Production Technician

The Spartanburg operation is a state of the art coffee roasting and pod packaging facility in addition to hosting a full beverage distribution center.  Spartanburg is the largest KDRP manufacturing and distribution location.  The site will operate on the foundational principles of TPM (Total Productive Maintenance); leverage the principles of Lean manufacturing and harness the power of High Performance Teams.  All associates at the Spartanburg site will have accountability to a functional business unit in addition to the full site operation.  The site will run on state of the art enterprise IT and manufacturing execution systems with highly automated processing, packaging, and material movement equipment.

As a Production Technician III, you will be responsible for maximizing the operating performance of a Mini Business Unit within the Spartanburg Site.   In this role, you will be expected to have an in depth understanding of the electrical, mechanical, and software systems within our packaging and/or processing equipment.  This is a hands-on role that will require you to operate equipment, monitor performance, troubleshoot issues, and drive continuous improvement across multiple pieces of equipment.  Working within a highly automated TPM-based environment, the Production Technician III will be expected to execute standardized processes by following standard work, perform layered process audits, and facilitate structured problem solving to drive waste out of the system and promote a culture of continuous improvement. As a Production Technician III working in a High Performing Team based environment, you will be looked upon to train, mentor, and guide the work of other technicians within your MBU, ensuring that they understand how to keep themselves and those around them safe as you collectively deliver world class cost, quality, and service performance.  As a leader in your MBU, you will be expected to regularly interact with site leadership to review operating results, communicate status of improvement initiatives and actively participate in plant-wide initiatives.

What you will do:

Deliver best-in-class performance across the balanced Scorecard

• Safety - Deliver upon the site safety goal of zero injuries by doing the following:
  • Being a role model in communicating, demonstrating and supporting safe behaviors
  • Regularly completing and/or participating in behavioral safety observations and training others on the process
  • Actively participate in safety meetings
  • Regularly conduct safety audits and risk reduction initiatives
  • Ensure 100% completion of all safety/regulatory training as it applies to you
• Quality - Achieve Zero-defect performance and improve the customer experience by doing the following:
  • Understanding and training others on all quality control, Safe Quality Food, Good Manufacturing Practices, and other regulatory requirements.
• Production – Help foster and support a Continuous Improvement environment by doing the following:
  • Identify and address equipment and material issues as they occur
  • Partner across maintenance and quality organizations as you leverage the Daily Management System to drive site performance.
  • Lead and/or support cross-functional focused improvement initiatives to streamline material flow and improve equipment efficiency to increase capacity and reduce operating expenses

Lead and sustain TPM-based Production Environment

• Support and drive the site TPM journey and the various implementations; mentor and teach others in the TPM process
• Develop corrective action plans, escalating to Crew Leads or maintenance as appropriate.
• Define, review, and drive improvements to standard work for Autonomous (AM) and Preventative (PM) maintenance activities, coordinate and align standards between shifts, and perform layered audits to identify and address gaps.
• Actively participate in various Kaizen activities at the site and assist in line and MBU implementations of improvements identified during the events.
• Lead team meetings at the line and business unit boards; leverage process to escalate and resolve issues
• Partner with maintenance on the execution of preventative maintenance, and lead improvement activities on issues that cross team and functional boundaries.

Engage in Mini Business Unit structure (MBU) and High Performing Team (HPT) model

• Be a positive contributor to the site’s MBU structure and HPT model by doing the following:
  • Demonstrate ability to work effectively with others
  • Complete all tasks in work area and contribute fair share of team’s work
  • Communicate status of work during shift transitions
  • Demonstrate a willingness to help other team members, receive and provide constructive feedback, and display high level of cooperation across the site
  • Exhibits a positive demeanor and models engaging communication styles and behaviors
  • Demonstrates self-awareness and takes actions to continuously improve
  • Does not engage in negative commentary
  • Interacts respectfully and professionally with all members of the KDP