Archive for the ‘Manufacturing Operations’ Category

Bring your career in Production to the next level.

Mega-beverage processing/packaging Business Unit seeks outstanding manufacturing professional to lead a Production Team and provide vision/direction in a culture of Continuous  Improvement. This location is a fast-paced plant that processes and packages bard/beverage products. Lead 125 production professionals through highly-skilled supervisory team in a multi-shift, 24/5 operation with high-speeds, massive volumes, multiple floors and a diverse workforce.

Ideal Candidate Profile

You must have at least 5 years combined experience as a Manager and Supervisor in a high-speed manufacturing or packaging environment that upholds bard-grade or higher quality standards. You must be able to inspire people beyond their current expectations, providing a clear vision and direction to the team.

Our client is seeking outstanding leadership, as well as a commitment to Continuous Improvement (hands-on Lean Manufacturing – Black Belt is highly desirable), and proven ability to guide people through change, treating them with dignity and respect.  You’ll bring a hands-on knowledge of the tools of Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement; you’ll analyze plant operations and key metrics to ensure that the facility maintains high quality and safety standards to continue to maintain our leadership position in the industry.  You’ll optimize production scheduling and labor utilization, focusing on the repeatability and reliability of our processes and the continued elimination of waste and cost.  You’ll communicate with all levels of the organization early, often, and with motivation and direction.

Requirements

A Bachelor’s Degree is preferred but not required.

IF you have at least 5 years combined Supervisory and Managerial experience;

IF you have led a manufacturing facility that rapidly processes bard or similarly regulated products;

IF you are willing to push job performance beyond current limits, with a focus on Continuous Improvement, Customer Satisfaction, and Employee Engagement

Interested and qualified candidates should contact:

Thomas C. Healy, President at tom@tchresource.com or

Timothy Healy, Vice President at to tim@tchresource.com

The Production Manager will report directly to the Plant Manager, and must have the ability
to plan, manage and direct the production team to manufacture bards that meet quality,
efficiency and labor standards set by the Company, while operating within the guidelines of
applicable USDA, FDA and MA DPH requirements. This individual must possess superior
communication and decision making skills, have the ability to motivate and train people of
varying backgrounds and experience levels, be able to effectively interact with cross functional
managers, vendors, outside agencies and customers, and demonstrate solid
analytical and problem-solving skills. He/She must have the ability to lead by involving others
in the decision-making process, demonstrate a strong results orientation, have experience
using ERP software and be a true team player.

Duties and Responsibilities:
* Determines required weekly production levels and coordinates fulfillment of raw materials,
packaging and personnel to produce quality bard products in compliance with company goals
and objectives utilizing Microsoft Navision and other software tools.
* Supervises the entire day-to-day production operation under the guidance of the Plant
Manager, and ensures the safe handling of bard and Good Manufacturing Practices.
* Hires, develops and manages a team of supervisors and support personnel, and directs them in
the execution of ongoing production plans, including maximizing the efficiency of production
lines and the hourly workforce (both permanent and seasonal).
* Plans and directs the efforts of the Sanitation Department in the proper and efficient cleaning
of the facility, processing equipment and office space.
* Ensures all production and operating activities fall within the guidelines set forth by the
Quality Control Department, USDA, FDA and Star-K. Acts as principle contact person for
USDA, FDA, Star-K and third party auditors on production issues.
* Participates in the oversight and implementation of company wide safety program, and
maintains employee safety and morale by creating a safe working environment in concert with
other training programs directed by the Plant Manager and Human Resources.
* Actively participates in standardization, cost reduction, and establishing and controlling
production conditions in order to satisfy customer and quality specifications.
* Determines and relates the needs and requirements of production to Procurement, Finance,
Marketing, Product Development and Company Management, with an eye toward cost
effective quality and process improvements in the production process.
* Plans and maintains optimum inventory levels to meet projected sales demands, while
understanding cash flow implications, and ingredient seasonality and availability.
* Participates in the design, development and implementation of programs and procedures to
maximize production, minimize waste and increase capacity, all while maintaining and
improving ongoing product quality and integrity.
* Assists in controlling costs in raw ingredients, packaging, direct labor and operating expenses,
while focusing efforts in achieving a just-in-time production formula.
* Works in concert with the Plant Manager to develop supervisory personnel and conduct
internal audits to ensure compliance with FDA, OSHA, and other external agencies.
* Assists in the training and development of production personnel in areas of quality control,
sanitation and Good Manufacturing Practices.

Knowledge/Skills:
* Able to work independently and prioritize in a high-volume bard production environment.
* Able to be decisive in a fast-paced entrepreneurial environment where change is required.
* Significant experience managing multi-lingual employees in multiple production lines with the
ability to lead others and work effectively with line personnel, managers and other
governmental auditors and inspectors.
* Strong leadership skills, independent thinking, organizational and planning abilities, as well as
excellent analytical and problem solving skills.
* Comprehensive knowledge of bard manufacturing and the ability to create, execute and
manage processes and procedures ( e.g., USDA, FDA, HACCP, SSOP’s)
* Experience with ERP software, Microsoft NAV experience is a big plus.
* Must be a team player with outstanding communication and interpersonal skills.
* Ability to build and maintain positive relationships at all levels of the organization.

Education/Experience:
* Minimum of five years experience in Food Production environment, with at least three years in
a supervisory/managerial capacity.

For more information please contact:
Tim Healy 781-837-8113
Vice President tim@tchresource.com
Resource, Inc. www.tchresource.com

Our client, a well-established national and global manufacturer of private label bard and beverage products, has Retained the professional executive search services of Resource Executive Search to conduct a national search for Director of Manufacturing for one of their largest beverage processing and packaging plants located in the northeastern region of the US. The ideal candidate will possess the following skills and leadership attributes:

1. 15 yrs experience in Plant Operations w/ a world class Consumer Products
Company. This position reports to the Sr. Director Operations.

2. Must have reached the level of Plant Mgr or Director of Operations and
possess large plant experience meaning 400 plus employees.

3. A record of operational excellence and leadership in plant manufacturing
including overall production operations, supply chain operations, technical
engineering and maintenance operations, technical quality management,
distribution and warehouse operations and plant level human resource
management.

4. Considerable experience with plants requiring turnaround initiatives as well
as new plant start-ups and a person who possesses world class experience at
developing and implementing operational performance, operational excellence
and management systems that deliver consistent expectations for operating
throughput.

5. Have a significant record of upward mobility in his/her background and one
that clearly emphasizes training and development, accountability within all
departments of plant operations. Advancement to the next level based on performance.

6. Have a successful record of conducting tactical planning as well as strategic planning for an
under performing plant. The results of this planning should have delivered outstanding results in
timely fashion and be well documented by the P&L performance.

7. The plant is a non-union environment and the company wants this facility to
remain non-union. The ideal candidate will have experience with both union and non-union and
understand how to motivate a work force to prosper in this non-union environment.

Responsibilities:

1. Manage region business to achieve budgeted objectives
• Develop budget and track and manage department performance and spending to ensure cost containment on variable cost per case and fixed actual dollar spend.
• Manage approved capital projects and submit projects that may be requested within the time and cost budget

2. Drive Plant performance through culture, people, process compliance and process improvement
• Develop and drive an “Ownership” culture in the facility. Develop and drive an enthusiasm for the workplace, and a pride in the organization and working at the facility.
• Develop and regularly communicate the plant mission and vision and drive a positive engagement with customers, managers, and employees.
• Recruit and hire top talented team members to drive success of facility.
• Identify specific development needs of managers and supervisors and develop and execute a plan to drive their personal development. Identify managers / supervisors that demonstrate high potential and execute a plan to increase their development and promotion.
• Identify managers / supervisors that demonstrate consistently poor performance and have not responded to development and develop a plan to replace them.
• Drive plant performance improvements through effective use of the Continuous Improvement Programs.
• Develop and execute an education and training focus and assure that key training is completed in each quarter
• Support execution of required OSHA training. Support the development of key safety initiatives and programs to drive accident frequency rate reduction and manage workers comp cost
• Drive implementation of Self Managed Work Teams and ensure comprehensive training of operators and managers around effective team performance.
• Facilitate an active participation in the Operational Performance Management System.

3. Manufacture products to meet customer quality and volume requirements
• Execute and manage new product launches to successfully meet the customer’s expectations
• Deliver order fill rate of 98.5% while driving the cost of inventory down utilizing effective scheduling and inventory management
• Utilize the new product scorecard on projects to ensure execution reliability
• Maintain plant SQFI level 3 certification through daily process compliance of the SQFI program requirements

Key Challenges:

• As a low cost producer, the Client operates a flat organization and many key initiatives are left to the plant to plan and successfully execute as Business Owners.
• With limited capital expenditures, Management team is expected to maintain facility infrastructure and expand production flexibility to meet an ever increasing product diversity.

Technical Challenges
• Develop and communicate business impact with weekly, monthly, and quarterly performance reports and presentations in Excel and PowerPoint. Make regular presentations to local management team and executive team on plant performance and impact to the business.
• Develop and execute employee communications using Word and PowerPoint and make regular presentations to employees on state of the business that will drive their support for the vision and goals.
• Develops and communicates financial and budgetary impact of plant operations with finance team and operations executives.
• Effectively communicates and collaborates with local, state and federal agencies to ensure adherence with all laws and licensing requirements.

Team skills:
• Depending on size of facility, plant manager will have direct manager reports to include: Maintenance, Production, Quality, Warehouse, and some Planners / Schedulers. Daily interaction and support provided by Plant Controller and Human Resources Manager.
• The plant manager will set performance objectives for each of the direct reports and regularly provide feedback and evaluation of performance against objectives. Plant manager also ensures all other employees are receiving regular performance evaluation.
• Positively drive support from Supply Chain, Sales, Finance, Engineering, Quality, Human Resources, and Risk Management as well as outside vendors, contractors and auditors.

Long-term planning and strategy objectives:
• The plant manager is responsible for long term planning of capital projects and budgeting in order to maintain the facilities position as a low cost provider of quality products in a safe and productive work environment.
• The plant manager provides leadership in identifying and implementing new technologies and capabilities within the facility in order to meet the changing requests of the company’s customers.

Benchmarking the Best: What do the best people in this job do differently than the average person?
• Acts like an Owner and Business Manager by making decisions in such a way as to drive key operational objectives as well as meet customer requirements.
• Provides leadership within the facility in order to assure process compliance and effective communication throughout the facility.
• Effectively manages their time in order to meet deadlines without frequent reminders.
• Manages people at the right level in the organization and drives the same accountability throughout the leadership group. Drives accountability to the point of execution.
• Provides an atmosphere of trust within the facility while maintaining the appropriate follow up to assure compliance of key performance objectives.
• Maintains active use of the companies Performance Management System.

Compensation: Base salary will be market competitive to a max of 175K base. Bonus incentive to 35% based on multiple performance criteria.

Interested and qualified candidates should submit their resume to Thomas C. Healy, President of Resource Executive Search in Boston, MA. Please send your Confidential resume to tom@tchresource.com and or contact at 781-837-8113.