Continuous Improvement Specialist

Annual Salary: $75,100 - $104,000

Key responsibilities

• Drive continuous improvement activities including mapping current and future process maps, driving corrective actions, and developing, tracking, and measuring qualitative and quantitative results.
• Drive a culture of innovation, simplification and continuous improvement through best practice sharing, advocacy, and hands-on leadership.
• Partner with senior leadership, understand business goals, analyze opportunities, and develop improvement plans for various workflows.
• Build roadmaps that support the tactical execution of key continuous improvement initiatives across stakeholder teams.
• Ensure consistent application of continuous improvement tools, methodologies, and best practices to accelerate improvements at scale.
• Identifies and engage subject matter experts in support of multi-functional efforts in continuous improvement.
• Work with internal partners to identify Continuous improvement opportunities through the timely resolution of Incidents, Root Cause Analysis’, and Repair items.
• Manage a range of performance measures (metrics) to regularly monitor the effectiveness of processes and validate effectiveness of continuous improvement solutions.
• Analyze and challenge existing procedures throughout the facilities using Lean concepts to make recommendations in support of the management of Production and Quality results. Work with operational management to integrate solutions.
• Track and trend data to uncover performance gaps. Identify and prioritize Continuous Improvement projects. Manage, coach, and oversee Continuous Improvement projects.
• Provides guidance and support to operational management by identifying and supporting the implementation of progress opportunities, effectively adding in measurement methods, and reporting continuous improvement effectiveness.
• Develops, implements, and improves manufacturing processes, tools, equipment, and work activities to meet and exceed the company's KPI objectives
• Manage strategic projects as assigned
  
  

Professional Experience

• 2 years manufacturing process improvement experience required
• Bachelor’s degree in Operations, Supply Chain, Industrial/Manufacturing engineering, Business or equivalent experience in related fields
• Operations Management is a plus
• 2 years of Lean, Six Sigma Black Belt with process design, Value Stream Mapping, and Kaizen workshop facilitation experience.
• 2 years facilitating process-level change management efforts, using process design workshops and other Lean techniques.
• 2 years documenting and improving work processes to make workflow more efficient and productive
  
  

Technical Skills

• Lean, Six Sigma Black Belt certification desired, or commitment to achieve certification within 12 months of hire
• Data analysis – collect, organize and interpret data
• Facilitation skills
• Experienced in SPC/DOE (statistical process control and design of experiments) is a plus
• Capacity to learn and understand how different variables (internal and external) impact the quality of the laminate flooring process and product
• Mechanical/electrical aptitude to effectively troubleshoot process issues
• Continuous Improvement training and experience
• Excellent communication, problem solving skills - ability to manage competing priorities, set clear expectations, collaborate, identify objectives, develop and deliver feedback in written, oral, and presentation formats for partner teams, and senior executive management.
• Demonstrated project management skills involving multiple Internal partners. High comfort with handling multiple ongoing priorities.
• Ability to deliver and maintain mature processes, procedures, program baselines, training, and improvement plans.
  
  

Behavioral attitude

• Must be able to interface with others at all levels, from executive to hourly.
• Apply the SK values
• Anticipate changes – assess the situation by stepping back, identify conditions to implement solutions, identify consequences and assess/analyze risks
• Agility in execution – take initiative, move into action quickly once decisions are made, adapt your working mode to take into account changes
• Cooperation – listen to others and take into account their points of view, explain your points of view and priorities to gain support, look for synergies (within and outside the team) to improve overall results, work with others to achieve common objectives
• Make continuous progress – take new approaches, implement best practices, challenge other’s ideas in order to enhance them, demonstrate open-mindedness, promote new ideas and test them
  
  

Linguistic Skills

• Fluent and articulate in English
• Command of German is a plus
  
  

Physical Demands

• Employee will be required to perform climbing stairs, squatting, kneeling, at variable frequency.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit and walk and talk or hear; and use hands to finger, handle, or operate objects, tools, or controls; and reach with hands and arms.
• There is occasional lifting that may require handling of components which can weigh up to 50 lbs.
• Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.
• The employee occasionally works near moving mechanical parts in high, precarious places and is occasionally exposed to wet and/or humid conditions, ambient air, temperature extremes, combustible dust fumes or airborne particles, traffic, toxic or caustic chemicals, risk of electrical shock, and vibration.
  
  

Mobility

• Role based in United States (Barnwell, SC)
• Ability to travel internationally with 2-3 weeks notice
• Travel up to 1 week per year
  
  

Key relationships (internal and external stakeholder)

• Department Managers (Operations and Maintenance)
• Process Technicians
• Quality Dept
• MDF and Flooring Plant Mgrs
• Maintenance
  
  

Eeo

Swiss Krono USA is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.