Konecranes

Overview

Konecranes is seeking a hands-on Fabrication Lead in Houston, Texas, to oversee the manufacturing of custom-engineered crane structures. The role involves leading fabrication personnel, ensuring safety, quality, and productivity in fabrication operations.

Responsibilities

• Lead and direct welders, fitters, fabricators, and production personnel.
• Establish clear performance expectations and hold employees accountable for safety, quality, productivity, and attendance.
• Promote a culture of craftsmanship, ownership, discipline, and continuous improvement.
• Provide coaching, training, and development opportunities for fabrication employees.
• Support employee development and succession planning within the department.
• Foster teamwork and collaboration between Fabrication, Engineering, Quality, Planning, and Assembly teams.
• Maintain a visible presence on the shop floor and actively support daily operations.
• Oversee fabrication, fit-up, welding, grinding, structural assembly, and material handling activities.
• Coordinate manpower, equipment, and resources to meet production schedules and customer delivery commitments.
• Monitor workflow and remove obstacles impacting productivity and throughput.
• Ensure fabrication processes are executed in accordance with approved drawings, work instructions, and welding procedures.
• Manage daily production priorities and communicate progress, risks, and resource needs to management.
• Drive labor efficiency while maintaining quality and safety expectations.
• Coordinate with engineering and quality personnel to resolve fabrication issues and drawing discrepancies.
• Ensure all welding activities are performed in accordance with approved Welding Procedure Specifications (WPS), quality requirements, and AWS D14.1 standards.
• Verify weld quality through proper fit-up, joint preparation, welding practices, and visual inspection standards.
• Ensure welders maintain required qualifications and certifications.
• Drive first-pass weld quality and minimize weld repairs and rework.
• Review weld defects, nonconformances, and repair activities and implement corrective actions.
• Work closely with Quality personnel to ensure compliance with inspection and testing requirements.
• Promote workmanship standards that result in safe, structurally sound crane components.
• Ensure fabricated structures meet engineering drawings, specifications, and customer requirements.
• Maintain strict control of dimensional tolerances, structural alignment, and fabrication accuracy.
• Verify girder geometry, wheel alignment, rail alignment, span dimensions, camber requirements, and structural squareness.
• Ensure fabricated components transition to assembly operations without quality-related delays.
• Drive first-time quality and reduce fabrication-related rework.
• Support root-cause analysis and implementation of corrective actions for recurring quality issues.
• Ensure all required inspection documentation and production records are completed accurately.
• Lead and promote a strong safety-first culture throughout fabrication operations.
• Ensure compliance with all Konecranes safety policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements.
• Conduct routine safety observations, audits, and corrective actions.
• Promote safe welding, cutting, rigging, lifting, and material handling practices.
• Maintain a clean, organized, and efficient work environment utilizing 5S principles.
• Actively investigate incidents, near misses, and unsafe conditions and implement corrective measures.

Requirements

• Experience leading fabrication, welding, structural steel, heavy equipment, or industrial manufacturing operations.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to motivate and develop hourly production personnel.
• Thorough understanding of welding processes, fabrication methods, and structural assembly techniques.
• Working knowledge of AWS D14.1 welding requirements and quality standards.
• Ability to read and interpret fabrication drawings, weld symbols, inspection reports, and engineering documentation.
• Experience with dimensional inspection, alignment verification, and structural tolerance control.
• Strong problem-solving, organizational, and communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• Crane manufacturing, structural steel fabrication, bridge construction, heavy equipment, or similar experience preferred.

Benefits

• Health Insurance
• Dental
• Vision
• 401k

Additional Information

• Location: Houston, Texas
• 2 weeks of vacation per year, increasing with years of service.
• 5 days of Sick Leave per year.
• 10 paid holidays per year.