Plant Manager: Pipe Fabrication-Modular

Plant Manager – Pipe Fabrication - Modular

Department: Operations

Reports To: Director of Operations / VP of Manufacturing

 Location: Duncan SC.

Employment Type: Full-Time

Job Summary

The Pipe Fabrication Plant Manager is responsible for the overall operation, safety, productivity, and profitability of the pipe fabrication facility. This role oversees production scheduling, quality, shipping, plant management, and compliance with industry codes and standards to ensure fabricated piping systems & modular assemblies meet customer specifications, safety requirements, and delivery deadlines.

Key Responsibilities

• Plan, organize, and direct all daily plant operations.
• Develop and manage production schedules to meet customer delivery dates, project deadlines, and shop capacity.
• Ensure all fabrication work complies with applicable codes and standards (ASME B31.1/B31.3, AWS, ASNT, or client-specific specifications).
• Work jointly with the Quality Department to align production with quality control processes and scheduling,
• Manage, train, mentor, and evaluate plant supervisors, welders, fitters, and shop personnel.
• Enforce and promote a strong safety culture; ensure compliance with OSHA regulations and company EHS policies.
• Monitor plant budget, labor costs, material usage, and equipment expenses to control costs and improve efficiency.
• Coordinate with project management, engineering, procurement, and QA/QC teams to resolve production issues.
• Identify and implement process improvements to increase throughput, reduce waste, and improve fabrication quality.
• Maintain accurate production records, weekly and monthly fitter, weld reports, expediting reports, and KPI reports for management and clients.
• Ensure proper maintenance and calibration of fabrication equipment and machinery.
• Coordinate with outside vendor when needed.
• Jointly Lead root cause analysis and corrective action for quality nonconformances or safety incidents with the QC department and Safety Department respectively.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Serve as the primary operational point of contact between the Production Manager & Operations leadership.
• Collaborate with engineering on constructability feedback and design-for-fabrication improvements.
• Work with procurement on material readiness, kitting, and material vendor deliveries.
• Coordinate logistics, staging, and outbound shipping/transportation for completed spools and modules with shipping supervisor

Facility & Equipment Management

• Manage the maintenance team to maintain fabrication equipment, tooling, and facility infrastructure to support consistent, reliable production.
• Identify and justify capital equipment and facility improvements to support capacity growth.
• Manage facility housekeeping, layout, and workflow to support efficient material flow.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Performance in this role is evaluated against the following operational, quality, safety, and financial metrics:

• On-Time Delivery (OTD): Percentage of pipe spools and fabrication jobs completed and shipped by the committed date.
• Production Throughput: Weld inches, spool count, fabricated per shift, week, or month against planned capacity.
• Weld Reject / Repair Rate: Percentage of welds failing radiographic < 2%, or visual inspection on first pass, tracked by welder and fitter by shift < 5%
• Safety Performance: Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR), near-miss reporting rate, and days since last lost-time incident.
• Labor Efficiency / Cost Variance: Actual labor hours per job compared to estimated or budgeted hours.
• Material Waste / Scrap Rate: Percentage of raw pipe, fittings, and consumables lost to scrap, miscuts, or rework relative to material issued.
• Equipment Uptime: Percentage of scheduled production time that key fabrication equipment is operational versus down for maintenance or repair.
• Customer/Nonconformance Closure: Average time to resolve customer-reported nonconformances  after delivery.

Required Qualifications

• High school diploma or GED required; industrial management or related.
• 7+ years of experience in pipe fabrication, industrial manufacturing, or related field, with at least 3 years in a supervisory or management role.
• Strong knowledge of pipe fabrication processes, welding procedures (SMAW, GTAW, GMAW, FCAW), and code requirements (ASME B31.1/B31.3, API 1104, etc.).
• Demonstrated leadership skills with the ability to manage a diverse workforce.
• Proficiency with production planning/ERP software and Microsoft Office.
• Excellent communication, organizational, and problem-solving skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with lean manufacturing or Six Sigma principles.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to walk, stand, and move throughout the plant floor for extended periods.
• Ability to work in an industrial environment with exposure to noise, heat, and fabrication equipment.
• Occasional lifting of up to 25-50 lbs.

Work Environment

This position is based primarily in an industrial fabrication shop setting, with regular exposure to typical manufacturing conditions (noise, welding fumes, machinery).  Additionally a significant portion of time will be required for administrative,  planning tasks, KPI reporting.

Salary Range: 0.0 - 0.0