Position Overview

The Production Manager is responsible for leading and coordinating all aspects of production across sheet metal fabrication, extrusion, CNC machining, and assembly operations. This role ensures customer commitments are met through effective scheduling, capacity planning, and cross-department coordination. The Production Manager provides direct leadership to production supervisors and department managers, including the CNC Department Manager, and works closely with the Shop Manager to ensure labor and resources are used efficiently.

This position requires both strategic oversight and hands-on scheduling discipline, balancing long-term throughput improvements with daily production control.

Key Responsibilities

Production Oversight & Leadership

• Directly oversee sheet metal, extrusion, CNC machining, and all assembly lines.

• Manage and develop department leaders, including the CNC Department Manager.

• Ensure accountability for meeting daily, weekly, and monthly output goals.

• Partner with the Shop Manager, who focuses on day-to-day people leadership, to translate schedules into effective execution on the shop floor.

Scheduling & Resource Allocation

• Own the master production schedule, balancing customer demand with available capacity.

• Reassign labor and shift resources across departments to maintain on-time delivery.

• Anticipate and resolve bottlenecks in labor, machine availability, and material flow.

• Drive scheduling decisions that minimize downtime, expedite critical orders, and reduce overtime costs.

Continuous Improvement & Process Control

• Identify and implement process improvements that increase throughput and reduce waste.

• Oversee standardization of workflows, routing, and work instructions across departments.

• Partner with Quality to address recurring defects, rework, or bottlenecks.

• Implement production metrics and reporting (e.g., on-time delivery, efficiency, scrap, utilization).

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Collaborate with Purchasing to ensure material availability aligns with schedules.

• Work with Engineering to resolve design or routings that impact production.

• Support Sales and Customer Service by providing accurate lead times and status updates.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in manufacturing leadership, preferably with exposure to sheet metal, machining, and assembly operations.

• Demonstrated success in production scheduling, capacity planning, and throughput optimization.

• Strong leadership skills with experience managing managers/supervisors.

• Familiarity with ERP/MRP systems and shop floor control methods.

• Excellent communication and decision-making skills; able to balance short-term needs with long-term improvements.