"I Have Never Faced a Single Day in the Office Where My Day Went off as I Had Planned" - Ranjan SInha

Want to become a writer at Eat My News? Here is an opportunity to join the Board of Young Leaders Program by Eat My News. Click here to know more:​ bit.ly/boardofyoungleaders

1. Tell us about your journey in operations industry.

My first job after passing out from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) was in a group company of siemens, where I used to lead the Export-Import Operations and was working with them from 1992 - 2006. After that, I joined the biggest Steel Conglomerate Arcelor Mittal as a supply chain manager based at one of the biggest steel plants in the world in Ukraine in 2006. 

I was elevated to the post CEO for a Logistics & Port Services in 2011, which I held for 4 years. After that, I moved to the Middle East in Qatar Steel as Head of Shipping & Logistics in 2015. I then ventured to a new domain of Project Management Consultancy as a Project Consultant for one of the Largest greenfield project of Logistics city in Sultanate of Oman. Currently working as Project Manager in one of Govt. of India projects for digitization of Logistics & Port Services.

2. What do you get out of operations management that you couldn't get from any other kind of work?

The daily life of Operation Manager is full of challenging tasks: negotiating last-minute order changes with sales due to new customer requests; defining working capital requirements with the CFO for the next budget period, or reviewing network structures for new emerging markets with suppliers. 

This diversity is particularly driven by the cross-functional nature of the job: Supply chain managers interact with many departments and people within and across the firm. Somebody has aptly defined Operation Manager is like a decathlete-the king of athletes. In my 26+ years, I have never faced a single day in the office where my day went off as I had planned. This sheer unpredictable nature of work and the excitement to resolve the daily firefighting issues distinguishes Operations Management with other kinds of work.

3. What do you think about life in operations management and how did you get into that job?

If you love Long work hours, late evenings, and work on weekends, then you are operations guy. There is immense pressure on operations managers to succeed as their individual success has a direct bearing on the organization's success. My entering into Operation Management was accidental. After passing out from B-School, I was working with Sales & marketing department as a Management Trainee. 

When one day, I was informed that to take up a place in operation department which had become vacant due to a a vacancy created by the resignation of a worker and thus it started my journey in the world of operation management. My typical day begins with a morning meeting with my department followed by going on rounds to various Logistics assets to ensure seamless operations. 

Afternoons are spent in Meeting with senior Management appraising about the ground-level situation and with external stakeholders. The evenings are spent attending to all the non-emergency/urgent things that you just couldn't take care of until now and set up your next morning's work. I usually leave my office around 8 pm.

4. Can you tell me something about your work-life like how are you managing it or else share some memorable experiences about your work life?

My most memorable experience was when I took over a Company as CEO when the company was in the stages of bankruptcy. I was given a mandate by the board of Directors to resurrect the organization in a year. For the first three months, it was the most challenging period of my life as I struggled to find ways and means to keep the company on the right tracks. 

But then, due to some "out of the Box" thinking, and re-organizing the Operations management, I was able to turn around the company by posting a stupendous growth of 152% on a Year on Year basis.

5. What piece of advice would you like to give to future operations management student to get success in life?

People in operations roles act as multipliers, aiming to enable those in the organization to maximize their productivity. They oversee the functions crucial to every top-performing organization, such as management, overseeing budgets, helping to hire and train new staff, and so on. Great operations people are "systems builders" — they create and manage repeatable processes that keep the organization functioning at a high level. 

This means they require significant creativity, self-direction and social skills, as well as conscientiousness. I think Operation Management is going to be the key to Industrial success in the coming years as I feel the operation guy is the one who is running the entire show by planning, managing and overseeing the flow of an event in an organization so that people can execute smoothly without confusion and being lost. With the advent of E-Commerce coming in a big way, operations management can be the determining factor for success.

6. Who inspires you the most?

My ex-boss Mr Laxmi Narayan Mittal

7. Any book or quote you want to share to inspire others?

My Favourite Book- Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

I sum up my attitude in life by the following sentence: "If I'm in a conference room and the video is not working, I'm not the sort to simply call IT and wait. I'll also (gracefully) crawl under the table and check that everything is Plugged in."

Interview by - Vishal