Packaging Maintenance Supervisor

**Title:** Packaging Maintenance Supervisor **Location:** Scottsbluff, Nebraska Position Overview The Western Sugar Cooperative is seeking a results-driven Packaging Maintenance Supervisor to lead maintenance planning, execution, and reliability improvement within our packaging and warehouse facility in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Reporting to the Packaging/Bulk and Terminals Director, with a strong dotted-line partnership to the Maintenance Manager, this role owns the maintenance strategy for packaging line equipment — driving Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), disciplined maintenance planning and scheduling, and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) improvement across all packaging assets. The ideal candidate is a hands-on, reliability-minded leader who understands value stream thinking, champions waste elimination, and builds operator ownership of equipment care through a mature TPM program. **Essential Functions** Maintenance Planning & Scheduling (Primary Focus) - Own maintenance planning and scheduling for all packaging line equipment — building weekly and daily schedules that balance preventive maintenance (PM), predictive maintenance (PdM), and corrective work orders against the production plan. - Maintain a prioritized maintenance backlog, ranking work orders by risk, criticality, and impact on line uptime, and coordinating planned downtime windows with the packaging schedule. - Ensure parts, tools, and procedures are fully kitted ahead of scheduled work to eliminate wrench-time delays. - Partner with Procurement and the central Maintenance team on spare parts inventory, applying pull-system and min/max principles to ensure critical packaging spares are available without excess carrying cost. Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) Leadership - Lead the site's TPM program on packaging lines by championing the Autonomous Maintenance pillar — training and coaching packaging shift leads and operators to perform basic cleaning, inspection, lubrication, and minor adjustments (CIL) as part of daily standard work. - Own OEE for assigned packaging lines, systematically attacking the six big losses (breakdowns, setup/adjustment, minor stops, reduced speed, startup rejects, process rejects) through structured problem-solving and data-driven prioritization. - Apply structured root cause analysis methodologies (5-Why, fishbone/Ishikawa, A3 thinking) to chronic equipment failures, driving permanent corrective actions and updating PM plans to prevent recurrence. - Collaborate closely with the Maintenance Manager and reliability resources to continuously mature the TPM program, including Planned Maintenance and Focused Improvement pillar activities, reducing unplanned downtime and improving OEE. - Develop, standardize, and sustain PM procedures, CIL checklists, and maintenance Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs); train personnel to standard and hold teams accountable to consistent execution. Team Supervision & Development - Lead and develop packaging maintenance technicians and shift leads using lean leadership principles — setting clear expectations, supporting daily accountability, and coaching teams to drive measurable improvements in safety, quality, delivery, and cost (SQDC). - Foster a culture of employee engagement and continuous improvement by actively listening to frontline ideas on equipment reliability, facilitating problem-solving, and recognizing contributions at all levels. - Ensure seamless shift-to-shift transitions for open work orders and equipment condition through structured shift handoff processes and visual management tools (equipment tags, OEE boards, backlog boards). - Partner with Procurement to maintain reliable packaging material flow, applying pull-system and inventory management principles to minimize shortages and excess. - Collaborate closely with the Maintenance team to execute and continuously improve a robust Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) program, reducing unplanned downtime and improving overall equi…