Plant Manager

About Engineered Products At Engineered Products, we design and manufacture high-performance material handling and storage solutions with a focus on quality, durability, and operational efficiency. We are a fast-paced, growth-oriented manufacturer where execution matters and where strong leaders have the opportunity to drive meaningful impact and advance their careers. At Engineered Products, we design and manufacture high-performance material handling and storage solutions with a focus on quality, durability, and operational efficiency. We are a fast-paced, growth-oriented manufacturer where execution matters and where strong leaders have the opportunity to drive meaningful impact and advance their careers. Position Summary Position: Plant Manager Reports to: President/COO Location: Easley, SC The Plant Manager leads daily operations across Engineered Products’ metal fabrication operation, with accountability for production, Operational Excellence (OpEx), maintenance, tooling, material flow, and shipping & receiving. This high-visibility role drives Safety, Quality, Delivery, and Cost performance across the full operating value stream. This is a hands-on, shop-floor leadership role. The successful candidate will recognize what “good” looks like in a high-mix fabrication environment, build capable leaders, ensure equipment and tooling readiness, improve flow, and establish a disciplined operating system that delivers reliable customer, workforce, and financial results. SCOPE OF RESPONSIBILITY Leads a multi-shift, single-site manufacturing operation with responsibility for production, maintenance, tooling, Operational Excellence, material flow, and shipping & receiving. Provides direct leadership to plant supervisors and functional leaders while partnering closely with Quality, Engineering, EH&S, Supply Chain, Human Resources, Finance, Sales, and Project Management. How Success Is Defined (role Expectations) Operates with an uncompromising Safety Quality Delivery Cost (SQDC) mindset—in that order. Spends 50%+ of time on the shop floor, developing people, confirming standards, and driving execution. Improves safety performance and closes corrective actions promptly and effectively. Improves first-pass yield while reducing scrap, rework, defects, and cost of poor quality. Delivers production schedule attainment, on-time delivery, labor productivity, and controlled operating expense. Improves equipment uptime, preventive maintenance compliance, tooling readiness, inventory accuracy, and material flow. Builds a capable leadership team, effective skills coverage, and a culture of accountability and continuous improvement. Delivers verified OpEx benefits that improve profitability, cash flow, asset utilization, and customer service. Core Responsibilities Operational Leadership & Production Planning Lead all plant operations including fabrication, welding, powder coat, assembly, material flow, maintenance, tooling, and shipping & receiving. Own execution against the approved production schedule, aligning labor, equipment, tooling, materials, and capacity to customer and backlog priorities. Lead daily and weekly operating reviews covering schedule attainment, constraints, staffing, quality, maintenance, and shipment priorities. Coordinate with Sales, Project Management, Engineering, Purchasing, and Production Planning to resolve constraints and protect customer commitments. Ensure timely and accurate ERP transactions for labor, material movement, production completion, scrap, inventory, shipping, and job status. Monitor and actively manage throughput, labor efficiency, schedule attainment, backlog flow, equipment uptime, tooling readiness, inventory accuracy, and on-time shipment. Identify constraints across people, equipment, tooling, materials, information, and logistics, and drive timely corrective action. Operational Excellence & Lean Manufacturing Own the plant OpEx roadmap and serve as the site’s primary Lean leader, translating business priorities into measurable improvement plans. Lead tiered daily management, KPI reviews, visual controls, leader standard work, process confirmation, and structured problem-solving. Build and execute a prioritized pipeline of productivity, quality, cost, lead-time, capacity, equipment reliability, and changeover improvements with clear owners and verified benefits. Coach leaders and employees in waste identification, root‑cause analysis, corrective action, and practical Lean methods on the shop floor. Sustain improvements through standard work, training, process audits, and management follow‑up. Maintenance & Reliability Own maintenance strategy and execution for production equipment, facilities, and critical plant utilities. Establish and enforce preventive and predictive maintenance programs that improve uptime and reduce unplanned downtime. Prioritize maintenance work using risk, production impact, and asset criticality while ensuring timely completion and effective communication. Manage maintenance performance, spare‑parts readiness, contractor support, and asset lifecycle planning within approved budgets. Tooling Management Own the availability, condition, control, and lifecycle management of production tooling, fixtures, gauges, and shop aids. Ensure tooling is designed, built, maintained, stored, and issued to support safe, repeatable, and efficient production. Implement tooling identification, preventive maintenance, calibration coordination, inventory control, and readiness standards. Partner with Engineering and Quality to resolve tooling‑related issues and improve manufacturability, repeatability, and changeover performance. Shipping & Receiving Own safe and accurate receiving, material staging, finished‑goods handling, shipment preparation, and outbound execution. Ensure inbound materials are received, inspected, documented, and routed promptly, with discrepancies escalated and resolved. Drive on‑time, complete, and damage‑free shipments through disciplined scheduling, packaging, loading, documentation, and carrier coordination. Maintain inventory accuracy, space utilization, material traceability, housekeeping, and compliance within shipping and receiving areas. Safety, Environmental & Compliance Champion a zero‑incident safety culture and demonstrate visible safety leadership on the shop floor. Ensure compliance with OSHA requirements, company policies, and applicable environmental, waste‑handling, air, stormwater, and hazardous‑material requirements in partnership with EH&S. Ensure hazards, incidents, and near misses are investigated promptly and corrective actions are completed and sustained. Hold frontline leaders accountable for safe work practices, risk mitigation, housekeeping, and environmental compliance. People Leadership Lead, coach, and develop supervisors and functional leaders to drive accountability, problem‑solving, and performance. Maintain an effective workforce plan covering staffing, shift coverage, attendance, overtime, skills matrices, cross‑training, recruiting, and retention. Establish clear expectations and use consistent performance management, recognition, and corrective action to reinforce standards. Develop bench strength and succession plans for critical leadership and technical roles. Build a culture of urgency, ownership, respect, teamwork, and continuous improvement. Quality & Customer Focus Own manufacturing quality performance and ensure production consistently meets customer specifications, drawings, and internal standards. Ensure adherence to first piece, in‑process, final inspection, control‑plan, standard‑work, and material‑traceability requirements. Ensure nonconforming material is contained, dispositioned, and prevented from moving downstream or reaching the customer. Partner with Quality and Engineering on FAI, customer complaints, root‑cause analysis, and effective corrective action. Reduce defects, rework, scrap, and cost of poor quality through process control and sustained improvement. Financial & Business Performance Own operating budgets for assigned functions and actively manage labor, maintenance, tooling, freight, inventory, utilities, and other controllable costs. Translate operating performance into improved profitability, cash flow, working capital, and asset utilization without compromising safety or quality. Develop the plant capital plan and lead approved equipment, facility, tooling, and automation projects from business case through installation, commissioning, training, and sustained performance. Validate and track cost reductions and productivity improvements through the OpEx pipeline in partnership with Finance. Provide accurate forecasts, risks, recovery plans, and performance reporting to executive leadership. Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Operations, Business, or a related field preferred. 7–10+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience. 5+ years leading multi‑department, multi‑shift plant operations through supervisors and functional leaders. Strong experience in metal fabrication or heavy manufacturing; working knowledge of fabrication, welding, powder coating, assembly, and material handling preferred. Experience in an engineered-to-order, high‑mix, low‑volume, or job‑shop manufacturing environment. Demonstrated ownership of Lean transformation, maintenance and reliability, tooling, shipping & receiving, production planning, and workforce performance. Lean Manufacturing certification required (Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or equivalent). Working knowledge of manufacturing ERP systems, job‑cost and inventory transactions, and plant KPI management. Experience developing and executing capital projects, equipment installations, and operational launches. Proven success building high‑performing teams and managing budgets, improvement portfolios, and cross‑functional execution. Skills & Leadership Attributes Hands‑on, highly visible shop‑floor leadership style Strong technical understanding of fabrication, equipment reliability, tooling, material flow, and logistics processes. Rejects the status quo, continuously seeks better ways of working, and relentlessly eliminates waste and inefficiency. Balances urgency with disciplined, fact‑based problem‑solving and maintains sound judgment under operational pressure. Communicates expectations clearly and influences effectively across the shop floor, support functions, customers, and executive leadership. Develops leaders and management systems rather than becoming the sole owner of every operational problem. Demonstrates the courage to stop production when safety or quality is at risk. Strong financial and business acumen with a data‑driven KPI management mindset. High ownership, resilience, and accountability in a fast‑paced, high‑expectation environment. WORK ENVIRONMENT This role is primarily performed in an active manufacturing environment and requires extended periods of standing, walking, and direct engagement with plant operations. The Plant Manager must be able to work across shifts and provide leadership outside normal business hours as operating conditions require. Required personal protective equipment and all plant safety rules must be followed. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals to perform the essential functions of the role. #J-18808-Ljbffr