Reliability Engineer

Client: Caterpillar Inc.
Location: Lafayette, IN 47905 (Onsite)
Duration: 12 Months
Positions: 2
Experience: 10–20 Years

Position Overview

Caterpillar is seeking experienced Reliability Engineers to drive equipment reliability, machine availability, and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) across CNC machining operations. The ideal candidate will leverage reliability engineering principles, maintenance analytics, TPM methodologies, and root cause analysis to improve equipment performance and reduce downtime.

This role will work closely with Maintenance, Manufacturing Engineering, Production, and Operations teams to establish a proactive reliability culture and implement sustainable improvements across critical manufacturing assets.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead reliability improvement initiatives focused on CNC machining centers and manufacturing equipment.
• Analyze machine downtime, maintenance history, and performance metrics to identify recurring failures and reliability gaps.
• Conduct Root Cause Corrective Action (RCCA) investigations and implement permanent corrective actions.
• Improve machine availability, OEE, MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures), and MTTR (Mean Time To Repair).
• Evaluate preventive maintenance programs and recommend improvements based on actual failure data.
• Develop data-driven maintenance strategies and optimize PM frequencies and intervals.
• Collaborate with Maintenance, Production, OEMs, and equipment integrators to resolve chronic equipment issues.
• Monitor machine health indicators and reliability performance metrics.
• Create concise reliability reports and one-page summaries outlining failure causes and corrective actions.
• Develop standardized reliability analysis processes that can be replicated across multiple production lines and assets.
• Support predictive maintenance initiatives including vibration analysis, lubrication programs, and thermal monitoring.
• Drive TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) and operator care programs on critical equipment.
• Support new equipment introduction, commissioning, and reliability planning activities.
• Manage critical spare parts strategies and equipment obsolescence planning.
• Coach operators and maintenance technicians on equipment care, defect identification, and reliability best practices.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor''s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or related field.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in manufacturing, maintenance, reliability engineering, or CNC machining environments.
• Strong experience supporting CNC machining centers and manufacturing equipment.
• Expertise in Root Cause Analysis (RCA), RCCA, reliability engineering, and maintenance optimization.
• Experience analyzing maintenance and reliability data to drive equipment improvements.
• Strong understanding of machine availability, OEE, MTBF, MTTR, and preventive maintenance programs.
• Experience using Microsoft Office 365 and Power BI for data analysis and reporting.
• Excellent communication and problem-solving skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Six Sigma Black Belt Certification.
• Experience with Llumin CMMS or similar computerized maintenance management systems.
• TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) implementation experience.
• Predictive maintenance experience including vibration, lubrication, and thermal monitoring programs.
• Project Management and New Capital Introduction (NCI) experience.
• Hands-on CNC machining experience including setup, operation, programming, or maintenance.
• Experience coaching operators and maintenance personnel.

Work Environment

• Combination of office and manufacturing shop floor environment.
• Daily interaction with Maintenance, Production, Manufacturing Engineering, and Operations teams.

Key Skills

• Reliability Engineering
• CNC Machining Centers
• Maintenance Operations
• TPM (Total Productive Maintenance)
• RCCA / Root Cause Analysis
• Reliability Analytics
• Power BI
• OEE Improvement
• MTBF / MTTR
• Predictive Maintenance
• Preventive Maintenance Optimization
• Manufacturing Operations
• Continuous Improvement
• Equipment Reliability
• CMMS Systems (Llumin Preferred)