Production Manager - Oetiker Tool Corporation

Oetiker Tool Corporation dba Elm City Tools, an Oetiker Company, is an industry leader in the design and manufacture of custom hand tool solutions. Our manufacturing and engineering facility, located just outside of New Haven, Connecticut, is equipped with a modern, flexible production system that enables us to address a wide range of customer demands, from niche market to mass market retail.

We pride ourselves on fostering a team-oriented culture focused on continuous improvement, productivity, and growth opportunities for our dedicated employees. In support of our growth we have moved to a newly constructed state-of-the-art facility located in Wallingford in Q1 of 2024. If you have the desire, skills, and dedication to be part of an organization with a small company feel and access to internal global resources, we invite you to take a closer look at what we have to offer at Elm City Tools.

This function requires a significant degree of people management skills coupled with strong planning and a vision for future state improvement opportunities.  The manufacturing process at our facility is based on internal manufacturing as well as assembly of externally sourced product shipped in both low volume specialty products and consumer goods sold at high volumes.

The Head of Production will ensure effective communication between cross functional teams and will manage KPI’s to gauge success within our facility as well as to meet the global targets of the Oetiker Group.  This person is responsible for all production related metrics as well as the associated personnel to ensure effective planning to meet customer requirements and to make sure that applicable control systems are developed, optimized, and monitored. 

• Lead and direct the daily activities of the production and manufacturing operations.
• Prepare manufacturing jobs based on customer purchase orders and requirements.
• Prepare production scheduling planning with support from procurement and sales teams.
• Maximize line efficiency through line balancing, automation and material movement to reduce unit cost.
• Develop systems and monitor key KPI’s including, but not limited to throughput, downtime, and scrap rates to make thoughtful decisions on improvement opportunities.
• Implementation, support and maintenance of lean manufacturing systems (5S, Poka-Yoke, Kaizen, etc…)
• Work closely with internal engineering team to drive seamless change implementation and new product launches.   
• In depth knowledge of the Company’s ERP system, procedures, and functions.  Contributes to its development, implementation, and optimization.
• Develop and create production control documentation (Production BoM’s, Work Instruction Systems, etc…)
• Hire, train and support direct reports through all functions of team development to drive culture and performance.
• Resolve personnel issues by analyzing data, investigating issues, and identifying and implementing solutions.
• Participate on global teams to provide procedural consistency and exchange best practices.
• Ensure that all practices are consistent with industry guidelines and regulations.
• Monitor market trends to identify new emerging opportunities.
• Define and present recommendations that will help in achieving business goals and objectives.
• Support all OSHA requirements to ensure a safe work environment with support from internal and global safety team.

• Bachelor-level degree in Engineering, Business Administration, or other field supplemented with relevant experience.
• Excellent people management and conflict resolution skills.
• Advanced Excel skills
  • Pivot Tables
  • Graphing
  • Data Analysis
  • Formula Usage
• 5 Years experience in high-volume production environment.
• Required knowledge of general manufacturing processes including, but not limited to, stamping, machining, die casting, investment casting, injection molding, heat treating metals and surfacing finishing processes.
• Injection Molding experience preferred but not required.
• 0-10% Travel

Benefits

• Medical, prescription, dental, vision, 401k match, life insurance, STD, LTD