Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Safety & Compliance
- Own safety on the shift. Lead the pre-shift safety talk, enforce lockout/tagout, machine guarding, PPE, and powered industrial truck rules, and stop work when conditions are unsafe.
- Lead incident and near-miss investigations within 24 hours using root cause analysis, and drive corrective actions through to closure.
- Complete scheduled safety walks and audits, correct hazards on the spot where possible, and escalate what can’t be fixed on shift.
- Ensure operations comply with Rohrer policies and applicable OSHA, federal, state, and local regulations.
OEE & Shift Performance Ownership
- Own OEE (availability, performance, and quality) for all first-shift work centers, including presses, die cutters, folder-gluers, and sheeters.
- Ensure production data is captured accurately and in real time: run time, downtime with correct reason codes, make-ready time, counts, and waste. Bad data is treated as a performance issue.
- Track performance hour-by-hour against plan. When a work center falls behind, take action on shift and escalate to the Operations Manager early with a recovery plan.
- Review the shift’s top downtime and waste losses daily and lead countermeasures using structured problem-solving (5 Why, fishbone, A3).
- Drive make-ready and changeover reduction through standard work and SMED practices.
Scheduling & Production Execution
- Execute the production schedule released by Planning and own schedule attainment for the shift.
- Partner with Planning/Scheduling on job sequencing to reduce make-ready and protect the constraint, and give honest input on run rates, crewing, and capacity.
- Verify material and tooling readiness (board, ink, coatings, plates, cutting and stripping dies, glue) before jobs reach the floor so machines are never waiting.
- Keep work flowing between departments (press to die cut to folder-gluer) so the constraint stays fed and WIP stays under control.
- Assign labor based on schedule priorities and the constraint. Manage overtime and temporary labor to plan, and approve time and attendance accurately.
- Communicate schedule changes, delivery risks, and recovery plans to the Operations Manager, Planning, and Customer Service as soon as they are known.
Gemba Walk
- Lead the Tier 1 shift start-up meeting covering safety, quality, delivery, and productivity, and participate in Tier 2 meetings with the Operations Manager.
- Conduct a structured shift handoff with the incoming shift supervisor covering safety, quality issues, schedule status, equipment problems, and material concerns.
- Keep visual management boards current and accurate so anyone can see shift status at a glance.
- Follow leader standard work, including regular floor walks and process confirmations to verify standards are being followed.
Quality
- Ensure make-ready approvals (color, registration, die cut, glue) are completed and documented before running, and that in-process checks are performed at the required frequency.
- Contain nonconforming product immediately. Lead or support root cause and corrective action for internal rejects and customer complaints.
- Maintain compliance with Rohrer’s ISO quality system and any customer-specific requirements.
Equipment Reliability
- Ensure operators complete daily cleaning, inspection, and lubrication checks (autonomous maintenance) on their equipment.
- Submit clear, complete work orders, partner with Maintenance on priorities, and release equipment for scheduled preventive maintenance.
- Participate in root cause analysis for repeat failures and chronic downtime.
People Leadership
- Lead, coach, and develop operators, assistants, material handlers, and lead persons on the shift.
- Maintain a current cross-training matrix and ensure backups are trained for critical positions.
- Ensure new hires are onboarded and trained to standard work before running independently.
- Set clear expectations and hold people accountable. Address performance, attendance, and conduct issues consistently and on time, partnering with HR and documenting appropriately.
- Complete performance reviews, give regular feedback, and recognize good work.
- Explain the “why” behind decisions and changes, and actively engage the team in improvement ideas.
Cost & Continuous Improvement
- Manage waste, consumables, and overtime within targets.
- Support inventory accuracy through accurate production and scrap reporting, cycle counts, and month-end physical inventories.
- Maintain 5S and housekeeping standards, and lead or participate in kaizen and improvement events.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
KEY PERFORMANCE MEASURES
The 1st Shift Supervisor is measured on shift results, including:
- Safety: recordable and near-miss reporting, corrective action closure, safety walk completion
- Quality: internal rejects, customer complaints, make-ready approval compliance
- Delivery: schedule attainment and on-time completion of shift work
- Productivity: OEE by work center, make-ready time, labor efficiency
- Cost: waste/spoilage percentage, overtime hours
- People: attendance, cross-training coverage, retention
QUALIFICATIONS AND EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS
Required
- High school diploma or GED.
- Minimum of three years of supervisory or lead experience in a manufacturing environment, including direct leadership of hourly teams.
- Working knowledge of OEE, downtime tracking, and Lean tools (5S, standard work, root cause problem-solving).
- Proficient with Microsoft Office (Excel, Outlook, Teams) and comfortable with ERP and shop floor reporting systems.
- Able to work 1st shift, arrive early and stay late as needed for shift handoff, and support other shifts or weekends based on business needs.
- Must be able to pass a drug and background screen.
- Must pass a mechanical aptitude assessment.
- CPR/First Aid certification (provided by company).
Preferred
- Associate or bachelor’s degree in a technical or business field, or equivalent experience.
- Experience in folding carton, commercial printing, or packaging converting.
- Hands-on experience with offset presses (Heidelberg, KBA) and/or die cutters and folder-gluers (BOBST).
- Lean or Six Sigma training (Green Belt preferred) and OSHA 10 or 30-hour certification.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS & WORK ENVIRONMENT
- Work is performed primarily on the production floor in a manufacturing environment with noise, moving equipment, and forklift traffic.
- Must be able to stand and walk for extended periods and climb stairs or platforms as needed.
- Able to lift and carry up to 35 lbs.
- Required PPE must be worn in designated areas.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES
- Exemplify Rohrer’s Core Values:
- Partnership – Actively develop relationships with our internal team and external partners to create shared value
- Integrity – Building trust as we operate under our guiding principles of honesty, decency, and ethics
- Drive – Engaged and passionate about proactively leading and participating in continuous improvement
- Initiative – Develop creative and inventive ideas that shape our markets and achieve our strategic objectives
- Understanding of print and converting processes and how work flows through printing, die cutting, folding/gluing, and sheeting.
- Understands constraint management and how labor, material, and equipment decisions affect throughput.
- Uses data (OEE, downtime Pareto, waste) to make decisions and set priorities, not just to report results.
- Applies structured problem-solving to find root cause instead of treating symptoms.
- Holds self and others accountable to standards in a fair and consistent way.
- Communicates clearly and directly with operators, maintenance, planning, quality, and leadership, and explains the “why” behind decisions.
- Makes sound real-time calls on labor, schedule, and priorities under pressure.
- Mechanical aptitude and the ability to troubleshoot basic equipment issues alongside maintenance.
- Builds a team environment where people are trained, engaged, and want to stay.
- Knows and applies OSHA and plant safety requirements, including lockout/tagout, machine guarding, and powered industrial trucks.
- Knows and applies Rohrer’s ISO quality, Lean, and daily management systems.
