Graham Packaging is a people, planet and values-based company and a leader in sustainable packaging manufacturing. From the kitchen to the laundry room, Graham Packaging is part of your everyday life.

For employees at Graham, our Blue Culture is part of their everyday lives, too. In other words, Blue is how we do things here.

At Graham, we are united by a clear vision. We know our part and help those around us know theirs, encouraging one another to continuously improve. We create a safe, challenging environment to innovate by supporting creative ideas and new ways of thinking. We take the initiative to cultivate our individual growth and help others do the same, while keeping ourselves and one another accountable. And we actively promote cooperation, collaboration, integrity and respect across regions and teams to foster an engaged, diverse and connected workforce.

We value our employees, and a Blue Culture allows for the most rewarding employee experience as part of the Graham family. Blue is how we feel about what we do—together—to create a better tomorrow. Working at Graham means you lead constructively with clear goals, use diverse thinking to drive excellence, accountability, innovation, as well as demonstrating collaboration, embracing learning, and taking action for continuous improvement and growth.

Summary

Graham Packaging is seeking a dynamic and multidisciplinary Continuous Improvement Manager to optimize plant systems, production line and equipment performance, and product quality. The Continuous Improvement Manager will be skilled in assessing and diagnosing the root causes of problems that lead to defective products, production yield loss and reduced productive uptime. The Continuous Improvement Manager will work with plants to develop and manage A3 projects to systematically address the Pareto of improvement opportunities using Lean tools and the Graham Operational Excellence (OPEX) continuous improvement process. The Continuous Improvement Manager will be knowledgeable in the fundamentals of lean manufacturing including reduction of variability, waste elimination, and theory of constraints to drive continuous improvement. The position, regionally based, has CI responsibility for the Graham network of plants.  Each CI has a focus area such as Rapid Change-Over, DOE / FMEA & 8D Complex Problem Solving, Graham Operating System – CI Element, Yield & Materials Kaizen, and Intelligent Factory.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

The Continuous Improvement Manager’s responsibilities are to:

• Use observation, questioning and data measurement to fully understand and categorize yield and uptime issues.
• Identify and eliminate sources of variation that lead to changes to the Standard Operating Condition (SOC).
• Facilitate problem solving to root cause elimination and permanent reduction of variance.
• Analyze lines for constraints and bottlenecks to achieve continuous flow.
• Advocate for the Voice of the Customer (VOC) via process capability and defect elimination.
• Assess standard work artifacts and training to identify the origin of production flow issues.
• Contract or otherwise coordinate third parties to perform equipment or system assessments.
• Conduct timing and point of loss yield studies to identify the loss Pareto.
• Perform data analysis and prepare written reports in order make visible the true nature of problems and opportunities.
• Develop a detailed root cause analysis for each problem, where each root cause is validated through testing, i.e. the condition or defect can be turned on or off.
• Develop countermeasures that could range from basic problem containment to system repair to equipment replacement.
• Generate and communicate implementation plans using Gantt charts and work breakdown structures.
• Coordinate central Operations & Engineering resources or third parties to staff implementation plans as necessary.
• Formulate strategic improvement hypotheses within the A3 Thinking process.
• Facilitate Problem Solving by leveraging/modeling the DMAIC process and Kaizen.
• Lead Daily Management processes to validate that actions lead to desired performance improvements.
• Support deployment of Lean tools such as 5S, Visual Factory Aids, SMED concepts, VSM, VOC and Poke Yoke to improve plant safety, quality and throughput performance.
• Proactively seek problems for resolution and quantify the anticipated benefit of solving each particular problem.
• Follow through to assess and report on achieving desired improvements.
• Ensure appropriate standard work is developed and in place to minimize problem reoccurrence.

Education and/or Work Experience Requirements:

• BS degree in Operations, Engineering, Manufacturing related
• Experience in an structured problem solving and continuous improvement mindset workplace
• At least 7 years of experience working in plant operations in multi-line manufacturing plant
• Experienced working in the plastics industry

Core Proficiencies and Skills

• The following skills and proficiencies are essential requirements of the position:
• Strong understanding of Operational Excellence, Lean principals, statistics and data analysis.
• Rapid Changeover implementation experience using Lean tools, Standard Work, and Project Management tools
• Proficient applying DMAIC or PDCA continuous improvement methodologies.
• Deep knowledge in production line flow, yield and uptime analysis for improvement.
• Knowledge of line design that optimizes line uptime i.e. throughput, queueing, accumulation and bottleneck analysis.
• Skilled applying manual line measurements (e.g. Tic Charts) and other data collection methods and measurement methods to understand unit flow and loss characteristics
• Experienced in optimizing the performance of:

          o   Factory systems and line process inputs

          o   Information flow

          o   Raw materials flow, conveyance, blending, and drying systems

          o   Blow Molder lines for throughput

          o   Injection Molding lines for capability

          o   Quality systems for defect elimination

          o   EHS systems for a safe working environment

          o   Operational systems for waste elimination

          o   People development for engagement and ownership

• Skilled in facilitation of Problem solving including 8D, FMEA, Kaizen, Lean tools
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Strong coaching, mentoring skills

The expected salary range for the position described in this posting is made in accordance with the legal mandates of certain jurisdictions within the United States. The final agreed-upon compensation is based on individual qualifications and experience.

Benefits include medical, dental, vision and basic life insurance. Employees are able to enroll in the company’s 401K Employee Saving Plan and may participate in its Employee Wellness Program. Employees will also receive paid time off in accordance with company policy and state law requirements.

Graham Packaging is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, religion, creed, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, gender identity and/or expression, marital status, veteran status or other characteristics protected by law.