Production Manager

Kelley Engineered Equipment, LLC•Gretna, NE

17d

About The Position

Kelley Engineered Equipment (KEE) is seeking a Production Manager to establish and lead an integrated production plan, encompassing both internal shop operations and external manufacturing partners. This role is crucial for translating project requirements, engineering releases, material availability, supplier commitments, and delivery deadlines into a practical and executable production plan. The Production Manager will be responsible for scheduling, capacity planning, ensuring job readiness, making make-or-buy decisions, and managing supplier performance. This position works collaboratively with the Shop Operations Manager, defining what gets built, when, and where (in-house or outsourced), while Shop Operations focuses on the execution of internal tasks.

Requirements

Significant experience in custom manufacturing, fabrication, assembly, production planning, and supply chain.
Proven ability to plan work across multiple projects with competing priorities.
Working knowledge of fabrication, machining, forming, welding, coating, assembly, and outsourced manufacturing.
Experience evaluating manufacturing capacity and making make-or-buy decisions.
Experience managing suppliers, lead times, and delivery commitments.
Ability to read engineering drawings, bills of material, and production documentation.
Experience with ERP, project management, scheduling, or resource-planning systems.
Strong communication skills and sound judgment under incomplete information.

Nice To Haves

Experience in engineer-to-order or custom equipment manufacturing.
Experience supervising procurement, planning, scheduling, or supply-chain staff.
Experience with Wrike, Total ETO, or comparable systems.
Bachelor's degree in Operations Management.

Responsibilities

Develop and maintain a consolidated production schedule and rolling capacity plan across all active projects.
Set production priorities in coordination with Project Management and the VP of Operations.
Own the job-readiness process, confirming drawings, materials, and quality checkpoints before work is released.
Monitor the capacity of fabricators to inform make-or-buy decisions.
Make routine make-or-buy decisions and lead the selection of outside fabricators and suppliers.
Supervise the Procurement Specialist and oversee purchasing, expediting, and supplier follow-up.
Develop supplier scorecards and establish a preferred supplier network for fabrication, machining, forming, coating, and assembly.
Coordinate closely with Project Managers, Engineering, Quality, Accounting, and Shop Operations.
Manage the production impact of engineering revisions and customer changes after work is released.
Utilize Total ETO and Wrike as the primary systems for production and supplier information.
Build standard processes for production release, supplier follow-up, and schedule escalation as the department scales.