Plant Manager

Fenner Dunlop is seeking a detail-oriented and motivated Plant Manager for our manufacturing facility in Lavonia, Georgia.

Fenner Dunlop, a Michelin Group company, designs and manufactures one of the world’s widest ranges of bulk material handling conveyor belts. For more than 150 years, we have designed, manufactured, and tested conveyor belting solutions for demanding industries including mining, aggregates, power generation, wood handling, pulp and paper, and more. Our North American-made products are manufactured at facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

What You’ll Do

The Plant Manager is responsible for the overall leadership, performance, and daily operation of the Lavonia manufacturing facility. The Plant Manager is accountable for setting clear goals, communicating production requirements, developing plant leadership, improving manufacturing performance, advancing technology and innovation, and maintaining a safe, respectful, and high-performing workplace.

Operational Leadership & Production Execution

• Lead daily plant operations to achieve safety, quality, delivery, cost, productivity, and customer service objectives.
• Establish and communicate daily, weekly, and monthly production goals based on customer demand, staffing, equipment capacity, inventory needs, and business priorities.
• Ensure supervisors understand production requirements, communicate expectations to employees, and are accountable for results.
• Monitor performance against plan and take timely corrective action when production, quality, staffing, or equipment performance is off target.
• Lead operating reviews and effective shift-to-shift and cross-functional communication to identify barriers, assign actions, minimize downtime, and align Production, Maintenance, Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality, Safety, HR, and Finance.
• Maintain strong plant-floor visibility and use KPI-driven decision making, standard work, and disciplined operating routines.

Workforce Leadership & Employee Relations

• Lead, coach, and develop supervisors and plant leaders to build a high-performing and engaged workforce.
• Establish clear expectations for leadership, communication, performance, accountability, and employee development.
• Ensure policies, attendance expectations, work rules, safety requirements, and performance standards are applied fairly and consistently.
• Partner with Human Resources on employee relations, investigations, performance management, staffing, retention, succession planning, and employee engagement.
• Manage workforce planning, scheduling, overtime, cross-training, onboarding, qualifications, and skills development while identifying high-potential employees and encouraging recognition, feedback, and employee involvement.

Textile Manufacturing & Technical Excellence

• Maintain strong working knowledge of textile manufacturing, including yarn preparation, twisting, beaming, weaving, inspection, finishing, material handling, and related processes.
• Understand how materials, machine settings, equipment condition, operating methods, and process parameters affect quality, throughput, waste, and downstream performance.
• Understand how textile components support conveyor belting manufacturing and customer requirements.
• Partner with Engineering, Quality, Production, and Maintenance to resolve technical and process issues.
• Ensure operating procedures, machine standards, and process parameters are established, understood, and consistently followed.
• Support technical training and evaluate process and equipment improvements that increase safety, reliability, quality, capacity, and efficiency.

Safety & Compliance

• Champion a strong safety culture focused on prevention, accountability, employee engagement, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure compliance with OSHA, environmental regulations, corporate standards, and plant procedures.
• Maintain visible safety leadership, reinforce critical safe-work practices, investigate incidents and near misses, and ensure hazards and corrective actions are addressed promptly.
• Incorporate safety considerations into production planning, staffing, equipment changes, automation, and capital projects.

Quality & Customer Focus

• Ensure products meet customer specifications, internal quality standards, and manufacturing requirements.
• Drive First-Time-Right performance and partner across functions to reduce defects, scrap, rework, and process variation and promptly resolve quality concerns.
• Support customer audits, plant visits, complaints, corrective actions, and technical collaboration.
• Ensure production demands do not override safety or quality requirements.

Innovation, Technology & Continuous Improvement

• Drive plant-wide innovation and continuous improvement focused on safety, productivity, quality, delivery, cost, reliability, and waste reduction.
• Identify and evaluate new manufacturing technologies, automation, equipment, digital tools, and process improvements that can strengthen plant performance and competitiveness.
• Partner with Engineering, Maintenance, IT, and corporate resources to implement technology improvements and use production and equipment data to identify and address performance gaps.
• Identify opportunities to simplify, automate, standardize, and eliminate non-value-added work and ensure technology and capital investments deliver measurable operational value.
• Use structured problem-solving methods such as Root Cause Analysis, 5 Why, and PDCA to eliminate recurring issues.
• Implement and sustain standard work, visual management, 5S, process controls, and other operational excellence practices.

Maintenance & Equipment Reliability

• Partner with Maintenance and Engineering to improve preventive maintenance, equipment reliability, uptime, and overall asset performance.
• Align production and maintenance priorities, address recurring equipment failures and downtime, and balance immediate production requirements with long-term reliability needs.
• Evaluate workflows, staffing models, equipment utilization, material movement, and manufacturing processes for improvement opportunities.
• Support capital planning based on safety, reliability, technology, capacity, quality, productivity, and business need.

Financial & KPI Management

• Own the plant operating budget and financial performance and manage key KPIs including safety, production, schedule attainment, labor efficiency, OEE, First-Time-Right, scrap, downtime, reliability, inventory accuracy, delivery, customer performance, and cost.
• Conduct regular performance reviews to identify gaps, assign corrective actions, and ensure accountability and follow-through.
• Lead cost-reduction and productivity initiatives without compromising safety, quality, customer requirements, or equipment reliability.
• Ensure accurate and timely operational and financial reporting in partnership with Finance, Supply Chain, and other functions.

Communication & Strategic Leadership

• Establish effective communication across employees, shifts, departments, plant leadership, and corporate functions regarding priorities, requirements, performance, and operational changes.
• Translate company strategy into clear plant priorities, performance goals, and measurable operating plans.
• Anticipate future workforce, equipment, capacity, technology, and operational needs and develop appropriate plans.
• Promote a forward-thinking culture focused on innovation, operational excellence, employee development, and sustainable improvement.
• Represent the Lavonia facility professionally during customer visits, audits, leadership visits, and other internal or external engagements.
• Ensure leaders understand expectations, how success is measured, and the actions required when performance falls short.

What You’ll Need

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Manufacturing, Business, or related field; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
• Minimum 10 years of progressive manufacturing experience, including significant leadership responsibility.
• Experience leading supervisors, front-line leaders, and large hourly manufacturing teams.
• Strong experience in equipment-intensive, high-volume manufacturing operations.
• Demonstrated ability to establish production goals, communicate operating requirements, and hold teams accountable for results.
• Experience managing plant budgets, operating costs, labor performance, and plant-level financial results.
• Proven success improving safety, quality, productivity, delivery, cost, and workforce performance.
• Demonstrated experience leading process improvement, technology adoption, automation, or manufacturing modernization initiatives.
• Strong leadership, communication, coaching, problem-solving, organizational, and decision-making skills.
• Experience leading operational change and partnering across Maintenance, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Safety, Finance, Human Resources, and IT.
• Experience with Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Continuous Improvement, TPM, 5S, or similar methodologies.

What We Offer

At Fenner Dunlop, a Michelin Group company, we support the health, financial wellbeing, work/life balance, and development of our employees and their families. Benefits include:

• Medical, Dental, Vision, and Life Insurance
• Medical Travel Reimbursement for critical healthcare travel
• Company Paid Life Insurance
• Volunteer, Caregiver, and Bereavement Leave
• Education Reimbursement
• Family Planning Reimbursement
• Competitive Paid Time Off & Company Holidays
• Retirement Savings Plan with a dollar-for-dollar match up to 6% of your salary
• Extensive Paid Parental Leave in the event of birth or adoption
• Opportunities to purchase Michelin Stock at a discounted rate
• Michelin Tire Rebates
• Employee Assistance Program providing health, financial, legal, and other resources

Interested in more details on our comprehensive employee benefits package? Just ask!