Production Engineer

Job Description:

Role: Production Engineer

Salary Range: 5-7LPA

NOTE: PLEASE SUBMIT THE MANDATORY PRE-INTERVIEW TASK (SEE BELOW) FOR AN INTERVIEW CALL. APPLICATIONS WILL BE REJECTED WITHOUT SUBMISSION OF THE PRE-INTERVIEW TASK.

Are you ready to embark on an exhilarating adventure in the milk industry? Join our team of daring and innovative individuals who are not afraid to challenge conventional practices and establish new standards!

We're thrilled to invite applications for the role of Production Engineer. You will be responsible for gaining a comprehensive understanding of the milk production process, from procurement to supply chain, and ultimately to the end customer. You will have the chance to analyze, innovate, and optimize the current procedures at the plant, raising the bar to ensure that we deliver the finest products to our customers. Join us on this exciting journey!

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement cutting-edge forecasting processes for production volumes and planning
• Create SOPs to ensure the highest level of quality and safety in our production processes, including critical control point checks and validation to minimize or eliminate product issues.
• Ensure that our team strictly adheres to production SOPs and that any deviations are escalated to the appropriate management hierarchies.
• Identify recurring issues related to equipment, production delays, process gaps, and process failures and develop effective solutions that minimize or eliminate those issues.
• Implement structured problem-solving methods that empower everyone involved in the process to understand the root cause and the corrective actions.
• Keep a close eye on production KPIs, quickly identifying variations and deviations from target ranges, and taking corrective actions as necessary to ensure we always meet our goals.
• Identify and implement processes that maximize the utilization of bottleneck capacities, enabling us to produce more high-quality products in less time.
• Look ahead to future production needs based on sales volume forecasts and plan for equipment ordering and installations, so we're always prepared for what's next.
• Stay on top of the latest advances in the science of milk and product manufacturing equipment and processes, and educate the team accordingly, so we can always stay ahead of the curve.

Qualifications

• Graduate degree in Mechanical or Industrial Engineering, or an MBA from a reputable institution.
• Strong attention to detail, ensuring that every product meets the highest standards of quality and consistency.
• Exceptional leadership skills, empowering team members to achieve their best and drive the company forward.
• Excellent analytical, research, and communication skills, able to convey complex findings to both technical and non-technical audiences in a clear and concise manner.
• The ability to quickly learn and apply new data, analytics methods, and testing technologies to stay ahead of the curve.
• Analytic curiosity, always seeking solutions to continuously improve our processes and products.
• A natural motivation to tackle challenging and complex problems, driving the company to new heights.

MANDATORY PRE-INTERVIEW TASK FOR AN INTERVIEW CALL:

A dairy company with a portfolio of 12 different SKUs must ship the freshest products each night by 12 am. 

• Milk has 5 different SKUs with 2 days of shelf-life and daily sales volume of 10,000 liters, 8,000 liters, 4,000 liters, 2,000 liters, and 1,000 liters each. There are 4 packing machines with an average packing of 20 liters per minute. Changeover between each batch takes 30 minutes. 
• Curd has 4 different SKUs with 10 days of shelf life and daily sales volume of 5,000 liters, 2,000 liters, 400 liters, and 300 liters each. Curd takes 11 hrs to make with a max. batch size of 1,500 liters and min. batch size of 600 liters. There are two curd manufacturing lines. Consecutive batches can be run on the same line in 3-hour intervals.
• Cheese has 3 different variants with 15 days of shelf-life with a daily sales volume of 500 kgs, 300 kgs, and 200 kgs each. Cheese takes 11 hrs to make with a max. batch size of 250kgs and min. batch size of 100 liters. There is a single manufacturing line. Consecutive batches can be run on the same line in 3-hour intervals.

Milk must be manufactured fresh each day. Curd and cheese must have a minimum shelf-life of 80% at the time of delivery. Curd planned to be shipped each night must be ready by 5 pm so that it has enough chilling time.

Machines are to be cleaned after each batch, and a detailed cleaning process is done every day for each machine. Cleaning time per machine between each batch is 30 minutes. Detailed cleaning time after all batches for the day are complete is 2 hours for each machine.

The initial estimated sales plan for the day is communicated at 10 am and has a maximum variance of 25%. The final sales plan arrives at 9:30 pm.

Keeping the above context in mind, please submit a 3-slide presentation or a 3-pager pdf with the following specifics.

• Develop a 5-day Sales Plan with a daily variance ranging from 15% to 25% (Table 1)
• Based on the developed sales plan and considering the above constraints, prepare a daily production plan with timelines and volumes per batch and per day for the next 5 days in a tabular format (Table 2). 
• Additionally, prepare a table (Table 3) with the opening balances, wastage at the end of dispatch, and closing balances of each product. The plan must ensure minimal wastage of products after dispatch. Any products with lower shelf life must be discarded and entered in the wastage section of Table 2.