PRODUCTION OPERATOR

Job Description

Job Description

People selected for a Production Operator position may be placed in various roles within the production process of our Crown Health Care Laundry plant.  There may be needs in either or both production areas – Soil or Clean.   Assignments are determined based on hiring needs and production levels in each area.  Below is a brief explanation for each of those areas of operation within the plant.  Pay rates and scheduled work hours are based on area assigned.  

The primary purpose of the Production Operator is to rotate through various positions within the plant to facilitate the receiving, sorting, washing, drying, ironing and loading of linens to be delivered to various hospitals and medical facilities.  You will learn to operate various production equipment as needed for your daily assignments. Equipment must be operated in such a manner as to meet and exceed our customer expectations daily in the safest possible manner.

Employees are required to learn all equipment and rotate as needed. Typical learning curve for each position is no longer than 2-5 working days. Standards must be met for each position within two weeks of hire and sustained during employment.   Employees will be placed in roles that meet production needs, and the skills and abilities of the employee. 

All Production Operation employees, whether working in Soil or Clean Production areas will  be required to perform other duties as assigned.  All employees will adhere to all quality standards and obey  all safety standards.   All Production Operation employees hired must be able to perform the essential functions of the job, with or without an accommodation.  

High School Education or GED preferred

Excellent teamwork skills required.

Employees must be willing to move between all jobs via rotation when needed.

Soil Operations

The primary purpose of this position is to safely sort returned, soiled linen into appropriate classifications in preparation for washing, washing and preparing the carts for the Clean Production side of the plant. 

Soil Operations: Duties & Essential Job Functions 

1. Open customer returned soil bags (bags weigh approximately 45 lbs.), discard plastic bag, spread product out to allow for visibility on soil belt. Pre‐sort classifications as required. Production standard are 45 bags or 2000 lbs. opened per hour for each operator.

2. Operators located on the work platform float between multiple positions moving up and down the belt sorting into the appropriate bins or slots.  This is a team operation, where the group works together to ensure linens are sorted safely, quickly and accurately into appropriate bins on the line. 

3. Move empty carts to appropriate area for cleaning and reuse.  

4. Cart Cleaners are responsible for ensuring that the carts, that returned bagged soiled laundry are cleaned, sterilized, dried out and lined to be ready for clean linens to be built into each cart from the Clean lines, readying the carts for loading onto our trucks.  Our Crown trucks leave loaded each day to deliver clean sterile linens to our customers.

Clean Operations

Clean Linen Operations: Duties & Essential Job Functions 

Employees will learn the following equipment/positions and be required to rotate as needed:

Catcher:

Will secure linen carts, will learn how to stack and build carts proficiently per our standards in a manner that’s conducive to our customer standards.

Remove linens from the Folder machine, count and stack them per stacking standards, and push the full baskets to the next staging area.

Secure a linen cart. The incumbent will have to push, pull and put the cart into place.

Remove items from the conveyor, normally catching items from up to six stations.

If an item is caught or hung up in the machine, they must contact maintenance. Only maintenance or production managers can pull jams.

The catcher may take empty carts over to the dryer area and bring another cart and bring it back to their work area.

Adhere to quality standards in terms of quantity and quality of stacking.

If the Catcher sees something in the item pile, such as a scrub or blanket that is not a Crown Health Care Laundry Services linen, the Catcher must pull it out and put it to the side. The Catcher may see things that are stained, and the feeder didn’t see it. These must be removed and put to the side.  Your supervisor or lead will tell you where to put these items.

The Catcher will have to routinely make quality decisions such as the finishing of a linen that is ready to load in a cart. 

The Catcher may discover that an item is stuck or the machine is not functioning properly. They will decide when to call Maintenance.

Hand Fold:

The primary purpose of the Hand Folder is to take items as they come out of the washer or Presser and hand fold, stack and place on the appropriate cart or belt for transporting to the next stage of the process.

1. Remove product from the previous process. Identify through on your on-the-job training, how many items per stack.

2. Pull cart over to work area, adjusting the cart so that linen is at a comfortable waist level.

3. Fold items and place on the countertop.

4. For larger items, there may be group folding. Each folding partner grabs the lengthwise end of the item. The partners step back and make a lengthwise fold in the item. One person places it on the countertop, in stacks of five.

5. Fill up the cart in a like manner.

6. Take the cart over to the next work area.

The Hand Folder will make many quality decisions, such as identifying if there is a hole or tear in the item, whether it is stained and needs to be rewashed.

The Hand Folder will identify when product is not The Company product and remove it.

The Hand Folder must decide how many items belong in a particular stack.

Ironer:

The primary purpose of the Ironer position is to run clean processed linen through the Ironer machine (Feeder, ironer, folder).

1. Bend down and lift flat sheets, blankets and/or pillowcases from the platform, loosen the linens to ensure safe handling prior to feeding them into the ironer.

2. Pull the flat sheets and feed linen into the spreader, via spreader clips or a spreader arm.

3. The first feed draws the linen into the spreader, and the second feed draws the linen into the ironer.

4. While feeding pillowcases, 2-4 people may be feeding at one time.

The Ironer must decide when something goes in the re-wash basket per pre-established guidelines such as a hole, stain or anything that would make it not a good quality product.

If an item is stuck in the machine, or if the machine is not functioning properly, decide when to call for maintenance.  Always adhere to all safety requirements for the equipment and the position.  

Shipping Clerk:

The primary purpose of the Shipping Clerk position is to fill finished carts of clean, processed linen throughout the facility, prepare them for shipment, and ensure that they are loaded onto the delivery trucks. The incumbent will build carts, accurately operate the scale to appropriately weigh the cart and record the information appropriately. Will require a Hep B shot.

The Shipping Clerk is responsible for:

• Securing records of the orders
• Attaching a copy of the order form to the side of the cart
• Maintaining and tracking during the day which orders have been filled and which haven’t been completed.
• Collecting finished carts:
• Repeatedly walking through the plant and proactively seeking out finished carts.
• Rolling the carts to the weighing area

Weigh the carts:

• Pull the cart up onto the floor scale
• Record the weight into the software program
• Pull the weighed cart off the scale
• Push the next cart onto the scale and repeat the process

Enter the proper information into the Shipping Software

May load the delivery truck by pushing the weighed carts onto the back of the appropriate truck as required.

May fill in for other positions as required, i.e., production operator/builder

Basic computer knowledge and the willingness to learn new computer applications.

Good recordkeeping skills required.

Good analytical skills required.