Continuous Improvement Specialist

Are you ready for a (literally!) fresh start to your career? Our colleagues at the Supply Chain department are ready to work with you to ensure that everyone can enjoy our delicious freshmakers and sweets every day. Curious?

This is where we need you!

As Continuous Improvement Expert you will support the Perfetti Performance Excellence (PPE) effort for the factories in the Netherlands to improve product efficiency and safety, quality and productivity performance and reduce waste. The purpose of this position is to support driving and embedding a continuous improvement mindset and efforts throughout the Perfetti van Melle BLX (Benelux) Supply Chain organization, including Manufacturing, Process & Technology and Supply Chain, towards a continuous improvement culture. The Continuous Improvement Expert recommends improvement initiatives and supports and drives continuous improvements projects. This will result in implemented improved standards, sustained optimized processes, and realizing employee satisfaction and financial related opportunities according the PPE way of working. The Continuous Improvement BLX team has as scope the entire BLX Supply Chain organization with as initial focus manufacturing. The Continuous Improvement Expert reports to the Continuous Improvement Manager. The activities are centered in the South of Holland and this position is specifically for the Weert factory. A colleague expert will be responsible for the Weert Factory.

Your core tasks in a nutshell:

• Support the PPE initiative for PVM BLX;
• Clearly define and plan the Weert PPE objectives, scope and deliverables;
• Maintain overview of the Weert PPE initiatives portfolio and ensure co-ordination and prioritization on basis of the implementation plan with a strong focus on delivery and resources allocation;
• Act both as project lead / improvement team lead and as a project coach / facilitator;
• Maintain and develop strong relationships with relevant stakeholders/functions
• Recommend local Weert initiatives by collecting input from relevant stakeholders and functions and in accordance with the PPE guidelines and principles;
• Ensure employee commitment for proactive change management;
• Bring continuous improvement knowledge (TPM, Six Sigma and Lean) and coach employees in using improvement methodologies;
• Become one of the go-to persons for SC BLX with respect to continuous improvement;
• Act as a catalyst for bottom-up improvement, stimulate creativity on the shopfloor and stimulate continuous improvement of manufacturing equipment and processes by utilizing expertise to analyze, monitor, troubleshoot and debottleneck;
• Work closely on regularly basis with local BLX leaders to develop and share best practices on process integration & optimization to continuously improve the PPE;
• Benchmark trends and practices, review best practices and actively collect input from the SC community;
• Support and roll-out relevant trainings

We are looking for:

• HBO, Bachelor or Master degree in Industrial or Process Engineering, Business or Supply Chain.
• Preferably couple of years of relevant experience within a manufacturing environment.
• Experience in continuous improvement skills and knowledge such as TPM, Six Sigma or Lean.
• Preferably a Continuous Improvement certification on Green-Belt level.
• Experience in set up of and leading project improvements teams, preferably shopfloor teams.
• Committing to realizing the agreed results; pragmatic “getting things done” mentality.
• People oriented.
• Stakeholder management and communication skills on all levels of an organization.
• Analytical skills, problem-solving and ability to influence decision-making.
• Independent influencer with a positive mindset in order to engage teams.
• Dutch & English verbal and written.

The ingredients of Perfetti Van Melle, does it include your taste?

You will work at the third largest confectionery group in the world - and second in Europe. But we want to continue to grow and become the best at making candy, where we can use all the help of our colleagues!

We see our employees as the most important ingredient and therefore we have something for everyone:

• Empowering: Everyone has every opportunity to develop and make a difference. For example, we have a huge range of (tailor-made) training courses.
• Fun: Who doesn't actually dream of working at a candy factory? We would also like to maintain our family atmosphere, because that makes us unique and has brought us to where we are today. We do everything to make you feel at home with us, such as an annual beach volleyball and hockey tournament. But also an annual Social Responsibility day to be committed to the community.
• Innovation: We must respond to the ongoing social debate on sugar and health, but also to deal with issues such as: environmental pollution, packaging and food safety. Enough challenges!
• Dynamic: It may sound cliché, but with branches in more than 30 countries, we are a dynamic and vibrant organization.

Got interested?

Are you enthusiastic about this improvement expert role and do you strive for outstanding results on a continuous improvement journey? Then we would like to meet you! Let us hear from you via the "Apply" button and maybe we will meet soon. Please note that the closing date of this vacancy is April, 30th, 2024.