Factory Head - Operations
Location Dhule, Maharashtra
Industry Agricultural Plastics / Mulching Film Manufacturing
Function Plant Operations / Manufacturing
Reporting To Deputy Manager of Dept
Team Production, Quality, Maintenance, Stores, Dispatch, EHS and Plant Administration
1. Position Summary
The Factory Head / Director Operations will have end-to-end responsibility for the Dhule manufacturing facility, including production, productivity, quality, maintenance, manpower, EHS, inventory, cost control, dispatch and overall plant performance. This role will lead the plant as a business unit, establish robust manufacturing systems and ensure safe, efficient and profitable operations.
2. Key Responsibilities
- Own overall plant operations and deliver production, quality, cost, delivery and safety targets.
- Plan and control production schedules based on customer demand, raw-material availability and capacity.
- Drive efficient operation of extrusion / blown-film, printing, slitting, perforation, winding and packing processes, as applicable to the plant.
- Improve OEE, line utilization, throughput, yield, changeover time and overall equipment productivity.
- Establish and monitor daily/weekly/monthly production KPIs and conduct structured performance reviews.
- Ensure consistent product quality, dimensional accuracy, color/appearance, mechanical properties and customer specifications.
- Develop preventive and predictive maintenance systems to minimize breakdowns and unplanned downtime.
- Control raw-material, masterbatch, additives, packaging material and finished-goods inventory in coordination with procurement and supply chain.
- Drive reduction of material wastage, scrap, rework, energy consumption and manufacturing conversion cost.
- Lead manpower planning, shift deployment, productivity, skill development and performance management for plant employees.
- Ensure compliance with applicable factory, labour, environmental, fire, electrical, EHS and statutory requirements.
- Build a strong safety culture with near-miss reporting, risk assessments, toolbox talks, PPE compliance and incident prevention.
- Coordinate with Quality, Sales, Procurement, Finance, HR, R&D and Logistics for smooth end-to-end business execution
- Lead CAPEX planning, machinery installation, commissioning, process stabilization and capacity expansion projects.
- Develop SOPs, work instructions, quality systems, preventive maintenance plans and operational dashboards.
- Implement Lean Manufacturing, 5S, Kaizen, TPM, root-cause analysis and continuous-improvement initiatives.
- Manage external vendors, contractors, service providers and key technical suppliers at the plant.
- Prepare and control the annual operating budget for production, manpower, maintenance, utilities and plant overheads.
- Identify operational risks and ensure business continuity through contingency and emergency preparedness plans.
3. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Production volume and plan adherence
- OEE / machine utilization and capacity utilization
- Yield and process loss / scrap percentage.
- Manufacturing conversion cost per kg
- Customer complaints, rejection and rework
- On-time dispatch / OTIF
- Machine breakdown hours and maintenance compliance
- Inventory accuracy and working-capital efficiency.
- Safety incidents, near misses and statutory compliance
- Manpower productivity and absenteeism
- Continuous improvement of savings and implementation rate
4. Candidate Profile
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical / Production / Industrial / Polymer / Plastics Engineering or a closely related discipline.
- MBA / PG qualification in Operations or Supply Chain will be an advantage.
- Typically, 5+ years of relevant manufacturing experience, with at least 2 years in a plant leadership / factory head / operations head role.
- Strong hands-on experience in plastics film, flexible packaging, blown-film extrusion, agricultural films, polymer processing or a closely related industry is preferred.
- Experience managing multi-shift manufacturing operations with significant blue-collar manpower.
- Strong understanding of production planning, process control, maintenance, quality systems, EHS and cost management
- Demonstrated record of improving productivity, yield, OEE, quality and manufacturing cost.
- Strong people leadership, communication, analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Comfortable working in a plant environment and willing to be based in Dhule.
5. Preferred Technical Exposure
- Blown-film / multilayer extrusion and polyethylene processing.
- LLDPE / LDPE / HDPE and masterbatch handling
- Mulching-film specifications, product development and process optimization
- Film thickness, width, winding, printing / perforation and packing controls.
- Extruders, die, air-ring, haul-off, winding and related utilities.
- PLC / automation, process instrumentation and production MIS
- Preventive maintenance, utilities and spare-parts planning
- ISO-based quality and environmental management systems
6. Leadership Competencies
- Ownership and execution orientation
- Strong commercial and cost consciousness
- Data-driven decision making
- People development and team building
- High discipline and process orientation
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Ability to operate independently in a plant location
7. Authority & Accountability
- End-to-end accountability for plant operational performance within approved budgets and policies.
- Authority to allocate manpower, production priorities and operational resources.
- Accountability for plant P&L / conversion-cost performance as assigned by management.
- Responsibility for plant statutory, safety and operational compliance.
- Escalation of major CAPEX, policy, commercial and strategic decisions to the management.
8. Compensation & Location
Compensation will be benchmarked against experience, technical depth, leadership scope, plant size/capacity and current CTC. The position is based in Dhule, Maharashtra. A performance-linked variable component may be included.