Case 01 · September 2023 – October 2024
Stabilizing the coater
Turning a coater line with inconsistent output into a systematic, data-led operation.
Substantially improved yield of robust and high performance coating products.
Operations and Manufacturing Leader
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.
Explore the work Production Head, Gujarat Guardian Limited
Float glass✦Vacuum coating✦Carbon black✦Zinc✦Hot End✦Furnace✦Commissioning✦Asset care✦Cost to melt✦Warehouse✦Safety✦Quality✦
A plant asks the same things every day. Is the furnace steady? Is the coating in spec? Is the team ready for tonight?
The role today
Production Head, Gujarat Guardian Limited, since May 2025. Leads a large multi-shift team spanning managers, frontline supervisors, process engineers and hourly employees.
Owns
- Float Line
- Sputter (Vacuum) Coater Line
- Warehouse and Shipping
Mandates
- Float Asset Care Strategy
- Coater capacity and efficiency improvement
- Manpower resource optimization
- Cost optimization
- Warehouse inventory management
22+yearsManufacturing leadership
4industriesGlass · Coating · Carbon black · Zinc
9plant locationsInternational exposure
8countriesPlant exposure and training
Operations leader by trade
Furnace& coater,Warehousesteady,every shift
The furnace, the forming line, the coater and the warehouse, run as one plant: safely, in spec, on time.
Three cases. One operating mind.
Case 02 · November 2024 – April 2025
Furnace, quality and plant projects
A run of commissioned systems that give the furnace and the coating lines better eyes.
Improved furnace efficiency.
Case 03 · Ongoing
Integrating a Float Line expansion
Bringing operating experience into a co-located Float Line expansion while it is being planned and built.
Project in progress; no outcomes are claimed.
The tools behind the work
- FEFurnace efficiencyImprovement projects
- AIFurnace AIInsights and control
- QGQuality gaugesLatest online checks
- CICamera inspectionOnline, mirror and coater lines
- PDProcess dataHarmonized monitoring
- PMPreventive maintenanceStructured schedules
- ₹Cost modelProduct-level economics
- FFFroth flotationOre beneficiation
What I bring
Made to run.
Running the line
Hot End, Cold End, coater and warehouse: the daily discipline of EH&S, quality, reliability and yield.
- Float
- Coater
- Shipping
Commissioning
Greenfield zinc projects to furnace AI and online camera inspection: new equipment brought into steady service.
- Zinc
- Furnace
- Inspection
Cost and asset care
Cost-to-melt, box tons, packaging, power and water: the economics of a plant, line by line.
- Cost model
- Asset care
- Packaging
Building the team
Managers trusted with their areas, supervisors growing into them, succession treated as deliberate work.
- Delegation
- Succession
- Safety
One ribbon of glass
Hot End. Cold End.
Beyond the line
Process discipline. People instinct.
The team
- Direct-report managers
- Hot End, Capping Line, Warehouse and Shipping, Coater Technical, and Shift Managers
- Frontline supervisors and process engineers
- Running each area shift by shift
- Hourly employees
- Across the Float Line, Coater, Warehouse and Shipping
- Float Asset Care Strategy
- Coater capacity and efficiency improvement
- Manpower resource optimization
- Cost optimization
- Warehouse inventory management
- From plan to shift
- 01
The plan
Business planning and operating priorities for the year, the month, the shift.
- 02
The line
Run shift by shift, with the process data watched and the people in front of it trusted.
- 03
The review
Root cause analysis, continuous improvement and the next plan, better than the last.
I run the plant. I grow the people.
The float line
Glass that flows.
- Batchraw materials
- Meltfurnace
- Formtin bath
- Anneallehr
- Cutcold end
- Coatsputter
- Shipwarehouse
Sand, soda and cullet go in at one end; cut, coated and packed glass leaves at the other. The line never stops, so the people who run it cannot either.
Commissioned, on the shelf
Systems that earn their keep.
Furnace efficiency
Improvement projects that bring the furnace closer to its best.
Furnace AI
Advanced AI technology for furnace insights and control.
Quality gauges
The latest online quality check gauges: measurement without anyone handling glass.
Camera inspection
The latest online camera quality inspection system on the mirror and sputter coater lines; spot-defect complaints gone.
Now building
The expansion.
Bringing operating experience into a co-located Float Line expansion while it is being planned and built.
- Integration Manager for the co-located Float Line expansion project.
- This is an expansion responsibility, separate from the operating Float Line.
- Provides technical process assistance to the expansion project team.
- Participates in evaluation and finalization of potential float process equipment suppliers.
Project in progress; no outcomes are claimed.
22 years, month by month.
- Hindustan Zinc Limited · Zinc
- Gujarat Guardian Limited · Float glass
- PCBL Limited · Carbon black
- Gujarat Guardian Limited · Float glass and vacuum coating
Four industries, one road.
- June 2004 – June 2010
Hindustan Zinc Limited
Rajasthan · Zinc
Associate Manager Process; SBU Process Incharge
- June 2010 – March 2021
Gujarat Guardian Limited
Ankleshwar · Float glass
Manager Production
- March 2021 – September 2023
PCBL Limited
Mundra · Carbon black
Chief Manager Production · Unit Production Head
- September 2023 – Present
Gujarat Guardian Limited
Ankleshwar · Float glass and vacuum coating
Production Head · Senior Manager
Little steps. long road.
- 2004B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering, first class with distinction
- 2004Graduate Engineer Trainee, Hindustan Zinc
- 2010Gujarat Guardian Limited, Ankleshwar
- 2015Manager Production, Float Hot End
- 2021Unit Production Head, PCBL Mundra
- 2023Coater Technical Manager at Gujarat Guardian
- 2025Production Head
Respect, then results.
- Respect and humility
- Leadership grounded in respect for people at every level of the operation.
- Empowerment and delegation
- Managers and supervisors are trusted with ownership of their areas.
- Accountability
- Accountability for the consequences of decisions and actions.
- Team development and engagement
- Team building, knowledge sharing and succession development as deliberate work.
Plants abroad, lessons brought home.
Plant exposure and training; not employment at these plants.
- Middle East and Africa
- Ras Al Khaimah, UAE · Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia · Cairo, Egypt
- Europe
- Bascharage, Luxembourg · Częstochowa, Poland · Llodio, Spain
- South America
- Tatuí, Brazil · Porto Real, Brazil
- Asia
- Rayong, Thailand
Let’s talk plants.
Running a line, commissioning one, or building the team around it? I am glad to compare notes.
Nitin KhatriProduction Head, Gujarat Guardian Limitednitinkhatri@gmail.com