Continuous Improvement Manager at Graham Packaging in Houston, TX

Overview

Graham Packaging is seeking a dynamic and multidisciplinary Plant Continuous Improvement Manager to optimize plant systems, production line, equipment performance, and product quality. The Plant Continuous Improvement Manager will be skilled in assessing and diagnosing the root causes of problems that lead to defective products, production yield loss and reduced productive uptime. The Plant Continuous Improvement Manager will develop and manage A3 projects to systematically address the Pareto of improvement opportunities using Lean tools and the Graham Operational Excellence (OPEX) continuous improvement process. The Plant Continuous Improvement Manager will be knowledgeable in the fundamentals of lean manufacturing including reduction of variability, waste elimination, and theory of constraints to drive continuous improvement. The position will support three plants in Houston, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans.

• Strong understanding of Operational Excellence, Lean principals, statistics and data analysis.
• Proficient applying DMAIC or PDCA continuous improvement methodologies.
• Deep knowledge in production line flow, yield and uptime analysis for improvement.
• Knowledge of line design that optimizes line uptime i.e. throughput, queueing, accumulation and bottleneck analysis.
• Skilled applying manual line measurements (e.g. Tic Charts) and other data collection methods and measurement methods to understand unit flow and loss characteristics
• Experienced in optimizing the performance of:
• Factory systems and line process inputs
• Information flow
• Raw materials flow, conveyance, blending, and drying systems
• Blow Molder lines for throughput
• Injection Molding lines for capability
• Quality systems for defect elimination
• EHS systems for a safe working environment
• Operational systems for waste elimination
• People development for engagement and ownership
• Skilled in facilitation of Problem solving, FMEA, Kaizen, Lean tools
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Strong coaching and mentoring skills
• Ability to get work accomplished through influence versus authority

Responsibilities

• Use observation, questioning and data measurement to fully understand and categorize yield and uptime issues.
• Identify and eliminate sources of variation that lead to changes to the Standard Operating Condition (SOC).
• Facilitate problem solving to root cause elimination and permanent reduction of variance.
• Analyze lines for constraints and bottlenecks to achieve continuous flow.
• Advocate for the Voice of the Customer (VOC) via process capability and defect elimination.
• Assess standard work artifacts and training to better understand the origin of production flow issues.
• Contract or otherwise coordinate third parties to perform equipment or system assessments.
• Conduct timing and point of loss yield studies to identify the loss Pareto.
• Perform data analysis and prepare written reports in order make visible the true nature of problems and opportunities.
• Develop a detailed root cause analysis for each problem, where each root cause is validated through testing, i.e. the condition or defect can be turned on or off.
• Develop countermeasures that could range from basic problem containment to system repair to equipment replacement.
• Generate and communicate implementation plans using Gantt charts and work breakdown structures.
• Coordinate central Operations & Engineering resources or third parties to staff implementation plans as necessary.
• Formulate strategic improvement hypotheses within the A3 Thinking process.
• Facilitate Problem Solving and Kaizen events by leveraging/modeling the DMAIC process.
• Lead Daily Management processes to validate that actions lead to desired performance improvements.
• Support deployment of Lean tools such as 5S, Visual Factory Aids, SMED concepts, VSM, VOC and Poke Yoke to improve plant safety, quality and throughput performance.
• Proactively seek problems that need to be solved and quantify the anticipated benefit of solving each particular problem.
• Follow through to assess and report on achieving desired improvements.
• Develop and ensure appropriate standard work is developed and in place to minimize problem reoccurrence.
• Fill in for Plant Lead team roles in their absence.
• Collaborate with the Corporate CI team to achieve plant and company goals.

Qualifications

• BS degree in Operations, Engineering, Manufacturing related
• Experience in an structured problem solving and continuous improvement mindset workplace
• At least 5 years of experience working in plant operations in multi-line manufacturing plant
• Experienced working in the plastics industry
• Ability to maintain regular, predictable, and punctual attendance