Assembly & Repair Department Production Manag

About the Role

The Assembly & Repair Department Production Manager oversees daily operations within the assembly and repair department, ensuring that all activities meet or exceed established standards for safety, quality, cost, and on-time delivery. This position is responsible for leading and developing team members, maintaining workforce flexibility, and achieving key performance metrics as defined by company leadership. The role requires strong leadership, effective communication, and a proactive approach to problem-solving, scheduling, and process improvement.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and motivate team members to achieve department goals related to safety, quality, delivery, and cost performance.
• Foster a collaborative, team-based work environment that promotes job rotation, cross-training, and long-term workforce flexibility.
• Direct and manage day-to-day shop operations, ensuring all production schedules and customer delivery commitments are met.
• Conduct weekly production meetings with repair personnel to review progress, address challenges, and set priorities.
• Review and analyze open and released job order reports to ensure proper job alignment and prioritization.
• Assign work, plan daily startup activities, and establish weekly and weekend work schedules.
• Monitor “hot” and emergency jobs, maintaining communication with sales, production, and other departments to ensure timely completion.
• Review vendor outsourcing reports and coordinate with the Repair Expediter to track external repair and machining work.
• Utilize production reports to support weekly meetings, forecasting, and capacity planning.
• Maintain visibility on jobs due within the next several days, proactively addressing potential delays or resource constraints.
• Manage the repair quoting process, including evaluating incoming repair opportunities, inspecting returned cylinders, determining scope of work, developing accurate cost estimates, coordinating with Sales, Engineering, and Production, communicating repair recommendations and pricing, ensuring timely quote completion, and overseeing the repair workflow from quotation through production.
• Assist in coordinating logistics, including trucking and shipment schedules, particularly for inter-facility transfers.
• Collaborate with the Shop Foreman to develop and implement strategic production plans and process improvements.
• Communicate daily with company leadership regarding key operational updates and performance issues.
• Lead the resolution of quality or issue-tracking (APP) items, conducting monthly review meetings with team members to ensure accountability and follow-through.
• Plan and facilitate weekly shop meetings to review performance metrics, safety updates, and improvement initiatives.
• Identify and implement cost reduction opportunities and process efficiencies across the repair department.
• Ensure timely completion of employee performance reviews and development plans.
• Execute assigned initiatives and projects outlined in the company’s annual business plan.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Directly supervise all shop employees and the office supervisor in the assembly and repair departments.
• Carry out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws, including training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; and addressing complaints and resolving problems.

Requirements

• High school diploma or general education degree (GED); four to six years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals.
• Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.
• Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of the organization.
• Ability to apply advanced mathematical concepts such as exponents, logarithms, quadratic equations, and permutations.
• Ability to apply mathematical operations to tasks such as frequency distribution, determination of test reliability and validity, analysis of variance, correlation techniques, sampling theory, and factor analysis.
• Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
• Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Outlook, Made2Manage, AutoCAD, and Internet Explorer.
• Familiarity with process-flow manufacturing operations to ensure required materials/parts are available and ready as needed to complete orders on time.
• Ability to manage the flow of orders scheduled and in-process.
• Familiarity with cylinder product line/mechanical background, able to read drawings, use measuring devices such as measuring tape, micrometers, check gauges, and calipers.
• Ability to work independently or coordinate with others and serve in a leadership role to oversee and manage a team.

Physical Demands

• Regularly required to sit, use hands, talk, or hear.
• Frequently required to stand, walk, reach with hands and arms, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.
• Occasionally required to climb or balance.
• Must occasionally lift and/or move up to 20+ pounds.

Work Environment

• Required to wear safety glasses and hard sole/close-toed shoes with a low heel when walking through the manufacturing shop and/or repair shop.
• Long hair must be tied back when around hazards of flame, machinery, or equipment.
• Regularly exposed to work near moving mechanical parts.
• Occasionally exposed to fumes or airborne particles, toxic or caustic chemicals, and vibration.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate to loud.