Manufacturing Supervisor, 1st shift

As the only fully integrated maker of premium quality wire, rope, and assemblies, Loos & Co holds a leading position in the global aerospace sector.

A division of the Central Wire (CWI) Group of Companies encompassing 12 locations in three countries, 750+ employees, and over six decades of excellence, Loos & Co solutions are found in mission critical flight control applications. Our precision-manufactured components are also used for defense, med tech, and heavy industry purposes around the world, in large part because of the people behind our products.

Position Summary / Essential Function

The Manufacturing Supervisor (Rope Mill) leads the people and production activities of an assigned shift to safely achieve established quality, delivery, productivity, and cost expectations.

The essential function of the position is to provide direct leadership of production employees and team leads; organize and assign shift work; monitor production, staffing, equipment, and quality performance; respond to operating issues as they arise; and maintain accountability for employee performance, attendance, conduct, and adherence to established processes.

The Supervisor is responsible for translating the Rope Mill's production plan and department priorities into successful shift execution. This includes maintaining visibility on the production floor, identifying and resolving barriers to performance, coordinating support from other functions when needed, escalating significant risks promptly, and ensuring an effective handoff to the following shift.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead assigned shift operations and establish clear expectations for safety, quality, production, productivity, attendance, conduct, and teamwork.
• Maintain an active presence on the production floor to understand operating conditions, support employees, identify barriers, and ensure adherence to established expectations and standard work.
• Review shift production requirements and organize labor, equipment, materials, tooling, and priorities to achieve the established production plan.
• Assign work and adjust staffing or production priorities during the shift in response to absenteeism, equipment issues, material availability, changing priorities, or other operating conditions.
• Monitor shift performance through established daily management systems and key performance indicators, including safety, production attainment, throughput, labor efficiency, scrap, yield, downtime, quality, and attendance.
• Identify gaps against shift expectations and take timely corrective action within the Supervisor's authority; promptly escalate issues requiring additional resources, decisions, or cross-functional support.
• Direct, coach, and develop production employees and team leads; provide regular feedback, reinforce expectations, recognize strong performance, and address performance or conduct concerns promptly and consistently.
• Manage attendance and staffing on the assigned shift, including call-offs, tardiness, overtime needs, break coverage, and appropriate escalation of staffing concerns.
• Support employee onboarding and training by ensuring new and developing employees receive appropriate instruction, coaching, qualification, and follow-up.
• Maintain a safe work environment; enforce safety requirements; correct unsafe behaviors or conditions; participate in incident investigations, corrective actions, observations, and risk-reduction activities.
• Ensure production meets customer specifications, internal quality requirements, documented processes, and established work instructions.
• Respond promptly to quality concerns and process variation; contain issues within the Supervisor's authority and engage Quality, Engineering, or management when additional support or corrective action is required.
• Maintain process discipline and standard work for stranding and related operations; identify recurring variation, bottlenecks, delays, and non-value-added activity and elevate opportunities for improvement.
• Monitor equipment performance and coordinate with Maintenance to address breakdowns, recurring equipment concerns, preventive maintenance needs, tooling issues, and other barriers to production.
• Minimize avoidable downtime by ensuring equipment issues are identified, communicated, prioritized, and followed through to resolution.
• Monitor appropriate use of labor, materials, supplies, and overtime and make practical shift-level decisions that support productivity and cost expectations.
• Participate in Lean manufacturing, 5S, root-cause analysis, standard work, and continuous-improvement activities led by the Department Manager or other plant leadership.
• Partner with Planning, Supply Chain, Quality, Engineering, Maintenance, Human Resources, and other departments to resolve issues affecting shift performance.
• Maintain accurate shift records, production reporting, employee documentation, training records, and other required operating information.
• Provide clear and timely communication to the Rope Mill Department Manager regarding significant safety, quality, staffing, equipment, production, or employee concerns.
• Conduct an effective shift handoff that communicates production status, equipment conditions, quality concerns, staffing issues, open actions, and priorities requiring follow-up by the incoming shift.
• Perform other related duties consistent with the role, delegated authority, and business needs.

Shift Success Measures

Success in this role is demonstrated through consistent achievement and improvement of assigned-shift performance, including:

• Safety performance and adherence to safe work practices
• Production plan and schedule attainment
• Throughput and productivity
• Labor utilization and overtime management
• Scrap, yield, and quality performance
• Equipment uptime and response to downtime
• Attendance and staffing stability
• Employee performance, development, and accountability
• Adherence to standard work and operating processes
• Timely escalation and resolution of operating issues
• Effective communication and shift-to-shift handoffs
• Sustained completion of corrective and continuous-improvement actions

Required Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent required; associate or bachelor's degree in Manufacturing, Operations, Business, Engineering, or a related field preferred.
• Minimum of five years of experience in manufacturing or a comparable production environment, including at least two years of lead, supervisory, or progressively responsible leadership experience.
• Demonstrated experience directing production employees and coordinating daily production activities.
• Working knowledge of wire drawing, wire processing, metals manufacturing, or comparable process-oriented manufacturing operations preferred.
• Demonstrated understanding of safety, quality, production, productivity, equipment, and employee performance expectations in a manufacturing environment.
• Experience using production data and key performance indicators to identify performance gaps and take corrective action.
• Experience with ERP or MRP systems, e.g., Microsoft Dynamics 365, and Microsoft Office applications preferred.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment, manage competing shift priorities, communicate effectively, and hold employees accountable to established expectations.
• Ability to work regularly in an active manufacturing environment and to work the assigned shift and additional hours as operational needs require, with or without reasonable accommodation.

Key Competencies

• Front-line manufacturing leadership
• Shift execution and production control
• Safety and quality leadership
• Employee coaching and accountability
• Labor and resource allocation
• Decisive real-time problem solving
• Equipment and downtime awareness
• Standard work and process discipline
• Clear communication and escalation
• Cross-functional teamwork
• Continuous improvement
• Reliability, urgency, and follow-through

Physical and Work Environment Requirements

The role operates primarily in an active manufacturing environment with some office-based responsibilities. It requires regular presence on the production floor; frequent walking and standing; observation of machinery, material flow, employees, and production activities; use of a computer and standard office equipment; and communication in areas where hearing protection or other personal protective equipment may be required.

The position requires availability for the assigned shift and may require work outside regularly scheduled hours to support operational needs. Reasonable accommodations will be considered in accordance with applicable law. This description identifies the essential functions of the position but is not intended to list every physical activity or working condition.

Benefits

Subject to the terms, eligibility requirements, and amendment provisions of the applicable plans and policies:

· 401(k) with matching

· Dental insurance

· Employee assistance program

· Flexible spending account

· Health insurance

· Health savings account

· Life insurance

· Paid time off

· Referral program

· Tuition reimbursement

· Vision insurance

Pre-Employment Drug Testing

All applicants who are offered a position with the Company will be required to successfully complete a post-offer drug screening, where permitted by applicable law and in accordance with Company policy.

At-Will Employment

Employment with the Company is at will. Either the employee or the Company may terminate employment at any time, with or without cause or notice, subject to applicable law. Nothing in this job description creates a contract of employment or alters the at-will employment relationship.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

The Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination or harassment based on any protected characteristic under federal, state, or local law.