And recruiter pitched me a QA Manager role at a 450 tpd float line running about 72% OEE with manual sampling and no inline vision or SPC tied to MES. Is this a turnaround I can drive or a sign of chronic capex starvation? I’ve taken defects from about 1200 ppm to about 700 ppm by tightening furnace pull, cold-end anneal control, and adding camera inspection, but I’m trying to gauge whether that’s realistic here without near-term spend.
At ‘72% OEE’ and manual sampling, I’d only take it if they’ll fund a 90‑day cold‑end pilot: lease two inline cameras, push SPC to a lightweight MES connector, and prove the ppm/scrap delta. Get the capex envelope and scrap cost per ppm to model <12‑month payback; if they won’t back even the pilot, it’s chronic starvation. @OP did they show appetite for a small vision/SPC trial, or are they expecting miracles without sensors?
Quick gut-check: make the offer contingent on a 60‑day diagnostic (loss-tree + MSA + cross‑shift audits) with a stage‑gate that releases capex only if you hit agreed deltas on ppm and cold‑end uptime — otherwise it’s just “capex starvation” dressed up. Ask for the last 12 months’ defect Pareto, downtime by category, the FY capex envelope, and who owns PLC/MES integration; if they can’t produce that, pass. Building on @d_mitchell2023, pre‑negotiate rent‑to‑own vision and an SPC training budget so you don’t inherit a camera museum — do they have that flexibility?
It drives me nuts to see a float line stuck at 72% OEE. You might want to push for upfront capital to test new inline tools before diving in fully — something more predictable than just manual sampling, right? Have you thought about proposing a structured pilot to gauge the real impacts on defects?
Since you’ve already achieved a drop from 1200 to 700 ppm, it sounds like you have a solid foundation for improvement. I’d suggest negotiating to implement a short-term trial for inline inspection tools; it could quickly validate the impact on quality without a huge upfront spend. How do you see the team’s capacity for adapting to those changes?