Role Purpose

The Head - Operations Excellence will own end-to-end operational performance for all downstream manufacturing verticals at KISCO (excluding steel melting), with a clear mandate to increase throughput, remove capacity bottlenecks, improve on-time delivery, and progressively optimize inventory, cost, and manpower productivity.

This is a hands-on, shopfloor-centric leadership role combining operational rigor with strong MIS and data-driven decision making.

Scope of Authority:

Direct line authority over:

- Production Planning

- Dispatch & Delivery Performance

Operational coverage:

- Hot Forging

- Hot Rolling

- Bright Bar

- Heat treatment, Machining & finishing operations

- Steel melting and maintenance functions will interface closely but remain outside direct control.

Key Deliverables (12 to 24 months):

Throughput & Capacity Enhancement:

- Identify and eliminate bottlenecks across forging, rolling, heat treatment, bright bar, and machining.

- Improve line balancing, sequencing, layout utilization, and changeover efficiency.

- Increase effective capacity without proportionate capex or manpower increase.

On-Time Delivery (OTD) & Customer Service:

- Establish robust production planning and dispatch discipline.

- Improve promise reliability and adherence to committed delivery dates.

- Reduce delays caused by poor sequencing, WIP congestion, or planning gaps.

Inventory & WIP Optimization:

- Reduce WIP and finished goods inventory through better planning accuracy.

- Improve inventory turns while safeguarding delivery commitments.

- Align batch sizes, heat sizes, and process flows to minimize idle inventory.

Cost & Manpower Productivity (Phase-2 focus):

- Improve tons/man, output per shift, and utilization per machine/line.

- Drive cost per MT reduction through operational efficiency (not accounting levers).

- Optimize manpower deployment without compromising safety or quality.

MIS, Governance & Review Cadence:

- Implement daily/weekly operational dashboards covering:

- Throughput

- OTD

- WIP & inventory

- Capacity utilization

- Rejections and rework impact

- Lead structured reviews with data-backed root cause analysis and closure tracking.

Key Responsibilities:

- Own production planning, scheduling, and dispatch execution for all downstream operations.

- Translate sales demand into feasible production plans aligned with real shopfloor capacity.

- Drive shopfloor discipline through SOPs, standard work, and visual management.

- Work closely with Quality, Sales, Maintenance, and SCM to remove systemic constraints.

- Lead continuous improvement initiatives focused on flow, cycle time, and throughput.

- Build accountability within planning and dispatch teams through KPIs and review mechanisms.

- Support MD in operational decision-making with facts, trends, and scenario analysis.

Candidate Profile:

- 15-20 years of experience in steel / forging / rolling / heavy manufacturing.

- Strong exposure to multi-process operations (forging, rolling, heat treatment, machining).

- Proven track record in throughput improvement and bottleneck elimination.

- High comfort with MIS, dashboards, data reviews, and shopfloor metrics.

- Decisive, execution-oriented leader with strong shopfloor presence.

- Ability to challenge status quo and drive disciplined operational change.

What Success Looks Like:

- 6 months: Bottlenecks clearly mapped, planning discipline established, OTD visibly improving

- 12 months: Measurable throughput increase, reduced delivery slippages, WIP under control

- 24 months: Stable operations with higher capacity utilization, lower cost per MT, and predictable delivery performance

Educational Qualification (Must-have):

B.E. / B.Tech in:

- Mechanical Engineering

- Metallurgical Engineering

- Production / Industrial Engineering

- Chemical Engineering (for process-heavy plants)

Preferred / Value-Add:

- M.Tech / MS (Operations / Metallurgy / Production) added advantage

- MBA / PGDM in Operations, General Management added advantage