Marketing ensured constant interaction with customers from metallurgical industries like heat treatment, hot forging, hot rolling, nitriding, furnace maintenance and die casting. Under guidance of our Technical Director, visited esteemed companies all over India like Bharat Forge Ltd., Rourkela Steel Plant (RDCIS SAIL), Tata Steel Ltd., Mahindra Forge Ltd., etc., for gaining valuable production shop floor level exposure on hot forging, heat treatment, hot rolling & furnace maintenance. Also visited personally a majority of smaller hot forging Plants and hot rolling Plants all over India. Effectively demonstrated use of our manufactured products like environment friendly hot forging die lubricants to increase die life, anti-scale compound to eliminate scaling / oxidation during heat treatment & hot forging and rejections caused due to oxidation, refractory coatings to reduce furnace maintenance downtime and fuel consumption in furnace operation. Started the SPANCO system of marketing at SPS with assistance from management. Managed induction of new employees and on-going product training of employees. Trained new employees on the importance of cost reduction in hot forging, hot rolling, heat treatment, furnace maintenance and our role in enabling these cost reductions for the metal forming industry. Structured commercial transactions with customers to ensure win-win. Developed product application videos to help remotely located foreign and local customers in understanding the application and benefits of our products easily. Designed and delivered presentations that won acclaim and awards at technical seminars on Heat Treatment, Hot Forging & Furnace Maintenance. Certified Internal ISO Auditor through DNV, managed ISO internal audits and process flow manuals. Efficiently carried out the role of Chapter Director of business referral generation forum Business Networking International. Active participant in Metallurgy industry related forums like ASM International.

This job position steadily groomed me in area of finance and marketing together. Started by maintaining up to date accounts daily such that balance sheet would always reflect a true picture of Company financials. Practically analysed financial ratios which I had learnt during Management studies. Dealing with banks and taxation matters became simpler due to accurate maintenance of accounts. Started a process to keep customers better informed of their order status and material logistics. A matrix was designed which stored vital information like customers' frequency of purchase and quantity, hot forging components manufactured, heat treatment cycles of customers and their problems due to oxidation / scaling, furnace refractory coating frequency, etc. Correspondence function made me learn basics of heat treatment, hot forging, hot rolling and die casting as I was responsible for analysing new enquiries, preparing introductory letters for new customers and also provide supporting documentation for product usage and troubleshooting. Developed a very keen interest in the subject of metallurgy, especially the phenomenon of oxidation / scaling in heat treatment, hot forging and hot rolling. Due to my membership at ASM International, I attended courses on Metallurgy and also went on academic Plant visits of steel plants. Both, theory and practical industrial visits, made me well versed with subjects like productivity improvement by increasing hot forging die life, reducing pollution during hot forging, benefits of reducing scaling during heat treatment, reducing fuel consumption and furnace maintenance downtime in furnace operation, etc.

My career started with the function of purchasing raw materials required for innovative products that we manufacture. Source and cultivated alternate suppliers for critical items, kept strict check on landed cost of materials and maintained correct inventory levels to ensure production as per sales forecast. Attended a number of training sessions on supplier assessment, supplier relationship building, negotiation techniques, and inventory management. Learnt important concepts like ABC analysis, JIT inventory and its practice, landed and holding costs of all materials etc. Negotiated pricing and commercial terms with suppliers of major items to ensure win-win. Closely worked with Production department to achieve target of reduced production downtime due to shortage of raw materials or procurement delays. Introduced new practices like supplier lead time management and procurement logistics best practices. This helped in calculating and committing correct lead time of our products to customers. Designed and implemented a system to constantly provide updated landed cost of material at all times to management. This lead to assured accuracy in pricing and other terms of finished products. Assisted suppliers of Steel Plant Specialities in improving their gradation in the annual supplier rating procedure by educating suppliers about our assessment criteria and their performance on it.