Nitin Khatri · Operations

Production Head · Operations Leader

Nitin Khatri

22+ years across float glass, vacuum coating, carbon black, zinc manufacturing.

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About

Plants first. People always.

Operations leader with 22+ years across float glass, vacuum coating, carbon black and zinc manufacturing. Combines process expertise, asset care and economic thinking to improve business results, with leadership grounded in respect, humility, empowerment and accountability.

  • 22+years
  • 4industries
  • 9plant locations

Now

Production Head, Gujarat Guardian Limited

Owns

Float Line, Sputter (Vacuum) Coater Line, Warehouse and Shipping.

Leads

Leads a large multi-shift team spanning managers, frontline supervisors, process engineers and hourly employees.

Also

Integration Manager for a co-located Float Line expansion.

  • Plant Operations
  • Operations Transformation
  • Safety and Quality Culture
  • Asset Care and Reliability
  • Capital Projects and Commissioning
  • Cost and Profitability Analysis
  • Talent Development
  • Resource Optimization
  • Inventory and Shipping

Journey

Twenty-two years, four industries.

  1. September 2023 – Present

    Gujarat Guardian Limited

    Ankleshwar · Float glass and vacuum coating

    Production Head · Senior Manager May 2025 – Present
    • Asset owner for the Float Line, Sputter Coater Line, Warehouse and Shipping, leading a large multi-shift team. Concurrent Integration Manager for a co-located Float Line expansion.
    • Float substrate surface quality improvement enabled more high-value-added production.
    • Recurring annual value created through box tons, furnace efficiency, cost-to-melt and warehouse packaging initiatives.
    Operations Transformation and Plant Projects November 2024 – April 2025
    • Led furnace efficiency improvement projects, including advanced AI technology for furnace insights and control.
    • Commissioned the latest online quality check gauges and the latest online camera quality inspection system on the Mirror and Sputter Coater Lines.
    Coater Technical Manager September 2023 – October 2024
    • Substantially improved yield of robust and high performance coating products, and coater uptime.

  2. March 2021 – September 2023

    PCBL Limited

    Mundra · Carbon black

    Chief Manager Production · Unit Production Head March 2021 – September 2023
    • Led carbon black operations across three manufacturing lines. Accountable for HSE, quality, compliance, production, reliability, continuous improvement, talent development and on-time, in-full delivery with sales and supply chain.
    • Completed hard black line asset optimization, increasing line capacity.
    • Improved carbon black yield.
    • Prepared business plans and operating priorities; led root cause analysis, raw material and manufacturing cost optimization, and water and power consumption reduction.
    • Strengthened risk management, shop-floor continuous improvement, knowledge sharing and succession development.

  3. June 2010 – March 2021

    Gujarat Guardian Limited

    Ankleshwar · Float glass

    Manager Production June 2015 – March 2021
    • Led Float Hot End business planning and operating performance: EH&S, quality, reliability, yield, production and manpower planning. (Hot End: the furnace and forming section of a float line.)
    • Led asset throughput optimization, increasing Float Line output.
    • Substantially reduced packing wood consumption by moving from full-box to picture-frame packaging.
    • Delivered initiatives in furnace efficiency, yield, specific power consumption, cutting system upgrades and bad-batch reduction, with regional and global teams.
    Executive Production June 2010 – May 2015
    • Built experience across Hot End, Cold End, Capping Line, scheduling and warehousing.

  4. June 2004 – June 2010

    Hindustan Zinc Limited

    Rajasthan · Zinc

    Graduate Engineer Trainee → Process Engineer → Associate Manager Process; SBU Process Incharge June 2004 – June 2010
    • Worked across Rajpura Dariba Mines and the Chanderiya Lead Zinc Smelter, including zinc electrolysis, melting and casting operations.
    • Commissioned three greenfield zinc projects, including slab and jumbo ingot casting machines, automatic cathode stripping machines and electrode handling cranes.
    • Contributed to lead/zinc ore beneficiation expansion and commissioning of a new froth flotation circuit (mineral separation using air bubbles) and a pressure filter, with equipment suppliers.

Selected work

On the plant floor.

Coater Technical Manager

Stabilizing the coater

Turning a coater line with inconsistent output into a systematic, data-led operation.

Read the story

Scope

  • Sputter (vacuum) coater line: thin functional layers are deposited on glass in a vacuum chamber.
  • New robust and high performance coating products: low-emissivity (low-E) coatings that limit heat transfer through glass.

Actions

  • Harmonized process data monitoring for systematic troubleshooting, product stabilization and efficiency.
  • Established structured process preventive maintenance schedules for consistent operation.
  • Developed a realistic product-level cost model to assess manufacturing costs and profitability.

Results

  • Substantially improved yield of robust and high performance coating products.
  • Substantially improved coater uptime.
  • Stabilized low-E and U-value specifications, strengthening product competitiveness. (U-value: the rate of heat transfer through glazing.)

Operations Transformation and Plant Projects

Furnace, quality and plant projects

A run of commissioned systems that give the furnace and the coating lines better eyes.

Read the story

Scope

  • Float furnace efficiency and control, online quality check gauges, and online camera inspection on the Mirror and Sputter Coater Lines.
  • Township accommodation and plant café facilities.

Actions

  • Led furnace efficiency improvement projects.
  • Commissioned advanced AI technology for furnace insights and control.
  • Commissioned the latest online quality check gauges.
  • Led commissioning of the latest online camera quality inspection system on the Mirror and Sputter Coater Lines.
  • Delivered township accommodation and plant café upgrades.

Results

  • Improved furnace efficiency.
  • The online quality check gauges eliminated glass handling for measurement.
  • The online camera inspection system eliminated customer complaints related to spot defects in mirror and coated products.
  • The completed café upgrade received positive appreciation.

Concurrent with Production Head role

Integrating a Float Line expansion

Bringing operating experience into a co-located Float Line expansion while it is being planned and built.

Read the story

Scope

  • Integration Manager for the co-located Float Line expansion project.
  • This is an expansion responsibility, separate from the operating Float Line.

Actions

  • Provides technical process assistance to the expansion project team.
  • Participates in evaluation and finalization of potential float process equipment suppliers.

Results

  • Project in progress; no outcomes are claimed.

How I lead

Respect, then results.

  • Respect and humilityLeadership grounded in respect for people at every level of the operation.
  • Empowerment and delegationManagers and supervisors are trusted with ownership of their areas.
  • AccountabilityAccountability for the consequences of decisions and actions.
  • Team development and engagementTeam building, knowledge sharing and succession development as deliberate work.

Exposure

Nine plants, eight countries.

Plant exposure and training; not employment at these plants.

  • Ras Al Khaimah, UAE
  • Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia
  • Cairo, Egypt
  • Bascharage, Luxembourg
  • Częstochowa, Poland
  • Llodio, Spain
  • Tatuí, Brazil
  • Porto Real, Brazil
  • Rayong, Thailand

Contact

Let’s talk operations.

nitinkhatri@gmail.com

B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat, 2004. English, Hindi, Gujarati.