Production Manager

Company Description

Northern Pipe Products is a U.S.

-based manufacturer specializing in high-performance PVC piping solutions for water, sewer, and irrigation infrastructure. Since 1979, the company has served municipalities, utilities, distributors, and contractors across the country with dependable products and responsive service. Headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota, Northern Pipe Products emphasizes quality, consistency, and collaborative partnerships that help customers deliver successful projects. The company offers a full range of AWWA and ASTM-certified PVC products, including C-900, sewer, IPS, Schedule 40, highway underdrain and perforated pipe, and specialty solutions.

Team members join a customer-focused organization that values reliability, industry expertise, and long-term relationships.

The Production Manager leads daily PVC pipe manufacturing operations with a primary focus on safe, reliable, and responsible extrusion of exceptional PVC pipe. This role is accountable for production execution, extrusion performance, product quality, employee leadership, and continuous improvement in a fast-paced manufacturing environment. The Production Manager works closely with Planning, Maintenance, Quality, Shipping, and plant leadership to ensure customer requirements are met through consistent output, dependable operations, and disciplined process control.

• Lead, coordinate, and supervise daily production operations for PVC pipe extrusion lines and related downstream processes.
• Plan staffing, production schedules, and line priorities to meet safety, quality, output, and customer delivery expectations.
• Oversee bulk material handling, resin compounding, and blending operations to ensure accurate recipe formulation, consistent material quality, and uninterrupted supply of compound to the extrusion lines.
• Drive reliable plant performance by ensuring extrusion lines are properly staffed, set up, supplied, and operated in accordance with established standards.
• Oversee extrusion operations to ensure pipe dimensions, appearance, belling, print, packaging, and overall product quality meet company and customer specifications.
• Monitor daily production results, labor usage, scrap, downtime, changeovers, and throughput, and take action to improve performance.
• Work closely with operators, leads, maintenance, and quality personnel to troubleshoot process variation, equipment issues, and product nonconformances.
• Ensure process settings, work instructions, setup requirements, and production standards are followed consistently across shifts.
• Promote a culture of reliability and responsibility by holding team members accountable for safe work, product quality, attendance, housekeeping, and operational discipline.
• Lead root cause analysis and corrective actions related to scrap, downtime, quality defects, customer complaints, and production inefficiencies.
• Partner with Maintenance to improve equipment uptime, preventive maintenance coordination, startup readiness, and long-term extrusion line reliability.
• Coordinate with Quality to maintain compliance with product standards, testing requirements, documentation expectations, and nonconformance response processes.
• Support new product trials, process improvements, tooling changes, and operating parameter adjustments to improve extrusion performance and product consistency.
• Ensure raw materials, regrind usage, packaging materials, and line support resources are available to sustain production requirements.
• Maintain safe and organized production areas, including compliance with OSHA requirements, company safety rules, machine guarding, lockout/tagout, and good housekeeping practices.
• Review production data and key performance indicators and communicate results, priorities, and performance gaps to plant leadership.
• Lead assigned supervisors, leads, technicians, and operators through coaching, training, performance feedback, and development.
• Support hiring, onboarding, training, scheduling, performance management, and employee development within the production team.
• Collaborate with Shipping, Planning, and Customer Service to align production output with customer demand and delivery commitments.
• Support after-hours and off-shift production needs, including urgent operational issues, startup support, and critical plant coverage when required.
• Perform other duties as assigned in support of manufacturing operations.

This position directly supervises assigned production employees and production leads, extrusion operators, downstream technicians, and other manufacturing personnel as assigned. Responsibilities include assigning work, monitoring performance, coaching employees, supporting skill development, addressing routine employee issues, and partnering with Human Resources and plant leadership on hiring, discipline, and performance management.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in manufacturing, engineering, operations,…