Packaging Maintenance Supervisor

Western Sugar; Scottsbluff (NE); On-site; USD 90,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

The Western Sugar Cooperative seeks a Packaging Maintenance Supervisor to lead maintenance planning, scheduling and TPM across the Scottsbluff packaging and warehouse site. You report to Packaging/Bulk and Terminals Director and collaborate with the Maintenance Manager to optimize equipment care and line uptime.

The ideal candidate will be hands-on, reliability-minded and able to drive autonomous maintenance, standardize PM procedures, and mentor technicians.

Qualifications

• Experience leading TPM programs in manufacturing.
• Proven track record improving equipment reliability.
• Strong problem-solving using structured methods.
• Supervisory experience in packaging/food manufacturing.

Responsibilities

• Plan and schedule preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance for packaging lines.
• Own TPM program and drive continuous improvement and OEE gains.
• Lead and develop maintenance technicians and shift leads.
• Ensure GMP compliance and audit readiness.
• Work on gemba walks and coach teams on problem-solving.

Skills

TPM Leadership

OEE Improvement

Gemba Walks

Root Cause Analysis

Lean Manufacturing

Education

Associate or Bachelor's degree in Industrial/Mechanical/Electrical

Tools

5S

OEE Boards

Job description

Packaging Maintenance Supervisor

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, set-up/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 recognising 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 minimise shortages and excess.
• Collaborate closely with the Maintenance team to execute and continuously improve a robust TPM programme, 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 Practices (GMPs) and Third-Party Audit standards; treat audit readiness as a daily operating standard, not a periodic event.
• Partner with the Quality Manager and Process Operations staff to sustain product quality, using data-driven decision making and defect prevention over detection.
• Drive a customer first mindset across the team, using customer complaint data as an input to continuous improvement priorities and root cause investigations.
• Spend the majority of time (80%+) on the floor conducting gemba walks, engaging with employees, removing barriers and coaching in the moment — leading from where the work happens.
• Demonstrate the commitment and flexibility required to support operations beyond standard hours when business needs demand it.

Safety, Quality & Compliance

• Model and champion a zero-injury safety culture by embedding safety into daily standard work, participating in gemba walks and reinforcing safe behaviours — including lockout/tagout (LOTO) and machine guarding compliance — during all maintenance and PM activities.
• Sustain a clean, organised and hazard-free maintenance and packaging environment through rigorous 5S discipline and regular equipment and workplace audits.
• Ensure maintenance practices support compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and Third-Party Audit standards; treat equipment and documentation audit readiness as a daily operating standard, not a periodic event.
• Partner with the Quality Manager and Process Operations staff to sustain product quality, ensuring equipment condition and maintenance execution support defect prevention over detection.

Production Support

• Drive a customer first mindset across the team, using downtime and defect data as inputs to continuous improvement priorities and root cause investigations.
• Spend the majority of time (80%+) on the floor conducting gemba walks, engaging with technicians and operators, removing barriers to planned maintenance execution and coaching in the moment — leading from where the work happens.
• Lead by example in demonstrating the Cooperative’s Core Values: Safety, Integrity, Openness & Trust, Teamwork, Entrepreneurship and Social Responsibility.
• Demonstrate the commitment and flexibility required to support operations beyond standard hours when business needs demand it, including maintenance emergencies and planned outage windows.

Qualifications

• Associate or bachelor’s degree preferred (Industrial, Mechanical or Electrical discipline a plus); equivalent hands‑on experience in a lean manufacturing or maintenance environment will be considered.
• Minimum two years of proven supervisory leadership in maintenance, packaging, food manufacturing or a comparable production environment.
• Hands‑on experience implementing or sustaining a TPM programme, including Autonomous Maintenance and OEE improvement.
• Strong working knowledge of packaging equipment and their common failure modes.
• Demonstrated track record of leading continuous improvement initiatives with measurable results in equipment reliability, safety, quality, productivity and waste reduction.

Physical Requirements & Work Environment

• Ability to work on a manufacturing floor with exposure to moving machinery, noise and varying temperatures.
• Ability to stand, walk, bend and climb for extended periods; occasional lifting up to 50 lbs.
• Flexibility to support multiple shifts, including occasional nights, weekends or on-call coverage for maintenance emergencies.

None

It is the policy of The Western Sugar Cooperative not to discriminate against any employee or any applicant for employment because of age, race, religion, color, handicap, sex, physical condition, developmental disability, sexual orientation or national origin. This policy shall include, but not be limited to, the following: recruitment and employment, promotion, demotion, transfer, compensation, selection for training, layoff and termination.