Sandeep Kotwal

It’s important for me that I understand the industry I am in. Learn everything about it, the players, and the environment. I have an    attitude “I can do this”, plus a genuine passion for helping my teams succeed. In my past 26 years in mining and manufacturing, I have learned it’s not what you know, but what you know you do not know. Knowing the questions to ask is what matters. Intellect is the wisdom to know what you do not know. I have a lot to learn, and I love that. Having delivered organizational goals on the manufacturing shopfloor, project management, costing and financial management I aspire for a leadership role to achieve my potential.

Century Mining Ltd. (Nigeria)       July 2022 till present                              Current Role – Unit Head (UG Sn-Zn Mine & Process Unit)

The Role Unit Head –

• KPIs / Targets – Review the Targets, which have already been defined. Work on quarterly cascading targets moving forward.
• Internal Control Framework – Implement various SOPs, Define the DOA
• Internal communication between the various departments is streamlined and structured. 
• the Filipino mining team and the Indian Civils/Procurement/Stores teams co-ordinating and communicating smoothly. 
• Different nationalities across hierarchy of the process plant team will need to be integrated to avoid communication gaps (South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Peru, India, Zambia, Namibia).
• Ensure Mine Schedule targets are well communicated and met as per mine design.
• Ensure Mobile/Fixed Maintenance heads across the project are organized, motivated and working according to a set of goals/KPIs. (Developed and implemented the system for maintenance to control the costs through OEE)
• Manage the construction of the process plant and ensure that contractors and construction department on schedule & on Budget.
• Ensure that Water Dams being constructed are safe and intact + ensure that the quantities of water will match the water balance/requirements for the whole project. (The Dam had failed twice before, rectified the shortcomings, and ensured successful completion within 45 days to ensure 300,000cu.m of water)
• Set up inventory management system at the Stores to achieve savings of 20% in general consumable items.
• Oversee the Supply Chain from Factory to Project Site – Local/Overseas (PPC)
• Accounts/Budgeting systems setup – Work with Group FC to ensure this is done in accordance with Group standards
• Set up the internal audit function. 
• Capital/ Operating Cost tracking, budgeting, and optimization. Projects for cost optimization need to be identified and worked on in coordination with LONDON OFFICES. (Initiated timely measures to avoid bottlenecks in the process plant. Introduced rolling wave project scheduling to ensure complete system installation of the project components)
• Continuous improvement projects OEE, MTBF, MTTR paving ways for TPM culture.
• Lead the development & integration of the ERP system.
• Land, Local Government and Community relations initiatives and Environment Management Systems (Generated trust among the community and seek support. Projects identified and work has been initiated. Planted 2000 trees to improve the ecosystem)
• Full manpower review, for both expatriates and locals, to ensure manpower planning, succession planning and training and development are all in place.
• Review existing reporting both internal and external and revise and add to as appropriate as the project develops.

Somika Group SARL (D R Congo)        Oct 2020 till June 2022      Current Role – Cost Optimization for Open Pit Mining and HEMM

The Role Finance Controller –

Achievements -

• Took interim charge as Financial Controller for the integrated Copper manufacturing business. Highlighted the excess inventories and ways to dilute the same to save on the inventory costs $15000/month.
• Budget 2022 for planning the total expenditure of USD154million for Kimin Unit in co-ordination with the various departments.
• Assessed the Mine excavation capacities for decision making on investments in the mining equipment to increase the mine production from 250,000BCM to 750,000BCM with an investment of USD 20million.
• Due diligence for inclusion of used Volvo ADT for mining and help designing a maintenance contract with the vendors to save on the maintenance costs by $22/hr as compared to the regular scheduled preventive maintenance of Volvo ADT and Volvo Excavators
• Took charge of HEMM Garage at Kimin to streamline the department for operations and maintenance. Analysed the data for repetitive breakdowns to implement corrective action for improving the equipment availability from 65% to 80%
• Re-organization of the Garage spares stores through implementation of 5S and help spares management in an efficient way to reduce the downtimes for HEMM. Implemented ABC & FSN Analysis for inventory control. 
• Regular costs optimization for Mines and HEMM divisions to identify the areas of weaknesses to take projects for Quality Circles for improvements.
• Analysed the vendors for Fleet Management Software for Mining and completed Proof of Concept for the vendors for decision making. Implementation of the Fleet Management Software successfully completed. Saving achieved USD5000/pm recurring. .

Sanghi Metals                                    Sept 2019 till Sept 2020                                                  Role – Lead Operations & Finance Control

STRATEGIC – 

• Business Plans and Operational Budgets; 
• Effective Assets Utilization; 
• Ensure customer satisfaction to increase market share through best in class operational practices.
• Ensure adherence and implementation of standardized operating procedures pan India

PLANT OPERATIONS: 

• Monitor Purchase of Raw Materials and keep the WIP to the minimum; 
• Control the critical operating utilities to optimum levels to control the conversion costs;
• Ensure effective planning of machines for timely delivery to the customers; 
• Set, monitor and give inputs regarding benchmarks, performance criteria and process improvements

FINANCIAL: 

• Manage PnL responsibility for operations; 
• Delivery AOP as budgeted; mange budget, resource allocation and schedules. 
• Manage the Cash Management business operations profitably and meet EBITA targets

CUSTOMER

• Participate in customer meetings on case to case basis with sales team on service delivery satisfaction, 
• SLA fulfilment and unjustified penalties. 
• Participate in meetings for potential business deal with Business Development team

BE(Metallurgy), ICWAI, PMP®, CPP