Assistant Manager

Position Title: Assistant Manager - Vendor Development (Mechanical)

Location: Oragadam

Job Description:

The Assistant Manager - Vendor Development (Mechanical) leads the sourcing, evaluation, and onboarding of suppliers specializing in surface treatment and chemical processing (Heat Treatment, Plating, Painting, and Powder Coating). The incumbent oversees vendor performance, payment processing, and capacity planning to ensure a seamless supply of compliant components for New Product Development (NPD), design revisions, and capacity expansions strictly achieving quality, cost, and Direct-on-Line (DOL) targets up to Start of Production (SOP).

Key Responsibilities

• Sourcing & DFM: Issue RFQs from engineering drawings/BOMs, evaluate surface-treatment vendors, and lead Design for Manufacturing (DFM) reviews to ensure technical feasibility, coating consistency, and part durability.
• Cost Management & Commercials: Partner with Cost Management to calculate target costs, negotiate pricing/payment terms, and align vendor proposals within target cost bands.
• Quality & PPAP Governance: Oversee APQP/PPAP qualification, direct Supplier Quality Engineers (SQEs), conduct process audits (CQI standards compliance), and implement corrective actions to cut incoming rejection rates.
• Vendor Performance & DOL: Track lead times, capacity, and order status to ensure compliance with Direct-on-Line (DOL) targets and overall vehicle business plans.

Key Skills Required

• Special Process Expertise: Deep knowledge of Heat Treatment (Carburizing, Nitriding, Induction), Surface Plating (Zinc, Chrome), Industrial Painting, and Powder Coating standards (CQI-9, CQI-11, CQI-12).
• Core Quality Frameworks: Hands-on mastery of APQP, PPAP, FMEA, SPC, and MSA.
• Commercial Acumen: Strong skills in target costing, price breakdown analysis, contract negotiations, and payment terms management.
• Technical Auditing: Expertise in conducting process capability audits, root cause analysis (8D, 5-Why), and quality corrective action tracking.