Gaurav Gaurav Gajanan Burande

Manufacturing professional with 24+ years of experience in rubber, polymer and plastic processing.

Experience includes rubber molding, rubber-to-metal bonding, sealing components, adhesion processes, tooling and plant operations. Currently working as Sealing Plant Manager at GB Rubber Products, responsible for plant operations covering Production, Quality, Maintenance, Planning, Engineering, Cost, Delivery, Safety and manpower. The current operation has 125 moulding machines and a business volume of approximately 17 crore per month.

My experience is mainly in improving production performance, capacity utilization, yield, quality, delivery and manufacturing cost. I have worked extensively with TPM, Lean, Kaizen, SAP, customer audits, IATF 16949 and ISO management systems, along with process improvement and automation projects.

Sealing Plant Manager at GB RUBBER PRODUCTS (2025-01 – Present)

Responsible for day-to-day operation of the sealing plant and coordination of Production, Quality, Maintenance, Planning, Engineering, Stores and Dispatch.

• Managing operations for approximately 17 crore monthly business volume with 125 moulding machines.
• Reviewing production plans against customer schedules and available machine, mould, manpower and material capacity.
• Preparing monthly capacity plans and following up on bottlenecks affecting customer schedules.
• Monitoring daily production, OEE, yield, rejection, downtime, manpower and delivery through MIS reviews.
• Working with planning and dispatch teams to recover delayed schedules and maintain customer deliveries.
• Supporting annual budgets, CAPEX proposals, capacity additions and manufacturing improvement projects.
• Working on OEE improvement by studying machine utilization, cycle time, changeover losses and breakdown losses.
• Using TPM, Kaizen and Lean methods to reduce process losses, scrap, rework and unnecessary activities.
• Reviewing moulding process parameters and working with technical teams on recurring process problems.
• Improving manpower utilization through shift planning, machine allocation and skill-based deployment.
• Supporting automation and process improvement projects where they provide measurable productivity or quality benefits.
• Following preventive maintenance schedules for critical moulding equipment and supporting breakdown analysis.
• Working with maintenance teams on recurring breakdowns, downtime reduction and equipment reliability.
• Implementing machine monitoring and digital data collection for better visibility of equipment performance.
• Supporting predictive-maintenance initiatives based on machine condition and operating data.
• Coordinating customer audits and follow-up of observations and corrective actions.
• Working within IATF 16949, ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 requirements.
• Reviewing customer complaints, defect analysis, root causes and corrective actions with Quality and Production teams.
• Standardizing SOPs, work instructions and process controls to improve consistency.
• Coordinating technical responses and status updates with customers on quality and delivery issues.
• Coordinating with Stores, Purchase and Planning for material availability and FIFO discipline.
• Working on scrap, material consumption, tooling, energy and process-cost reduction opportunities.
• Training supervisors and operators in TPM, Kaizen, SOP adherence, safety and problem solving.
• Using daily and monthly MIS reviews to assign actions and follow up on plant performance.

Plant Manager at VISION POLYMER PVT. LTD. (2020-12 – 2024-12)

Managed plastic injection moulding and acrylic-sheet manufacturing operations, including production, quality, maintenance, planning, manpower and improvement activities.

• Managed a team of 50+ employees across manufacturing activities.
• Implemented Lean and TPM practices, resulting in 11% manufacturing cost reduction and 18% productivity improvement.
• Introduced IoT-based machine monitoring and downtime analysis to improve equipment visibility.
• Worked with Production, Quality and Maintenance teams on recurring rejection and process problems.
• Established a structured approach to defect prevention, root cause analysis and continuous improvement.
• Improved shop-floor discipline through SOPs, 5S, visual management and Kaizen activities.
• Supported capacity planning, machine utilization, manpower planning and process improvement projects.

Senior Manufacturing Manager at TRIDENT VALVES PVT. LTD. (2015-01 – 2020-12)

Worked on manufacturing operations, plant setup, production planning, process engineering, quality improvement and rubber-to-metal bonding.

• Executed a new manufacturing plant setup and supported layout and process planning.
• Implemented QMS, 5S and TPM practices; reduced rejection from 4.5% to 1%.
• Improved On-Time Delivery from 78% to 98% through better planning and production follow-up.
• Introduced multi-process metal-to-rubber bonding to increase process flexibility.
• Worked with Quality and Production teams on process capability, defect reduction and standardization.
• Coordinated manufacturing resources to meet customer schedules and quality requirements.

Production Manager at SCHRADER DUNCAN LTD. (2009-09 – 2014-12)

• Managed rubber production and bonding operations for tyre-valve related products.
• Developed and implemented an adhesion process for rubber bonding applications.
• Improved First Pass Yield from 72% to 93% through process improvement and better process control.
• Reduced tooling cost by 20% through tooling and process re-engineering.
• Reduced water consumption by 40% through process changes.
• Worked with Quality, Maintenance and Engineering teams to improve production stability and output.

Senior Production Engineer at POLYBOND INDIA PVT. LTD. (2001-04 – 2009-08)

• Worked on production of bonded rubber components and process improvement activities.
• Participated in Lean Manufacturing, TPM, 5S, safety and productivity improvement initiatives.
• Commissioned in-house adhesive and phosphating lines, reducing dependence on outsourced processes.
• Supported process standardization, production planning and manufacturing cost improvement.
• Received Best Employee of the Year Award for 2008–09.

Diploma in Industrial Electronics – Dr. J. J. Magdum Polytechnic, Jaysingpur (2001)

Diploma in International Business Management – Saylor Organization