Production Supervisor

About the Role

This position reports to the Production Superintendent and directs and manages plant floor operations with overall responsibilities for production, quality, and other production-related activities. The Production Supervisor will spend a significant amount of time on the production floor, working with direct reports to uncover opportunities for process improvement, reduced downtime, waste reduction, cost savings, and quality enhancements—all in a safe manner. This role involves developing, training, and mentoring manufacturing floor employees.

Responsibilities

• Commit to overall plant safety and procedures.
• Manage 3 to 30 manufacturing employees at the location.
• Plan, organize, direct, and run day-to-day operations to exceed customer expectations.
• Increase production, asset capacity, and flexibility while reducing waste and minimizing unnecessary costs without compromising quality.
• Be responsible for production output, product quality, waste reduction, and on-time shipping.
• Allocate resources effectively to optimize results.
• Implement strategies aligned with division initiatives, providing clear direction and focus for production employees.
• Monitor operations and trigger corrective actions as needed.
• Build trusting relationships with the workgroup, recruit, manage, and develop plant staff.
• Provide leadership and drive training initiatives for all plant employees.
• Develop future talent through coaching and mentoring.
• Collect and analyze data to identify areas of waste or overtime and implement improvement processes.
• Develop systems to track and optimize productivity, standards, metrics, and performance targets for effective return on assets, quality, and safety.
• Monitor, manage, and control expenses throughout the year.
• Participate in strategic thinking and plant/company processes.
• Conduct meetings to communicate company goals, objectives, initiatives, and progress.
• Build and retain a "customer-focused" environment for both internal and external customers.
• Adhere to all plant Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and standard operating procedures (SOPs).
• Manage, drive, and oversee continuous improvement programs.
• Communicate production needs to the Production Manager, Plant Manager, and local management team.
• Develop and analyze new methods to reduce/avoid costs, improve products, and ensure a safe working environment.
• Create a departmental vision and translate it into actionable items with specific completion dates and delegated responsibilities.
• Ensure plant operations meet or exceed safety goals by:
  • Understanding, communicating, and ensuring compliance with all safety protocols/OSHA standards (e.g., lockout/tagout).
  • Participating in the Management Safety Team or assisting the Plant Safety Committee.
  • Promoting safety as a key strategic initiative and providing direction to plant employees.
  • Holding employees accountable for meeting safety expectations.
  • Acting as a role model for safe work practices.
  • Proactively driving continuous improvement for safety across all plant operations.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in business, engineering, or a related field preferred, or equivalent experience.
• Minimum of 1 to 3 years of related experience and/or training in a manufacturing environment.
• Extrusion, plastic bag converting, or paper converting experience is a plus.
• Proven technical and leadership ability to deliver results using structured problem-solving.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with minimal supervision at all organizational levels.
• Strong communication skills across all levels of the organization.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, with a willingness to learn new systems.
• Superior problem-solving and coaching capabilities.
• Ability to relate to people at all levels of an organization.
• Strong team-building, decision-making, and people management skills.
• Adequate knowledge of business and management principles (budgeting, strategic planning, resource allocation, and human resources).
• Ability to read, analyze, and interpret complex documents and statistical information.
• Ability to request and/or build computer-generated reports to measure and track departmental performance.
• Exceptional organizational, priority-setting, and time management skills.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.

Skills

• Language Skills: Ability to read, analyze, and interpret business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations. Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals. Ability to present information effectively and respond to questions from employees, managers, clients, customers, and the public.
• Mathematical Skills: Ability to work with mathematical concepts and numerical data comfortably.
• Reasoning Ability: Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret complex technical instructions in written or diagram form.
• Technical Skills:
  • Working knowledge of equipment design and capabilities to support efficient operation and training.
  • Understanding of cost issues to make daily decisions that reduce overall costs and identify areas for improvement.
  • Experience with budget development, adherence, and analysis.
  • Familiarity with quality standards and regulatory requirements, including wage and hour laws, environmental and waste minimization, company policies, and personnel requirements (OSHA, DEQ, EEO).

Physical Demands

• Regularly required to talk or hear.
• Frequently required to stand, walk, and sit.
• Occasionally required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.
• Ability to lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

Work Environment

• Regularly exposed to moving mechanical parts.
• Frequently exposed to wet and/or humid conditions.
• Occasionally exposed to high, precarious places; fumes or airborne particles; and vibration.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually loud.