Description
PLANT MANAGER
Pay: $125,000.00 - $150,000.00+ per year
Northern Ohio
- Base Salary + Quarterly Bonuses
- Full Benefits Package
- Relocation Assistance Available!
Key Responsibilities
1. Plant Operations & Production
Manage daily plant operations to meet production schedules, customer requirements, and company objectives.
Plan and coordinate production activities based on sales demand, inventory levels, raw-material availability, equipment capacity, and labor.
Oversee batch manufacturing of board, fillers, primers, and UV coatings, and related products.
Ensure production batches are manufactured according to approved formulas, batch sheets, work instructions, and quality standards.
Monitor production yields, batch times, material usage, labor efficiency, and equipment utilization.
Identify and eliminate bottlenecks, downtime, waste, rework, and production losses.
Establish appropriate production KPIs and communicate performance to management.
Ensure accurate production records and batch documentation are maintained.
Coordinate production changeovers and cleaning procedures to minimize downtime and prevent cross-contamination.
2. Raw Materials & Inventory
Oversee receiving, storage, handling, staging, and use of raw materials and finished goods.
Maintain appropriate inventory levels for resins, pigments, solvents, additives, fillers, packaging, and other production materials.
Work closely with Purchasing and Planning to ensure raw materials are available when needed.
Investigate inventory discrepancies, material losses, and excessive usage.
Establish proper procedures for handling hazardous and flammable materials.
Ensure materials are properly labeled, stored, segregated, and rotated.
Support cycle-counting and physical inventory programs.
3. Quality Control
Work closely with Quality Control/Quality Assurance to ensure products meet established specifications.
Ensure production personnel follow approved formulas and manufacturing procedures.
Investigate batch deviations, off-specification products, customer complaints, and recurring quality issues.
Implement corrective and preventive actions where necessary.
Monitor first-pass yield, rework, scrap, and batch failures.
Ensure proper retention samples and batch records are maintained.
Promote a "quality at the source" culture throughout the plant.
4. Maintenance & Equipment
Oversee preventive and corrective maintenance programs.
Establish preventive-maintenance schedules and ensure completion.
Coordinate equipment repairs and outside contractors when required.
Identify equipment reliability issues and develop plans to reduce unplanned downtime.
Participate in capital equipment planning and facility improvement projects.
Ensure equipment is operated safely and according to manufacturer requirements.
5. Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS)
Maintain a strong safety culture and ensure compliance with applicable OSHA, EPA, fire-code, hazardous-material, and environmental requirements.
Ensure employees are properly trained in chemical handling, PPE, spill response, lockout/tagout, forklift operation, and other applicable safety procedures.
Maintain SDS and chemical-management programs.
Ensure proper handling and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste.
Monitor flammable-liquid storage, ventilation, grounding/bonding, and ignition-source controls.
Conduct regular safety inspections and address identified hazards promptly.
Investigate accidents, near misses, spills, and safety incidents and implement corrective actions.
Maintain required permits, inspections, records, and regulatory documentation.
6. Personnel & Leadership
Lead, supervise, and develop production, warehouse, maintenance, and other plant personnel.
Establish clear expectations for productivity, quality, attendance, safety, and workplace conduct.
Develop staffing plans and ensure appropriate coverage for production requirements.
Participate in hiring, onboarding, training, performance reviews, and disciplinary actions.
Cross-train employees to improve flexibility and operational continuity.
Develop supervisors and lead personnel to strengthen the plant's leadership structure.
Promote teamwork and effective communication between Production, Quality, Maintenance, Warehouse, Purchasing, and Sales.
7. Continuous Improvement
Identify opportunities to improve productivity, reduce costs, improve quality, and increase throughput.
Implement Lean Manufacturing, 5S, root-cause analysis, standard work, and other continuous-improvement practices where appropriate.
Track and reduce material waste, labor inefficiency, equipment downtime, and rework.
Establish measurable improvement projects and report results to senior management.
Develop and maintain standard operating procedures and work instructions.
8. Shipping & Warehouse
Oversee finished-goods staging, packaging, labeling, and shipping activities.
Ensure orders are accurately picked, packaged, and shipped according to customer requirements.
Maintain appropriate warehouse organization and inventory accuracy.
Coordinate with Logistics and Customer Service to meet shipping requirements.
Ensure proper transportation and labeling requirements are followed for regulated or hazardous materials.
9. Financial & Business Management
Manage plant operating expenses within approved budgets.
Monitor labor, overtime, raw-material usage, utilities, maintenance, waste, and other operating costs.
Identify cost-reduction opportunities without compromising safety or product quality.
Participate in annual budgeting and capital expenditure planning.
Provide management with regular reports on plant performance, production costs, capacity, and operational issues.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
The Plant Manager will be responsible for monitoring and improving metrics including:
Production output vs. plan
On-time production completion
Batch cycle time
Production yield
First-pass quality
Rework and scrap
Material variance
Labor efficiency
Equipment downtime
Preventive-maintenance completion
Inventory accuracy
Overtime
Safety incidents and near misses
Workers' compensation performance
Customer complaints related to manufacturing
Waste generation and disposal costs
Cost per batch / cost per unit
Required Qualifications
Demonstrated experience supervising production personnel.
Experience with manufacturing processes involving liquid raw materials, pigments, resins, solvents, additives, and other chemical materials.
Strong understanding of manufacturing equipment and batch-processing operations.
Working knowledge of OSHA and chemical manufacturing safety requirements.
Experience with production planning, inventory control, quality systems, and maintenance.
Strong problem-solving and root-cause-analysis skills.
Strong communication, organizational, and leadership skills.
Ability to work effectively in a hands-on manufacturing environment.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience with flammable and combustible liquid manufacturing.
Experience with ERP/MRP systems.
Lean Manufacturing or Six Sigma experience.
OSHA/EHS training or certification.
Experience managing capital projects and equipment installations.
Experience with environmental permitting and hazardous-waste management.
Experience with ISO or other formal quality-management systems.
Physical & Work Environment
This position requires regular presence on the manufacturing floor and the ability to work around manufacturing equipment, chemicals, noise, dust, odors, and temperature variations.
The employee may be required to:
Wear appropriate PPE, including safety glasses, gloves, hearing protection, respirators, or protective clothing as required.
Stand and walk throughout the facility for extended periods.
Climb stairs and access production and storage areas.
Lift or move materials within applicable safety limits.
Work around mixers, pumps, tanks, forklifts, filling equipment, and other industrial machinery.
Respond to production, quality, maintenance, or safety issues outside normal office hours when necessary.
Leadership Expectations
The Operations / Plant Manager is expected to lead by example and establish a plant culture based on:
Safety → Quality → Delivery → Productivity → Cost → Continuous Improvement
The successful candidate will be a hands-on operational leader who spends meaningful time on the manufacturing floor, understands the details of the process, develops people, solves problems at their root cause, and holds the organization accountable for measurable results.
90-Day Priorities
During the first 90 days, the Plant Manager should:
Assess plant safety and regulatory compliance.
Review production capacity and current production schedules.
Evaluate staffing, organizational structure, and employee capabilities.
Review raw-material and finished-goods inventory accuracy.
Analyze production yields, batch times, downtime, waste, and rework.
Evaluate preventive-maintenance practices and critical equipment.
Review quality issues and customer complaints.
Establish a daily/weekly plant-performance reporting system.
Identify the highest-impact operational improvement opportunities.
Develop a 6–12 month plant improvement plan with measurable objectives.
