Plant Manager at Weldall Manufacturing in Waukesha, WI

Description

The Plant Manager is responsible for the day-to-day leadership and execution of manufacturing operations across Weldall's three facilities. This position oversees production operations and manufacturing supervisors while ensuring work is completed safely, efficiently, profitably, and in accordance with customer commitments.

The Plant Manager maintains a visible presence throughout the manufacturing facilities, working closely with supervisors and employees to remove production barriers, improve performance, develop leaders, and drive accountability. This role partners with engineering, scheduling, quality, human resources, purchasing, safety, maintenance, and senior leadership to achieve Weldall's operational goals.

Essential Responsibilities

Manufacturing Leadership & Operations

• Provide daily leadership for manufacturing operations across three facilities and multiple shifts.
• Maintain a visible presence on the production floor, engaging with supervisors and employees to address operational issues and reinforce safety, housekeeping, professionalism, and teamwork.
• Establish daily priorities and ensure supervisors understand production and quality expectations and customer commitments.
• Coordinate labor, equipment, capacity, and other resources while resolving production bottlenecks to maximize throughput and meet customer delivery requirements.
• Make timely operational decisions that support customer commitments while maintaining safety and quality standards.

People Leadership & Accountability

• Lead, coach, mentor, and develop manufacturing supervisors through regular communication, feedback, and leadership development.
• Hold supervisors accountable for safety, quality, productivity, attendance, employee engagement, and overall operational performance.
• Foster a positive and respectful culture of ownership, urgency, accountability, teamwork, and continuous improvement.
• Partner with human resources and supervisors on recruiting, workforce planning, employee relations, performance management, corrective action, succession planning, and resolution of employee concerns.

Performance & Continuous Improvement

• Use accurate, timely data from Epicor ERP and other manufacturing systems to monitor labor utilization, production efficiency, capacity, and other key metrics.
• Collaborate with the Master Scheduler and production supervisors to support effective production planning and scheduling.
• Develop and maintain visual management tools and performance dashboards that strengthen communication and accountability.
• Lead lean manufacturing, root-cause analysis, corrective actions, and continuous improvement initiatives that reduce waste, improve workflow, and increase throughput.
• Encourage employees to identify and participate in process improvements.

Safety, Quality & Financial Management

• Partner with the Environmental Health & Safety Manager to maintain compliance with safety policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements.
• Reinforce safe work practices and accountability throughout manufacturing operations.
• Partner with the quality department to reduce scrap, rework, and customer quality concerns and support effective corrective and preventive actions.
• Develop and manage manufacturing and maintenance operating budgets, monitoring labor, overtime, maintenance, and other expenses to improve efficiency and control costs.
• Participate in capital equipment planning and facility improvement projects.
• Communicate operational performance, financial results, and improvement initiatives to senior leadership.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate with engineering, estimating, purchasing, quality, scheduling, maintenance, human resources, safety, and customer service to support operational objectives.
• Support new product introductions, manufacturing improvements, and process optimization.
• Develop productive working relationships with suppliers and customers as required.
• Participate in operational planning and recommend improvements to manufacturing performance.

Requirements

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, operations management, manufacturing management, business, or a related field preferred.
• Minimum of seven years of progressive leadership experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Minimum of five years of experience leading supervisors or multiple manufacturing departments.
• Experience in custom fabrication, welding, machining, or heavy manufacturing strongly preferred.
• Experience leading multi-shift operations.
• Working knowledge of ERP systems, production scheduling, labor reporting, and manufacturing performance metrics; Epicor experience preferred.
• Experience implementing lean manufacturing or continuous improvement initiatives preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to develop leaders, solve operational problems, and improve manufacturing performance.

Work Environment

This position regularly works throughout Weldall's manufacturing facilities and requires frequent interaction with production employees, supervisors, and support departments. The Plant Manager is expected to spend significant time on the production floors across all facilities, supporting operations, resolving issues, and coaching supervisors. Appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) is required when entering production areas.

Physical Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those required to perform the essential functions of this position. The employee is frequently required to walk throughout manufacturing facilities and production areas. Occasional sitting, climbing, balancing, stooping, kneeling, crouching, crawling, and lifting up to 50 pounds may be required.