Production Supervisor

Job Description

The Production Supervisor is responsible for leading daily manufacturing operations within machining, fabrication, assembly, and valve production areas. This position provides direct leadership to hourly production employees, ensuring safe, efficient, and high-quality execution of production schedules. The supervisor is accountable for workforce development, production attainment, continuous improvement initiatives, and maintaining operational excellence in a high-mix, low-volume manufacturing environment.  Success in this role is measured by safety performance, quality results, schedule attainment, employee engagement, and continuous improvement achievements.

Scope of Responsibilities

Safety Leadership

• Promote and enforce all company safety policies and procedures.
• Maintain a safe work environment and ensure compliance with all PPE requirements and safety standards.
• Lead safety initiatives, audits, investigations, and corrective actions.
• Foster a culture where safety is the highest operational priority.

Production Management

• Direct daily activities of machining, fabrication, assembly, and production personnel.
• Manage schedule attainment and ensure production commitments are met.
• Balance labor resources, machine capacity, material availability, and changing customer priorities.
• Coordinate production activities to minimize downtime, bottlenecks, and workflow disruptions.
• Drive improvements in throughput, lead time reduction, on-time delivery, and WIP management.

Quality Management

• Ensure products meet engineering specifications, customer requirements, and company quality standards.
• Partner with Quality and Engineering teams to resolve manufacturing and product issues.
• Support first-article inspections, corrective actions, and continuous quality improvement efforts.
• Maintain accountability for workmanship and process compliance.

People Leadership

• Lead, coach, mentor, and develop production employees.
• Manage performance, attendance, disciplinary actions, and employee development.
• Develop leads, trainers, and future supervisory talent.
• Conduct shift communications and facilitate effective workforce planning.
• Build a culture of accountability, teamwork, and continuous improvement.

Continuous Improvement

• Lead Lean Manufacturing and operational improvement initiatives.
• Implement standard work, setup reduction, time studies, and efficiency improvements.
• Support shop layout optimization, material flow improvements, and process standardization.
• Identify opportunities to reduce waste, improve productivity, and increase operational effectiveness.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Engineering, Quality, Planning, Maintenance, and Supply Chain teams.
• Support engineering changes, new product introductions, fixture deployment, and process improvements.
• Utilize production metrics and performance data to drive informed decisions and improve results.

Qualifications

Required Experience & Qualifications

Education

• High school diploma or GED required.
• Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Manufacturing, Engineering Technology, Business, or a related field preferred.

Experience

• 5-7 years of manufacturing experience in machining, fabrication, assembly, or industrial production operations.
• 2-5 years of frontline supervisory experience leading hourly manufacturing employees.
• Experience supervising teams of 15-30 employees in a manufacturing environment.
• Experience operating in a high-mix, low-volume, make-to-order manufacturing environment.
• Experience with engineered products, machining operations, fabrication, valve manufacturing, or large industrial equipment preferred.
• Large-part machining experience is strongly preferred.

Technical Knowledge

• Working knowledge of CNC machining, manual machining, fabrication, assembly, and manufacturing processes.
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, blueprints, GD&T, routings, bills of material, and work instructions.
• Understanding of machining tolerances, quality requirements, first-article inspections, rework processes, and engineering change implementation.
• Knowledge of tooling, fixturing, setup reduction, and process optimization techniques.
• Experience utilizing ERP systems (Dynamics 365, SAP, Oracle, or similar) and Microsoft Office applications.

Production Execution

• Proven ability to manage daily schedule attainment in a make-to-order environment
• Experience balancing labor and manning availability, Machine capacity, Material constraints, and hot orders
• Demonstrated success reducing WIP, lead time, queues, and past-due orders

Systems

• ERP experience preferred (D365, SAP, Oracle, etc.)
• Ability to use production reports, labor reporting, and schedule metrics to drive decisions
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and basic manufacturing KPIs

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience within valve manufacturing, pipe fabrication, or heavy industrial manufacturing.
• Experience with horizontal mills, vertical mills, turning centers, boring mills, fabrication, and assembly operations.
• Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or Kaizen training and experience.
• Exposure to CNC programming, CAM systems, and manufacturing process development.
• Experience leading continuous improvement projects and implementing standard work practices.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to stand, walk, sit, stoop, kneel, reach, balance, and perform physical activities throughout the workday.
• Ability to lift to 50 pounds.
• Ability to work in manufacturing conditions including heat, cold, dust, fumes, vibration, and elevated noise levels.
• Must be able to wear required PPE including safety glasses, hearing protection, steel-toed footwear, respiratory protection, and other equipment as required.
• Flexibility to work extended hours when business demands require.

Additional Information

1st shift is 6:30am to 3:00pm M-F

Excellent benefits include 9 paid holidays plus 2 floating holidays, 3 weeks PTO, 401k and company health insurance plans, Education Assistance, a Wellness Program, and EAP.
 

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job.  Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice. 

McWane is a Federal VEVRAA contractor, and an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing equal employment opportunity in all employment practices. McWane will not discriminate against any applicant for employment because of their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, veteran or service member status, marital status, citizenship status (In IL - sex, including same sex, ancestry, order of protection status, physical or mental disability, military status, pregnancy, unfavorable discharge status, genetic information), (In IA - gender identity), (In CA - gender identity or expression, and genetic information) or any other category protected by federal, state or local law.

LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMER

The above job description is meant to describe the general nature and level of work being performed; it is not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required for the position.  Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform other job-related duties requested by their supervisor in compliance with Federal and State Laws. Requirements are representative of minimum levels of knowledge, skills and/or abilities.  To perform this job successfully, the employee must possess the abilities or aptitudes to perform each duty proficiently. McWane Plant & Industrial is an EEO/AA employer M/F/D/V. It is the Company's policy to provide equal opportunity for all qualified persons and to prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship status, or any other legally protected status. We maintain a drug-free workplace and reserve the right to perform substance abuse testing as needed.

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.
McWane is a Federal VEVRAA contractor, and an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing equal employment opportunity in all employment practices. McWane will not discriminate against any applicant for employment because of their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, veteran or service member status, marital status, citizenship status (In IL - sex, including same sex, ancestry, order of protection status, physical or mental disability, military status, pregnancy, unfavorable discharge status, genetic information), (In IA - gender identity), (In CA- gender identity or expression, and genetic information) or any other category protected by federal, state or local law.