Dairy Manufacturing Intern

AMPI owns six Midwest-based manufacturing plants where 10 percent of the nation's American‑type cheese and processed cheese is produced. The cooperative's award‑winning cheese and powdered dairy products are marketed to food service, retail and food ingredient customers. In 2019, the co‑op launched its Dinner Bell Creamery brand and accompanying Co‑op Crafted promise, highlighting more than 50 years of dairy farm families partnering with skilled cheese makers.

This list of duties and responsibilities is not all inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties and responsibilities as management may deem necessary from time to time.

The intern will learn what it’s like to supervise in a food manufacturing facility. The intern will have the opportunity to work on a project and give a presentation at the conclusion of the internship to share what was learned. The intern will follow, learn, and work with our leadership team to gain hands‑on experience in the following areas.

• Production Leadership:
  • Gain leadership, teaching, and coaching techniques
  • Learn effective communication methods
  • Acquire understanding of company policy and procedures and learning to enforce them
• Shipping & Receiving:
  • Learn the operation of the Receiving Intake Bay by unloading of milk from route trucks and testing incoming milk for titratable acidity, antibiotic, temperature and aroma
  • Understand the proper lab testing procedures for cheese, whey, cream, powder and milk
• Production:
  • Understand the operation of cheese vats, DMC, tables, packaging line and the milk pasteurizer in the Cheese Department
  • Education on the operation of RO, evaporator, separators and fine savers, ensuring proper technique, principles, and procedures in the Whey Department
  • Learn how to make quality cheese and whey products adhering to customer specifications and standard of identity requirements
  • Participate in staff planning and process improvements
  • Acquire current knowledge and understanding of regulations, industry trends, current practices, new developments and applicable laws related to production in a dairy manufacturing environment
  • Responsible to report food safety problems to personnel with authority to initiate action
• Quality & Lab:
  • Learn and assist with proper lab testing procedures and quality inspections
  • Understand and adhere to Good Manufacturing Practices
  • Learn to anticipate, troubleshoot and resolve problems with GMPs and/or sanitation quickly
  • Perform documentation review and inspection of materials, packaging and finished product
  • Learn how to collect samples for equipment, environmental and in‑process monitoring
  • Actively meet and speak with quality employees to learn various aspects and responsibilities of their jobs
• Sanitation:
  • Participate in programs and procedures required to ensure plant's master sanitation program
  • Proper chemical usage, measurements and personal protective equipment is required
  • Learn and assist with conducting pre‑operational and routine sanitation inspections
• Maintenance:
  • Opportunity to observe and develop maintenance skills to repair, replace and troubleshoot plant equipment or systems
  • Assist with routine inspections of equipment
• Safety, Health & Environmental:
  • Learn and assist with safety, health and environmental programs
  • Work in a safe manner always and wear all required personal protective equipment to perform specified jobs
  • Collect data to determine effectiveness of implemented process improvements
  • Participate in safety committee meetings
  • Assist safety coordinator with incident investigations and identify opportunities for improvement and lessons learned
  • Conduct audits and inspections

An individual in this position must be able to successfully perform the essential duties and responsibilities listed above.…