Production Manager

Caffenu is a growing Cape

Town manufacturer whose products are sold around the world.We make coffee machine cleaning and care

products (tablets, liquids and powders) for our own brand and private label

customers, and produce coffee and tea capsules for other brands.

We’re looking for a

Production Manager to build and strengthen production planning across our

lines. This is a hands-on leadership role with a direct line to the Managing

Director. You’ll spend around 70% of your time on planning, systems and people,

and 30% on the production floor.

You

will lead production planning and delivery across all lines, building practical

systems that help the team understand capacity, plan work realistically and

deliver agreed quantities on time and to specification. You’ll work closely

with the Production Supervisor, Quality and Procurement teams to coordinate

people, materials, maintenance and production priorities.

Main Outcomes

• Production plans are achievable,

  communicated clearly and delivered against.

• Production capacity, utilisation,

  waste, yield and downtime are measured and used to guide improvements.

• Labour, overtime and material

  usage are managed within the agreed production budget.

• Planned maintenance is built into

  production schedules and unplanned downtime is reduced.

• The production team is well led,

  with trained backups for critical tasks.Production is safe, documented and

  aligned with quality requirements and ISO 9001 processes.

• R&D

  trials are prioritised and new products move smoothly into full production.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Production Planning and Delivery

• Turn

  requirements from Sales and Procurement into monthly, weekly and daily

  production schedules across all lines.

• Plan

  for labour, materials, maintenance and R&D trial requirements.

• Give

  the Production Supervisor a clear plan, track planned against actual output

  daily, and act when production falls behind.

• Agree

  weekly priorities with Procurement and Quality, and record and communicate any

  changes to the plan.

• Use

  capacity, cost and minimum order quantity information to assess and challenge

  production requirements.

• Open,

  close and reverse jobs on the ERP system, ensuring system records match Excel

  job cards and batch records are complete.

Capacity, Cost and Continuous Improvement

• Set

  and report capacity figures for each line, including output rates and

  changeover times.

• Identify

  bottlenecks, investigate causes and work with the team to implement

  improvements.

• Establish

  baselines for plan attainment, waste, yield, downtime and right-first-time

  quality.

• Monitor

  labour, overtime and material usage against the agreed production budget, and

  explain variances.

Maintenance and Equipment

• Agree

  the planned maintenance schedule with the on-site maintenance technicians and

  incorporate it into the production plan.

• Review

  downtime trends, address repeat failures and maintain a troubleshooting

  register.

• Assess

  repair or replacement requirements, seeking the Managing Director’s

  pre-approval where there are significant financial or process implications.

• Step

  in when a breakdown is serious or remains unresolved after one working day.

People Leadership

• Lead

  and develop the Production Supervisor, who manages the production floor and

  day-to-day maintenance.

• Hold

  one-to-ones and performance reviews, manage leave and discipline, and arrange

  temporary staff when needed.

• Ensure

  every critical production role has at least one trained and competent backup.

• Keep

  production job descriptions current and set and review KPIs for production

  staff.

Safety, Quality and ISO

• Take

  overall health and safety accountability for production, including the formal

  appointment for the area.

• Review

  and sign off the monthly health and safety checklist, participate in the Health

  and Safety Committee, and ensure actions are closed.

• Write

  and maintain production SOPs and support the Quality Manager with ISO 9001.

• Investigate

  production non-conformances with Quality and close corrective actions together.

R&D Support

• Oversee

  production-line trials and ensure they are prioritised alongside commercial

  orders.

• Troubleshoot

  trials with Quality when products or processes do not run as expected.

• Support

  the transition of new products from R&D trials into full production.

Requirements

• 5+ years’ experience in

  batch manufacturing, such as chemicals, cosmetics, supplements, food or

  beverage, or contract packing.

• At least three years’ experience

  in detailed production planning and scheduling across multiple lines, including

  setting line capacities.

• Experience leading people in a

  business with 25 to 150 staff.

• A proven record of introducing new

  systems and leading continuous improvement.

• Strong Excel, ERP and Microsoft

  365 skills.

• Own reliable transport
• Living within reasonable commuting

  distance of Montague Gardens, Cape Town.