Manufacturing Manager

Job Description

Job Description

Who We Are

Located in Sarasota, Florida since 1991, LaFrance Corp's manufacturing and distribution facility plays a vital role in supporting customers across North America and around the world. Our Sarasota team is responsible for manufacturing, warehousing, and distributing high-quality on-product branding solutions used by many of the world's leading consumer and professional brands.

As part of LaFrance Corp, a privately owned company founded in 1946 and headquartered in Concordville, Pennsylvania, the Sarasota facility upholds a long-standing tradition of quality, innovation, and customer service. Our branding products can be found on premium sunglasses, luxury refrigerators, automotive key fobs, top-rated golf clubs, robotic vacuums, and many other well-known products.

The Sarasota location offers a casual, team-oriented, and professional work environment where employees are valued for their contributions. We believe in developing our people and promoting from within whenever possible, creating opportunities for long-term career growth. Backed by more than 75 years of industry expertise, our Sarasota team is committed to delivering exceptional products, dependable service, and lasting value to our customers every day.

Benefits include medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, tuition reimbursement, vacation, paid holidays, 401K Plan.

Position Overview

We are seeking a Manufacturing Manager to lead daily production operations across our Frameplate building, including injection molding and downstream finishing activities (hot stamping, screen printing, painting, assembly). This position is accountable for safe operations, on-time delivery, product quality, and production cost performance.

The Manufacturing Manager will lead production supervisors and employees, coordinate schedules and resources, and build the systems and team capabilities needed to achieve consistent results. A strong injection molding background is required to provide technical guidance, support troubleshooting, and develop the molding team.

This is an active, floor-focused leadership position supported by shared Engineering, Quality, Maintenance, Supply Chain, and Human Resources teams.

Key Responsibilities

Production Leadership and Results

• Own daily production performance across Frameplate - meeting established delivery, quality, cost, and safety targets.
• Coordinate production schedules, staffing, equipment, and materials to meet customer requirements and maintain readiness for upcoming orders.
• Monitor output, scrap, downtime, labor efficiency, and overtime; identify performance gaps and drive corrective actions.
• Anticipate production constraints and escalate risks early enough to prevent disruptions.

Injection Molding Technical Leadership

• Provide practical technical guidance on injection molding processes, equipment, materials, and tooling.
• Support systematic troubleshooting of molding defects, process instability, and production interruptions in collaboration with Quality, Engineering, and Maintenance.
• Coach and develop the molding supervisor and production team, strengthening troubleshooting skills and process discipline.
• Ensure approved process parameters, work instructions, and quality requirements are understood and consistently followed.

Team Management and Development

• Establish clear expectations, assign responsibilities, and hold supervisors and employees accountable for results.
• Plan labor assignments and cross-training to provide effective coverage and reduce dependence on individual employees.
• Address performance and attendance concerns promptly and consistently, with HR support.
• Build a team culture centered on ownership, communication, cooperation, and continuous improvement.

Operational Control and Improvement

• Establish and maintain a daily management routine with visible performance measures, clear priorities, assigned actions, and follow-through.
• Coordinate with Maintenance on equipment condition, repair priorities, and production availability.
• Maintain visibility to raw materials, work in process, and finished goods to support production flow and accurate inventory transactions.
• Confirm that personnel, equipment, materials, documentation, and capacity are ready before new or revised jobs enter routine production.
• Identify and implement improvements that reduce waste, improve flow, increase productivity, and prevent recurring problems.
• Maintain safe, clean, and organized work areas and ensure identified hazards are promptly addressed.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience in plastic injection molding, including practical knowledge of processing, common defects, equipment, materials, and troubleshooting.
• Prior experience supervising or leading a manufacturing team, with responsibility for production performance and employee development.
• Ability to coordinate schedules, staffing, equipment, and materials across multiple production activities.
• Experience using production data to identify problems, establish priorities, and verify improvements.
• Strong communication, organization, problem-solving, and follow-through skills.
• Ability to work effectively with production employees, supervisors, technical teams, and management.
• Working proficiency with spreadsheets and manufacturing production or inventory systems.

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience leading supervisors, team leads, or multiple production areas.
• Experience improving scrap, downtime, changeover time, labor efficiency, or on-time delivery.
• Familiarity with structured problem solving, Lean manufacturing, and standardized work.
• Technical training in injection molding, manufacturing, or a related field. Equivalent practical experience is valued.

What Success Looks Like

• Customer orders are completed on time and meet defined quality requirements.
• Production consistently meets established output, yield, and labor cost targets.
• Supervisors and employees understand their priorities and take ownership of results.
• Molding capability grows through coaching, documented processes, and effective troubleshooting.
• Production risks are identified early, corrective actions are completed, and improvements are sustained.