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The Graveyard Central & Prefinish Production Mentor provides day-to-day floor leadership, training, technical expertise, and operational support for the Central and Prefinish Departments during Graveyard shift.

The Central Department includes panel saws, repair/putty stations, calibration sanding, grading, material handling, and associated production equipment. The Prefinish Department includes Prefinish production lines, coating and finishing processes, grading and quality inspection, material handling, and associated production equipment.

The Mentor works closely with the Central VSM and Prefinish VSM to execute the established priorities and expectations for each department and support achievement of departmental goals for safety, quality, production, on-time delivery, labor utilization, waste, training, and continuous improvement.

This position serves as a hands-on leader and subject matter expert on the manufacturing floor and is expected to actively support production while developing employees, reinforcing standards, identifying problems, and driving improvements. The Mentor plays a key role in training and employee development using Training Within Industry (TWI) principles and Job Instruction (JI) methods.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Ensure all employees work in a safe, productive, and quality-focused manner and follow established safety policies, procedures, and work practices.
• Serve as a floor-level leader, trainer, and technical resource for employees within the Central & Prefinish Departments.
• Support the VSM in achieving departmental goals for safety, quality, production, on-time delivery, labor utilization, waste, cost, and employee development.
• Coordinate employees, work assignments, equipment, and material flow throughout the shift to support production requirements and customer needs.
• Monitor production performance and adjust work priorities or resources as needed to maintain efficient product flow.
• Work directly in critical production areas when needed to support production requirements, quality, training, or staffing needs.
• Monitor product quality throughout the manufacturing process and take appropriate action when products do not meet established specifications or quality standards.
• Serve as a primary quality control resource on the manufacturing floor, helping employees understand and consistently meet internal and customer quality requirements.

Central Operations

• Develop and maintain strong working knowledge of Central Department processes and equipment, including:
  • Panel saws
  • Putty and repair processes
  • Calibration sanding
  • Grading and quality standards
  • Material handling and associated Central equipment
• Monitor product quality throughout Central operations and take appropriate action when material does not meet established specifications or quality requirements.
• Identify mismanufactured, damaged, nonconforming, or questionable product and ensure appropriate segregation, communication, follow-up, and disposition.
• Support efficient movement of material through Central and into downstream operations while minimizing unnecessary WIP, handling, rework, and delays.

Prefinish Operations

• Develop and maintain strong working knowledge of Prefinish processes, equipment, materials, and quality requirements.
• Monitor Prefinish productivity and material flow to ensure scheduled production and customer requirements are achieved.
• Monitor Prefinish quality and work with appropriate resources to ensure finish, color match, appearance, and other customer specifications are consistently achieved.
• Coordinate with Quality, Paint Lab, and other appropriate resources when finish or color concerns are identified.
• Ensure employees understand and consistently follow established SOPs, Job Breakdown Sheets, quality standards, and process requirements.
• Identify and respond to nonconforming or questionable finished product before it moves downstream or into finished goods inventory.
• Monitor labor utilization within Prefinish and effectively deploy available employees based on production priorities.

Leadership & Employee Support

• Serve as a primary quality resource on Graveyard shift for Central and Prefinish employees.
• Develop and maintain a thorough understanding of customer specifications, grading requirements, finish requirements, and quality expectations applicable to both departments.
• Reinforce quality standards at the point of production and coach employees when standards are not consistently achieved.
• Identify recurring quality losses, defects, rework, or process failures and communicate trends to the appropriate VSM and Quality resources.
• Participate in root cause analysis and corrective action related to safety, quality, production, downtime, waste, and other operational concerns.

• Maintain a thorough understanding of Training Within Industry (TWI) principles and the States Industries training process.
• Train new and existing employees using Job Instruction (JI) methods and established training standards.
• Develop, review, and maintain accurate Job Breakdown Sheets (JBS) and other training materials for areas of responsibility.
• Conduct routine observations and audits to ensure employees continue to perform work according to established standards following training.
• Support development of a flexible, cross-trained workforce capable of responding to changing production and staffing requirements.

• Promote team building, accountability, communication, and cooperation between Central, Prefinish, other departments, and shifts.
• Provide timely coaching and feedback when employee performance, conduct, attendance, safety, or other concerns are identified.
• Reinforce company expectations consistently and professionally.
• Support appropriate documentation of employee performance or conduct concerns and work with the responsible VSM and Human Resources as appropriate.
• Promote a positive work environment and consistently support the expectations and policies outlined in the States Industries Employee Handbook.

• Focus on elimination of waste and ensure improvements made within the departments are maintained and sustained.

• Complete assigned administrative responsibilities, including applicable Paycom activities, training records, production documentation, quality records, inventory transactions, and departmental reporting.
• Maintain working knowledge of inventory and production transactions within D365 ERP and other applicable manufacturing systems.
• Communicate significant operational, employee, safety, quality, or equipment concerns to the appropriate VSM or other leader.
• Maintain required forklift certification and safely operate applicable material handling equipment.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Key Performance Indicators:

Performance in the Central & Prefinish Mentor position may be evaluated using the following measures:

• Safety: Compliance with safety requirements, participation in safety initiatives, timely identification and correction of unsafe conditions, and support of a strong safety culture.
• Quality: Reduction in quality losses, defects, rework, mismanufactured product, and falldown; consistent achievement of customer and internal quality specifications.
• Production: Achievement of established production targets and effective use of available labor and equipment.
• Downtime: Identification, tracking, communication, and follow-up of equipment and process downtime, with emphasis on reducing recurring downtime.
• Continuous Improvement: Participation in and completion of Kaizen, 5S, TWI, and other improvement initiatives that positively impact safety, quality, productivity, waste, or cost.
• Waste and Consumables: Effective monitoring and control of manufacturing consumables, waste, rework, and material loss.
• Shift Communication: Accurate and timely communication between shifts regarding production, quality, maintenance, staffing, and other operational concerns.
• Team Development: Demonstrated ability to coach employees, build teamwork, reinforce expectations, and support a positive and accountable work environment.
• Documentation: Accurate and timely completion of required production, quality, training, inventory, Paycom, and other assigned documentation.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:

• Minimum of two years of manufacturing experience required.
• Experience in plywood, wood products, panel processing, sanding, saw operations, repair/putty processes, or a related manufacturing environment preferred.
• Prior experience as a lead, mentor, trainer, or other formal or informal leadership role preferred.
• Associate degree or technical education preferred; bachelor's degree is a plus.
• Relevant manufacturing experience, technical knowledge, leadership experience, and demonstrated job performance may be considered in lieu of formal education.
• Ability to effectively prioritize and coordinate work across multiple manufacturing areas simultaneously.
• Experience with Lean manufacturing, Kaizen, 5S, TWI, continuous improvement, and structured problem-solving preferred.
• Strong working knowledge of manufacturing processes, equipment, quality standards, and material flow.
• Demonstrated leadership, coaching, communication, and team-building skills.
• Ability to operate or become qualified to operate all applicable equipment within the SCP area.
• Strong mechanical aptitude and ability to recognize and communicate equipment or process concerns.
• Working knowledge of D365 ERP, Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, Paycom, and other applicable manufacturing systems.
• Forklift certification required or must be obtained within the timeframe established by the Company.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

• Work is performed primarily in an industrial manufacturing environment with regular exposure to moving mechanical equipment, machinery, forklifts, wood products, adhesives, chemicals, dust, and other conditions common to plywood manufacturing.
• The employee may be exposed to noise, heat, cold, dust, fumes, odors, and changing environmental conditions throughout the workday.
• Work requires regular presence on the manufacturing floor and the ability to move between work centers and production areas throughout the shift.
• The position requires the use of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and strict compliance with all company safety requirements.
• The employee must be able to safely work around chemicals and follow applicable SDS and chemical-handling procedures.
• The position requires interaction with employees, supervisors, Maintenance, Quality, and other departments in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• The Mentor is expected to maintain flexibility and respond to changing production, quality, training, staffing, and equipment needs throughout the shift.
• Regular and predictable attendance is an essential function of the position.
• The position may require work outside the employee's regularly scheduled hours based on production, training, staffing, or operational needs.