Plant Operations Manager

TITLE:

PLANT OPERATIONS MANAGER - Benicia, CA

JOB SUMMARY:

The Plant Operations Manager is responsible for managing the daily operations of the manufacturing facility to ensure that the company meets or exceeds customer and company expectations while maintaining a safe, efficient, and productive work environment. The Plant Operations Manager oversees plant personnel, production planning and scheduling, manufacturing performance, inventory management, maintenance, quality, and continuous improvement activities.

The position works closely with Sales and Inside Sales to ensure customer orders are accurately entered and managed, appropriate ship dates are established and communicated, inventory is properly allocated and maintained, and orders are produced, invoiced, and shipped accurately and on time.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Manage all plant personnel, including staffing, hiring, training, performance, and accountability.
• Establish optimum staffing levels to support production requirements and labor budget goals.
• Direct daily production activities, ensuring production schedules are met efficiently, safely, and on time.
• Plan and manage production schedules based on customer demand, available capacity, raw material availability, inventory levels, and production priorities.
• Coordinate closely with Sales and Inside Sales on current and future orders to ensure sales orders are accurate, inventory is available, production requirements are understood, and customer ship dates are realistic and achievable.
• Ensure sales orders contain accurate product, quantity, pricing/order information, requested ship dates, and other information necessary for proper order fulfillment.
• Monitor order fulfillment from sales order through production, shipment, and invoicing, ensuring discrepancies are identified and resolved promptly and invoices are processed accurately.
• Monitor inventory availability and commitments to support customer orders while maintaining appropriate inventory levels and minimizing shortages, excess inventory, and obsolete material.
• Manage and maintain accurate inventory records through cycle counting, inventory reconciliation, inventory turns, and periodic physical stock counts.
• Take action on customer product complaints and coordinate appropriate corrective actions.
• Monitor Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and drive improvements in equipment availability, performance, quality, and productivity.
• Review scrap produced by line, identify root causes, and implement corrective actions.
• Review equipment availability for each production line by tracking individual components of no-run time, including preparation, setup, changeover, breakdowns, breaks, preventative maintenance, cleanup, and other downtime.
• Review daily achieved run rates against established goal rates.
• Promote and practice Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Process Improvement principles with a focus on waste elimination & productivity.
• Coordinate with Maintenance to ensure timely servicing of equipment, including PM compliance.
• Promote and manage cleanliness, organization, and 5S practices throughout the entire facility.
• Ensure compliance with OSHA, EPA, state and federal regulations, and company safety and environmental policies and procedures.
• Assist in the preparation and management of capital budgets.
• Manage annual factory expenses and monitor performance against approved operating budgets.

OTHER DUTIES

• Support the effective use of MRP/SYSPRO for production planning, material requirements, inventory management, and order fulfillment.
• Coordinate with Sales and Inside Sales to understand current and future customer requirements.
• Promote Continuous Process Improvements throughout manufacturing and order fulfillment operations.
• Manage inventory accuracy, cycle counting, stock take counts, and inventory optimization.
• Assist with capital planning and major maintenance requirements on an annual basis.
• Support the development of strategies for periods of increased or decreased production demand.
• Hit company targets for:
• On-time shipments
• Customer satisfaction
• Production efficiency and OEE
• Inventory accuracy and inventory performance
• Quality and waste reduction

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor’s Degree in a related field preferred.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in plant or production management.
• Prior experience in process engineering, coatings, chemicals, or a related manufacturing environment.
• Experience with chemicals, liquid processing, and filling equipment preferred.
• Extensive production planning and scheduling experience.
• MRP experience in SYSPRO or equivalent ERP/MRP system.
• Extensive inventory and warehouse management experience.
• Lean Manufacturing experience with a focus on waste elimination, OEE, and 5S.
• Experience implementing and managing company safety programs, including safety meetings, education, and safety training for production personnel.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes, equipment, maintenance, and troubleshooting.
• Experience working cross-functionally with Sales, Inside Sales, Quality, Maintenance, and other departments to meet customer requirements.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• Strong customer service orientation and commitment to customer satisfaction.
• Focus on goal setting, accountability, continuous improvement, and measurable results.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, relate to people at all levels of the organization.

The statements above are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by employees assigned to this classification. (Other duties and responsibilities may be assigned at the supervisor’s discretion.