Packaging Maintenance Supervisor

Packaging Maintenance Supervisor

Title:

Packaging Maintenance Supervisor

Position Overview

The Western Sugar Cooperative is seeking a results-driven Packaging Maintenance Supervisor to lead maintenance planning, execution, and reliability improvement within our packaging and warehouse facility in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Reporting to the Packaging/Bulk and Terminals Director, with a strong dotted-line partnership to the Maintenance Manager, this role owns the maintenance strategy for packaging line equipment — driving Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), disciplined maintenance planning and scheduling, and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) improvement across all packaging assets.

The ideal candidate is a hands‑on, reliability-minded leader who understands value stream thinking, champions waste elimination, and builds operator ownership of equipment care through a mature TPM program.

Essential Functions

Maintenance Planning & Scheduling (Primary Focus)

• Own maintenance planning and scheduling for all packaging line equipment — building weekly and daily schedules that balance preventive maintenance (PM), predictive maintenance (PdM), and corrective work orders against the production plan.
• Maintain a prioritized maintenance backlog, ranking work orders by risk, criticality, and impact on line uptime, and coordinating planned downtime windows with the packaging schedule.
• Ensure parts, tools, and procedures are fully kitted ahead of scheduled work to eliminate wrench‑time delays.
• Partner with Procurement and the central Maintenance team on spare parts inventory, applying pull‑system and min/max principles to ensure critical packaging spares are available without excess carrying cost.

Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) Leadership

• Lead the site’s TPM program on packaging lines by championing the Autonomous Maintenance pillar — training and coaching packaging shift leads and operators to perform basic cleaning, inspection, lubrication, and minor adjustments (CIL) as part of daily standard work.
• Own OEE for assigned packaging lines, systematically attacking the six big losses (breakdowns, setup/adjustment, minor stops, reduced speed, startup rejects, process rejects) through structured problem‑solving and data‑driven prioritization.
• Apply structured root cause analysis methodologies (5‑Why, fishbone/Ishikawa, A3 thinking) to chronic equipment failures, driving permanent corrective actions and updating PM plans to prevent recurrence.
• Collaborate closely with the Maintenance Manager and reliability resources to continuously mature the TPM program, including Planned Maintenance and Focused Improvement pillar activities, reducing unplanned downtime and improving OEE.
• Develop, standardize, and sustain PM procedures, CIL checklists, and maintenance Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs); train personnel to standard and hold teams accountable to consistent execution.

Team Supervision & Development

• Lead and develop packaging maintenance technicians and shift leads using lean leadership principles — setting clear expectations, supporting daily accountability, and coaching teams to drive measurable improvements in safety, quality, delivery, and cost (SQDC).
• Foster a culture of employee engagement and continuous improvement by actively listening to frontline ideas on equipment reliability, facilitating problem‑solving, and recognizing contributions at all levels.
• Ensure seamless shift‑to‑shift transitions for open work orders and equipment condition through structured shift handoff processes and visual management tools (equipment tags, OEE boards, backlog boards).
• Partner with Procurement to maintain reliable packaging material flow, applying pull‑system and inventory management principles to minimize shortages and excess.
• Collaborate closely with the Maintenance team to execute and continuously improve a robust Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) program, reducing unplanned downtime and improving overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
• Lead by example in demonstrating the Cooperative’s Core Values:
  Safety, Integrity, Openness & Trust, Teamwork, Entrepreneurship, and Social Responsibility.
• Ensure compliance with Good Manufacturing…