SUMMARY:
To safely and efficiently operate the closure moulding line to produce high-quality plastic closures
POSITION INFO:
MACHINE OPERATOR PREFORM
Manufacturing
Job Overview
Running high-speed closure moulding equipment (injection or compression), performs in-process quality checks, conducts Level 1 autonomous maintenance, manages waste, and ensures full food-contact compliance.
Job Purpose
To safely and efficiently operate the closure moulding line to produce high-quality plastic closures that meet torque, seal, tamper-evident, and dimensional specifications, while achieving daily output targets, minimising scrap, and maintaining world-class housekeeping and safety standards.
Key Accountabilities and Outputs
- Operate the closure moulding machine, hopper, conveyor, and vision systems to achieve target output and OEE.
- Perform start-up, shutdown, colour/size/tamper-band changeovers, and material loading per SOPs.
- Conduct hourly quality inspections (torque, leak test, visual defects, thread integrity, tamper band) and record results.
- Manage rejections, segregate scrap closures, and drive waste reduction initiatives.
- Perform Level 1 autonomous maintenance (cleaning moulds, sensors, vision cameras, conveyors) and support planned maintenance.
- Maintain 5S and housekeeping standards in the closure production area.
- Strictly comply with SHEQ, ISO/FSSC 22000 food safety, and all statutory requirements.
- Complete production, quality, and waste documentation accurately.
- Ensure clean, running handover to the next shift.
Adherence to the Quality, Food Safety, Health, Safety and Environmental Standards
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- Adherence to Standards: Ensure strict adherence to Quality, Food, Health, Safety and Environmental policies and standards.
- Enforcement: Enforce all food safety and health regulations, policies, and requirements at all times to guarantee a secure work environment.
- Personal Hygiene: Maintain exceptional personal hygiene as per the organization’s code of conduct.
- Contamination Control: Raise awareness about potential physical product contamination and implement control measures to prevent it.
- Health and Safety Measures: Take reasonable precautions to prevent health and safety hazards. Follow the prescribed incident reporting procedure in case of accidents.
- Training: Attend and enforce the implementation of learnings from training sessions related to Quality, Food Safety, and Health and Safety.
- Housekeeping: Maintain high levels of cleanliness and orderliness within the work environment.
Qualifications and Experience
- Education: Grade 12 / Matric (essential). Technical N2/N3 (Mechanical or Plastics Processing) advantageous.
- Experience: 1–3 years’ machine operating experience in FMCG, packaging, or plastics manufacturing (preform or injection moulding experience strongly preferred). 6 months minimum in a high-speed production environment.
- Certificate in Injection Moulding or Plastics Processing an advantage
- Strong safety and quality mindset (zero-harm, zero-defect).
- Attention to detail and ability to perform repetitive visual/measurement checks.
- Physical fitness and ability to work shifts.
- Computer literate (basic data entry).
Core Competencies and Skills
- Strong safety and quality mindset (zero-harm, zero-defect)
- Basic troubleshooting and root-cause awareness (5-Why).
- Ability to work under pressure in a high-volume environment.
- Good communication, teamwork, and shift-handover skills.
- Physical stamina for shift work and manual handling
- Positive, self-motivated attitude
