Manufacturing Manager Jobs in Milwaukee, WI (NOW HIRING)

About Barco Products:

At Barco Products, we're more than just a company; we're a team of dedicated people passionate about providing our customers with exceptional experiences. From high-quality products to personalized service, we've built our business on innovation and strong relationships. We believe in going the extra mile for our customers, ensuring they feel confident and supported every step of the way.

Since 1985, Barco has been committed to innovating and providing high-quality, functionally designed, and durable commercial site furnishings and amenities. We're not a supplier – we're a trusted industry leader known for our dedicated customer service.

We design, manufacture and sell a wide selection of commercial-grade products, including:

• Picnic tables
• Park benches
• Speed bumps and wheel stops
• Waste receptacles
• Parking lot supplies
• ...and much more!

Position Summary

The Manufacturing Manager is responsible for safe, disciplined, and predictable execution across manufacturing operations. This role owns daily and weekly production performance, translating customer demand and backlog into executable schedules, aligning labor and capacity, and ensuring commitments are met through rigorous daily management. The Manufacturing Manager leads and develops production supervisors, team leads, and hourly employees while building a culture of accountability, engagement, continuous improvement, and respect for people. This leader maintains a strong floor presence, uses Lean principles and operating data to eliminate waste and instability, and partners cross-functionally to deliver sustained improvement in safety, quality, delivery, cost, and people performance.

Core Responsibilities

1. Safety, Culture & Operational Leadership

· Provide visible, consistent leadership on the production floor and establish safety as the first priority in every operating decision.

· Set clear expectations for safe work practices, housekeeping, quality, attendance, conduct, and performance; ensure standards are understood and consistently applied across shifts and departments.

· Build a high-accountability culture based on out core values of – Teamwork, Integrity, Craftsmanship, Empowerment, Nimble, Reliable, and Curious; recognize strong performance and address gaps promptly and constructively.

2. People Leadership, Coaching & Capability Development

· Lead, coach, and develop production team leads, and hourly manufacturing employees to achieve business objectives and strengthen the internal leadership pipeline.

· Establish role expectations, performance goals, coaching cadences, succession plans, and meaningful performance evaluations; address performance gaps consistently and recognize strong contributions.

· Maintain skills matrices, cross-training plans, certification requirements, and onboarding standards while developing frontline leaders in communication, labor planning, problem solving, accountability, and employee engagement.

3. Production Planning, Scheduling & Execution

· Own execution of the daily and weekly production schedule, converting demand, backlog, inventory requirements, capacity, and material availability into clear departmental priorities.

· Establish scheduling rigor through finite-capacity planning, schedule freeze windows, controlled priority changes, documented recovery plans, and proactive communication of risks and misses.

· Verify production readiness before work is released, including material, labor, tooling, programs, drawings, work instructions, quality requirements, and equipment availability.

· Track schedule attainment by shift and work center; remove constraints, rebalance resources, and escalate issues early enough to protect customer commitments and plant objectives.

4. Lean Manufacturing & Continuous Improvement

· Lead implementation and sustainment of Lean operating systems, including 5S, visual management, tiered daily accountability, leader standard work, standard work, and structured problem solving.

· Use value-stream mapping, flow, pull, takt and cycle-time analysis, setup reduction, line balancing, cellular concepts, and waste elimination to improve throughput and responsiveness.

· Develop a measurable improvement pipeline and coach teams to identify abnormalities, solve problems at the source, assign accountable owners, and sustain successful countermeasures.

5. Daily Management, KPIs & Accountability

· Own manufacturing performance against safety, quality, delivery, cost, and people metrics, including incident performance, first-pass yield, scrap, rework, schedule attainment, labor efficiency, OEE, downtime, overtime, absenteeism, and turnover.

· Lead daily and weekly operating reviews using visual controls, trend analysis, action registers, and escalation processes; ensure countermeasures have accountable owners and due dates.

· Ensure accurate and timely production reporting in ERP, MES, and related systems, including labor, quantities, scrap, downtime, completions, and work-order status.

6. Quality & Process Discipline

· Ensure teams consistently follow approved routings, drawings, work instructions, standard work, control plans, inspection requirements, and material-handling standards.

· Partner with Quality and Engineering to contain defects, stop unacceptable risk, lead root-cause analysis, implement corrective actions, and prevent recurrence through improved processes and standards.

7. Labor, Capacity & Cost Management

· Develop labor plans and own hiring decisions aligned with volume, product mix, standard hours, constraints, and seasonal requirements; manage overtime, temporary labor, and shift coverage responsibly.

· Use capacity models, constraint analysis, and productivity data to identify resource gaps and recommend hiring, training, equipment, layout, outsourcing, or schedule changes.

· Manage manufacturing expenses and drive improvements in labor efficiency, material yield, scrap, rework, consumables, and indirect costs while protecting safety, quality, and customer service.

8. Cross-Functional Execution & Change Leadership

· Support new product introductions, engineering changes, equipment installations, layout changes, and process transfers by ensuring production readiness, operator training, staffing, documentation, and ramp plans are complete.

· Lead change with consistency and credibility, translating business priorities into clear expectations and maintaining momentum through implementation, stabilization, and sustainment.

9. Equipment Reliability & Production Readiness

· Partner with Maintenance and Engineering to plan preventive maintenance windows, improve equipment uptime, eliminate repeat failures, and minimize disruption to the production schedule.

· Ensure operator equipment-care requirements are completed and coordinate planned shutdowns, major repairs, tooling changes, and commissioning to protect safety, production continuity, and launch readiness.

Qualifications:

·Bachelor's degree in Operations Management, Manufacturing, Engineering, Business, or a related discipline; equivalent progressive manufacturing leadership experience may be considered.

· 5-7 years of progressive manufacturing experience, including at least 3 years leading supervisors, team leads, or multi-department production teams.

· Demonstrated success improving safety, schedule attainment, productivity, quality, labor efficiency, employee engagement, or cost performance in a manufacturing environment.

· Strong knowledge of production planning, finite-capacity scheduling, labor planning, constraint management, and daily execution in a job shop, mixed-model, or configurable-product environment.

· Practical command of Lean manufacturing, daily management systems, standard work, 5S, visual management, root-cause analysis, and continuous improvement.

· Demonstrated ability to coach frontline leaders, build accountable teams, manage performance, resolve conflict, and balance customer commitments, employee needs, operating risk, and financial impact.

Preferred:

· Experience in job shop, mixed-model, make-to-order, configurable-product, or durable-goods manufacturing.

· Experience with wood, recycled plastic, metal fabrication, CNC routing or machining, assembly, packaging, or similar manufacturing processes.

· Familiarity with ERP, MES, and production-planning systems such as NetSuite, SmartFactory, or equivalent

· Lean, Six Sigma, APICS/ASCM, or formal leadership-development certification; experience implementing tiered daily management, 5S, leader standard work, and scheduling governance.

Key Competencies:

· Lean manufacturing leadership and continuous improvement discipline

· Production scheduling rigor, constraint management, and plan attainment

· Frontline leadership development, coaching, and succession planning

· Safety-first leadership and consistent floor presence

· Daily management, KPI ownership, and disciplined follow-through

· Structured problem solving, data-driven decisions, and quality ownership

· Labor planning, capacity management, and cost control

What We Offer

• Competitive base salary + performance-based bonus/commission structure
• Comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) with company match
• Paid time off, holidays, and sick leave
• Structured onboarding and ongoing sales training and development
• A mission-driven company committed to sustainability and environmentally responsible products

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.