Plant Head (Pneumatic)

Job Description – Plant Head

Industry: Pneumatic Products & Industrial Automation Manufacturing

Department: Manufacturing / Operations

Designation: Plant Head

Experience: 15–20 Years

Location: Noida

Reporting To: Senior Management / Director

1. Job Purpose

We are looking for an experienced and highly capable Plant Head to lead the complete

manufacturing and plant operations of our pneumatic products manufacturing facility.

The candidate will be responsible for end-to-end plant management, including production,

production planning, quality, maintenance, engineering, process improvement, inventory

coordination, manpower productivity, cost control, safety, and timely dispatch.

The ideal candidate should have strong experience in pneumatic, hydraulic, industrial

automation, precision engineering, engineering components, or similar manufacturing

industries, with the ability to understand technical products and manage a multi-functional

manufacturing team.

The Plant Head will be expected to build a high-performance manufacturing culture, improve

productivity and OEE, reduce rejection and manufacturing costs, improve delivery performance,

and continuously enhance manufacturing processes.

2. Product & Technical Environment

The candidate will preferably have experience or working knowledge of products/processes

related to:

● Pneumatic Cylinders

● Pneumatic Valves

● FRL Units – Filter, Regulator & Lubricator

● Pneumatic Tubings

● Pneumatic Fittings

● Solenoid Valves

● Industrial Automation Components

● Customized Pneumatic Products

● Precision Engineering Components

● Assembly and testing of pneumatic products

● CNC/VMC machining and related manufacturing processes

● Pressure testing, leak testing and functional testing

● Product customization and engineering-to-production coordination

Candidates from hydraulic, industrial automation, automotive components, precision

engineering, machine components, or similar industries may also be considered if they

possess strong manufacturing leadership experience.

3. Key Responsibilities

A. Overall Plant & Manufacturing Management

● Take complete ownership of day-to-day plant operations.

● Plan, organize and control all manufacturing activities to achieve production, quality and

delivery targets.

● Ensure production plans are aligned with sales requirements, customer commitments

and available manufacturing capacity.

● Monitor plant capacity utilization and identify capacity expansion requirements.

● Establish systems for smooth coordination between Production, Planning, Quality,

Purchase, Stores, Maintenance, Engineering, Logistics and Sales.

● Ensure optimum utilization of manpower, machines, materials and production resources.

● Develop systems to improve manufacturing productivity and operational discipline.

B. Production Planning & Execution

● Prepare and monitor daily, weekly and monthly production plans.

● Ensure production schedules are achieved within defined timelines.

● Analyze production bottlenecks and implement corrective actions.

● Improve machine utilization and production throughput.

● Monitor production against planned quantities and investigate deviations.

● Ensure timely completion of customized and urgent customer orders.

● Establish production priorities based on customer commitments and business

requirements.

● Develop capacity planning and manpower planning based on future business

projections.

C. Pneumatic Product Manufacturing

● Develop a strong understanding of manufacturing processes involved in pneumatic

products.

● Ensure proper manufacturing and assembly processes for cylinders, valves, FRLs,

fittings, tubing and customized products.

● Improve manufacturing processes for precision, reliability and repeatability.

● Ensure proper process controls for machining, assembly, testing and finishing

operations.

● Work closely with Engineering/R&D on new product development and product

customization.

● Ensure smooth transition of new/customized products from engineering to production.

● Identify opportunities for standardization and modularization of customized products.

D. Quality Management

● Establish and maintain robust quality systems across the plant.

● Drive reduction in rejection, rework, customer complaints and process deviations.

● Ensure quality at every stage rather than relying only on final inspection.

● Establish process quality checkpoints and inspection standards.

● Work closely with Quality to conduct root-cause analysis and CAPA.

● Implement quality improvement methodologies such as 7 QC tools, Poka-Yoke, FMEA

and SPC wherever applicable.

● Ensure adherence to applicable ISO and customer-specific quality requirements.

● Monitor internal rejection, rework, customer rejection and warranty/complaint trends.

E. Lean Manufacturing & Continuous Improvement

● Implement and continuously improve Lean Manufacturing, 5S, Kaizen, Six Sigma and

TPM initiatives.

● Identify and eliminate waste across production processes.

● Reduce cycle time, setup time, waiting time, material movement and unnecessary

handling.

● Improve OEE and machine productivity.

● Implement visual management systems on the shop floor.

● Establish continuous improvement projects with measurable financial and productivity

benefits.

● Encourage shop-floor employees to participate in Kaizen and improvement initiatives.

F. Maintenance & Machine Reliability

● Ensure preventive and predictive maintenance of all plant machinery and equipment.

● Minimize machine breakdowns and unplanned downtime.

● Establish preventive maintenance schedules and compliance monitoring.

● Monitor machine availability, MTBF and MTTR.

● Ensure critical spare parts are identified and maintained.

● Work with Maintenance/Engineering teams for machine upgrades, automation and

process improvements.

● Evaluate new machinery and technology requirements in consultation with management.

G. Cost Control & Productivity

● Control manufacturing costs without compromising product quality.

● Monitor and reduce material wastage, scrap, rework, energy consumption and overtime

costs.

● Improve manpower productivity and machine utilization.

● Identify cost-saving opportunities across manufacturing operations.

● Participate in annual OPEX and CAPEX budgeting.

● Evaluate ROI for new machinery, automation and process improvement projects.

● Establish productivity targets for departments and production lines.

H. Inventory, Stores & Supply Chain Coordination

● Coordinate with Purchase, Stores and Planning to ensure uninterrupted production.

● Maintain optimum raw material and component inventory levels.

● Minimize excess inventory, obsolete stock and production shortages.

● Improve material flow from stores to production and finished goods to dispatch.

● Identify recurring material shortages and take preventive action.

● Coordinate with Purchase for critical and long-lead-time components.

● Improve inventory accuracy and material traceability.

I. New Product Development & Customization

● Work closely with Sales, Engineering and R&D for customized customer requirements.

● Evaluate manufacturing feasibility of customized pneumatic products.

● Review drawings, specifications, processes and production requirements.

● Ensure new products are manufacturable, cost-effective and scalable.

● MTBF / MTTR

● Changeover/Setup Time

● Inventory Turnover

● Manufacturing Cost per Unit

● Energy Consumption

● Kaizen/Improvement Projects

● Safety Incidents

Prepare and present daily, weekly and monthly plant performance reports to senior

management with clear action plans for deviations.

4. Cross-Functional Responsibilities

The Plant Head will be required to work closely with:

● Sales & Marketing

● Business Development

● Engineering / R&D

● Quality

● Production Planning

● Purchase

● Stores

● Logistics

● Finance / Accounts

● HR

● Customer Relationship / Customer Support

The candidate must be capable of converting business requirements into practical

manufacturing plans and ensuring execution through the plant team.

5. Educational Qualification

Mandatory / Preferred

● B.Tech / B.E. in Mechanical Engineering – Preferred

● B.Tech / B.E. in Electrical Engineering may also be considered where the candidate has

strong manufacturing and industrial automation exposure.

● Production / Industrial Engineering candidates with relevant manufacturing experience

may also be considered.

● MBA / PGDM in Operations, Supply Chain or Business Management will be an added

advantage.

6. Experience Requirements

● 15–20 years of total professional experience

● Minimum 5+ years in a Plant Head / Factory Head / General Manager –

Manufacturing / Senior Plant Operations role is preferred.

● Strong hands-on experience in manufacturing operations.

● Experience in pneumatic, hydraulic, industrial automation, engineering components,

precision manufacturing, automotive components or similar industries preferred.

● Candidates with strong knowledge of pneumatic products will receive preference.

● Experience in managing a medium-to-large manufacturing workforce.

● Experience in production planning, quality, maintenance, cost control and operational

excellence.

7. Technical Skills

The candidate should have strong knowledge of:

● Pneumatic / hydraulic products and applications

● Manufacturing processes

● CNC / VMC / machining operations

● Assembly processes

● Pressure and leakage testing

● Production planning

● Capacity planning

● Quality management systems

● Lean Manufacturing

● 5S / Kaizen / TPM

● Six Sigma concepts

● Root Cause Analysis

● CAPA

● FMEA

● SPC

● OEE