Production Manager at Plantation Industries Limited

Overall Purpose of the Job

• The Production Manager oversees the entire production value chain from cocoa bean intake to finished products—cocoa liquor, butter, cake, and powder—ensuring efficient, safe, and compliant operations while meeting international regulatory standards (EU, U.S. FDA) and customer specifications.

Key Responsibilities & Tasks

Production Planning & Coordination

• Develop daily, weekly, and monthly production plans.
• Coordinate workflows and resources across all production stages.
• Monitor progress and adjust schedules to reduce downtime.

Process Operations & Control

• Enforce SOPs and critical operating parameters.
• Monitor SCADA trends and process deviations.
• Control liquor temperature, roasting curves, grinding fineness, and press performance.

Equipment, Machinery & Maintenance Integration

• Support predictive, preventive, and condition-based maintenance.
• Collaborate with E&I and mechanical teams to reduce breakdowns.
• Approve maintenance shutdown and startup procedures.

Quality, Food Safety & Regulatory Compliance

• Ensure compliance with GMP, HACCP, PRP, OPRP, CCP.
• Meet EU and U.S. FDA standards and customer specifications.
• Support QA in achieving audit readiness.

Yield, Efficiency & Cost Optimization

• Reduce processing losses and energy consumption.
• Improve butter yield and powder conversion ratio.
• Enhance Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).

People Management & Training

• Lead supervisors, operators, and shift leaders.
• Conduct SOP, GMP, HACCP, and safety training.
• Build productive, disciplined, and motivated teams.

Reporting & Documentation

• Maintain accurate production, downtime, and yield records.
• Submit daily, weekly, and monthly reports.
• Document RCA and CAPA actions.

Health, Safety & Environment (HSE)

• Enforce PPE, LOTO, heat, dust, and noise controls.
• Promote zero-incident culture.

Continuous Improvement & Projects

• Implement Lean/Kaizen projects.
• Support installation and commissioning of new systems (presses, mills, SCADA upgrades).

Qualifications, Skills & Experience

Educational Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, Chemical, Industrial Engineering, or Food Technology.
• Master’s degree or Lean/Six Sigma certification preferred.
• Training in GMP, HACCP, FSSC 22000 desirable.

Experience:

• 8–12 years in manufacturing or cocoa processing with leadership responsibilities.
• Strong experience in automated systems (PLC, SCADA, DCS).
• Track record in yield improvement and downtime reduction.

Technical Skills:

• Knowledge of cocoa-processing machinery (roasters, winnowers, grinders, presses, pin mills, ACM mills).
• Strong troubleshooting and analytical skills.
• Understanding of predictive and preventive maintenance.

Behavioral Competencies:

• Leadership, communication, problem-solving.
• High discipline, integrity, and teamwork orientation.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Production Performance

• ≥95% achievement of production targets.
• OEE ≥ 85%.
• ≥70% cake-to-powder conversion ratio.

Efficiency & Yield

• 3–5% annual yield improvement.
• ≤1% total process loss.

Downtime & Maintenance Integration

• Unplanned downtime ≤ 5%.
• 100% preventive maintenance compliance.

Quality & Compliance

• Zero export rejections.
• Zero critical GMP/HACCP deviations.

Energy & Cost Control

• 3–5% annual energy reduction per MT.
• Production cost within approved budget.

People & Safety

• 95% staff trained and certified.
• Zero major safety incidents.

Reporting

• 100% timely, accurate production reporting.