-technical audiences, including customers. Mathematical. Works with geometry, trigonometry and probability. Applies ratios, percentages and proportions to practical cost problems. Reasoning. Defines problems, collects data, establishes facts, and draws valid conclusions from incomplete information, stating the assumptions used to get there.
Travel
Travel to customer offices, vendor plants and job sites, typically under 25%. Occasional international travel for site visits or training.
Progression
The Application Engineer is the core technical role in Solutions Engineering. Most of what this department sends to a customer is an Application Engineer's work. The role has four levels: Junior Application Engineer, Application Engineer, Senior Application Engineer and Principal Application Engineer. Advancement to Senior Application Engineer or Solutions Engineer. It comes from Owning Complete Estimates Without Correction and Passing This Discipline's Method Review. None of these levels manages people. Line management is a separate route, through Supervisor, Manager and Director of Applications Engineering, open by choice rather than by seniority.
Physical demands
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel and talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to walk, sit, and reach with hands and arms. The employee is occasionally required to stand and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, and ability to adjust focus. Travel via automobile and/or commercial airline to customer offices for meetings, vendor's plants, and job site to coordinate the conveyors or equipment with the building and installers.
Work environment
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally exposed to moving mechanical parts, outside weather conditions, risk of electrical shock, and risk of radiation. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate, unless performing work in shop or field conditions.
