Manufacturing Manager

About the Company

Benchmark designs and manufactures high-performance, low-maintenance, easy-to-operate product handling systems for food and bakery manufacturers, including distribution systems, automatic cartoner infeeds, shuttle and disk feeders, stackers, mergers, tray loaders, and slug loaders. Benchmark also manufactures the Southern Packaging line of intermittent motion horizontal form fill seal pouch packaging systems. Benchmark is a product brand of ProMach, a global leader in packaging line solutions.

As part of the ProMach Product Handling business line, Benchmark helps packaging customers protect and grow the reputation and trust of their consumers. ProMach is a family of best-in-class packaging solution brands serving manufacturers of all sizes and geographies in the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, and household and industrial goods industries. ProMach brands operate across the entire packaging spectrum: filling and capping, flexibles, pharma, product handling, labeling and coding, and end of line.

ProMach is headquartered near Cincinnati, Ohio, with manufacturing facilities and offices throughout North America, Europe, South America, and Asia.

About the Role

This role is responsible for overseeing the manufacturing process from design release to shipment, including mechanical assembly and parts manufacturing (machining and fabrication) departments in the production of product handling machinery and related equipment. The Manufacturing Manager will manage plant safety, facilities management, and manufacturing quality, as well as capacity planning, utilization, scheduling, and shop order management. The role involves supervising and planning all manufacturing activities while balancing tactical and strategic business directives.

The primary goal is to ensure all manufacturing processes and related activities operate at the highest levels of Safety, Quality, Delivery, and Cost performance. Reporting to this position will be the Assembly Supervisor, Production Supervisor for machining and fabrication departments, and the Quality Inspector(s).

Responsibilities

• Lead the entire Division in proper safety practices and consistently enforce these practices.
• Guide employees in following good manufacturing practices to build products meeting industry and customer quality requirements.
• Understand and manage mechanical and electrical machine-building processes, ensuring consistency and repeatability.
• Review engineering-recommended process changes to align with operating goals.
• Implement a culture of sustaining lean and continuous improvement practices within the manufacturing organization.
• Lead efforts to lower the cost and lead time of building machinery.
• Ensure the manufacturing organization meets deadlines for machine builds.
• Manage workload and capacity through analysis and actions to satisfy schedule adherence.
• Develop and execute work definition, scheduling, and task assignments.
• Collaborate with fellow department managers to solve joint problems and meet deadlines.
• Establish and lead training programs for manufacturing team members.
• Provide leadership, communication, and coaching to the manufacturing team.
• Develop and communicate individual growth paths for team members.
• Lead hiring and performance management of manufacturing team members.
• Build a culture of problem-solving and accountability.
• Develop KPIs and analysis tools to understand and manage work processes.
• Evaluate and improve work processes.
• Work with the Controller and General Manager to develop short and long-term goals supporting overall business objectives.
• Develop and execute operating and capital budgets, including adherence to overtime, labor, and materials requirements.
• Run regularly scheduled meetings and provide timely updates to key stakeholders.
• Provide hands-on support for troubleshooting production performance issues and dispute resolution.
• Monitor and maintain quality standards for all products.

Requirements

• 8-10 years of manufacturing/operations experience, with proven success in a related leadership position in an environment of custom capital goods.
• Proven track record of managerial expertise over departments of 20+ employees, involving manufacturing-based problem-solving, personnel management, and employee morale development.
• Proficient with MS Office and knowledge of MRP/ERP systems (Ultimate Software, Syteline preferred).
• Strong communication skills, both oral and written, across all levels of an organization.
• Results-oriented, self-motivated, with demonstrated ability to lead, coach, and inspire others.
• Proven ability to handle multiple projects and meet deadlines.
• Analytical thinker with a focus on root-cause problem-solving.
• Works effectively and collaboratively in a team environment, comfortable in cross-functional roles.
• Must be willing to work extended hours when staff is working overtime and/or some weekends.
• Reliable and able to carry out tasks autonomously and collaboratively.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical and dental programs.
• Life insurance.
• Generous paid time off program.
• Retirement savings plan with company match.
• No waiting period for benefits—eligible on the first day of employment.
• Open, communicative environment fostering individual initiative and career growth.