Operations Supervisor - 1st Shift

Job Title: Operations Supervisor

Department: Testabs

Reports To: Value Stream Manager – Tablets, Reagents and Production Lab

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Qualifications:

High school diploma or equivalent required. Prior supervisory or team-lead experience in a manufacturing environment is preferred. Strong mechanical aptitude, equipment-operating skills, computer proficiency, and demonstrated ability to plan work, train employees, troubleshoot production issues, and maintain accurate documentation are required. Must be able to multitask, wear a chemical cartridge respirator, transport up to 50 pounds, and handle a loaded pallet jack.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Production:

• Conducts a daily 15-minute safety and production huddle covering safety topics, quality concerns, backlog, material or inventory issues, the production schedule, staffing assignments, and employee feedback.
• Builds and maintains safe workplace conditions, practices, and behaviors that comply with applicable safety and environmental requirements; identifies and corrects hazards and ensures employees follow established controls.
• Participates in and conducts tablet-area safety activities, including Gemba walks, hazardous-waste audits, safety observations, improvement projects, and required eyewash, safety-shower, and fire-extinguisher checks.
• Plans and manages daily tablet production across bulk powder manufacturing, tablet compression, strip packaging, bottling, and related packaging operations to meet safety, quality, service, and productivity requirements.
• Is fully trained in tablet production processes and equipment and is capable of performing key department tasks and training employees on approved procedures.
• Develops and adjusts the production schedule within the supervisor’s scope, verifies raw-material availability, sets up packaging jobs, optimizes changeovers, and escalates constraints that may affect customer requirements.
• Operates, adjusts, troubleshoots, and coordinates maintenance of tablet manufacturing and packaging equipment in accordance with approved procedures.
• Ensures production rates and quality standards are met; performs or verifies required in-process and finished-product inspections and responds promptly to deviations, holds, nonconformances, and other issues.
• Completes and audits production logs, job travelers, and daily shift reports; ensures materials are issued, required operations are entered, scrap is accurately recorded, and documentation is completed on the day work is performed.
• Maintains inventory control for tablet raw materials, bulk powders, work in process, and finished goods; facilitates replenishment, ensures cycle counts are completed, places finished product into inventory, and resolves discrepancies and job variances.
• Generates production jobs through the workbench or manually, as authorized, and ensures items broken down for repackaging are properly relieved from inventory.
• Implements approved formulation, process, procedure, and Engineering Change Order changes in coordination with Quality, R&D, Engineering, and the Value Stream Manager.
• Communicates production status, raw-material shortages, supplier changes, lead-time risks, and product shortages to the appropriate internal partners, including Purchasing, Kit Assembly, Customer Service, Quality, R&D, Engineering, Maintenance, and the Value Stream Manager.

Supervisory:

• Reviews and approves timecards, time-off requests, attendance points, overtime, and other assigned workforce transactions accurately and on time.
• Coordinates onboarding, qualification, cross-training, and refresher training for tablet employees; maintains required training records and verifies employees are qualified before performing assigned work independently.
• Maintains visible floor leadership, checks on the team throughout the shift, removes barriers, sets priorities, delegates appropriate work, and uses team leads effectively.
• Monitors individual and departmental performance, establishes production expectations, provides timely coaching and feedback, and completes required documentation.
• Supports annual and mid-year performance appraisals, establishes measurable employee goals, recognizes positive performance, and addresses performance or conduct concerns in coordination with the Value Stream Manager and Human Resources.
• Creates, reviews, and maintains tablet work instructions, SOPs, visual aids, production logs, and other controlled documents within the supervisor’s area of responsibility.
• Audits 6S cleaning schedules, leads assigned area-improvement activities, and promotes employee participation in continuous-improvement efforts.
• Demonstrates professional conduct, preparedness, punctuality, and presence; leads by example by following SOPs and company policies and by treating employees consistently and respectfully.

Miscellaneous:

• Participates in and leads assigned lean and continuous-improvement activities, including training, Kaizen events, 6S, root-cause analysis, corrective and preventive actions, and DMAIC projects.
• Monitors tablet-area bottlenecks involving equipment, processes, staffing, materials, quality, and changeovers; reallocates resources within scope and escalates unresolved constraints promptly.
• Maintains required daily metrics and reports, including productivity, performance to plan, staffing, backlog, quality, inventory, and production-log information, and fills in for the Value Stream Manager when assigned.
• Submits maintenance work orders and promptly notifies the appropriate manager of production, equipment, safety, quality, material, inventory, or personnel issues; cooperates in resolving those issues.
• Monitors and responds to email and other business communications and attends required meetings.
• Identifies training needs for self and employees and works with the Value Stream Manager to obtain or provide appropriate training.
• Complies with all Company policies and applicable safety, quality, environmental, and personnel requirements.
• Performs other tablet-production duties as assigned.

Environmental Factors/Physical/Mental Capabilities:

Works indoors in a temperature- and humidity-controlled tablet manufacturing environment with potential exposure to powders and cleaning chemicals while required controls and personal protective equipment are used. Requires walking, standing, sitting, stooping, bending, reaching, climbing step ladders, transporting up to 50 pounds, handling a loaded pallet jack, and setting up and operating tablet manufacturing and packaging equipment. Requires mechanical aptitude, manual dexterity, computer proficiency, leadership, communication, judgment, decision-making, troubleshooting, multitasking, and attention to detail. Must be able to support qualified positions within Tablet Production as operational needs require.

LaMotte Company, a 100+-year-old global industry leader in developing and manufacturing premier water testing solutions, employs 250+ employees at its existing manufacturing site in Chestertown, MD, and just opened a new manufacturing site due to expansive business growth. The new facility, located in Newark, DE, operates 24/7 and will employ 200 +.

LaMotte is committed to a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity and will not discriminate against an applicant or employee on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, sex, age, disability, military status, genetic information, sexual orientation, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state, or local laws.

1st Shift: 7am-3:15pm