Production Manager, Technical Manager, Production Engineer, Process Engineer (FMCG, Production, Chemical Process)

• Managing Operators' performance in the Leather Finishing Department, specifically Spraying and Milling.
• By checking the Line Plan and giving clear, measurable tasks to the shift, on a daily basis, to achieve the Line Plan objectives.
• Maintaining the Quality standards of the company by identifying production non-conformances as they occur, and provide support, knowledge and direction to production staff to resolve issues with minimal downtime to the department.
• Maintain good house-keeping and discipline in the Plant.
• Administrate leave-forms, cleaning and quality checklists, and overtime forms. Ensuring 100% compliance, before passing them onto HR.
• Assist in scheduled quality and customer audits and in monthly stock-take.  Preventing any recurrence of previous findings.
• Provide technical support when production failures occur, by investigating and trouble-shooting the Process.

Process Engineer (Promotion from Production to Technical Services)

• Production Support
• Providing technical support and sharing my expertise with Production during office hours, and stand-by telephonic support after hours and during week-ends
• By trouble-shooting and solving production non-conformances and giving support and assistance to Production Engineers and Operators during production downtimes.
• Minimising losses and rejects during downtimes and ensuring the Company's quality specification are maintained.
• Working collaboratively with other departments like the Laboratory, Maintenance, Logistics and Quality to keep production lines running

• New Product Implementation
• Analyse technical reports from the Chemists, and come up with an appropriate plan to validate (run an initial, trial production batch) for a new product or new recipe.
• Apply a methodical approach and break down the validation into steps and manageable tasks.
• Communicate to management and the chemists, via written email and verbally on video-conference, providing regular feedback, using concise, clear language, and structuring my ideas clearly.
• Draft reports detailing the validation, illustrating parameters, specifications, setbacks, and successes. Provide methods on how future production batches need to be processed, highlighting process issues and how to resolve them.
• Liaise with the planning department, flagging future production batches so that I could provide 100% support to production staff, on how to batch for, and run the new product on the line.
• Continuous Improvement
•  I supported senior managements' strategy for Quality and Environmental best practises.
• On the production level, best practices were efficient use of water and chemicals, minimising wastage, and containing our products in a closed system, preventing them from entering municipality drainage.  
• Being alert to production staff not adhering to the policy and correcting their work habits.

Batching Engineer (Promotion from Production Engineer)

• Managing a team of Batching Operators' and Batching Engineers' performances on a shift basis. 
• Planning and prioritising their workload, and giving precise, clear measurable tasks for the shift, so that the production line-plan objectives were achieved.
• Batch process, producing chemical PGM (Precious Group Metals: Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium) washcoats from a recipe, within tight specifications, using SPC controlled tanks. (Statistical Process Control)
• Providing solutions, direction and support to staff when they encounter production downtimes, that prevent them completing their tasks.
• Working collaboratively with Maintenance, Logistics and the Laboratory departments during the shift to solve issues and ensure continuous and timeous production. 

Production Engineer 

• Running a FMCG production line, producing 650 Automotive Catalysts per hour, within measured specifications using PLC control systems. (Programmable Logic Controller)
• Managing a team of Operators, giving them precise, clear and measurable instructions. 
• Maintaining discipline and good house-keeping within the team. 
• Perform annual appraisals on individual team-members, discussing strengths and weaknesses, training requirements for the year, validating good performance and behaviour, and suggestions for improvements.

• Operating a semi-scaled reactor in a Pilot Plant, a Fischer-Tropsch Slurry-Bed Wax Reactor, producing different grades of wax along the length of the column.
• Opening and closing valves (Ball, Butterfly, Spindle, Gate and Globe valves) along the reactor, operating  pumps (Centrifugal, Pneumatic, Peristaltic and Positive Displacement pumps), taking instructions from the Senior Process Controller.
• Drawing samples at different heights of the fractionation process, at regular intervals according to a detailed schedule drawn up by my manager and the R&D engineers. Labelling the samples for the analysis required, and logging them into the laboratory.
• Drawing samples at high pressures and temperatures, wearing PPE to protect myself from steam and hot wax.
• Recording temperatures, pressures and flowrates along the reactor, following a detailed schedule (hourly, daily and weekly readings).
• Commissioning and decommissioning the reactor as per a batch process.
• Controlling the reactor as a Senior Process Controller using a SPC operating system.