Lab Continuous Improvement Engineer Intern
Plymouth, MNFull-time$11.41/hrSeen 1w agoSeen in employer's feed 4 days ago
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At a glance
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Requirements
Credentials this posting asks for.
Job overview
Daikin Applied is hiring a Continuous Improvement Engineering Intern for a 12-week internship at its Plymouth test facility. The intern will lead a defined improvement project from observation through pilot implementation, measurement, and presentation, working with engineers, technicians, and operational teams. The role focuses on improving laboratory performance and provides coaching from a Continuous Improvement Engineer.
Skills & qualifications
Skills
Qualifications
Full job description
Job Duties
Join the world's largest HVAC company!
Daikin Applied is now hiring for a Continuous Improvement Engineering Intern in Plymouth, Minnesota. This 12-week internship offers hands-on experience in an HVAC/R, chiller, and compressor test facility while supporting improvements that strengthen safety, quality, delivery, cost, test capacity, and employee engagement.
You will work alongside engineers, technicians, laboratory planners, controls and instrumentation specialists, skilled trades, and operational leaders. With guidance from a Continuous Improvement Engineer, you will lead a defined improvement project from initial observation through pilot implementation, measurement, and final presentation.
What's in it for you?
Own a meaningful, real-life improvement project that can directly improve Plymouth Test Lab performance.
Gain practical experience with Lean, PDCA, DMAIC, Gemba, process mapping, time studies, root-cause analysis, standard work, 5S, visual management, and performance measurement.
Build relationships with interns and professionals across engineering, test operations, quality, facilities, controls, instrumentation, and skilled trades.
Receive regular coaching from a Continuous Improvement Engineer and support from experienced technical subject-matter experts.
Present your results and recommendations to laboratory leadership and gain a measurable accomplishment for future interviews.
Explore career paths in continuous improvement, industrial engineering, test engineering, quality, operations, project management, and data analytics.
What you will do
Lead one scoped improvement project using PDCA or DMAIC methodology.
Develop a project charter, SIPOC, stakeholder map, baseline, root-cause analysis, countermeasure plan, and final report-out.
Conduct Gemba observations, employee interviews, time studies, workflow analysis, and current-state/future-state process mapping.
Analyze test readiness, setup, teardown, turnover, downtime, lost test hours, action aging, or other operational measures.
Create Pareto charts, trends, Excel tools, dashboards, checklists, standard work, visual controls, or process-confirmation methods.
Support a focused Kaizen or structured problem-solving activity.
Pilot practical countermeasures, collect employee feedback, compare before-and-after results, and identify unintended effects.
Create a control and sustainment plan with named owners, review cadence, and follow-up measures.
Minimum qualifications
Currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Technology, Quality Engineering, Operations Management, Data Analytics, or a related technical field.
Sophomore, Junior, or Senior standing at the start of the internship.
Experience using Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.
Ability to collect, organize, analyze, and communicate information.
Strong problem-solving, organization, collaboration, and follow-through skills.
Ability to work safely in both an office and active industrial laboratory environment.
Work visa sponsorship is not available for this position.
Preferred qualifications
Coursework or project experience involving Lean, Six Sigma, PDCA, DMAIC, statistics, quality engineering, operations research, or project management.
Familiarity with SIPOC, process mapping, time studies, Pareto analysis, 5 Whys, fishbone diagrams, standard work, 5S, or visual management.
Experience with Power BI, Power Query, Minitab, SharePoint, Microsoft Lists, or similar analytical tools.
Previous manufacturing, laboratory, maintenance, engineering, technical-club, or student design-team experience.
Employment is contingent upon successful completion of pre-employment requirements, including verification of employment history, education, background screening, and drug testing where permitted by law. Safety-sensitive positions may require cannabis (marijuana) testing. All testing and employment decisions will comply with applicable federal, state, and local laws.
If you're looking for an engaging career with growth opportunities in a supportive environment, you'll love a career at Daikin Applied!
Equal Opportunity Employment: It is the policy of Daikin Applied to provide equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of race, creed, color, religion, gender, gender identification, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, marital status, membership or activity in a local commission, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.
Minimum Education Required
Bachelor Degree
Minimum Experience Required
None
Shift
First (Day)
Number of Openings
1
Public Transportation Accessible
Yes
Veterans Encouraged to Apply
No
Physical Required
Yes
Drug Test Required
Yes
Compensation
$11.41 / Hourly
Postal Code
55441
Job Type
Full Time
Place of Work
On-site
Requisition ID
R004454
Job Benefits
Not specified
How this job compares
Set against the 444 open Continuous Improvement jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 7, 2026.
- Pay
- This posting$11.41/hr
- US median$22–25/hr26 hourly ranges
This rate, $11.41/hr, is 50% below the US median midpoint ($23/hr) — in the lowest quarter of Continuous Improvement hourly ranges across the US.
- Openings
- Olive Jobs lists 13 open Continuous Improvement jobs in Minnesota and 444 across the US. 3% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
- Hiring the most across the US
- Eaton Corporation49 open
- RTX Corporation10 open
- Black & Veatch9 open
- Experience
- Continuous Improvement postings that state a minimum ask for 5 years of experience at the median; the middle half ask for 3 to 7 years (301 postings).
- Education
- This posting asks for a bachelor's degree; 183 of the 444 open Continuous Improvement jobs (41%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.
Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 7, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.
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