The challenge
When Asian Paints, India’s largest paint manufacturer, commissioned its new Khandala plant, factory automation was a key focus area of the plant design. But even the fastest machines and quickest changeover processes do not necessarily guarantee optimised production line volume.
The team in the packing material warehouse was facing repetitive minor stoppages in the bulk filling line de-palletiser.
This impacted productivity in the water-based paint packing block due to the unavailability of pails on the high-speed packing line.
Forklifts were employed to deliver the packing material (PM) from the adjacent warehouse directly to the line. This resulted in a large number of forklift movements to supply pallets of pails to the denesting teams, and to manage the returnable packaging, all in the limited space between lines.
Despite a workaround, daily downtime on the bulk line averaged around 450 minutes per shift, which affected the factory service levels. To compound matters, the machine vendor was based in the US, which made on-site support prohibitively expensive. The technical team realised they had to address the problem on their own.
Industry
Chemicals
Asian Paints Limited is India’s largest paint company and Asia’s third largest paint company. Headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, the company is engaged in the business of manufacturing, selling and distribution of paints, coatings, products related to home decor, bath fittings and providing of related services. It has operations in over 20 countries and has over 30 manufacturing facilities, servicing consumers in more than 65 countries.
The solution
- Set-up of a site steering committee
This comprised the Senior Leadership Team who worked with CCi to introduce the Leading and Managing Change TRACC Best Practice. The team developed a charter for change and named the initiative ‘Lakshya’. This eventually acted as a beacon for the continuous improvement programme at that site. - Introduction to the Focused Improvement (FI) TRACC
The site teams were trained in loss and waste (L&W) analysis practice. Specific attention was given to time-and-material-related losses – specifically the water-based paints block where an L&W analysis was conducted. The FI training also included an awareness session for operators and supervisors with the aim of establishing cause-and-effect relationships between line level activities and business performance. - Identifying Profit Improvement Project
Using the project hopper selection matrix, senior plant management identified the ‘packing material (PM) in waiting’ as the first profit improvement project (PIP). Given the tremendous potential of this project, due importance was given with a senior level sponsor and a full-time resource as project manager. The team defined the targets and timeline (six months) for the project and agreed on a governance mechanism. Though the initial focus was on the de-palletising procedure, nested pails (pails stacked into each other) were added to the scope partway through the PIP. This changed the focus of the PIP as being the high-speed de-nesting machine as the critical machine in the process. - Running the Profit Improvement Project
The PIP team spent many hours observing the machines while in operation and, in so doing, identified 80% to 90% of performance concerns. These gemba observations included a multitude of situational issues, many of which were resolved by performing extended observational sessions along with root cause analysis. Some tasks were more complex, and tally charts and other data-capturing mechanisms were set up to gather genuine data and understand the real focal points for further action.
The Visual Management (VM) TRACC was leveraged to develop a set of performance metrics monitoring key situational issues within the operating teams’ control. - Regular reviews to ensure success
The PIP was initially set up for a formal monthly review at site steering committee level, but during critical phases the review went to weekly, and even daily, frequency. Based on the outcomes, the team established One Point Lessons, trained team members on them, and also created a daily start-up checklist using pictures. It was only through direct observation of the work processes and shop floor conversations with the people who work in these processes that the solution was found.
The results
Setting the standard for Asian Paints and its US Manufacturer
Through a dedicated focus on improvement, unwavering management support and teamwork, combined with engineering ingenuity, Asian Paints transformed a complex production floor challenge into a major gain.
50%+ improvement of downtime on the bulk line
Reduced dependence on overseas-based OEM
Established systems to sustain improvement
Daily problem-solving capability established
Loss and waste analysis capability established
From our client
“TRACC’s integrated approach to manufacturing excellence and focus on engaging everyone in the pursuit of excellence has really helped us to percolate, accelerate and sustain our continuous improvement journey.”
From our client
“The TRACC-defined approach and process encourages one to deeply analyse each issue and validate its real existence. It helps negate the need for further capex, a typical approach that companies take towards de-bottlenecking. Establishing systems that help sustain the improvement is really a huge plus that TRACC provides.”
Get started with CCi