Production Technician (Lead Hand)

About the role

This role will assist the Production Supervisor with the supervision of all production and compounding efforts during assigned shift to ensure we meet Operational Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and implement continuous improvement plans related to efficiency, quality and talent development. Base Salary: $75,000 - $78,000 DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES May include, but are not limited to, the following: Safety - Promote and maintain a clean and safe work environment, conduct safety checks, report near misses, and identify hazards for corrective/preventive (CAPA) actions - Strictly adhere to company health and safety procedures, ensuring compliance with all safety policies, PPE requirements, and Westlake's Life Critical Rules - Facilitate safety training and complete all incident investigations and reporting as needed - Participate in safety campaigns, and contribute to achieving safety KPIs Quality - Responsible for the First Time Pass initiative, promoting our quality policies and ideal goal of zero defects. - Collaborate with the Quality team to reduce scrap and defects/rejects, ensuring process checks are conducted on time, and strict compliance to QC measures - Participate in tooling and process improvement trials like DOE, nonconformance investigations, RCAs, and CAPA implementation Performance - Assigns duties to all shift members, and ensures production goals are met - Provides technical leadership as needed to shift personnel, to include line setup/operation, metrics definition/reporting, testing, troubleshooting, and training facilitation - Responsible for attendance, vacation schedules, training and other administrative tasks as needed - Ensure optimum utilization of manpower and equipment to dictate efficient workflow - Delegate responsibility and recognize, develop, train and utilize capabilities of all shift personnel - Administer on the job training to new employees and provide continuous training as needed - Participate and act as a lead for the Extruder Operator Training Program - Motivates and assists employees in all aspects of the extrusion lines - Knows how and where to use the extrusion equipment, proper safety devices, tooling and hand tools to produce efficiently high-quality vinyl siding and accessories - Knows and understands specifications and requirements i.e. gauge, cartons, profiles, packaging procedures, tooling etc. - Monitors production schedule, arranges necessary information for the line operators related to product changes, and must have the ability to troubleshoot and monitor all extrusion lines - Must be able to do all set ups of product and tooling using proper procedures - Must assist operators with color changes, roll changes, screen changes etc. - Operate an extrusion line, if necessary, in the absence of regular extrusion operator - Monitor and increase, if possible, the amount of regrind used on the lines - Assume role of Production Supervisor in the event of their absence, and perform other duties as needed Continuous Improvement - Promote the Lean and TPM mindset, identifying and eliminating waste with regards to DOWNTIME and the Six Big Losses, with the goal of improving OEE - Improve line performance by reducing small stops and speed loss, ensuring extruders are running at standard PVC/ASA parameters - Improve line availability by continuously reducing setup times for changeovers (like die change, screen change, product change, and color change), leveraging SMED, VSM, and other lean tools to improve the changeover process - Responsible for participating in and promoting adherence to all the pillars of the 5S-TPM framework, including scheduling and executing AM practices like CIL, conducting 5S audits to sustain initiative, and driving continuous improvement projects. - Ensure downtime information recorded on the production report is accurate, validating downtime reason and duration EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS - Diploma or Degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial, or related field) required - Lean Manufacturing experience is required. Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification is an asset - Minimum of 3-5 years of manufacturing experience; preferably in extrusion - Knowledge and experience in material control, engineering, compounding, quality and maintenance - Understanding manufacturing processes. Success in planning, executing and managing projects Excellent problem-solving skills. Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate upwardly to top management and downward to a wide range of audiences - Strong communication skills. Self-directed and able to multi-task in a fast-paced manufacturing environment - Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint) - Mu