Production Manager in Lakeland, Florida at TREATT USA INC

The Production Manager at Treatt, US is responsible for the day-to-day management of production and blending activities, ensuring safe, compliant and efficient delivery of business targets through World Class Manufacturing principles. The role provides leadership to Team Supervisors and operational teams, with clear accountability for production delivery, labor management, quality standards, KPI performance and customer service. In addition, the role is expected to lead operational excellence across the department by driving continuous improvement, structured problem solving, process optimization and data-led decision making. The Production Manager will work cross-functionally with Engineering, R&D, Quality and Supply Chain to improve productivity, yield, waste reduction, labour efficiency and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), while developing the capability of operators, process engineers and future operational leaders. The role will support succession planning for future Plant Manager and senior operations leadership positions by building a stronger culture of technical ownership, continuous improvement and operational discipline.

Responsibilities:

Strategy and Planning

• To operate the Company’s Environment, Health, Safety, Security and Quality Standards.
• To report accurately and effectively on the daily progress of production including any delays and their causes to the Plant Manager, so that adequate decisions can be made to minimize effects on customer deliveries, production efficiency and future production planning. Liaise with Production Planners to advise on manning levels and the scheduling of production tasks and any issues which may impact production timelines.
• Partner with Research and Development to ensure all scale up projects run within the department are supported to ensure effective roll out of the projects.

Operational Management

• Lead a ‘right first time’ policy and help to ensure that all orders are met on time and within specification.
• Ensure high standards of housekeeping and 5S are always maintained within the department, with sustainable solutions rolled across the department.
• Coordinate the safe start-up and shutdown of all plants and ancillary equipment.
• Ensure SOP’s and process cleaning procedures are relevant and up to date. Make changes if required and report major deviations. Ensure all the operators are operating safety and all the Safety Critical Tasks are trained and Training records up to date. Manage and update Skills Station.
• Manage budgetary control of labor within their crew to optimize standard
• Manage reduction in non-value-added activities – Identify and deliver cost savings in labor requirements through efficiency improvements and way of working within their team.
• Implement and maintain Key performance Indicators (KPI’s) across the department (Blending, Distillation & Extractions) monitoring plan adherence and operator / equipment utilizations.
• Ensure Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) are relevant and up to date and saved on SharePoint. Report major deviations. Ensure all the operators are operating safety and all the Safety Critical Tasks are trained and Training records up to date.
• Manage and update Skill Station in accordance with the training plan with all operators been trained and cross trained across Department ensuring a flexible and agile workforce.
• Own and lead the department’s continuous improvement and operational excellence programmed, applying Lean, Six Sigma, Root Cause Analysis and structured problem-solving methodologies to improve safety, quality, productivity, yield, waste reduction, labour efficiency and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). Ensure improvements are quantified, documented, sustained and aligned with site performance targets.
• Lead manufacturing engineering and process optimization activities across Blending, Distillation and Extraction operations, using process data, capability analysis and loss identification to remove constraints, improve equipment utilization and embed robust ways of working.
• Develop and maintain digital manufacturing capability, KPI dashboards and data-led performance management routines that support effective daily, weekly and monthly decision making.
• Lead cross-functional improvement projects with Engineering, R&D, Quality and Supply Chain to ensure operational improvements are technically robust, commercially relevant and embedded into standard operating practice.
• Maintain high standards of GMP & BRC compliance in all aspects of production.
• Exhibit a good awareness of COSHH, risk assessment, HAZOP and general process safety and ensure this is communicated to all staff. Take the lead in introducing an excellent safety culture in general and specifically manual handling, Vehicle / Pedestrian safety, PPE and Accident / incident reporting.
• Exhibit a wide awareness of OSHA, Risk Assessment and general process safety.
• Ensure effective processes and systems are put in place and documented to enable accurate data within JD Edwards, which supports good inventory practices.
• Prepare annual operating budgets with plant and division staff and execute plans within agreed upon budgetary and time constraints.

People

• Carry out direct report responsibilities for Team Supervisors, including holiday approval, sickness monitoring, return to work interviews etc. Always ensure that minimum staffing levels are maintained.
• Monitoring team performance, and working with HR to address poor performance, supported by the Plant Manager where required.
• Support the Plant Manager in delivery and implementation of a training improvement programme for all operators with the goal of having all operators trained to level 2 as well as cross training to ensure movement of labour between Blending and Distillation.
• Maintain a Needs matrix and to identify potential skills shortages and succession planning within departments.
• Maintaining all profiles within blending on skill Station and ensuring all non-competent skills are addressed and managed through training plans within department.
• To promote the right employee behavior and conduct of employees through coaching and mentoring to increasing morale through involvement, training and recognition.
• Support succession planning by developing future operational leaders with the technical, analytical and leadership capability required for Plant Manager and senior operations roles.

Health, Safety and Environment

• Contribute to a safe conclusion in the event of an emergency.
• Represent the department at the Health & Safety Committee.
• Ensure skills and training within department are maintained and represented across shifts.
• Contribute to a good approach to Food Hygiene, HACCP and Quality and ensure all relevant regulations are met.
• Contribute to an excellent safety culture in general and specifically with regard to manual handling, Vehicle / Pedestrian safety, PPE and Accident / incident reporting.

Other

• Perform such other tasks as are consistent with the General Description which may be subject to change from time to time.
• Act in the best interest of USA Treatt and Treatt Plc at all times.

Skills, Abilities, Education

• Bachelors Engineering degree in relevant discipline or relevant experience
• Proven Production Manager or manufacturing operations leadership experience, ideally in a technically complex process environment, demonstrating the ability to deliver production plans while improving operational performance through structured improvement activity.
• An understanding of BRC and Customer Quality Standards
• Knowledge of all aspects of the assembly process and able to identify acceptable levels of efficiency and Workmanship.
• Strong working knowledge of Lean manufacturing, Continuous Improvement, Root Cause Analysis and structured problem-solving methodologies, with the ability to translate these into measurable operational outcomes.
• Experience using operational data, KPI dashboards, OEE, labour efficiency, yield and waste metrics to identify losses, prioritise improvement activity and track sustainable performance improvement.
• Ability to coach, develop and influence technically focused talent, including process engineers, engineering graduates and future operational leaders.
• Excellent communication Skills
• Ability to manage and organize a varied workload effectively, utilizing available resources and achieving deadlines.

Environment:

Exposure to hazardous Chemicals

Open Office and lab environment – typical spacious room, desks close together.

Shop floor exposure, including some time inside and outside production or workshops environments

Physical Factors:

Sitting, walking, stooping, crouching, crawling, standing.