Die Casting Manager

Key Responsibilities

Production Operations

• Oversee daily die casting, trimming, tumbling, and deburring operations to ensure production plans and customer delivery requirements are achieved.
• Lead production teams in resolving daily operational, manpower, machine, tooling, material, and quality issues.
• Allocate manpower, machines, equipment, and materials effectively to meet production targets and deadlines.
• Review daily production output, yield, machine utilisation, downtime, and overall equipment effectiveness.
• Implement immediate corrective actions when production performance falls below plan.
• Ensure there is no internal or external customer line-down, material shortage, or delivery delay.
• Review machine and manpower capacity to support existing customer demand and new business opportunities.
• Maintain strong 6S standards and ensure the production area is always ready for customer audits and visits.

Continuous Improvement and Cost Control

• Analyse production OEE, cost of quality, cycle time, lead time, rejection, downtime, and non-value-added activities.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives to improve productivity, yield, tool life, cycle time, and operational efficiency.
• Develop cost-reduction strategies covering indirect materials, tooling, machine maintenance, utilities, and gas consumption.
• Identify and introduce suitable casting technologies, automation, and process improvements.
• Support engineering teams in resolving technical issues affecting quality, machine performance, tooling life, and production output.

Tooling and Maintenance Management

• Monitor mass-production tooling life and initiate new tooling fabrication when required.
• Coordinate new tooling qualification activities with production, quality, engineering, and tooling suppliers.
• Work closely with the maintenance team to ensure die casting machines, furnaces, trimming machines, tumbling machines, and tooling remain in good operating condition.
• Minimise machine and tooling downtime through effective preventive maintenance and improvement actions.

Quality Management

• Implement and maintain quality-control processes in accordance with product specifications and customer requirements.
• Monitor in-process quality-control violations and implement actions to reduce recurrence.
• Lead root-cause analysis, NCMR investigations, customer complaints, and 8D corrective-action activities.
• Monitor the effectiveness of corrective and preventive actions to prevent repeated quality issues.
• Collaborate with the Quality Assurance team to maintain compliance with ISO, IATF, medical-device quality standards, RBA requirements, legal obligations, and customer-specific requirements.
• Support internal, external, certification, and customer audits.

Inventory Management

• Monitor raw materials, indirect materials, work-in-progress, spare parts, and production inventory to maintain optimal stock levels.
• Review production-related purchase requisitions to ensure the correct item, quantity, specification, and purchasing timing.
• Review production progress and take appropriate action on excess, non-moving, rejected, or overbuilt inventory.
• Review stocktake results and coordinate corrective actions to close inventory discrepancies.
• Monitor and manage ageing inventory to improve stock accuracy and working-capital efficiency.

Engineering and New Product Introduction

• Support new project launches and collaborate with NPI teams on product drawing reviews, casting feasibility, process capability assessments, and design-for-manufacturing studies.
• Work with tooling suppliers to optimise tooling designs, gating systems, material flow, and casting performance.
• Review potential failure modes such as short filling, porosity, warpage, poor part release, flashing, surface roughness, and etching before tooling fabrication.
• Select suitable machines and establish optimum casting parameters, including pressure, speed, temperature, cycle time, and process settings.
• Plan and coordinate new tooling trials, yield assessments, problem reporting, tooling improvements, and first-article qualification.
• Drive improvements to reduce deburring, rework, flashing, scrap, and other non-value-added processes.

Leadership and Team Development

• Lead and manage Casting Engineers, Supervisors, Team Leaders, Maintenance Technicians, and production personnel.
• Participate in recruitment, training, coaching, mentoring, KPI setting, and performance evaluation.
• Develop the technical competency of engineers, technicians, supervisors, and skilled production workers.
• Promote structured problem-solving methods and continuous learning within the team.
• Build a collaborative, accountable, and performance-driven working culture.
• Ensure all employees comply with company policies, safety requirements, procedures, and operational standards.

Reporting and Documentation

• Review and report production plan versus actual performance.
• Prepare and review production OEE, machine utilisation, yield, downtime, and operational performance reports.
• Provide updates during weekly operational meetings.
• Review and report inventory levels, ageing stock, and stock discrepancies.
• Prepare monthly management reports, including OEE, machine utilisation, and operational performance indicators.
• Maintain accurate production, engineering, quality, inventory, audit, and compliance records.

Customer Support

• Respond promptly to internal and external customer requirements, enquiries, calls, and emails.
• Support customer audits, plant visits, technical discussions, and operational reviews.
• Work closely with NPI, Quality, Sales, and Customer Service teams to address customer requirements and concerns relating to casting operations.
• Maintain a customer-focused approach and ensure commitments are fulfilled within the agreed timeline.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Minimum 8 years of relevant manufacturing experience, including strong exposure to die casting operations.
• At least 3 to 5 years of experience in a production, engineering, or operational leadership position.
• Strong technical knowledge of die casting machines, furnaces, tooling, trimming, tumbling, deburring, and secondary processes.
• Experience in casting process optimisation, tooling qualification, root-cause analysis, and continuous improvement.
• Familiarity with OEE, machine utilisation, cost of quality, yield improvement, capacity planning, and inventory control.
• Knowledge of ISO 9001, IATF 16949, ISO 13485, RBA, or other relevant manufacturing and quality standards will be an advantage.
• Strong leadership, decision-making, analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Able to work effectively with production, engineering, quality, maintenance, NPI, supply chain, and customer-facing teams.
• Results-oriented, hands-on, and capable of working in a fast-paced manufacturing environment