Stamping Manager

Stamping Manager

Futaba Indiana of America (FIA) is an automotive manufacturing company located in Vincennes, Indiana. The Stamping Manager is responsible for leading, planning, coordinating, and directing all stamping department operations to achieve established safety, quality, cost, delivery, productivity, and production targets.

This position provides strategic and operational leadership for stamping production, including press line scheduling, tooling and die performance, manpower planning, equipment utilization, budgeting, and continuous improvement. The Stamping Manager ensures alignment with FIA objectives, customer requirements, and Toyota Production System (TPS) principles while developing leadership capability, strengthening cross-functional collaboration, and driving sustainable operational performance.

Key Focus Areas

1. Department Leadership and Operational Management

· Provide overall leadership and direction for stamping department operations, ensuring production requirements, customer demands, and established performance targets are consistently achieved.

· Establish departmental priorities, production plans, and operational objectives in alignment with plant goals, customer requirements, and the overall production schedule.

· Oversee daily floor operations, press line utilization, manpower allocation, production sequencing, and resource planning to maximize efficiency and minimize operational disruptions.

· Establish, monitor, and communicate key performance indicators (KPIs) related to safety, quality, delivery, cost, productivity, scrap, downtime, and manpower efficiency.

· Analyze production performance, identify operational gaps, and implement corrective actions to address missed targets and prevent recurrence.

· Ensure adequate staffing, training, equipment availability, and operational readiness to support current production requirements and future business needs.

· Maintain a strong presence on the production floor to verify standard work, identify concerns, support problem-solving, and reinforce accountability.

2. Safety, Quality, and Environmental Compliance

· Maintain accountability for departmental safety performance and ensure compliance with FIA policies, applicable regulations, and established safety standards.

· Investigate safety incidents, identify root causes, implement countermeasures, and verify the effectiveness of corrective actions.

· Partner with Safety and Environmental leadership to maintain safe working conditions, improve safety awareness, and reduce workplace risks.

· Oversee the resolution and follow-up of quality issues, including Quality Issue Reports (QIRs), Quality Problem Reports (QPRs), customer concerns, and internal nonconformances.

· Collaborate with Quality leadership to implement corrective and preventive actions, reduce defects, and improve process capability.

· Ensure stamping processes, standard operating procedures, and work practices are maintained and followed.

· Ensure team members receive appropriate training and understand their responsibilities for safety, quality, and environmental compliance.

3. Production Planning, Tooling, and Technical Performance

· Direct and coordinate press line scheduling and production priorities in collaboration with Production Control, Logistics, Product Engineering, Product Preparation, Quality, and other supporting departments.

· Maintain a strong working knowledge of stamping operations, press equipment, tooling, die construction and function, die troubleshooting, and common stamping process issues.

· Oversee die trials, new tooling launches, process changes, and production readiness activities to ensure successful implementation and stable production.

· Coordinate with Tool and Die, Maintenance, Production Engineering, and other technical teams to resolve equipment failures, die issues, downtime, and recurring production concerns.

· Identify and address scrap generation, scrap flow and separation issues, material utilization concerns, and other process losses that negatively affect safety, quality, cost, or productivity.

· Ensure appropriate escalation and timely resolution of technical issues that may affect production schedules, customer commitments, or operational performance.

· Drive improvements in equipment reliability, tooling performance, cycle time, changeover effectiveness, and overall equipment utilization.

4. Financial Management and Cost Improvement

· Develop, manage, and monitor the annual stamping department budget, including labor, overtime, scrap, consumables, maintenance-related costs, and other applicable operating expenses.

· Establish and execute cost-reduction plans that support annual departmental targets and overall plant financial objectives.

· Evaluate production data, operating reports, labor utilization, scrap trends, downtime, and other performance indicators to identify opportunities for improved cost and efficiency.

· Review and justify capital equipment requests, process improvements, and other investments based on operational needs, safety, quality, productivity, and return on investment.

· Monitor actual performance against budget and implement corrective actions when costs or productivity deviate from established targets.

· Lead waste-reduction initiatives and promote efficient use of materials, equipment, labor, and other department resources.

5. People Leadership and Organizational Development

· Lead, develop, and evaluate the performance of the Stamping Assistant Manager, Supervisors, Team Leaders, and other assigned personnel.

· Establish clear performance expectations, departmental objectives, and individual accountability measures aligned with FIA's organizational goals.

· Ensure appropriate delegation of responsibilities while maintaining accountability for departmental results.

· Participate in interviewing, selection, onboarding, training, performance management, employee development, and succession planning for department personnel.

· Coach and mentor subordinate leaders in problem-solving, employee relations, production management, communication, and leadership effectiveness.

· Partner with Human Resources to address employee relations matters, attendance, performance concerns, policy compliance, workforce planning, and organizational development.

· Promote employee engagement, teamwork, accountability, and a culture of continuous improvement.

· Ensure department leaders communicate consistently, address concerns appropriately, and apply company policies and procedures fairly and consistently.

· Support the development of a capable leadership pipeline and ensure critical departmental knowledge and responsibilities are appropriately shared.

6. Cross-Functional Collaboration and Communication

· Establish and maintain effective communication and coordination with Production Engineering, Product Preparation, Production Control, Logistics, Quality, Safety and Environmental, Maintenance, Tool and Die, Human Resources, and other supporting departments.

· Collaborate with cross-functional leaders to resolve production constraints, improve material flow, support product launches, and meet customer delivery requirements.

· Communicate departmental performance, significant operational concerns, resource needs, and corrective action plans to plant leadership.

· Participate in production meetings, management reviews, improvement activities, and other required business meetings.

· Ensure timely escalation of risks or issues that may affect employee safety, product quality, customer delivery, production continuity, or financial performance.

· Support plant-wide initiatives and organizational objectives while maintaining alignment between departmental priorities and overall FIA goals.

7. Continuous Improvement and Strategic Planning

· Lead the implementation and sustainment of Kaizen activities, standardized work, and TPS principles throughout the stamping department.

· Develop and execute departmental improvement plans and Hoshin Planning objectives aligned with plant and organizational strategies.

· Establish measurable goals for reducing scrap, downtime, defects, overtime, and other operational losses while improving productivity and equipment effectiveness.

· Use data-driven problem-solving methods to identify root causes, implement countermeasures, and verify sustained results.

· Standardize successful improvements and ensure lessons learned are communicated and applied across applicable processes.

· Identify future operational needs, equipment limitations, workforce capability gaps, and improvement opportunities to support long-term business performance.

· Lead and support the implementation of new processes, equipment, technologies, and organizational changes affecting stamping operations.

8. Administrative and Reporting Responsibilities

· Review, analyze, and communicate production reports, departmental performance metrics, budget information, staffing requirements, and improvement results.

· Ensure operational records, procedures, reports, and other required documentation are accurate and maintained in accordance with company requirements.

· Develop and present recommendations to plant leadership regarding production performance, cost improvement, capital investments, staffing, and operational risks.

· Maintain confidentiality of sensitive company, employee, financial, and operational information.

· Perform other duties as assigned.

· Conduct or participate in departmental audits, including:

o 5S

o Safety

o Documentation

o Inventory

o Process compliance and JSOX

· Ensure departmental procedures and practices remain aligned with company policies and applicable requirements.

· Demonstrate an understanding of FIA's Environmental Policy and actively participate in programs that improve environmental performance.

· Identify and communicate potential environmental non-conformances and support appropriate corrective actions.

· Demonstrate an understanding of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their potential impact on departmental activities.

· Develop improvement initiatives that support applicable company SDG objectives.

· Demonstrate an understanding of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan