Description
POSITION SUMMARY
The Corrugator Lead Person is responsible for providing hands-on leadership and direction to the corrugator crew to ensure the safe, efficient, and consistent production of quality corrugated board.
The Lead Person is a working leader who must understand and be capable of performing the key functions of the corrugator, including the wet end and dry end. The Lead is responsible for coordinating the crew, maintaining production flow, addressing downtime, monitoring quality, supporting changeovers, and communicating issues to the Corrugator Supervisor.
The Lead Person is expected to lead by example and hold the crew accountable for Safety, Quality, Production, Waste, and Housekeeping.
ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES
- Safety
- Lead by example and ensure all employees follow company safety rules and procedures.
- Ensure required PPE is worn at all times.
- Enforce Lockout/Tagout procedures when required.
- Identify and immediately address unsafe conditions.
- Report safety incidents, near misses, and hazards to supervision.
- Maintain a clean and organized work area.
- Conduct or participate in pre-shift safety discussions.
- Production
- Lead the corrugator crew in meeting the daily production schedule.
- Monitor machine performance, production rates, and downtime throughout the shift.
- Ensure the crew follows established operating procedures.
- Coordinate the wet-end and dry-end operations to maintain continuous production.
- Assist with startup, shutdown, changeovers, and job sequencing.
- Minimize unnecessary downtime, waste, and production interruptions.
- Make appropriate adjustments to keep the machine running at target speeds.
- Quality
- Ensure board is produced to customer specifications and company quality standards.
- Verify job tickets, paper grades, flute combinations, dimensions, and other critical specifications.
- Monitor board for warp, moisture, bond, caliper, crush, score, and other quality issues.
- Take immediate action when quality begins to move out of specification.
- Communicate quality concerns to the Corrugator Supervisor and Quality Department.
- Ensure defective material is properly identified, segregated, and documented.
- Downtime & Troubleshooting
- Act as the first point of response for corrugator downtime.
- Identify the cause of machine stoppages and determine whether the issue can be corrected by the crew or requires Maintenance.
- Accurately record downtime and the reason for the downtime.
- Monitor recurring downtime issues and communicate trends to supervision.
- Work with Maintenance during repairs and troubleshooting.
- Help identify opportunities to reduce downtime and improve machine reliability.
- Crew Leadership
- Direct and coordinate employees assigned to the corrugator.
- Ensure employees are in their assigned positions and performing their responsibilities.
- Coordinate breaks and coverage without negatively affecting production.
- Communicate expectations regarding safety, quality, production, and housekeeping.
- Address minor performance issues and immediately communicate significant issues to the supervisor.
- Promote teamwork and professional behavior.
- Maintain a positive and accountable work environment.
- Training & Development
- Train new employees on corrugator procedures and safe machine operation.
- Cross-train employees on multiple corrugator positions.
- Verify that employees understand standard operating procedures.
- Provide hands-on coaching when employees need additional development.
- Assist supervision with identifying training needs.
- Help develop employees who are being considered for higher-level positions.
- Maintenance & Preventive Maintenance
- Communicate equipment problems to Maintenance and supervision.
- Assist Maintenance during troubleshooting and repairs.
- Report conditions that could lead to equipment failure.
- Support scheduled PM activities.
- Ensure operators complete required equipment inspections.
- Help identify recurring mechanical and operational problems.
- Communication & Shift Handoff
- Communicate production status and problems to the Corrugator Supervisor.
- Provide a thorough shift pass-off to the incoming crew.
Communicate:
- Jobs completed
- Jobs remaining
- Machine issues
- Quality concerns
- Downtime
- Maintenance issues
- Paper shortages or concerns
- Safety issues
- Staffing concerns
Ensure important information is not lost between shifts.
- Housekeeping & 5S
- Maintain a clean and organized corrugator area.
- Ensure paper waste, scrap, cores, and other materials are properly handled.
- Hold employees accountable for housekeeping standards.
- Complete required end-of-shift cleaning and inspections.
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
The Corrugator Lead will be evaluated on the following:
Safety
- Safety incidents
- Near-miss reporting
- PPE compliance
- Safe work practices
Quality
- Customer complaints
- Quality rejects
- Board specifications
- Bond/moisture/caliper/warp performance
Production
- Production attainment
- Machine speed
- MSF produced
- Schedule attainment
Downtime
- Total downtime %
- Unplanned downtime
- Repeat downtime events
- Response to machine problems
Waste
- Trim waste
- Broke
- Setup waste
- Total corrugator waste %
People
- Attendance
- Training completion
- Cross-training
- Employee performance
- Teamwork
Housekeeping
- Daily housekeeping
- Machine cleanliness
- Work-area organization
AUTHORITY & ACCOUNTABILITY
The Corrugator Lead is authorized to:
- Direct employees during the shift.
- Reassign employees as necessary to maintain production.
- Stop production when an unsafe condition or serious quality issue exists.
- Request Maintenance support.
- Escalate quality, safety, staffing, and production issues.
- Provide coaching and direction to employees.
- Recommend additional training or corrective action to supervision.
- The Corrugator Lead is not responsible for formal disciplinary action unless specifically authorized by management.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- High school diploma or GED preferred.
- Previous corrugated industry experience required.
- Demonstrated experience operating or working on a corrugator.
- Knowledge of both wet-end and dry-end operations preferred.
- Ability to read and understand production schedules and job tickets.
- Basic mathematical skills.
- Ability to troubleshoot basic machine and process problems.
- Strong communication and leadership skills.
- Ability to work overtime, weekends, and different shifts as required.
Preferred Experience:
- Module Facer
- Double Backer
- Dry End
- Stacker
- Control Room
- Corrugator setup/changeovers
- Quality inspection
- Downtime tracking
- Preventive maintenance
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS
- Ability to stand and walk for extended periods.
- Ability to bend, stoop, reach, and climb stairs/platforms.
- Ability to work around moving machinery.
- Ability to work in hot, cold, dusty, and noisy manufacturing conditions.
- Ability to lift and move materials as required by the position.
- Ability to wear required PPE throughout the shift.
LEADERSHIP EXPECTATION
The Corrugator Lead is expected to lead from the floor, not from the office.
The Lead should know what is happening on the machine, know where the crew is, understand why the machine is down, recognize quality problems early, and communicate problems before they become larger issues.
The Lead’s primary objective is to keep the corrugator running safely, producing quality board, meeting the schedule, minimizing waste, and developing the crew.
