Manager – Production Planning & Control (PPC)

Manager – Production Planning & Control (PPC) – United Petrochem, Faridabad

Industry: Automotive Lubricants
Experience Required: 8+ Years
CTC Range: 8–12 LPA
Location: Faridabad, Haryana

United Petrochem is looking for an experienced and dynamic Manager – Production Planning & Control (PPC) to lead and streamline production planning, scheduling, inventory control, and coordination between production, sales, and supply chain teams. The ideal candidate must come specifically from the lubricants industry with hands-on experience in blending, filling, packaging, dispatch planning, and raw material coordination.

This role is crucial for ensuring smooth plant operations, optimum resource utilization, and timely order fulfilment while maintaining quality and cost efficiency.

Key Responsibilities

The major responsibilities for the PPC Manager include:

• Develop monthly, weekly, and daily production plans based on sales forecasts
• Plan blending, filling, and packing activities for lubricants
• Coordinate with purchase, stores, production, and sales teams
• Ensure optimum utilization of machinery, manpower, and materials
• Maintain inventory level of base oil, additives, and packaging material
• Monitor production progress and minimize bottlenecks and downtime
• Analyze demand trends and ensure timely product availability
• Implement lean practices and productivity improvement projects
• Manage dispatch planning and on-time delivery performance
• Prepare MIS reports and production dashboards for management

Eligibility Criteria

• Minimum 8 years of experience in Production Planning & Control
• Must be from automotive lubricants/ petroleum industry
• Strong knowledge of base oil, additives, blending & filling process
• Experience in SAP/ERP and Excel
• Strong analytical and leadership skills

How to Apply

📞 Call/WhatsApp: 7290087818 (Vinod)
📧 Email: hr.recruiter@johar-group.com

Interview Questions & Answers (For PPC Manager – Lubricants Industry)

Below are role-specific Interview Questions & Model Answers to help candidates prepare.

1️⃣ Question:

What is the role of PPC in the lubricants manufacturing industry?

Answer:
The role of PPC in lubricants manufacturing is to ensure smooth coordination between demand and supply by planning production schedules, material availability, and dispatch timelines. PPC ensures raw materials like base oil, additives, and packaging are available as per plan, production lines are optimally loaded, and customer orders are delivered on time. It also reduces bottlenecks, minimizes inventory costs, increases plant productivity, and aligns production with market demand.

2️⃣ Question:

What is your experience with blending and filling processes in lubricants?

Answer:
I have hands-on experience managing production planning for lubricant blending units, which includes base oil and additive requirement planning, batch scheduling, monitoring blend time, and coordinating with QC for product approval. I have also worked with filling and packaging lines involving bottles, pails, barrels, and bulk lube supply. I ensured line balancing, reduced changeover time, and planned SKUs to maximize machine efficiency.

3️⃣ Question:

How do you plan material requirements for lubricants?

Answer:
Material requirement planning starts from sales forecast and open orders. Based on BOM, I calculate base oil, additives, and packaging material requirements. I use ERP/Excel to map stock availability, safety stock levels, consumption trends, and lead time of purchased items. I coordinate with procurement for timely material replenishment and ensure zero stock-out while avoiding excess inventory.

4️⃣ Question:

How do you handle urgent customer orders or sudden demand spikes?

Answer:
Urgent orders are prioritized without disturbing overall production efficiency. I check available FG/ WIP stock and if not available, I reschedule production after discussion with sales, production, and dispatch teams. I also evaluate the impact on other orders and communicate realistic delivery commitments. Root cause analysis is later done to improve demand visibility and forecasting accuracy.

5️⃣ Question:

What KPIs have you managed in PPC?

Answer:
Key KPIs handled include:

• On-time delivery performance (OTD)
• Schedule adherence
• Production line utilization
• Capacity utilization
• Inventory turnover ratio
• Order cycle time
• Changeover time reduction
• FG & RM inventory levels
• Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)

6️⃣ Question:

How do you minimize production downtime?

Answer:
I monitor downtime reasons such as material shortage, breakdowns, manpower issues, or changeovers. I plan preventive maintenance with the maintenance team, maintain buffer stock of critical components, schedule jobs to reduce frequent product changeovers, and ensure timely material availability. Continuous monitoring and root cause analysis help minimize recurrence.

7️⃣ Question:

What ERP software are you familiar with?

Answer:
I have worked extensively on SAP PP/MM module, Oracle ERP, and Tally ERP for production planning, material tracking, inventory control, and MIS reporting. I also use advanced Excel tools for analysis, dashboards, and forecasting.

8️⃣ Question:

What challenges are unique to PPC in the lubricants industry?

Answer:
Unique challenges include fluctuating crude oil-based raw material prices, managing multiple SKUs and viscosity grades, strict quality standards, hazardous chemical handling regulations, dependency on drums/bottles packaging, and sudden demand fluctuations due to market seasonality. Aligning blending and filling operations while maintaining cost control is also a major challenge.

9️⃣ Question:

How do you ensure coordination between departments?

Answer:
I conduct daily production review meetings involving production, maintenance, purchase, QC, and dispatch teams. Clear communication, well-defined planning documents, daily MIS circulation, responsibility mapping, and escalation matrices help in strong coordination and timely decision-making.

🔟 Question:

Why do you want to work with United Petrochem?

Answer:
United Petrochem is a reputed and growing brand in the automotive lubricants industry. The role fits my experience and gives me an opportunity to contribute to productivity improvement, cost optimization, and business growth. I am confident my PPC expertise in lubricants can add value to the organization.

Final Tips for Candidates

✔ Highlight lubricant industry experience clearly
✔ Show strong command of PPC tools & MIS
✔ Demonstrate problem-solving and leadership
✔ Be ready with real examples of improvements you led
✔ Focus on demand planning & coordination skills