Plant Supervisor

Plant Supervisor

Location: Grand Rapids/Kentwood, Michigan

Position Type: Direct Hire

Salary: $70,000–$95,000 annually

Position Overview

• Reliance One, Inc. is hiring an experienced Plant Supervisor for one of our established clients in the precision manufacturing industry.
• The Plant Supervisor will oversee daily CNC shop-floor operations, leading a team of operators, technicians, and laborers to achieve production, quality, safety, and delivery goals. This position is responsible for maintaining an organized and productive work environment while coordinating staffing, production schedules, equipment availability, material flow, employee training, and continuous-improvement activities.
• The ideal candidate has hands-on Swiss-style CNC machining experience, manufacturing leadership experience, and a background supporting aerospace or medical products in a highly regulated, tight-tolerance environment.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership

• Lead, manage, and motivate shop-floor employees to maintain strong performance, teamwork, and morale.
• Establish daily production priorities and communicate expectations clearly.
• Assign work, monitor progress, and adjust staffing or resources as production needs change.
• Provide employees with coaching, performance feedback, and support.
• Promote accountability, collaboration, and respectful communication throughout the facility.

Production Planning and Scheduling

• Coordinate daily production activities to maintain an efficient flow of materials, equipment, and personnel.
• Monitor production schedules and make adjustments to address delays, machine availability, staffing concerns, or changing priorities.
• Ensure production requirements are completed safely, accurately, and on schedule.
• Collaborate with other departments to meet customer expectations and delivery commitments.
• Manage multiple production priorities in a fast-paced CNC manufacturing environment.

Quality and Regulatory Compliance

• Ensure products and manufacturing processes meet established quality requirements.
• Oversee inspections and identify defects, deviations, or process concerns.
• Lead or support corrective actions to address quality issues and prevent recurrence.
• Maintain required quality documentation, product traceability, and process controls.
• Support the quality and compliance expectations associated with aerospace and medical manufacturing.
• Ensure employees follow applicable procedures, work instructions, and customer requirements.

Safety and 5S

• Enforce company safety policies and applicable manufacturing safety requirements.
• Promote a proactive safety culture focused on injury prevention and employee accountability.
• Conduct safety observations, audits, and training as required.
• Investigate incidents and near misses and implement appropriate corrective actions.
• Lead 5S activities throughout the plant to improve organization, efficiency, uptime, and workplace safety.
• Maintain a clean, orderly, and optimized production environment.

Equipment and Maintenance Oversight

• Monitor CNC machinery and production equipment to ensure reliable operation.
• Coordinate preventive maintenance, repairs, and troubleshooting activities.
• Address equipment concerns promptly to minimize unplanned downtime.
• Work with maintenance personnel, technicians, and outside service providers as needed.
• Support continuous improvement of equipment availability and operating efficiency.

Employee Training and Development

• Train employees on production procedures, safety requirements, quality standards, and machinery operation.
• Ensure required training is completed accurately and on schedule.
• Develop employee capabilities through cross-training and hands-on coaching.
• Identify skill gaps and coordinate appropriate training or development.
• Build a flexible team capable of supporting changing production requirements.

Inventory and Material Management

• Oversee material handling, inventory control, and shop-floor storage.
• Ensure materials and supplies are available to support production schedules.
• Promote accurate inventory transactions and organized material flow.
• Reduce waste and improve the use of production space and resources.

Reporting and Continuous Improvement

• Track production output, efficiency, quality, downtime, safety, delivery, and employee performance.
• Prepare and present operational reports to management.
• Identify production constraints and implement timely solutions.
• Lead continuous-improvement initiatives focused on reducing waste, improving quality, increasing throughput, and minimizing downtime.
• Encourage employees to identify and recommend process improvements.
• Use operational data to establish priorities and measure results.

Required Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• At least three years of experience in a CNC manufacturing or machine-shop environment.
• At least one to two years of manufacturing supervisory or team-leadership experience.
• At least three years of hands-on CNC machining experience.
• Direct experience with Swiss-style CNC machining.
• Experience in aerospace and/or medical manufacturing.
• Understanding of the quality, traceability, documentation, and compliance requirements associated with highly regulated industries.
• Strong knowledge of shop-floor processes, CNC machinery, manufacturing equipment, and production workflows.
• Experience leading CNC machining operations in a precision, tight-tolerance environment.
• Proven ability to manage and motivate employees in a fast-paced manufacturing operation.
• Ability to read and interpret blueprints, production orders, technical drawings, and manufacturing documentation.
• Familiarity with manufacturing safety regulations and best practices.
• Strong troubleshooting, decision-making, and problem-solving skills.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to make sound decisions under pressure.
• Proficiency with production-management software, scheduling systems, or similar manufacturing tools.

Preferred Qualifications

• Associate degree or technical certification in Manufacturing, Engineering, CNC Machining, or a related field.
• Advanced experience leading Swiss-style CNC machining operations.
• Experience implementing Lean manufacturing and continuous-improvement principles.
• Experience leading 5S activities and workplace-organization initiatives.
• Familiarity with production scheduling, capacity planning, and inventory-management systems.

Key Performance Expectations

• Maintain production efficiency of 90% or higher.
• Support an on-time delivery rate of at least 98%.
• Maintain a production defect rate below 3%.
• Work toward zero recordable safety incidents.
• Achieve established employee-productivity targets.
• Maintain unplanned equipment downtime below 5%.
• Support an annual employee-turnover rate below 20%.
• Maintain a weekly 5S audit score of 75 or higher.
• Ensure 100% completion of required employee safety, quality, and operational training.

Apply today to be considered for this Plant Supervisor opportunity in the Grand Rapids/Kentwood area.

Reliance One, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex—including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity—national origin, age, disability, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Reasonable accommodations are available to qualified individuals with disabilities.