Senior Manager – Moulding & Tool Maintenance

FIFO International; Ernakulam; On-site; INR 4,000,000 - 7,000,000; Full time

Job summary

FIFO International in Cochin, Kerala, invites applications for Senior Manager – Moulding & Tool Maintenance. You will lead a high-technology moulding operation with 50+ machines, focusing on safety, quality, cost, delivery, and OEE to meet demand.

You will own end-to-end moulding performance, drive automation and process improvement, and develop a robust vendor network to ensure supply continuity and scalability.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical/Production/Manufacturing or related field.
• 15+ years of progressive experience in high-volume injection moulding/plastics manufacturing.
• Strong leadership and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead a 50+ injection moulding machines shopfloor with diverse technologies.
• Drive Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, OEE, Productivity, and Capacity Utilization.
• Develop and manage external moulding vendors and external manufacturing alliances.
• Establish governance for outsourced moulding including cost, delivery, and quality.
• Drive cost optimization and capacity planning across internal and external moulding networks.
• Lead continuous improvement using Lean, TPM, Six Sigma and digital manufacturing.

Skills

Leadership

Injection moulding

Automation

Process engineering

Vendor development

TPM

Six Sigma

Lean Manufacturing

OEE

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Production Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Polymer Engineering, or a related discipline

Tools

Automation systems

Six Sigma

Job description

Position: Senior Manager – Moulding & Tool Maintenance

Department: Moulding

Reporting to: Plant Head

Location: Cochin, Kerala, India

Position Summary:

Provide strategic and operational leadership for a high-technology, high-volume Moulding operation supporting precision electronic connector manufacturing. Lead a manufacturing footprint of 50+ injection moulding machines, covering vertical, horizontal, reel-to-reel, and over-moulding technologies with advanced automation.

Own the end-to-end performance of the Moulding function, including manufacturing operations, process engineering, automation, capacity planning, productivity, quality, cost, and delivery, while building and managing a robust external moulding ecosystem through vendor development, job work, and purchase models.

Develop a high-quality, technically capable, cost-competitive, and scalable moulding vendor network to support business growth, capacity flexibility, localization, and supply continuity. Establish strong technical and commercial governance for outsourced moulding, ensuring consistent quality, competitive total cost, delivery reliability, process capability, and adherence to global manufacturing standards.

Key Responsibilities

1. High-Tech Moulding Operations

• Lead a high-volume Moulding shopfloor comprising 50+ injection moulding machines, covering vertical, horizontal, reel-to-reel, and over-moulding technologies.
• Drive performance across Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, OEE, Productivity, Yield, and Capacity Utilization.
• Optimize moulding processes, cycle times, machine utilization, material consumption, changeovers, and process stability.
• Drive advanced automation, robotics, vision systems, process monitoring, and digital manufacturing solutions.
• Establish robust manufacturing standards to ensure consistent and capable processes.

2. Moulding Vendor Development & External Manufacturing

• Develop and maintain a strategic network of capable moulding vendors to support internal capacity and business growth.
• Identify, evaluate, technically assess, qualify, and develop new moulding vendors based on technology, capacity, quality systems, process capability, scalability, and cost competitiveness.
• Develop vendors capable of meeting stringent requirements for precision electronic connector components.
• Establish structured vendor capability assessment, qualification, process validation, and performance-monitoring systems.
• Develop alternate sources and a resilient vendor base to mitigate capacity, quality, and supply risks.
• Drive continuous improvement of vendor capability through technical support, process audits, quality improvement initiatives, and performance reviews.

3. Job Work & Purchase Model Management

• Develop and implement appropriate job-work and purchase models based on product characteristics, capacity requirements, cost competitiveness, and strategic sourcing considerations.
• Evaluate the optimal make-versus-buy / internal-versus-external manufacturing approach for moulding requirements.
• Establish clear commercial, technical, quality, and delivery expectations for outsourced moulding.
• Drive cost-effective external manufacturing without compromising product quality, process capability, IP protection, delivery, or customer requirements.
• Monitor and optimize the overall economics of outsourced moulding, including conversion cost, material utilization, logistics, tooling utilization, and total landed cost.
• Ensure effective capacity allocation between internal operations and external manufacturing partners.

4. Vendor Quality & Process Capability

• Establish stringent quality and process capability requirements for all moulding vendors.
• Drive First-Time-Right, defect prevention, process capability, yield improvement, and reduction of customer-related quality issues.
• Conduct regular supplier process audits and capability assessments.
• Ensure effective implementation of PFMEA, Control Plans, SPC, MSA, process validation, and structured problem-solving at key vendors.
• Lead supplier corrective and preventive actions for quality and delivery issues.
• Establish vendor scorecards covering Quality, Cost, Delivery, Capacity, Responsiveness, and Continuous Improvement.

5. Cost Competitiveness

• Drive a cost-efficient moulding ecosystem through competitive sourcing, productivity improvement, process optimization, automation, and vendor development.
• Benchmark internal and external conversion costs and identify cost-reduction opportunities.
• Develop competitive commercial models for job work and purchased moulded components.
• Partner with Procurement and Finance to ensure transparency and competitiveness of moulding costs.
• Drive annual cost-reduction and productivity initiatives across the internal and external moulding network.

6. Capacity & Business Continuity

• Develop short-, medium-, and long-term moulding capacity strategies aligned with business growth and customer demand.
• Balance internal capacity with external vendor capacity to provide flexibility, scalability, and responsiveness.
• Establish contingency and alternate-source strategies for critical components.
• Ensure vendor capacity readiness for new product launches, volume ramps, and demand fluctuations.

7. New Product Introduction & Industrialization

• Partner with Engineering, NPI, Quality, and Supply Chain teams for successful industrialization of new moulded connector components.
• Assess manufacturability and external manufacturing feasibility during product development.
• Lead vendor selection, capability assessment, trials, validation, and production ramp-up for outsourced moulding.
• Ensure new vendors and processes achieve required quality, capability, cost, and delivery targets before production release.

8. Operational Excellence & Technology

• Drive Lean Manufacturing, TPM, Six Sigma, Kaizen, automation, and digital manufacturing across internal and external moulding operations.
• Benchmark advanced moulding technologies and global manufacturing practices.
• Promote data-driven decision-making and real-time performance monitoring.
• Drive continuous improvement in OEE, yield, cycle time, scrap, energy consumption, and conversion cost.

9. People & Leadership

• Lead and develop a high-performing team across Moulding Operations, Process Engineering, and Moulding Vendor Development.
• Build strong technical capability in injection moulding, automation, process engineering, supplier development, and external manufacturing.
• Develop a culture of accountability, technical excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Build strong cross-functional partnerships with Engineering, Quality, Procurement, Supply Chain, Finance, and Global Operations.

Qualification & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Production Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Polymer Engineering, or a related discipline from a reputed institution.
• A postgraduate qualification in Manufacturing, Operations, Business Administration, or a related field is an added advantage.
• 15+ years of progressive experience in high-volume injection moulding / plastics manufacturing, preferably within automotive, electronics, electrical, connector, or precision component manufacturing.
• Strong hands-on and leadership experience in vertical, horizontal, reel-to-reel, and over-moulding technologies, preferably with automated manufacturing systems.

Key Success Measures

• Moulding OEE and capacity utilization
• Quality / PPM / First-Pass Yield
• Internal and external moulding productivity
• Cycle-time and scrap reduction
• Moulding conversion cost
• Vendor Quality and On-Time Delivery
• Vendor capability and capacity readiness
• Vendor development / localization
• Job-work and purchase-model optimization
• Make-versus-buy effectiveness
• New product industrialization performance
• Cost-reduction and productivity savings
• Automation and digitalization deployment
• Supply continuity and alternate-source readiness