Production Manager

MAHLE•Murfreesboro, TN

16d•Onsite

About The Position

The Production Manager is responsible for the safe, efficient, and profitable operation of assigned manufacturing areas, ensuring customer requirements for quality, delivery, cost, and volume are consistently achieved. The position leads supervisors and production teams while driving continuous improvement, standardized work, labor efficiency, scrap reduction, equipment uptime, and compliance with automotive quality systems.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations Management, Business, or related discipline preferred.
Approximately 5–10+ years of progressive manufacturing experience, depending on plant size and responsibility.
Previous automotive manufacturing experience strongly preferred.
Prior leadership experience managing supervisors and hourly employees.
Experience operating in a high-volume, fast-paced manufacturing environment.
Experience working with automotive OEM/customer requirements.
Strong knowledge of: Automotive manufacturing, Lean manufacturing, IATF 16949, APQP, PPAP, PFMEA, Control Plans, SPC, 8D, Root-cause analysis, Standardized work, OEE, Capacity planning, Labor planning, ERP/MRP systems, Microsoft Excel and production reporting.
Ability to lead through other leaders.

Nice To Haves

Specific technical requirements can also include welding, stamping, injection molding, assembly, machining, paint, casting, or other processes, depending on the operation.

Responsibilities

Maintain a safety-first culture across all shifts.
Ensure compliance with OSHA, company EHS policies, PPE requirements, LOTO, ergonomics, and safe work practices.
Review incidents, near misses, and unsafe conditions.
Lead corrective actions and verify closure.
Conduct regular floor safety audits.
Hold supervisors accountable for daily safety expectations.
Achieve daily, weekly, and monthly production schedules.
Monitor production against customer requirements and shipping schedules.
Manage manpower, machine capacity, overtime, and shift coverage.
Respond quickly to production interruptions and bottlenecks.
Coordinate recovery plans when production falls behind.
Manage schedule attainment and on-time delivery.
Maintain appropriate escalation processes for significant production concerns.
Ensure production meets customer specifications and automotive quality requirements.
Support IATF 16949 and applicable customer-specific requirements.
Drive compliance with: Control Plans, Standardized Work, PFMEAs, Work Instructions, Process parameters, Traceability requirements.
Partner with Quality to address internal defects and customer complaints.
Ensure containment and corrective actions are implemented when quality issues occur.
Drive reductions in scrap, rework, defects, and customer PPM.
Typically responsible for Production Supervisors, Team Leaders, and hourly production employees.
Coach and develop supervisors.
Establish clear performance expectations.
Hold leaders accountable for results.
Address attendance, performance, and conduct issues consistently.
Develop succession plans and future leaders.
Ensure adequate staffing and employee training.
Promote employee engagement and accountability.
Conduct regular supervisor meetings and performance reviews.
Partner with HR on disciplinary and employee-relations matters.
Lead improvements using Lean manufacturing principles such as: 5S, Kaizen, Standardized Work, Visual Management, Problem Solving, Gemba, Waste elimination, Line balancing, SMED/changeover reduction, Root Cause Analysis, 5 Why, 8D, OEE improvement.
Identify recurring problems and permanently eliminate their root causes.