Production Manager

Job Purpose

Lead, stabilize, and continuously improve the factory production function to achieve required safety, quality, delivery, productivity, and cost objectives. The role is responsible for translating demand and production plans into executable daily operations, managing manpower and production resources, ensuring stable flow across wire-harness manufacturing processes, and building disciplined shop-floor management through standards, performance data, problem-solving, and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

• Own daily production execution and achievement of agreed production targets while ensuring that volume does not override safety or product quality.
• Develop and execute daily, weekly, and monthly production schedules in coordination with Planning, Supply Chain, Stores, Quality, and Maintenance, and respond quickly to changes in demand, material availability, or operating conditions.
• Lead and control production flow across relevant wire-harness processes including cutting, stripping, crimping, assembly, soldering/tinning where applicable, testing, final inspection interface, and preparation for delivery.
• Plan and optimize manpower, shifts, machines, tools, workstations, and other production resources according to demand, capacity, and process requirements.
• Monitor capacity utilization, throughput, units per labor hour, cycle time versus takt time, and schedule attainment; identify bottlenecks and implement corrective actions.
• Lead line balancing and labor optimization to improve flow, reduce waiting and unnecessary movement, and ensure effective utilization of available manpower.
• Establish, implement, and sustain standard operating procedures, work instructions, process flow maps, and standard work in coordination with Quality, Engineering, and Maintenance.
• Ensure production is executed according to approved work instructions, product specifications, control plans, and customer requirements, and stop/escalate abnormal conditions that may threaten safety, quality, or delivery.
• Monitor scrap, rework, defects, and process losses; participate with Quality and Engineering in root-cause analysis and corrective actions and ensure production actions are implemented and sustained.
• Monitor equipment and process downtime, coordinate recovery with Maintenance, and use downtime analysis to reduce recurring production losses and improve equipment availability.
• Drive Lean Manufacturing, 5S/6S, Kaizen, visual management, and structured continuous-improvement activities appropriate to the factory maturity level.
• Monitor and control production costs, labor efficiency, overtime, consumables, and avoidable process losses; lead practical cost-reduction initiatives without compromising quality or safety.
• Ensure material availability and disciplined material flow at production areas in coordination with Stores, Planning, and Supply Chain; escalate shortages or constraints before they affect customer commitments.
• Control process changes and abnormal conditions through appropriate 4M discipline (Man, Machine, Material, and Method) and coordinate required validation with Quality/Engineering.
• Support new-product introduction, process changes, new equipment, production ramp-up, and capacity expansion, ensuring operational readiness before full release.
• Ensure effective production reporting and accurate daily/weekly/monthly performance data; use KPIs to identify gaps, assign actions, and follow closure.
• Lead daily shop-floor performance reviews and maintain clear accountability for production gaps, recovery plans, and improvement actions.
• Lead, coach, and develop Production Supervisors, Technicians, and Operators; define responsibilities, performance expectations, skills requirements, and training priorities.
• Ensure compliance with occupational health, safety, and environmental requirements within production areas and build a culture where unsafe or abnormal conditions are immediately addressed.
• Coordinate effectively with Quality, Maintenance, Engineering, Planning, Supply Chain, Stores, and other departments to achieve overall factory objectives rather than isolated production targets.
• Lead significant production-improvement initiatives each year with measurable impact on productivity, capacity, quality, delivery, or cost.

Core KPIs

• Production plan / schedule attainment
• Output / throughput versus target
• Labor productivity and labor efficiency
• Capacity utilization and bottleneck performance
• Cycle time / takt adherence where applicable
• Scrap and rework rate
• First-pass yield / production quality performance
• Unplanned downtime and recurring production-loss reduction
• On-time production completion / delivery support
• Overtime and production conversion-cost control
• 5S/6S and safety compliance within production
• Continuous-improvement projects and verified operational impact
• Production reporting accuracy and action closure
• Team competency, training, and supervisor performance development

Role Stage Note The role is intentionally designed as a strong factory-building Production Manager position. During the current stage, the manager is expected not only to maintain output but also to establish production discipline, reliable performance measurement, standard work, manpower/capacity logic, and cross-functional operating routines. As the factory structure matures, specialized planning, industrial engineering, or process-engineering responsibilities may be further separated without changing the manager's core accountability for production execution and performance.

Desired Candidate Profile

• Education Bachelor's degree in Production, Industrial, Mechanical, Electrical, or related Engineering discipline.
• Experience 8 12 years of progressive manufacturing/production experience, including at least 3 5 years in a production leadership role.
• Industry Preference Strong preference for Automotive, Wire Harness, Cable Assembly, Automotive Electrical Components, or comparable labor-intensive/high-volume discrete manufacturing.
• Wire Harness Capability Practical understanding of wire-harness production flow and key processes such as cutting, stripping, crimping, assembly, testing, and related process controls. Direct wire-harness experience is a major advantage.
• Production Management Strong capability in production planning/execution, capacity and manpower planning, line balancing, bottleneck management, schedule attainment, and shop-floor performance control.
• Lean & Improvement Practical experience with Lean Manufacturing, 5S/6S, Kaizen, waste reduction, standard work, visual management, and structured problem solving. Lean Six Sigma exposure is preferred.
• Quality & Automotive Awareness Working knowledge of manufacturing quality requirements, root-cause/corrective action, control plans, and IATF 16949/ISO 9001 environment where applicable.
• Cost & Performance Strong understanding of labor efficiency, productivity, scrap/rework, downtime, conversion cost, and production KPI management.
• Systems & Data Comfortable with ERP/MRP environments, production reporting, dashboards, and data-based decision making.
• Leadership Profile Strong shop-floor presence; disciplined, decisive, and hands-on in management without becoming the operator; able to build teams, enforce standards, manage resistance, and collaborate across functions.
• Language Good professional English for technical documentation, customer requirements, systems, and management reporting.