Operations Quality Manager

POSITION OBJECTIVE

The Operations Quality Manager owns day-to-day quality performance across Ramco's manufacturing operations. This leader converts customer, regulatory, and quality-system requirements into disciplined production controls; develops the quality organization; and drives rapid containment, root-cause correction, and permanent prevention when performance falls short.

The role requires practical expertise in automotive and commercial-truck fasteners and related processes. The Operations Quality Manager must be equally effective on the manufacturing floor, in customer reviews, and during quality-system audits.

REPORTING STRUCTURE & ORGANIZATIONAL SCOPE

The Operations Quality Manager reports to the Director, Engineering & Quality and provides day-to-day leadership to assigned quality engineers, technicians, inspectors, and laboratory personnel. The role partners closely with Operations, Engineering, Purchasing, Sales, customers, suppliers, and outside processors.

• Daily quality execution across incoming, in-process, and final inspection.
• Plant execution of IATF 16949, ISO 9001, customer-specific requirements, and Ramco quality-system requirements.
• Customer complaints, containment, corrective action, scorecards, portals, controlled shipping, and customer visits.
• Quality planning and launch readiness, including APQP, PPAP, PFMEA, Control Plans, MSA, and SPC.
• Fastener and special-process quality controls across forming, threading, machining, heat treatment, plating/coating, sorting, assembly, and packaging.
• Supplier and outside-processor quality in partnership with Purchasing.
• Quality-team capability, shift coverage, performance management, and succession planning.

ESSTENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Operational Quality Leadership

• Lead daily quality execution across incoming, in-process, and final inspection; establish clear priorities, escalation paths, and shift coverage.
• Partner with Operations and Engineering to stop defects at the source, strengthen standard work and process discipline, and close gaps between documented controls and actual execution.
• Exercise stop-process and stop-shipment authority when product conformity or customer protection is at risk; lead containment and controlled-release decisions.
• Own quality-performance reporting, daily management, and corrective-action follow-through using fact-based problem-solving and visible accountability.

Automotive Quality System and Customer Compliance

• Maintain effective plant execution of IATF 16949, ISO 9001, applicable customer-specific requirements, and Ramco quality-management-system requirements.
• Lead internal, layered-process, product, customer, and certification audit readiness; ensure findings are contained, root causes are verified, and corrective actions remain effective.
• Deploy and sustain AIAG Core Tools, including APQP, PPAP, PFMEA, Control Plans, MSA, and SPC, throughout production and launch activity.
• Ensure document control, calibration, training, traceability, nonconforming-material control, and change-management processes are consistently followed.

Fastener and Special-Process Quality

• Establish effective controls for threaded and non-threaded fasteners produced through cold forming/heading, thread rolling, machining, grinding, heat treatment, plating/coating, sorting, assembly, and packaging.
• Ensure verification addresses applicable print, material, and fastener requirements, including thread form/gaging, mechanical properties, hardness, metallurgical integrity, decarburization, surface condition, coating performance, hydrogen-embrittlement controls, and lot traceability.
• Partner with Engineering, Operations, and outside processors to control high-risk and special processes, including applicable CQI-9, CQI-11, and CQI-12 requirements.
• Strengthen laboratory and inspection methods, sampling plans, gage capability, test reliability, and reaction plans; eliminate inspection as a substitute for capable processes.

Customer, Launch, and Supplier Quality

• Own customer complaint response from immediate containment through verified permanent corrective action using disciplined 8D and root-cause methods.
• Manage customer portals, scorecards, PPAP submissions, corrective-action deadlines, controlled-shipping activity, and customer visits with speed and accuracy.
• Manage Quality related new-product launch deliverables by ensuring manufacturing feasibility, risk identification, control-plan readiness, measurement capability, run-at-rate quality, and safe-launch execution.
• Partner with Purchasing to improve supplier and outside-processor quality, approve changes, resolve repeat nonconformance, and reduce incoming risk.

People Leadership and Continuous Improvement

• Build a capable, accountable quality team through clear standards, coaching, technical development, performance management, and succession planning.
• Develop quality engineers, technicians, and inspectors to solve problems at the process rather than rely on sorting or repeated containment.
• Drive measurable reduction in customer PPM, internal scrap/rework, cost of poor quality, repeat defects, audit findings, and response cycle time.
• Model urgency, candor, and cross-functional ownership; communicate difficult quality facts early and without dilution.