Digital Twin Engineer
Gastonia, US, 28052
Role Summary
Digital Twin Engineer
MANN+HUMMEL
Onsite - Gastonia, NC
The Manufacturing Digital Twin Engineer owns and builds the plant-level Digital Twin for an IATF-certified automotive manufacturing facility (~375 employees) producing Heavy Duty and Industrial Air and Liquid Filtration. The role develops the capabaility from the ground up using AutoCAD and FlexSim to model end-to-end production and internal logistics, run mixed-methods simulations, and provide data-driven recommendations to improve throughout, robustness, and investment decisions - while creating reusable standards/templates for global scaling.
Main Tasks
- Own the plant Digital Twin in AutoCAD + FlexSim
- Establish governed model structure (assets, routings, constraints, assumptions, versioning)
- keep the model aligned to real-world conditions (including high-mix/low volume realities)
- Update flows/routings/process steps end-to-end
- Maintain capacity inputs: cycle times, changeovers, uptime/downtime
- Maintains shift/labor patterns, buffers/WIP rules, operating contraints
- Model internal logistics: warehouse/supermarkets, tugger/forklifts routes, replenishment logic
- Validate and refresh inputs with stakeholders using MED and SAP data
- Run studies for bottlenecks, constraint behavior, line balancing, rate changes
- Evaluate buffer sizing/WIP strategies, material flow improvements
- Assess staffing concepts and operating policies
- Support investment/expansion scenarios (new lines, automation, warehouse, redesign)
- Use DOE/parameter sweeps, heuristic optimization, structured experimentation
- Identify new Digital Twin use cases with Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain, CI/Lean
- Translate operational problems into simulation questions with defined inputs/outputs
- Build repeatable templates for recurring analyses
- Provide recommendations supporting capex justification, investment prioritizaiton, through output improvements, and robustness/sensitivity analysis
- Communicate results to leadership with clear assumptions, scenarios, findings, and recommendation
- Validate alternative layouts/logistics concepts/capacity changes through simulation
- Collaborate with engineering while protecting model integrity and ownnership
- Partner with the Global Digital Twin Program Lead
- Package reusable standards: templates, modeling conventions, scenario libraries
Profile
Education
- Bachelors degree in Engineering preferred
- Equivalent combinations of education and/or experience will be considered.
Experience
- 3 to 5 years of manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering, simulation engineering, or related roles in a manufacturing environment
- Tool/application experience: hands-on building models in FlexSim (or comparable DES tool) and using AutoCAD for industrial/manufacturing layouts.
Skills & Competencies
- Discrete-event simulation (DES) capability
- FlexSim including building reusbale model components
- AutoCAD in manufacturing layout context
- Strong understanding of manufacturing systems (flows, constraints, variability, boittlenecks)
- Ability to create models from ambiguous inputs and validate with stakeholders
- Strong analytical and communication skills; explain assumptions/results to non-simulations audiences
- Provide training and coach team members on the use of FlexSim to support simulation modeling, analysis, and decision-making
Preferred Experience
- Experience working in the automotive industry
- Basic scripting/analytics exposure: SQL, Python, PowerBI
- Using MES and SAP data for operational analysis
- Optimization approaches: DOE, parameter sweeps, heuristic optimization
Nearest Major Market: Charlotte
Nearest Secondary Market: Concord