Extrusion Supervisor / Head of Extrusion – Foam Extrusion & Hot-Plate Press Welding
We are seeking a hands-on leader to supervise our foam extrusion and hot-plate welding operation.
This working-supervisor role combines direct floor involvement with employee development, production execution, technical reporting, training, and continuous improvement in a 24/7 manufacturing environment.
Reporting directly to the Production Manager, this position will manage daily departmental execution, often work alongside the team on the production floor, and partner with the Manufacturing & Process Engineer on technical process matters.
Schedule & Commitment
Candidates must be willing to:
- Work approximately 50-60 hours per week during department stabilization.
- Be available for weekends, holidays, and after-hours calls as needed.
- Attend critical 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. shift handoffs during the training phase.
- Cover day, night, or overnight 12-hour shifts during staffing shortages, PTO, or absences.
- Support a continuous 24/7 operation of four teams who work rotating 2-2-3, 12-hour schedules (approx. 12-20 employees).
What You’ll Do
Leadership & Production
- Supervise foam extrusion and hot-plate welding operations across four rotating teams.
- Work alongside employees to support line operation, training, troubleshooting, and production needs.
- Coach, train, evaluate, and develop employees through KPI reviews, performance evaluations, feedback, corrective action, and development planning.
- Maintain and evaluate the departmental Skills Matrix to identify competency gaps, guide cross-training, and ensure adequate skill coverage.
- Establish, monitor, and support individual and departmental KPIs.
- Coordinate labor schedules, PTO coverage, resource allocation, and operator support.
- Prioritize work orders, communicate risks, and develop contingency plans to minimize disruptions.
- Conduct daily safety talks, Gemba walks, team meetings, and shift handoffs.
- Ensure accurate team completion of OEE reports, production metrics, quality documentation, machine readings, and shift communication logs per shift.
- Safely operate a forklift to organize, stage, move, and transfer raw materials and departmental inventory, including handoffs between departments as needed.
- Fill in for operators when operational needs require.
Process, Quality & Improvement
- Ensure approved recipes, work instructions, SOPs, and operating procedures are followed.
- Monitor line performance, identify bottlenecks, support root cause analysis, and implement corrective actions to improve productivity, efficiency, and quality.
- Coordinate with Maintenance, Engineering, and Quality to improve equipment reliability, process performance, and product quality.
- Partner with the Manufacturing & Process Engineer, who maintains technical authority over recipes, specialty systems, process settings, testing, equipment, and process-related mechanical systems for extrusion and hot-plate welding.
- Participate in quality lab testing, material evaluations, process trials, and investigations involving product or process deviations.
- Use QT9 to document material quality, support deviations, and ensure nonconforming material is properly identified, segregated, documented, and dispositioned.
- Support the implementation of new equipment, automation, and manufacturing technologies by coordinating operator readiness, standardized procedures, and hands-on training.
- Support Lean Manufacturing, 5S, Six Sigma, waste reduction, process optimization, and continuous improvement initiatives.
Inventory, Reporting & Training
- Maintain inventory accuracy through daily counts, weekly verification, monthly physical inventories, and raw-material reconciliation in alignment with the procurement team.
- Use SAP ECC 6.0 and MRP principles to manage high-volume inventory transactions, raw-material movements, usage, MIGO receipts, cycle counts, reconciliation, and inventory accuracy.
- Monitor material requirements and communicate shortages or inventory risks that could affect production.
- Order approved departmental consumables and tooling.
- Build daily, weekly, and monthly reports using advanced Microsoft Excel.
- Develop and conduct hands-on equipment, process, safety, quality, and cross-training.
- Support onboarding, employee qualification, training modules, SOPs, standardized work, and best practices.
- Investigate safety incidents, near misses, and hazards in coordination with EHS and Production Management.
- Understand the safe operation of cyclopentane, CO₂, and nitrogen systems, including regulator checks, approved working pressures, alarm response, and emergency shutoff procedures.
- Maintain accurate Power BI dashboards, KPIs, OEE data/ reports, production metrics, machine readings, and shift records; checked and updated daily.
Qualifications
Strongly Preferred
- Bachelor’s degree in Polymer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related field; equivalent experience will be considered.
- Plastics or foam extrusion leadership experience.
- Experience in a continuous 24/7 manufacturing environment.
- Bilingual English and Spanish communication skills strongly preferred.
- Advanced Microsoft Excel reporting and data-analysis skills.
- Strong Power BI dashboard and reporting experience.
- Working knowledge of SAP ECC 6.0, MIGO transactions, ERP/MRP systems, and quality-management software (QT9).
- Strong mechanical and technical aptitude with the ability to learn polymer science, foam extrusion, resins, raw materials, recipes, process settings, specialty systems, and hot-plate welding equipment.
- Strong data-analysis, inventory-control, organization, delegation, and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to travel internationally for process training for up to two weeks.
- Five or more years of production, construction, or manufacturing experience, including at least three years leading teams.
Additional Qualifications
- Forklift experience.
- Experience with quality documentation, material deviations, and nonconforming-material processes.
- Experience developing training materials, SOPs, standardized work, and employee-development programs.
- Strong leadership, coaching, communication, and team-building skills.
- OSHA 30 certification is a plus.
- Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, 5S, TPM, or related continuous-improvement experience is desirable.
Why Join Us?
Make a direct impact on safety, quality, productivity, and employee development while helping strengthen a technically advanced extrusion operation. You will work closely with Production Management, Engineering, Quality, Maintenance, and EHS while developing a skilled and accountable team.
Pay: $80,000.00 - $90,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k) 6% Match
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Relocation assistance
- Vision insurance
Experience:
- Manufacturing engineering: 3 years (Required)
- Leadership: 3 years (Required)
- Plastics extrusion: 3 years (Required)
Language:
- Spanish (Preferred)
- English (Required)
Shift availability:
- Day Shift (Required)
- Night Shift (Required)
- Overnight Shift (Required)
Ability to Commute:
- Colfax, NC 27235 (Required)
Work Location: In person
