Key Responsibilities
1. Production Planning & Shop Floor Management
Lead daily production schedules to achieve targeted line speeds, throughput volumes, and OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) targets.
Oversee the seamless operations of the entire coating sequence: Pre-Treatment chemical cleaning, CED coating, liquid/powder top-coating booths, and flash-off/curing ovens.
Manage a large team of engineers, technicians, and operators, ensuring optimal resource allocation and a high-performance culture.
Minimize downtime by collaborating with the maintenance team to execute preventive and predictive maintenance for conveyors, spray guns, rectifiers, and baking ovens.
2. Quality Assurance & Process Control
Own key shop quality metrics, focusing heavily on maximizing FTT (First Time Through) and minimizing rework/rejection rates.
Systematically troubleshoot paint defects such as orange peel, pinholes, craters, dirt inclusion, adhesion failure, and color/gloss variations.
Monitor and control critical chemical parameters in the PT/CED baths (pH, conductivity, bath temperature, total dissolved solids, and bacterial growth).
Enforce compliance with automotive industry standards (IATF 16949, ISO 9001) and customer-specific engineering specifications.
3. Cost Optimization & Sustainable Practices
Drive cost-reduction initiatives focusing on CPU (Cost Per Unit) optimization, reducing paint/powder consumption, and optimizing chemical wastage.
Implement energy-saving measures, particularly in energy-intensive thermal curing ovens and climate-controlled spray booths.
Oversee chemical and hazardous waste management, ensuring strict compliance with State Pollution Control Board guidelines and Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) norms.
4. Team Leadership & Continuous Improvement
Champion a culture of workplace safety, ensuring strict adherence to PPE protocols, hazardous chemical handling, and fire safety systems.
Deploy Lean Manufacturing, 5S, Kaizen, and Six Sigma methodologies to eliminate process bottlenecks and waste.
Identify skill gaps and lead training programs for team members regarding new coating technologies, safety practices, and quality standards.
Required Technical Skills & Competencies
Coating Technologies: Deep, hands-on knowledge of Cathodic Electrodeposition (CED), liquid multi-coat painting systems, electrostatic powder coating, and specialized pre-treatment chemistries (zinc/zinc-phosphating or nano-ceramic).
Equipment Familiarity: Expert understanding of automated paint spray systems, bells/reciprocators, industrial baking ovens, chemical dosing pumps, rectifiers, and overhead conveyor systems.
Testing & Analysis: Mastery of paint film testing tools, including DFT (Dry Film Thickness) meters, cross-hatch adhesion testers, impact testers, gloss meters, and color spectrophotometers.
Problem Solving: Proficient in root-cause analysis tools (8D, Fishbone/Ishikawa diagram, 5-Why analysis, FMEA).
