Plant Manager - Management Recruiters of Tallahassee

A leading provider of injection molded plastics products and services is looking for an experienced Plant Manager to lead their plant in Indiana. With a rich history of over several years in the industry, they have established themselves as a trusted partner for various sectors, delivering high-quality plastic components and exceptional service. Their commitment to excellence, advanced technology, and customer satisfaction sets them apart as a preferred choice for customers seeking reliable and innovative plastic solutions.

The company offers a wide range of injection molded plastics products that cater to diverse industries and applications. They specialize in manufacturing injection molded plastic components for the automotive industry. Their expertise covers a wide range of automotive applications, including interior and exterior trim, electrical connectors, under-the-hood components, and more. They work closely with automotive manufacturers to ensure that products meet stringent quality standards, durability requirements, and aesthetic expectations.

They also provide a comprehensive range of secondary operations and assembly services to deliver finished products to their customers. This includes processes such as post-molding operations, including trimming, drilling, and machining, as well as assembly and packaging.

Requirements/Must Haves:

1. Must have automotive experience (tier 1 or tier 2).

2. Strong injection molding experience.

3. Strong tooling background. Their Owner/President has a tooling background, and tooling knowledge is particularly important to them. Tooling experience to them is at the top of their list. A Mold Maker that progressed through the ranks to Plant Manager would be an ideal candidate. They need a strong leader that can push through to make sure they are making tooling corrections. If you don't have strong core competencies in plastic injection molding tooling, but you have strong core competencies in plastic injection molding processing coupled with a strong Lean Manufacturing background and root cause analysis, this will work as well.

4. Non-union experience is preferred.

5. 10 years leadership experience in the injection molding space.

6. Must have problem solving experience...must have complex problem-solving experience...must have root cause analysis experience. Too many times they find the team fighting fires. They need someone to step back, analyze a problem so they can give direction on how they will solve the problem.

7. ISO and IATF 16949 experience are required.

8. The culture in the plant is very hands on, so this is a hands-on role. They have modeled their culture after their largest customer, which is very lean focused. It is a 5S, Kaizen event and continuous improvement type of culture.

9. Must be a hands-on leader that is approachable. They want the Plant Manager to walk the floor, interact with team members, see issues, resolve issues, rally the team. This will not be an office role. They will be working shoulder to shoulder with the team.

10. BS degree is preferred but not required.

11. They want someone that is constantly looking for ways to make the plant more efficient. They want someone with a high sense of urgency. They have great people and great equipment.

12. A candidate that has experience working with or implementing ERP systems would be a plus.

13. Must have a high EQ.

14. Must be someone that can recognize changes might need to be made to an established process or procedure and go about the change with full buy in and collaboration from executive management and the Plant Manager's team. In other words, they want this person to recognize there are established procedures in place and it might not be the best idea to abruptly make changes. We need a subtle change agent.

Duties/Day in the Life:

1. This position will manage the Maintenance Manager, Tool Room Manager, Warehouse & Shipping Supervisor, Production Manager, one Process Engineer, and a Process Technician. The Quality Manager does not report to the Plant Manager at this time. The Human Resources Manager will have a dotted line to the Plant Manager, not a straight line. The Quality Manager reports to the COO, currently. The Director of Engineering reports to the President. Engineering is outside of the Plant Manager. The Supply Chain Manager reports to the COO as well. The Controller is located at the corporate office and reports to the President with a dotted line to the COO.

2. This Plant Manager will not have P&L responsibility.

3. This position will help them move to a new ERP system.

4. The Plant Manager will oversee and work on improving efficiencies.

5. They need a Plant Manager out on the floor helping the team solve problems...there are a lot of things that can be done to get better.