Plant Manager
Plant Manager | Nationwide Uniform (Hodgenville KY)
Company Background:
Fechheimer was founded in 1842 and is a proud member of the Berkshire Hathaway family of companies. Fechheimer Brothers Company is the premier uniform manufacturer servicing the military, federal, state, and local public safety service markets. Our uniforms represent the honor, respect, and pride reflective in public safety today and at Fechheimer we take pride in serving those who serve us.
Our goal is to bring to market premier products and programs through our two brands; Flying Cross® and Vertx® to continue our tradition of providing superior products & service through innovation and technology that continually meets and exceeds our customers’ expectations.
At Fechheimer, not only do we pride ourselves on our products and programs but on our company culture. We offer a comprehensive benefits package, a fun and relaxed work environment, and the opportunity for continued growth and learning.
Benefits Offered:
|
|
Pay Rate: $100,000.00 to $125,000.00 per year (based on experience)
Work Location: Hodgenville KY
Position Summary:
The Plant Manager is responsible for the overall leadership, performance, and day-to-day operation of Fechheimer’s apparel manufacturing facility in Hodgenville, Kentucky. This role provides strategic and operational direction across production, quality, safety, maintenance coordination, materials, workforce planning, and other plant-support activities to ensure products are manufactured safely, efficiently, on time, and according to established quality and cost expectations.
The Plant Manager leads department supervisors and other plant team members to establish priorities, align resources, develop talent, and create accountability for plant results. This role uses production data, shop-floor observation, and cross-functional collaboration to increase output, reduce work in process, control off-standard costs, improve quality, and strengthen overall plant performance.
This is a highly visible leadership opportunity for an experienced apparel manufacturing professional who values craftsmanship, operational excellence, employee development, and continuous improvement. The Plant Manager will help shape the future of the Hodgenville operation while supporting Fechheimer’s longstanding commitment to quality uniforms and service.
Responsibilities:
In this role, you will be required to...
Plant Leadership & Operational Strategy
- Provide overall leadership for plant operations, translating company goals into clear safety, quality, production, cost, delivery, and workforce priorities.
- Develop operating plans based on customer demand, materials, staffing, equipment capacity, and business requirements.
- Establish expectations for plant leaders, monitor performance, address gaps, and communicate results, risks, and resource needs to senior leadership.
Production, Capacity & Delivery
- Oversee apparel manufacturing operations to ensure production schedules, output targets, quality standards, and customer commitments are achieved.
- Partner with supervisors and support functions to resolve bottlenecks, align labor and capacity, and improve operator output, throughput, work in process, downtime, and on-time completion.
- Ensure production plans are supported by available materials, staffing, equipment, and technical resources.
Quality & Customer Requirements
- Maintain accountability for product quality and compliance with established specifications, customer requirements, and the ISO 9001 quality management system.
- Partner with Quality and Operations to identify defect trends, determine root causes, implement corrective actions, and reinforce standard work and right-first-time production.
- Ensure plant-related customer concerns are investigated and resolved through timely, sustainable corrective action.
Safety, Compliance & Team Member Well-Being
- Promote a safety-first culture and ensure compliance with company requirements and applicable governmental regulations.
- Ensure workplace hazards, incidents, and near misses are reported, investigated, addressed, and documented.
- Partner with the Director of Safety to maintain safe plant conditions, work practices, equipment use, training, and emergency procedures.
People Leadership & Organizational Development
- Lead, coach, and develop plant supervisors and direct reports, establishing clear accountability and development expectations.
- Oversee workforce planning, selection, onboarding, training, performance management, attendance, and succession planning in partnership with Human Resources.
- Strengthen supervisor effectiveness, employee engagement, and workplace culture while supporting consistent administration of company policies and the applicable collective bargaining agreement.
Cost, Productivity & Performance Management
- Monitor plant performance measures, including safety, quality, output, labor efficiency, off-standard cost, work in process, downtime, absenteeism, rework, and on-time completion.
- Use shop-floor control, ERP, quality, and operational data to identify trends and implement corrective actions.
- Manage labor, overtime, operating expenses, equipment, and other plant resources within established authority.
Continuous Improvement & Manufacturing Technology
- Lead initiatives that improve production flow, operator efficiency, quality, ergonomics, equipment utilization, and cost performance.
- Advance modular manufacturing, line balancing, standard work, workplace organization, root-cause analysis, and other appropriate lean practices.
- Evaluate and support new equipment, technology, layouts, methods, and shop-floor systems, ensuring improvements are properly implemented and sustained.
Maintenance, Materials & Operational Readiness
- Partner with Maintenance leadership to prioritize equipment repairs, preventive maintenance, facility needs, capital improvements, and production-support activities.
- Collaborate with Planning, Supply Chain, Inventory Control, Quality, Engineering, Human Resources, and other partners to support production execution.
- Escalate equipment failures, material shortages, capacity constraints, quality risks, and scheduling conflicts before they affect safety, operations, or customer commitments.
Community & Workforce Partnerships
- Represent Fechheimer professionally in the local community and support partnerships with schools, colleges, and workforce-development organizations.
- Perform other duties as assigned in support of plant and business objectives.
Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Comprehensive knowledge of apparel or sewn-products manufacturing, including garment construction, sewing operations, production flow, work in process, labor utilization, and quality control.
- Demonstrated ability to lead a manufacturing facility or significant production operation with accountability for safety, quality, delivery, cost, people, and continuous improvement.
- Strong people-leadership skills, including coaching, employee development, performance management, organizational planning, and succession development.
- Working knowledge of ISO 9001 quality-management principles and corrective-action practices.
- Experience using shop-floor control systems, ERP platforms, and operational reporting to monitor performance and guide decisions; familiarity with Exenta by Aptean and Microsoft Dynamics 365 is preferred.
- Strong analytical and financial acumen, including the ability to interpret production, labor, quality, cost, and capacity information.
- Knowledge of modular manufacturing, lean manufacturing, line balancing, standard work, root-cause analysis, and continuous improvement methods.
- Ability to manage competing priorities, make sound decisions, and respond effectively to changing production or customer requirements.
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to engage effectively with employees, supervisors, senior leadership, community partners, and cross-functional teams.
- Knowledge of safety, regulatory, employee-relations, and policy-compliance responsibilities in a manufacturing environment.
- Experience in a unionized manufacturing environment is preferred.
- English and Spanish bilingual capability is a plus.
Job Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Management, Operations Management, Business, or a related field preferred; equivalent combinations of education and relevant experience will be considered.
- Ten or more years of progressive manufacturing experience preferred, including significant experience in apparel, uniforms, tailored garments, or sewn-products manufacturing.
- Five or more years of manufacturing leadership experience with responsibility for supervisors and production employees preferred.
- Demonstrated experience improving plant or production performance across safety, quality, delivery, productivity, labor efficiency, and cost.
- Experience leading operations in a shop-floor control and ERP-enabled manufacturing environment.
- Valid driver’s license and ability to travel to other company, supplier, or subcontractor locations as needed.
- Ability to work on-site at the Hodgenville, Kentucky facility; relocation to the area is required if the successful candidate does not currently reside within a reasonable commuting distance.
- Ability to provide leadership outside normal business hours when urgent plant, employee, safety, facility, or production needs arise.
- Must be willing to relocate to the Hodgenville, KY area.
Measures of Success:
Performance may be evaluated using a combination of:
- Team member safety and regulatory compliance.
- Product quality, defect reduction, and corrective-action effectiveness.
- Achievement of production schedules and on-time completion requirements.
- Labor efficiency, operator output, and off-standard cost performance.
- Work-in-process levels, throughput, equipment uptime, and workflow effectiveness.
- Operating expenses and overtime performance.
- Employee retention, attendance, engagement, training, and leadership development.
- Continuous improvement results and sustainability of implemented changes.
- Accuracy and timeliness of shop-floor reporting and operational forecasts.
- Cross-functional execution and internal customer support.
Physical Requirements:
- Positional: Frequent standing and walking throughout production and plant areas; occasional to frequent sitting for meetings, planning, reporting, and computer work; driving and travel as required.
- Gross Mobility: Rare climbing or crawling; occasional balancing, stooping, kneeling, or crouching; frequent reaching and handling while observing operations, reviewing materials, and moving throughout the facility.
- Sensory: Frequent talking and listening when communicating with employees, leadership, and business partners; frequent near and midrange visual acuity for reviewing production activity, quality requirements, system information, and reports; occasional depth perception and field-of-vision demands when navigating production areas or driving.
- Ability to work in an active apparel manufacturing environment with exposure to production equipment, machine noise, fabric lint, and changing activity levels.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or status as a protected veteran.