PLANT MANAGER

Industry: Thermistors / Electronic Components / Powder Metallurgy
Department: Plant Operations
Reports To: Managing Director / Operations Director
Location: Nila Tech Pvt. Ltd.
Experience: 12–20 years, preferably with 5+ years in a plant leadership role

Job Purpose

The Plant Manager will be responsible for the overall management and performance of the manufacturing plant, ensuring safe, productive, cost-effective, and timely production of thermistors and other powder-metallurgy-based electronic components.

The role will lead production, process engineering, quality, maintenance, production planning, stores, utilities, safety, and manpower management while driving continuous improvement, productivity enhancement, waste reduction, and customer satisfaction.

The Plant Manager will be expected to develop a strong manufacturing culture based on process discipline, quality at source, operational excellence, and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities1. Plant Operations & Production

- Take overall responsibility for day-to-day plant operations and manufacturing performance.
- Ensure production plans are achieved in terms of quantity, quality, delivery, and cost.
- Develop and implement production strategies aligned with business objectives.
- Monitor production capacity, bottlenecks, cycle times, OEE, productivity, and utilization.
- Ensure effective control of processes involved in powder metallurgy and thermistor manufacturing, including:
- Raw-material preparation and powder processing
- Mixing / formulation
- Granulation and pressing
- Sintering / firing
- Grinding and sizing
- Metallization / electrode application
- Lead forming / assembly
- Electrical testing and inspection
- Packaging and final dispatch
- Establish appropriate process parameters, control plans, and standard operating procedures in coordination with engineering and quality teams.
- Improve line balancing, material flow, layout, and production efficiency.
- Ensure adherence to production schedules and minimize delays and downtime.

2. Quality Management

- Ensure consistent product quality and compliance with customer specifications.
- Work closely with the Quality team to establish and maintain process controls.
- Drive reduction of rejection, rework, scrap, customer complaints, and process variation.
- Monitor critical characteristics such as resistance values, B-value, tolerance, dimensional accuracy, electrical characteristics, mechanical strength, and reliability, as applicable to the product.
- Ensure effective root-cause analysis and corrective/preventive action for internal and customer quality issues.
- Promote a zero-defect / quality-at-source culture throughout the plant.
- Support customer audits, certification audits, and process/product audits.

3. Powder Metallurgy & Process Engineering

- Develop a strong understanding of powder metallurgy processes and their impact on product performance.
- Ensure control of critical variables such as:
- Powder composition and particle characteristics
- Mixing uniformity
- Binder/additive control
- Compaction pressure and density
- Green strength
- Sintering temperature profiles and atmosphere
- Shrinkage and dimensional control
- Electrode/metallization quality
- Electrical characteristics
- Work with R&D; / Process Engineering teams for current product introduction, process development, and process optimization.
- Lead scale-up activities from laboratory/prototype stage to mass production.
- Ensure process capability and repeatability for critical manufacturing operations.

4. Maintenance & Utilities





- Ensure high availability and reliability of production equipment.
- Establish preventive and predictive maintenance systems.
- Monitor equipment downtime, MTBF, MTTR, and maintenance costs.
- Ensure timely maintenance of critical equipment such as presses, furnaces, grinders, mixers, testing equipment, compressors, HVAC systems, and utilities.
- Develop plans for machine upgrades, automation, replacement, and capacity expansion.
- Ensure adequate spare-parts planning and inventory control.
- Improve equipment OEE and reduce unplanned breakdowns.

5. Cost & Productivity Improvement

- Take ownership of plant manufacturing costs and drive continuous cost reduction.
- Identify opportunities to reduce:
- Material consumption
- Scrap and rejection
- Energy consumption
- Labour cost per unit
- Machine downtime
- Consumable costs
- Conversion costs
- Establish productivity improvement targets for each department.
- Lead Lean Manufacturing / Kaizen / Six Sigma initiatives where appropriate.
- Promote automation, semi-automation, poka-yoke, and process simplification.
- Improve yield and material utilization across powder-processing and sintering operations.

6. Production Planning & Materials

- Coordinate with Production Planning, Purchase, Stores, and Sales teams to ensure uninterrupted production.
- Maintain optimum levels of raw materials, WIP, and finished goods.
- Identify and eliminate material-flow constraints.
- Ensure FIFO, traceability, batch control, and proper material identification.
- Coordinate capacity planning for new programs and customer requirements.
- Ensure timely completion of production orders and dispatch commitments.

7. People & Team Management

- Lead and develop production, quality, maintenance, engineering, and support teams.
- Establish clear KPIs and performance objectives for departmental managers and supervisors.
- Build a culture of accountability, discipline, teamwork, and continuous improvement.
- Identify training and competency requirements.
- Develop second-line leadership and succession plans.
- Ensure effective manpower planning and optimum utilization of personnel.
- Maintain strong communication between shop-floor employees and management.

8. Safety, Workplace & Compliance

- Ensure a safe working environment and compliance with applicable statutory requirements.
- Implement robust systems for:
- Industrial safety
- Fire prevention and emergency preparedness
- Chemical handling
- Furnace and high-temperature equipment safety
- Electrical safety
- PPE compliance
- Dust control and housekeeping
- Waste disposal
- Drive accident prevention and near-miss reporting.
- Ensure compliance with applicable environmental and statutory regulations.

9. Continuous Improvement

- Establish a structured continuous-improvement program across the plant.
- Use data-driven methods to identify losses and improvement opportunities.
- Drive initiatives focused on:
- OEE improvement
- Yield improvement
- First-pass yield
- Scrap reduction
- Cycle-time reduction
- Energy efficiency
- Setup-time reduction
- Inventory reduction
- Workplace organization / 5S
- Promote problem-solving methodologies such as 8D, 5 Why, Fishbone, SPC, FMEA,



and Kaizen.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

The Plant Manager will be accountable for achieving agreed targets relating to:

- Production achievement (%)
- On-time delivery (%)
- OEE (%)
- First-pass yield (%)
- Process yield (%)
- Rejection and scrap (%)
- Customer complaints / PPM
- Manufacturing conversion cost
- Productivity per employee
- Machine downtime
- MTBF / MTTR
- Energy consumption per unit
- Inventory / WIP levels
- Safety incidents
- Employee productivity and turnover
- Continuous-improvement savings

Education & ExperienceEssential

- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Production Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Materials Science, Metallurgy, Electronics, or a related discipline.
- 12–20 years of relevant manufacturing experience.
- Proven experience managing a manufacturing plant or major production operation.
- Strong experience in production, quality, maintenance, and process improvement.

Preferred

- Experience in powder metallurgy, ceramics, electronic components, thermistors, ferrites, resistors, sensors, or similar precision manufacturing industries.
- Knowledge of sintering/firing processes and material-property control.
- Experience with Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, TPM, SPC, and structured problem solving.
- Exposure to ISO 9001 and other relevant quality-management systems.
- Experience in new-product industrialization and process scale-up.

Technical Competencies

The candidate should have a good working knowledge of:

- Powder metallurgy manufacturing
- Material and process control
- Sintering / furnace operations
- Pressing and compaction
- Grinding and finishing
- Electrical/electronic component manufacturing
- Process capability and SPC
- Quality management systems
- Preventive/predictive maintenance
- Production planning
- Lean Manufacturing / Kaizen
- Root-cause analysis
- Cost reduction
- Industrial engineering and productivity improvement
- ERP/MRP systems
- Health, safety, and environmental requirements

Leadership Competencies

- Strong leadership and decision-making ability
- Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
- Ability to manage multidisciplinary teams
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills
- Ability to work under production and customer-delivery pressures
- High level of ownership and accountability
- Data-driven approach to decision-making
- Change-management capability
- Strong shop-floor orientation
- Ability to develop people and future leaders

Key Interfaces

The Plant Manager will work closely with:

- Managing Director / CEO
- Sales & Marketing
- R&D; / Product Development
- Process Engineering
- Quality Assurance
- Production Planning
- Purchase & Supply Chain
- Maintenance & Utilities
- Finance
- HR & Administration
- Customers and external auditors

Overall Success Profile

The ideal candidate will be a hands-on manufacturing leader capable of managing a technically demanding plant while simultaneously improving quality, productivity, yield, delivery, cost, and safety.

The person should be comfortable working on the shop floor, analyzing process data, solving technical problems, leading cross-functional teams, and converting business objectives into measurable plant-level results.

Primary Objective

Build a highly reliable, efficient, scalable, and quality-driven manufacturing operation capable of consistently producing thermistors and powder-metallurgy components to stringent customer specifications and delivery requirements.

Pay: ₹40,000.00 - ₹60,000.00 per month

Work Location: In person

📌 Plant Manager (Thrippunithura)
🏢 Nila Tech
📍 Thrippunithura