AGM - Operations

About the Group

The Prakriti Group of Companies is a diversified, multi-sector business group with operations across apparel manufacturing, textiles, food processing, hospitality, and healthcare. Founded in 1973 by Mr. Ranjit Shah and now led by Mr. Ranvir Shah, our Group has grown from its roots as a Chennai-based garment manufacturer into a diversified enterprise with presence across Apparel Manufacturing, Textiles, Food Processing, Hospitality, and Healthcare.

For more details, visit us at https://www.theprakritigroup.com

About the Company

For over 50 years, P.S. Exports & Consolidates (previously P.S. Apparels) has been a trusted partner for brands in North America, Europe, and Japan, crafting high-quality woven garments with a focus on sustainability. Our vertically integrated supply chain ensures meticulous quality control at every stage.

Our head office in Kelambakkam is our base for corporate as well as design, library, archives and merchandising. Our NYC design studio allows us to deliver innovative designs to our clients. Our New York office (OMTC) supplements research and design activity.

Role Purpose

The AGM – Operations is the most senior operations leader reporting to the General Manager. The role carries direct, line-of-sight accountability for end-to-end shop-floor delivery — from cutting through sewing, washing/finishing, embroidery/printing, and packing — together with industrial engineering, in-line/end-line/final quality assurance, stores & inventory, plant maintenance, and shop-floor compliance.

The incumbent runs the day-to-day production engine of the unit. The AGM – Operations is on the floor every day, owns the production review cadence, signs off the daily plan, debottlenecks lines in real time, and ensures every shipment leaves the gate on quality and on time.

This is a hands-on manufacturing leadership role. The successful candidate is expected to know SAM, line-balance, and DHU as instinctively as the layout of the cutting room, and to be equally comfortable closing a buyer audit non-conformity and re-engineering an operation on the line.

Key Result Areas

Production Planning & Execution

• Translate the merchandising-driven order book and T&A calendar into daily/weekly production plans across cutting, sewing, washing/finishing, embroidery/printing, and packing.
• Own line balancing, capacity loading, style allocation, and feeding sequence to maximize utilization across all sewing lines.
• Drive daily throughput, hourly production tracking, and pitch-board discipline on every line.
• Resolve daily bottlenecks through structured shop-floor problem-solving and Andon-style escalation.
• Achieve agreed line/operator efficiency, daily output, and shipment-readiness numbers; sign off the daily production plan and the weekly rolling plan.

Industrial Engineering & Productivity

• Drive SAM (Standard Allowed Minutes) discipline, method studies, time studies, and operation breakdowns for every style.
• Build and maintain operator skill matrix, multi-skilling roadmap, and operator grading.
• Design and review incentive schemes that link operator earnings to productivity and quality.
• Lead workstation engineering, layout optimization, work-aid design, and folder/jig/attachment deployment.
• Sponsor automation and digitization — auto-spreaders, auto-cutters, RFID/barcode tracking, real-time production dashboards, and ERP/PLM rollouts on the shop floor.

Quality Assurance

• Own quality from raw-material inspection through to final pre-shipment audit, against AQL norms and buyer-specific protocols.
• Drive DHU (defects per hundred units), RFT (right-first-time), and rework/reject reduction on every line, every day.
• Lead PP meetings, in-line traffic-light audits, end-line rejection control, and final QA approval.
• Ensure plant readiness for buyer technical audits and re-audit closures with zero open non-conformities.
• Build a zero-tolerance culture on shipment quality across all departments.

Lean & Continuous Improvement

• Drive lean, Kaizen, 5S, Six Sigma, TPM, and continuous-improvement programmes across departments.
• Sponsor monthly Kaizen reviews, operator suggestion schemes, and best-practice replication across lines.
• Own waste reduction (fabric, trims, time, motion, energy) with measurable annual targets.
• Track and improve PCE (production cycle efficiency), changeover times, and first-piece-to-bulk lead time.

Stores, Inventory & Material Flow

• Oversee fabric and trim stores — receipt, inspection, fabric-relaxation protocols, shade-band and shrinkage management, and FIFO discipline.
• Ensure on-time issuance to cutting and feeding to sewing in line with the production plan.
• Drive cycle counts, inventory accuracy, slow-and-non-moving (SNM) liquidation, and inventory turns.
• Coordinate closely with the AGM – Merchandising on input-readiness for every order-launch date.

Plant Maintenance & Engineering

• Own preventive and breakdown maintenance for sewing, cutting, washing, finishing, packing, utilities, and ancillary equipment.
• Drive machine MTBF/MTTR improvement, spare-parts norms, and energy efficiency.
• Approve and execute capex on lines, machines, and shop-floor infrastructure within delegated authority.
• Lead new-line commissioning and capacity-expansion projects in coordination with the General Manager.

EHS, Compliance & Sustainability

• Ensure full statutory compliance at shop-floor level — Tamil Nadu Factories Act, ESI, PF, Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, fire safety, building safety, and POSH.
• Maintain audit readiness for SA8000, BSCI, Sedex (SMETA), WRAP, GOTS, BCI, OEKO-TEX, Higg Index, and ZDHC.
• Drive EHS standards, emergency preparedness, near-miss reporting, and incident investigation.
• Own the plant's sustainability agenda on water, energy, chemicals, and waste in alignment with buyer ESG expectations and group commitments.

People, Workforce & Culture

• Workforce planning for a 400–600+ operator base — recruitment pipeline, training, multi-skilling, and attrition control.
• Build a high-performing supervisory cadre; coach line supervisors, floor in-charges, and second-line managers, with clear successor development.
• Champion welfare, grievance redressal, and a respectful, safe, inclusive workplace — particularly mindful of the predominantly women workforce typical of Tamil Nadu's woven garment cluster.
• Drive engagement, attendance, and attrition metrics; build a culture where supervisors and operators feel heard.
• Partner with HR on industrial-relations matters and contract-labour deployment.

Cost & Performance Management

• Own department-level operating cost — manpower productivity, overheads, consumables, fabric/trim wastage, rework, and reject.
• Track and report shop-floor MIS — efficiency, OTD, DHU, RFT, downtime, attrition, line balance — and drive corrective actions.
• Support the General Manager on monthly P&L reviews with operations-side variance analysis and recovery plans.
• Drive cost-down initiatives and consumption norms in line with the annual operating plan.

Candidate Profile

Education

• Graduate in Engineering / Textile Technology / Apparel Production from a reputed institute.
• Postgraduate qualification from NIFT, NID, ATDC, or an MBA (Operations / Manufacturing) from a reputed institute is preferred.

Experience

• 10–15 years of progressive experience in the woven garments / apparel manufacturing industry, with at least 4–6 years in a Production Manager / Sr. Production Manager / Plant Operations Manager role in an export-oriented unit.
• Direct, hands-on accountability for a sewing-line base of 400+ operators across woven categories — shirts, trousers, dresses, blouses, jackets, outerwear, and casual wear.
• Track record of running plants servicing international buyers from North America, Europe, and Japan against AQL standards and time-tested critical paths.
• Familiarity with the Chennai / Tamil Nadu apparel cluster — vendor ecosystem, fabric/trim sources, contract-labour landscape, SEZ/EOU operating realities — is strongly preferred.
• Career path must be operations/manufacturing-led with full shop-floor ownership; pure-functional, pure-IE-only, or pure-quality-only career paths will not fit this role.

Functional Competencies

• Deep operational fluency across cutting, sewing, washing/finishing, embroidery/printing, and packing.
• Strong industrial engineering toolkit — SAM, line balancing, method study, workstation engineering, incentive design.
• Solid grasp of fabric behaviour, washing/finishing chemistry, and buyer-specific quality protocols.
• Hands-on with lean, Kaizen, 5S, Six Sigma, and TPM.
• Comfort with ERP / PLM / shop-floor digitization; track record of having driven at least one digitization rollout end-to-end.
• Sound understanding of compliance frameworks — SA8000, BSCI, SEDEX, WRAP, GOTS, BCI, OEKO-TEX, Higg, ZDHC.
• Working knowledge of the Tamil Nadu Factories Act, ESI/PF, Contract Labour (R&A) Act, and POSH.

Leadership Competencies

• Shop-floor leadership at scale — proven ability to lead, coach, and retain large teams of supervisors and operators.
• Bias for action — decisive, structured, and outcome-oriented under shipment pressure.
• Hands-on grounding combined with system-building rigor — equally comfortable on the cutting floor and in a board review.
• Cultural sensitivity and empathy — particularly for managing a large, diverse, predominantly women workforce.
• Integrity and ownership — operates as the production owner, not as a functional head.

Personal Attributes

• High energy and shop-floor stamina; visibly present on the floor every day.
• Calm under pressure during peak-season escalations.
• Open, listening leadership style; accessible to supervisors and operators.
• Strong command of English; working fluency in Tamil strongly preferred for shop-floor effectiveness.
• Willing to start the day early, stay late on shipment-critical days, and travel to vendor / fabric-supplier sites and group locations as required.

If you are interested, kindly apply here https://forms.gle/ff6T3qvbexRF7aEt5