Continuous Improvement Manager

Purpose and Mission

To strengthen the current growth, we are looking for an individual who is passionate in continuous improvement and manufacturing excellence with the following scope:

• Realize significant recurring cash cost savings and a higher contribution margin
• Implement a World Class Manufacturing System in the plants, based on:
• People (behavior, culture, leadership)
• Technical processes
• Management
• Create a sustainable platform for continuous improvement
• Develop manufacturing excellence skills, capability, and capacity
• Implement a process for best practice sharing & implementation throughout Bekaert
• Implement a framework for internal and external benchmarking to drive continuous improvement
• Clarify interfaces and improve alignment between central support functions and the plants

Key Activities and Responsibilities

• Highlight bottlenecks in projects to the Plant Managers
• Function as Project Leader for OPEX/CI projects.
• Be an expert in WOW; ensure continuous improvement in WOW by training and coaching people in WOW.
• Ensure KPI dashboard is used for performance management on plant level, be the local KPI dashboard administrator.
• Facilitate global standardization by training Managers in Operations in the playbooks or global shopfloor procedures, organize self-assessments, and facilitate the implementation and follow-up.
• Ensure good OPEX project governance within the Plants, prepare/facilitate the quarterly follow-up meeting (Reg. VP & Plant Manager)
• Be an expert in time & motion analysis, make and manage workload models (WLM)
• Ensure that Operations is using the right sources of data, SAP reports.
• Assess and support the Plants in closing the gap in the Productivity.
• Roll out the global OPEX standards rigorously and make local adaptations for regional standards. Share good practices across the network.
• Supports development & roll out of the digital features to NAM plants.

Skills

• Production background and/or likes being in production environments 
• People oriented, willing to help
• Is not risk-averse, likes to test new concepts or organizations and adjust, depending on how it goes
• Excellent communication & listening skills; able to deliver presentations and to train others in a clear manner; capable of encouraging and motivating people
• Ability to drive meetings towards progress
• Able to work cross-functionally, interfacing well with all production management levels, and driving them towards change
• Detailed-oriented
• Ability to manage his own activities autonomously, and has good project management skills
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Action and results oriented
• Adaptable and learn quickly

Previous Experience

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in process improvement, operations management, or a related field, with a focus on local or regional operations

Qualifications and Education

• Master's degree in business administration, operations management, engineering, or a relevant field