Daxit Soni
I am an MBA student at XLRI Jamshedpur with nearly 4 years of experience spanning plant technology, manufacturing digitalization, and R&D at CEAT Limited. I began my career in factory operations, where I utilized structured root-cause analysis to deliver a zero-capex throughput increase of 21 MT/day, filed a patent for an ML-based process automation algorithm, and served as an internal SME for a McKinsey productivity improvement team. Later, I transitioned to an R&D material development role, spearheading alternate raw material and vendor development that achieved ₹31 Cr in cumulative cost savings while co developing India's first 90% sustainable passenger car tire. Throughout these tenures, I consistently collaborated with cross-functional digital teams to build real-time shop-floor dashboards while managing daily operations via SAP and SCADA enterprise networks. This balance of technical execution and commercial impact led to my recognition as 'Top Talent' (Top 4.8% company-wide) and a Top 30 corporate innovator, anchored by a total of 5 patents and 4 published papers. I strive to bridge the gap between complex industrial systems and business strategy, believing that data-backed decision-making combined with a collaborative mindset is crucial for driving bottom-line efficiency.
Work experience
47 months in total
- CEAT Limited47 months
Career highlights
Assistant Manager - R&D Material Development, CEAT Limited
- Delivered ₹31 Cr in cost savings through systematic alternate vendor development, multi supplier development, and RM substitution across the two-wheeler tyre plant.
- Partnered with Siemens to co-develop an enterprise Plant-R&D digital formulation platform; deployed the system for an 18+ member cross-functional team at the flagship plant with a defined roadmap for multi-site implementation.
- Co-developed India's first ~90% sustainable passenger car tire (CEAT CIRCL90) and engineered ~90% Domestic Value-Added (DVA) compounds for the Bajaj Chetak EV to capture national PLI scheme advantages.
- Reverse-engineered 150+ competitor compounds (Apollo, MRF, TVS) to build a commercial insight pipeline; secured critical Tier-1 OEM approvals for high-volume Bajaj, TVS, and Hero product lines.
- Selected to train and mentor Graduate Engineer Trainees (GETs) while managing 25+ material disclosures under strict IMDS compliance timelines for key automotive OEM programs.
Assistant Manager - Plant Technology, CEAT Limited
- Diagnosed manufacturing bottlenecks using structured RCA and Pareto analysis, driving zero-capex operational interventions that boosted plant throughput by 21 MT/day (+6%).
- Scaled sustenance through FIFO-based digital monitoring platform (co-developed with internal digital team), enabling real-time inventory visibility for production, planning, and technology teams.
- Built and patented a machine-learning-based extrusion die swell prediction algorithm that reduced trial iterations by 33%, ranking in the Top 30 out of 10,000+ entries across the entire RPG Group (CEAT, KEC, Zensar, RPG Life Sciences, etc.).
- Deployed as the core internal Subject Matter Expert (SME) for a 12-week McKinsey mixer productivity engagement.
- Led lab-to-plant industrialisation of 20+ two-wheeler, Passenger car and commercial tyre formulations across 4 plants with zero quality escapes, serving as an integration point across R&D, plant technology, production, and quality teams.
Achievements
- Identified as "Top Talent" (Top 4.8 % organization-wide) at CEAT for sustained high performance.
- Ranked in the Top 30 out of 10,000+ entries in the corporate RPG Innovation Festival for developing a patented ML-based automation algorithm.
- Conferred the corporate "CHAMP Award" for eliminating mixer bottlenecks and driving a +21 MT/day plant throughput improvement with zero capital expenditure.
- Received 5 corporate Spot Awards across agility, customer centricity, and customer obsession for driving fast-tracked commercial decision-making and project success.
Certifications
- Management of New Products and Services (NPTEL-SWAYAM) - Elite, 88% (Top 5% Topper) - Mar 2025
- Analyzing Company Performance using Ratios (Coursera Project Network) - May 2022
- Getting Started with Data Analytics on AWS - May 2022
- Crash Course on Python (Coursera) - Mar 2022
- Six Sigma and the Organization: Advanced (Coursera) - Oct 2020
