Plant Manager

Job Title

Plant Manager – Thermoforming & Sheet Extrusion

Location

Vasai East (Palghar), Maharashtra – and oversight of operations across our Mumbai sites.

About Us

Indu Thermoformers Pvt Ltd is a 40+ year-old leader in plastic sheet extrusion and custom thermoformed parts: from design → tooling → extrusion → thermoforming. We serve automotive, EV, FMCG, packaging, industrial sectors and export globally. We operate an ISO 9001:2015 certified facility, in-house tooling and moulding design capability, and deliver high quality, cost-effective solutions.

We are now seeking a seasoned Plant Manager to drive operational excellence, scale volumes, and embed lean/manufacturing best practices across our sites.

Role Overview

As Plant Manager you will own the end-to-end manufacturing operations of our extrusion + thermoforming facility. You will ensure production, quality, safety, throughput, cost-control and delivery commitments are met (and exceeded). You will lead the team, drive performance improvements, scale capacity, and support export readiness and new project ramp-ups.

You will report to the Senior Leadership (CEO / Operations Director) and be part of the leadership team for the manufacturing division.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee daily operations of extrusion, tooling/mould-making, thermoforming (vacuum/pressure), trimming and finishing.
• Ensure production volumes, plant uptime, on-time delivery and cost targets are met.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives: lean manufacturing, waste reduction (scrap, rework), cycle time reduction, capacity utilisation.
• Maintain and enhance stringent quality standards in line with ISO 9001:2015 and customer expectations (automotive, EV, FMCG packaging) for parts from 0.1 mm–12 mm gauge. 
• Lead tooling/mould-making operations: collaborate with design & engineering to reduce lead-time, improve first-pass yield, manage tooling budgets.
• Lead, develop and mentor the plant team (supervisors, engineers, maintenance, operators), including hiring, performance management and succession planning.
• Manage maintenance, downtime, predictive / preventive maintenance programmes to maximise equipment reliability.
• Lead safety, environmental and compliance management in the plant: enforce SOPs, ensure safe work practices, promote zero-accident culture.
• Work closely with supply chain/logistics for raw material planning (virgin & recycled grades: ABS, HIPS, HDPE, PP, PC, PET, PVC, PLA, PMMA) and inbound/outbound logistics. 
• Partner with sales/business development & engineering teams to support new customer project ramp-ups (tooling + prototyping + production) and export readiness (international customers).
• Establish and track key plant metrics (OEE, throughput, scrap %, on-time delivery %, cost per part, yield, lead time) and present regular reports to senior leadership.

Candidate Profile – Requirements

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical / Production / Plastics Engineering (or equivalent).
• Minimum 10-12 years of manufacturing operations experience in plastics/extrusion/thermoforming or related heavy manufacturing. At least 5 years in a leadership role (Plant Manager/Operations Manager).
• Prior experience in tooling/moulding, extrusion and thermoforming is a strong advantage.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, export-oriented manufacturing environment.

Skills & Attributes

• Strong operational leadership with proven track record of driving production, cost, quality and delivery improvement.
• Hands-on approach: comfortable walking the plant floor, diving into root-cause, leading teams through issues.
• Excellent problem-solving and decision-making skills, with data-driven orientation (metrics, dashboards).
• Experience with lean/Six Sigma methodologies, Kaizen, continuous improvement frameworks.
• Strong people-leadership skills: able to build, motivate and develop cross-functional teams (maintenance, production, quality, engineering).
• Good business acumen: able to interface with senior leadership, contribute to strategic operations decisions.
• Strong communication skills (English + Hindi / Marathi advantageous).
• Willingness to be based at/commute to Vasai-East (Palghar) site and travel occasionally to other sites or customers as required.

What We Offer

• A leadership role in a growth-oriented, export-capable plastics manufacturing business.
• Opportunity to shape operations, build team, implement best-in-class manufacturing systems and scale capacity.
• Competitive compensation and benefits (to be discussed based on experience).
• Professional growth and influence within the business.