Usama Safdar — Operations & Technology Leader

02 — Operating Principles

"Factories have a language — data — and my job is to make sure everyone in the building speaks it fluently. Operations is no longer just about throughput. It's about intelligence."

PRINCIPLE 01

⚡

Data Before Gut

Every major operational decision — from scheduling to maintenance — should be informed by real-time data, not intuition alone. If you can't measure it, you can't improve it.

PRINCIPLE 02

🤝

Machines Serve People

Technology's role in manufacturing is to amplify human capability, not replace human judgment. AI and automation should free operators to solve harder problems.

PRINCIPLE 03

🎯

Excellence Is a System

Sustainable operational improvement comes from building robust systems and culture — not firefighting. Kaizen is a philosophy, not a project.

03 — Transformation Canvas

Where I've moved the needle.

Three industries. Three fundamentally different challenges. One consistent approach: understand deeply, act decisively, measure everything.

⚡ European Battery Manufacturing

engineers & operators led daily

The Challenge

Scaling Operations with Precision

Lead cross-functional production in a high-stakes battery separator facility — hit OEE targets, enforce IATF quality standards, and drive continuous improvement simultaneously.

What I Deployed

Daily OEE review cadences, digital shift reporting, structured problem-solving (8D), process standardization, IATF 16949 compliance frameworks, and team capability-building across 40+ people.

OEE Optimization IATF 16949 Production Scheduling Cross-functional Leadership

🏛️ Public Sector AI · Sweden

classification accuracy (BERT model)

The Challenge

Automating National Job Intelligence

Arbetsförmedlingen needed to auto-classify millions of job ads across 4 dimensions — Education, Experience, Driving licence, Work type — for Sweden's national job portal Platsbanken.

What I Built

Designed and benchmarked 3 ML models: dictionary baseline, Support Vector Machine (89% accuracy), and fine-tuned BERT (90% accuracy). Published as research. Now improving search for millions of Swedish job seekers.

BERT / Transformers SVM · 89% accuracy NLP Pipeline Published Research

🏕️ Adventure Travel Tech · Pakistan

bookings on platform built from zero

The Challenge

Building a Marketplace from $0

Pakistan's outdoor adventure industry had no trusted digital booking infrastructure — operators were unverified, pricing opaque, and booking friction enormous.

What I Created

Co-founded MakeAtour.pk — built the platform, created operator verification system, launched equipment rental marketplace, and engineered a 15-minute booking flow. Scaled to 1000+ bookings from zero.

0→1 Startup Marketplace Design 15-min Booking Flow Operator Verification

04 — Transformation Framework

The Operations
Transformation Roadmap

A universal framework for taking any operation from reactive to intelligent — applicable across manufacturing, supply chain, service operations, and logistics.

Reactive

Decisions driven by experience, not evidence. Processes documented on paper, issues addressed after they occur.

Structured

Basic digitization, standardized processes, KPI tracking. Data exists but lives in silos — the foundation for everything that follows.

Connected ACTIVE

Systems communicate with each other. Real-time visibility across operations. Data flows from execution layer to management layer.

Analytical

Historical and predictive analytics shape decisions. Patterns become insights. Optimization shifts from reactive to proactive.

Intelligent

AI surfaces anomalies, suggests actions, automates analysis. The organization starts to reason about itself in real time.

Adaptive

Self-optimizing, closed-loop operations. Humans set direction and strategy; intelligent systems execute, monitor, and refine.

📊

Where I've Applied This

Driving the L1→L2 transition in European manufacturing operations — implementing digital reporting, real-time KPI visibility, and data-informed decision-making. The same framework applies whether you're running a factory, a service operation, or a logistics network.

TraditionalAutonomous

🔧

Tools of the Transformation

Digital Operations Reporting — Replacing paper processes with structured, real-time data capture
Performance Dashboards — Real-time visibility into KPIs across availability, throughput, and quality
Process Standardization — Creating repeatable, auditable operating procedures at scale
Predictive Analytics — ML models for failure prediction and demand sensing
Cross-system Integration — Connecting the execution layer to enterprise planning systems

🎯

Intelligence Opportunities

Anomaly detection that surfaces exceptions before they become failures
Demand-driven scheduling that optimizes throughput and resource utilization
Decision support tools that surface relevant historical patterns to operators
Root cause analysis using multi-variable correlation across process parameters

05 — Operating Systems

The Command Center

Four interconnected capability stacks — the operating system I bring to every factory floor.

USAMA_OS · CAPABILITY_MATRIX_v2.6

ALL SYSTEMS ONLINE

⚙ Operations Architecture

Lean / 5S / Kaizen95%

OEE & Performance KPIs92%

8D / Root Cause Analysis90%

Capacity & Demand Planning87%

Supply Chain Operations80%

◈ Technology & Analytics

Tools I use to build operational intelligence

⬡ Transformation Toolkit

◎ Leadership OS

Cross-functional Leadership92%

Change Management85%

Operations Strategy88%

Stakeholder Management86%

06 — Deployment History

Mission Log

A career built on taking complex operational challenges and building better systems — across manufacturing, public sector technology, and entrepreneurship.

Production Manager · SME
Operations Analyst · SME
Data Analyst · Arbetsförmedlingen
Co-Founder · MakeAtour.pk

⚡

Senior Material Europe

🇸🇪 Battery Separator Manufacturing · Eskilstuna, Sweden

Active

Production Manager

Dec 2024 — Present

Command a cross-functional team of 40+ engineers, technicians, and operators across production shifts in a high-stakes European battery separator facility
Drive OEE optimization through daily performance reviews, structured problem-solving (8D), and root cause elimination
Lead factory digitalization initiatives — transitioning from paper-based reporting to real-time digital production dashboards
Maintain IATF 16949 compliance while scaling output — balancing quality, speed, and cost simultaneously
Spearhead factory expansion project planning and capacity scaling for growing EV battery demand

40+ Team IATF 16949 OEE Optimization Factory Digitalization

⚡

Senior Material Europe

🇸🇪 Battery Separator Manufacturing · Eskilstuna, Sweden

Completed

Operations Analyst

Nov 2023 — Nov 2024

Analysed production data and process parameters to identify inefficiencies and improvement opportunities across manufacturing lines
Built operational reporting systems that gave management real-time visibility into production KPIs
Supported ISO/IATF compliance audits and implemented corrective action processes from audit findings
Contributed to lean manufacturing initiatives — SMED, 5S implementation, and waste reduction programs

Data Analytics Process Improvement Lean Manufacturing

🏛️

Arbetsförmedlingen

🇸🇪 Swedish Public Employment Agency

Published

Data Research Analyst

Dec 2021 — Jun 2022

Solved a real-world NLP problem: automatically classifying job ads across 4 dimensions — Education, Experience, Driving licence, and Work type
Designed, built, and benchmarked 3 ML models: Dictionary baseline → SVM (89%) → BERT (90%)
Implemented a keyword-filtering algorithm that significantly improved search relevance on Platsbanken — Sweden's national job portal used by millions monthly
Research published and contributed to Jobtech, the open data initiative driving Sweden's employment tech ecosystem — recognised with the Jobtech Development Award 2022

BERT NLP 90% Accuracy Published Research Millions of Users 🏆 Jobtech Award 2022

🏕️

MakeAtour.pk

🇵🇰 Adventure Travel Marketplace · Pakistan

Founded

Co-Founder

2017 — 2018

Co-founded Pakistan's first verified outdoor adventure booking platform — built from $0 to operational startup
Engineered a 15-minute booking flow with operator verification, activity listings, and equipment rental
Scaled to 1,000+ bookings across trekking, camping, and adventure tourism operators
Built and managed the technology stack, operator onboarding process, and customer experience end-to-end
Selected as Incubatee Winner at Plan9-PITB Tech Incubator — Pakistan's largest government-backed tech incubator (Arfa Tower, Lahore)

0→1 Startup 1000+ Bookings Platform Built 🏆 Plan9 Incubatee

07 — Signal Intelligence

Research & Projects

Applied intelligence — from published NLP research to renewable energy forecasting. Every project is a proof of concept for what data can do in industrial contexts.

🧠

NLP · Published Research

Job Ad Classification System

Built and benchmarked three ML models for multi-label job advertisement classification at Sweden's national employment agency. Compared dictionary lookup, SVM, and fine-tuned BERT across 4 classification dimensions.

90%

BERT Accuracy

89%

SVM Accuracy

BERTSVMPythonNLPSklearnTransformers

⚡

Data Science · Energy

Renewable Energy Forecasting

Analysed Swedish energy market trends using predictive modeling to forecast wind power growth and its projected impact on Sweden's 2030 energy mix. Estimated cement requirements for wind turbine installations using industry benchmarks.

2030

Forecast Horizon

Market Focus

PythonPredictive ModelingMatplotlibEnergy Research

🏕️

Startup · Platform Engineering

MakeAtour.pk — Adventure Marketplace

Co-founded and built Pakistan's first verified outdoor adventure booking platform. Created operator verification system, equipment rental marketplace, and frictionless booking flow. Scaled to 1000+ bookings from zero infrastructure.

1000+

Bookings

15min

Booking Flow

0→1 BuildMarketplace DesignProductGrowth

🏭

Operations Tech · Industry 4.0

Digital Production Reporting System

Designed and deployed a digital shift reporting framework to replace paper-based production logs — capturing real-time OEE data, downtime reasons, and quality metrics to enable data-driven daily management in battery manufacturing.

OEE

Primary KPI

I4.0 Level

MESOEEDigital ReportingPower BIPython

08 — Academic Foundation

Built to Learn.

🎓

Master's of Applied Data Science

University of Gothenburg

🇸🇪 Gothenburg, Sweden · 2021 – 2023

💻

Bachelor's of Software Engineering

University of Gujrat

🇵🇰 Gujrat, Pakistan · 2015 – 2019

Certifications

VDA 6.3 Process Audit

Senior Material Europe · Trainer: Richard Feng

Jun 2025

VDA 6.5 Product Audit

Senior Material Europe · Trainer: Richard Feng

Jun 2025

Elementary Labour Law

Teknikföretagen (Swedish Engineering Employers)

2025

Predictive Project Management

Project Management Institute (PMI)

2023

Agile Project Management

Project Management Institute (PMI)

2023

Tableau Desktop Specialist

Tableau Software Services

2023

SQL for Data Analytics & Business Intelligence

Udemy

2021

Advanced Google Analytics

Google

2021

Community & Leadership

TEDx Lahore Chapter

Member · 2018 – Present

Göta International Committee (GIC)

Buddy Leader · University of Gothenburg · 2020

Business Incubation Centre

Tech Developer · University of Gujrat · 2016

Kalakar (Arts & Culture Society)

President · University of Gujrat · 2014 – 2016

🏆 Recognition

Jobtech Development Award

Awarded by Jobtech Development — Sweden's open employment technology initiative — for outstanding contribution to data-driven innovation in the Swedish job market ecosystem.

2022 · Sweden

🚀 Recognition

Plan9-PITB Incubatee Winner

Selected as incubatee at Plan9 — Pakistan's largest government-backed tech incubator, housed at Arfa Software Technology Park, Lahore. Awarded 6-month incubation for MakeAtour.pk's platform concept and market potential.

2017 · Lahore, Pakistan 🇵🇰

🌍

Languages

EnglishFull Professional

SwedishWorking Proficiency

Urdu / PunjabiNative

09 — The Intelligent Organization

Intelligent operations
aren't a future state.
They're an engineering choice.

By 2035, the most competitive organizations — in manufacturing, logistics, or service operations — will run as intelligent systems. AI surfaces exceptions instantly. Data makes patterns visible. Humans focus on strategy, not status updates. I'm working toward that future, one operation at a time.

🤖

Intelligent Operations

Every KPI tracked continuously, every anomaly surfaced instantly, every decision informed by real data — not memory or instinct.

🔗

Connected Systems

Equipment that reports its own health. Processes that flag their own exceptions. Leaders who receive insight before problems become crises.

📊

Data as Strategy

The organizations that win won't win on cost alone. They'll win on data quality, the speed of their learning loops, and their ability to act on signals others miss.

Let's Exchange Ideas

10 — Initiate Contact

Let's think together.

I'm always interested in exchanging ideas with people who care about how organizations run — and how to make them run better. Whether you're tackling a transformation, thinking about supply chain strategy, or curious about the same problems I'm working on — reach out.

💼

linkedin.com/in/usamasafdar

→ 📧

usamabajwa37@gmail.com

→ 🌐

Portfolio

usamabajwa37.github.io

→

Topics I find fascinating

If any of these resonate with something you're working on or thinking about — let's have a proper conversation.

🔄 Reverse logistics and the circular economy of physical products

🔗 How data intelligence is reshaping supply chain decision-making