Day in The Life | John Black
Manufacturing – it’s what drives the world around us. Our plant workers are the backbone to our company. They work with pride all while manufacturing high-quality paper tubes and cores that our customers can depend on. Meet John Black – 1st Shift Winding Supervisor that has been with Yazoo for 32 years.
John likes to get a jump start on things so it’s no surprise that he’s an early riser at 3:45am. He hops in the shower to wake up, jams out to music while he packs his lunch and writes a note to his wife, makes a protein shake with a banana or fresh pineapple, kisses his wife and puppy goodbye and heads off to work on his short 2-minute commute.
Once he’s at work, he turns his computer on and brings up the production/recut dashboard to see what jobs came in from the night before. He takes the orders that were laid on his desk from 2nd shift and starts scheduling them into production. During scheduling, he will make the necessary adjustments needed in order to get the work out and over to the Recut department on time. Around 5:30am, he meets with a lead and floater to give them key points to focus on and listens to their feedback. John is a people-person and problem-solver so he likes to get others involved as much as possible. At 6am, the winders are fired up to begin the production day and John checks with his crew to see how their night was, all while assisting them with getting their machines ready. At 8am and 11am, you can find John running machines to cover his team going on break. Throughout the remainder of the day, he is communicating with the Shipping and Recut departments to ensure a good flow through the plant. He continues the day with checking on his winding lines to ensure that everything is running smoothly, receives paperwork from Order Prep and separates the orders between the front and back lines then schedules them. John thrives on being a part of a team-oriented company, knowing that he is helping manufacture the highest-quality of paper tubes and cores that industries across the nation can trust.
John credits his tenure at Yazoo to the people and the challenge of making everything flow together. Those two are the driving force behind his 32 years of service, which also include his previous positions of table person, winder operator and lead.
A few fun facts about John:
What would you do if you hit the lottery?: Make sure the older generation in his family as well as his kids are set up for life
Dream vacation: Travel to Ireland and hangout in a real Irish pub with locals
Hobbies: Spending time with his family and puppy, riding his motorcycle, watching his grandchildren play sports, hanging out with his friends while enjoying some beverages, shooting guns and lifting weights
Fun facts: John is a member of the Green Springs Fish and Game, NRA and HOG (Harley Davidson Owners Group)