Job Summary
This position is responsible for managing and overseeing the daily production and operations of the ball bearing grinding workshop (including rough grinding, fine grinding, and superfinishing of inner rings, outer rings and rolling elements). The Supervisor will lead a team of operators to ensure the timely fulfillment of production schedules, strictly control the precision and quality of bearing products, optimise grinding processes and rigorously enforce safety regulations.
Responsibilities
- Manage daily shift scheduling and task allocation in the grinding workshop to ensure on-time delivery of orders.
- Monitor production progress and promptly resolve technical bottlenecks or staffing issues on the line.
- Strictly enforce geometric precision requirements for ball bearings (such as roundness, roughness, raceway errors, and waviness), ensuring products meet ISO/TS or relevant industry quality standards.
- Oversee first-piece inspections, in-process inspections, and last-piece inspection processes. Conduct root cause analysis and implement corrective actions for grinding defects like burns, cracks, or out-of-tolerance dimensions.
- Assist in optimising grinding parameters (such as wheel linear speed, feed rate, coolant ratio and dressing frequency) to improve production efficiency and extend grinding wheel life.
- Supervise operators in conducting daily inspections and primary maintenance on critical machinery, such as centerless grinders, internal grinders, external grinders and superfinishing machines.
- Coordinate with the maintenance team for regular equipment overhauls, calibration and troubleshooting to minimise machine downtime.
- Responsible for technical training, safety education and performance evaluations of frontline operators to improve their machine-operating capabilities, gauge utilisation and blueprint reading skills
- Foster a positive working environment and effectively resolve interpersonal conflicts within the workshop.
- Strictly enforce safety operation protocols to prevent mechanical injuries and occupational hazards.
- Maintain the 5S environment in the grinding area, ensuring the coolant recycling system and chip disposal zones are clean and orderly.
Required competencies and certifications
Educational Qualification
- Diploma or higher in Mechanical Manufacturing, Mechatronics, Precision Machining or a related field (equivalent high school/technical school education accepted with extensive experience)
- Minimum of 3 to 5 years of experience in the bearing manufacturing industry with at least 2 years of supervisory/team lead experience in a grinding workshop
- Proficient in the internal grinding, external grinding, face grinding or superfinishing processes of ball bearings
- Expert proficiency with specialised bearing gauges and measuring instruments (e.g., outer diameter comparators, bore gauges, roughness testers, roundness measuring machines)
- Strong blueprint reading skills with a precise understanding of bearing tolerances, fits and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T)
- Familiarity with the characteristics, selection, and dressing techniques of common grinding wheels
Soft Skills
- Strong leadership and supervisory skills.
- Good communication and coordination abilities.
- Problem-solving mindset with attention to detail.
- Able to work independently and under pressure.