Production Manager

Job Description

The Production Manager oversees the full production department at G&W Display Fixtures, including fabrication, assembly, laser operations, cobot welding cells, workflow, labor assignment, quality, safety, material movement, and equipment coordination. This role reports to Co-CEO and serves as the operational leader for the Production Department. The Production Manager is responsible for directing daily manufacturing activities, establishing production priorities, coordinating cross-functional efforts, developing employees, supporting customer commitments, and ensuring products move through production safely, efficiently, and on schedule. This is not a laser-only or automation-only position, but laser operation, laser safety, and cobot welding experience are preferred as G&W continues developing these capabilities.

Role and Responsibilities

• Oversee daily operations of the full production department, including fabrication, assembly, workflow, labor coordination, quality, safety, equipment readiness, and shop-floor follow-through.

• Establish, maintain, and adjust daily and weekly production schedules to ensure customer delivery commitments are met, balancing labor availability, material constraints, equipment capacity, and changing priorities.

• Assign labor, set priorities, monitor production progress, and resolve obstacles affecting schedule, quality, safety, throughput, staffing, or customer commitments.

• Supervise, coach, train, and hold employees accountable for productivity, attendance, quality, safety, housekeeping, teamwork, and workplace expectations.

• Coordinate production priorities with Executive Leadership, Sales, Engineering, Purchasing, Warehouse, Finishing, Shipping, customers, and other departments as needed to support project launches, schedule changes, production concerns, and delivery expectations.

• Review work orders, job travelers, drawings, cut lists, material requirements, specifications, and production instructions to ensure work is properly understood, staged, completed, inspected, and moved through production.

• Maintain quality expectations throughout production, including first-piece checks, in-process inspections, rework prevention, documentation accuracy, and final production readiness.

• Support safe and effective operation of production equipment, including laser cutting systems, automation technologies, cobot welding cells, and related manufacturing processes.

• If properly trained, qualified, and appointed by the company, serve as the designated Laser Safety Officer or assist with maintaining the company’s laser safety program.

• Identify and resolve production problems, staffing needs, training gaps, equipment concerns, bottlenecks, rework issues, process inefficiencies, and workflow constraints.

• Coordinate maintenance activities and equipment repairs by working directly with maintenance personnel, outside contractors, and vendors to minimize production disruptions.

• Coordinate purchasing activities related to production operations, including shop consumables, tooling, equipment, specialty materials, vendor selection, quotation review, and capital equipment recommendations.

• Develop and maintain relationships with suppliers and service providers to support production requirements, maintenance activities, equipment procurement, and operational improvements.

• Review and approve employee time records and support attendance administration processes, including documentation related to vacation requests, appointments, and attendance policies.

• Participate in safety committee initiatives, incident investigations, OSHA-related activities, corrective actions, and continuous improvement efforts supporting a safe work environment.

• Support physical inventory activities, cycle counting initiatives, and production-related inventory accuracy efforts.

• Maintain production records, job status updates, employee-related documentation, and other required shop-floor information.

• Promote a clean, organized, safe, and efficient production environment focused on customer satisfaction and manufacturing performance.

• Perform all other duties as assigned.

Qualifications and Education Requirements

Required:

· 5+ years of progressive manufacturing leadership experience in a custom fabrication, metal manufacturing, or make-to-order environment preferred

· Demonstrated ability to directly supervise employees, manage daily production priorities, and maintain accountability in a manufacturing setting.

· Ability to oversee multiple production functions and coordinate work across departments.

· Ability to read and understand drawings, tolerances, material specifications, work orders, cut lists, and job travelers.

· Working knowledge of production scheduling, labor planning, material flow, quality control, safety practices, equipment coordination, and production documentation.

· Strong practical problem-solving, communication, computer, documentation, and follow-through skills.

· Ability to commute or relocate to Bronson, MI.

Preferred:

· Experience with laser cutting, cobot welding cells, robotic welding, production automation, or related advanced manufacturing equipment is a plus.

Competencies

• Leadership presence with the ability to set expectations, maintain accountability, and earn respect on the shop floor.

• Strong production judgment with the ability to make timely decisions in a custom manufacturing environment.

• Organized and able to balance changing priorities, competing deadlines, labor needs, and customer commitments.

• Communicate clearly and professionally with production employees, leadership, support departments, customers, and vendors.

• Quality-minded with a focus on preventing rework, improving consistency, and meeting customer expectations.

• Safety-minded with the ability to model safe work practices and support a clean, controlled, and compliant work environment.

• Fair, consistent, and direct in coaching, training, correcting, and developing employees.

• Continuous improvement mindset with a focus on efficiency, workflow, equipment utilization, and stronger production performance.

Physical requirements

· Ability to sit, stand, walk, bend, reach, lift, and move throughout the facility during the workday.

· Able to lift up to 50 pounds as needed.

· Ability to move throughout production areas, including fabrication, assembly, warehouse, finishing, shipping, laser operations, and cobot welding cell areas.

· Ability to work safely around manufacturing equipment, forklifts, carts, tools, sharp materials, laser equipment, cobot welding cells, and general shop-floor activity.

· Ability to use required PPE and visually inspect parts, drawings, and production documentation for quality and safety concerns.

Work Environment

Manufacturing, production, warehouse, office, and shop-floor environment with exposure to noise, equipment, forklifts, tools, dust, fumes, welding activity, packaging materials, varying temperatures, finishing operations, metal fabrication, laser cutting equipment, cobot welding cells, and other manufacturing-related hazards.

About G&W Display Fixtures

G&W Display Fixtures, Inc. is a custom manufacturing company located in Bronson, Michigan. We produce retail display fixtures, custom casework, metal components, assemblies, and related manufacturing solutions for retail and commercial customers.