Fursat...

28.04.2024

Packing List

Several years back, we decided to get a new boiler. The order was placed to a highly reputed boiler supplier. As usual, after 8-10 months delivery of the boiler parts started. Being the boiler (with accessories) a big item, the delivery needed two open body trailors for main pressure parts, Air-Preheater, economizer, ID fan etc.; and one truckload of small items like electrical panel, boiler feed pumps, field instruments, safety valves etc.

Finally, the big day came, and both trailers reached at site. The driver informed that the third truck was on the way; but shall reach after 2 days, as that driver stopped midway at his home-village. Well, that was not a big issue for us.

Anyway, when we checked the documents given by the trailer driver, the packing list was missing. How can one verify the items in the trailer are complete or not? On a telephonic call to supplier, they told that as a policy, they used to send the packing list through courier. The next day being Sunday, we needed to wait for the courier service to deliver the packing list- which too was not sure to reach us in time. Maybe the packing list be delivered to us on Tuesday or later- who knew?

We requested them to email/whatsapp a scan copy from the copies available with them; but the concerned person was on leave that day. Then came unusual question from the supplier's representative- "What is the transport name?" Well, we told him, and he said, "OK then. Unload the material. He is a reliable transporter."

But, our genuine fear was, "In case there is some material in short supply, what will we do?" Anyway, having no other option, we decided to unload the material, after the driver & transporter agreed to get receiving of the material after complete material is received and checked by the supplier representative.

On monday, the third truck also reached factory. Within an hour, the awaited courier boy came with the packing list. But, to our surprize, the containts of packing list did not give clear idea about the items received through the truck. It just indicated- "seven boxes and 5 loose parts." Well, seven boxes were all OK. We did not know what was inside, so these were considered acceptable for the time being. Also, the dimensions of the boxes given matched with the supply. There were 3 big loose parts which we could understand as part of air preheater (APH) ducting etc. However, 2 items were still missing.

Luckily, just then the representative from boiler supplier reached at site. He checked all other material, and finally, when we indicated about the missing items, like a magician from one of the three ducting pieces. One was a small frame of nearly 1 ft by 1 ft made of carbon steel angle, and another was nearly one meter long piece of mild steel channel of 2"X4". Both the items were weiging not more than 10kg.

We asked, "What if the company (supplier) had supplied this channel of 6 meter long, and someone replaced with that of 1 meter? How can a customer know that the material supplied is same as the received one?" But, he was just a site supervisor, and unable to answer.

Trust- that is what is important in most of such dealings. While someone orders a boiler costing nearly eight or ten million Indian rupees, the customer does not usually worry much for a couple of small items costing few hundred rupees. But, what is of major concern is that the absence of this few hundred rupees item may delay the whole project.

Another concern by improper packing list is the unnecessary chaos and confusion while receiving/unloading material. Most of the times the person supervising the unloading or receiving material is not an expert from concerned department. For him, even it may be difficult to differentiate between a boiler's economizer and APH. Clearly mentioned part number/package number along with dimension is definitely very helpful for him.

Fundamentally, a packing list must be clear enough so that the receiver of the material can easily check the material supplied. Calling the supplier or supplier's representative to confirm what has been received; clearly means that the packing list was not proper.

During past few months, there have been 4-5 such cases observed, so I felt to share my views and concern. Please share the article with your supplier, if you also have faced such a situation. 

11.01.2024

Wonderful Website

A few days back, a marketing engineer from a reputed company turned in. The security staff told me that he came regarding supply of fork lift truck, loader etc. As I saw his card, I was surprized. The company was really big with more than 3000 crore turnover. And surprizingly, we had never heard that the company is engaged in making these items too.

I immediately started surfing its website. A good, huge website. I switched over to its business verticals, but out of more than 15 verticals, I was not able to immediately locate the concerned section.

Anyway, in a few minutes, the representative came to my office. After the initial introduction, my first question was, "When did you start into this segment?" The answer was- "Since 1963." I myself am associated with paper industry for past 30-35 years, and I never heard this company about making these products too. Then this marketing executive suggested me to click to the business vertical named "Intra-Logistics" on their company website. Oh yes! There were again 20-25 sections, with "Fork-Lift", "Reach Truck" and other "Material Handling Solutions". Thanks to him, otherwise, I might have not known that the company is also into this business. Does this mean a big company must always employ dedicated marketing executives who can visit many future customers and explain them how to browse through their websites to get relevant information? Does a big company expect that a customer searching for fork-lift or loader will be easily able to understand that all these must be searched in "Intra-Logistics" section?

Big company, bigger website. Seems so good to have a one stop solution for all. But, usually the website becames so huge that searching a specific product or requirement becomes too difficult to find. I suggested that executive to have separate website for each and every vertical with a link -to and from- the main website. I know such corporate decisions are seldom taken on the feedback of small customers like me, but, as a customer (or future customer), I did my duty.

It is not always the case with big companies. During a business exhibition, I met several people and we shared business cards. A few days later, while reviewing cards andsaving the important contacts; I felt it difficult to recall about one card. Company name, person name, contact details and website were mentioned. On checking the website, I was unable to understand what that particular company actually does.

At this point, I also recall a whatsapp message from one of my friend (IIT Engineer plus MBA from reputed institute) who ventured into a new consultancy company with two his friends (one from Information technology, and another MBA- Finance management). I visited their website, but could not understand what type of consultancy services they were providing- they were providing some solutions too! As a simpler tool, I just made a phone call, and asked, "Website is good, but how can your services or solutions be useful for a manufacturing company?" He explained me in detail, that he was looking manufacturing mill from the management point of view and explore and suggest ways to improve profitability, quality assurance etc. He also gave me some practical examples. Impressed with his approach, I could only say, "Do you really think some mill might be able to understand by your website that you could be very helpful for them?" Needless to say, he updated his website soon.

The purpose of website is to describe about the company, the organization. When someone is unable to know about the organization by the website, it becomes just a status symbol.

12.12.2023

The Problem of No Problem

A few days back, I faced an interesting problem. The problem was the absence of a problem from a particular section of one process. You might be curious about how the mere absence of a problem can be a problem. But, to me, it was really a problem- a serious problem.

Well, when there is no problem, you can be happy. However, in fact, during that problem free time, it is really the need of time to be sure that there is really no problem at all; or we are just unable to see the problem. In most of the cases, the problem is there, but we often overlook that.

Your business is going on well. Your product is well accepted in the market. Your sales volume are OK, you are getting payments against your invoices timely. Still, you need to explore and find out, if there some other supplier trying to enter that market. But in case the another supplier fails in supplying your USP product, still you might be in danger. Seems funny. Let me share one real case as told by an ex-employee of below mentioned paper mill-

Parle-G started in 1939, is and has been one of the most sold biscuit brand. A cream-coloured, yellow-stripped, wax-paper wrapper with a photo of a cute young girl, containing 10-12 biscuit with the company's logo on it and you would know these are Parle-G biscuits. Even after 75 years of its birth, it is still known for its superior quality and taste across the length and depth of the country.

Parle-G, being the world’s largest selling biscuit brand, accounts for more than half of the total revenue of the company (Business Standard, 2011). Even in FY2021, the sales volume were nearly Rs.16000 Crore. Before 2001, the biscuit was being sold in paper packaging. Well, if the product sales volume is high, you know the quantity of packaging required will also be huge.

Coming to the point. The paper used for wrapping Parle-G was special and was being made by a single paper mill. There was no alternate supplier that was able to supply that particular quality of paper that time. The paper was being purchased at a price of Rs.60/- per kg that time. The paper mill was manufactuing this paper at a cost of Rs.36/- per kg, thus having a very good profit. As per the paper professionals of that time, the cost of production should have been within the range Rs.24-26 per kg; but the mill, did not pay attention towards cost reduction and efficient operation as the profit margins were already high.

Another paper mill, tried to enter the field and started developing that particular grade of paper. The earlier paper mill was a little worried. However, the second mill could not succeed even after a few efforts, and finally decided to drop the development of that wrapping paper.

A few days later, a meeting was going on in Parle-G office to decide whether they should stick to the conventional paper packaging or switch over to Poly Propylene (PP), which gave better printing results, better sealing properties, increased shelf life etc. compared to paper. Also, considering the keenness of the other paper mill to develop that packaging paper, considering their dependency on the sole supplier, inspite of facing no problem since long, a relatively smaller team of Parle-G wanted to proactively make a big change in their path. However, a relatively bigger fraction of team was still in favour of paper packaging, considering its traditional approach for the company that was being followed for more than past sixty years. Such a major change is usually difficult, and paper was seemingly winning over PP during the hot discussions.

Meanwhile, located in other city, the paper mill came to know that the second paper mill had dropped the trials to try manufacture of that grade of paper. They were now the undisputed leader of the Parle-G packaging market. Very exited, they sent a price revision (obviously increase) letter to Parle-G.

In the Parle-G conference room, a fax machine was installed, and during the ongoing discussions, a fax message popped up. The letter from paper mill read that the price of paper was being revised from Rs.60 per kg to Rs.70 per kg. Obviously, this letter made a conclusive impact on the discussions. Parle-G decided to switch over to PP, and further orders to that paper mill were stopped with immediate effect.

The paper mill, in absence of demand from its only supplier, tried to make several other grades of paper, but could not compete the market due to very high cost of production, poor productivity etc. Finally, the mill had to shut down its operations permanently. Earlier, the mill had faced no problem, and it had to shut down its operations. On the other hand, Parle-G, who could see the problem hiding behind a 'No Problem' zone timely found a suitable solution.

So, it may really be a big problem if you feel there is no problem.

29.11.2023

आहिस्ता चल जिंदगी

प्रकृति अपनी एक नियत गति से चलती है, और सदैव कोशिश करती है कि सब कुछ उसके अनुसार, उसकी उस नियत गति के अनुसार चलता रहे. जब-जब किसी भी प्राणी ने उस गति सीमा का उल्लंघन करने की कोशिश की है तो एक समय तक बर्दाश्त करने के पश्चात प्रकृति उसको अपने स्तर से चेतावनी देती है.

कभी सोचा आपने, कि आजकल डॉक्टर जो चीनी खाने को मना कर रहे हैं, या फिर कम खाने के लिए कह रहे हैं, ऐसा क्यों? आखिर जो भी कार्बोहाइड्रेट हम कहते हैं वह आखिरकार शुगर में ही तो परिवर्तित हो जाता है. इसके बाद वह चीनी की तरह ही ग्लूकोज एवं फ्रुक्टोज में बदल जाता है. तो फिर चीनी से ही इतनी नाराजगी क्यों?

स्वाभाविक है. वास्तव में चीनी ग्लूकोज में बदलने के लिए बहुत कम समय लेती है. इसके विपरीत कार्बोहाइड्रेट को अधिक समय लगता है. और प्रकृति नहीं चाहती कि हमारा शरीर अत्यधिक गति से चीनी को ग्लूकोज फ्रुक्टोज एवं आखिरकार ऊर्जा में परिवर्तित कर दे. इसके पीछे का कारण डॉक्टर ही ठीक प्रकार से समझा सकते हैं.

देखा गया है की प्रकृति के इस गति चक्र का उल्लंघन करने के लिए लोग तरह-तरह के कार्य कर रहे हैं. कुछ लोग अत्यधिक परिश्रम कर रहे हैं, एक्सरसाइज कर रहे हैं, तो कुछ लोग अपने खाने पीने पर अत्यधिक कंट्रोल भी कर रहे हैं.

स्मरण रखिए प्रकृति हमारे अनुसार नहीं चलेगी, हमको ही प्रकृति के अनुसार ढलना पड़ेगा.

क्या आपने करने बात पर ध्यान दिया कि यदि हम साइकिल से चलते हैं, तो ऊर्जा की खपत परिणामात्मक रूप से कम होती है, लेकिन अगर स्कूटर से चलते हैं, या कार से चलते हैं तो ऊर्जा की खपत ज्यादा होती है. हवाई यात्रा में तो यह खपत और भी अधिक पहुंच जाती है.

कुछ ऐसा ही औद्योगिक उत्पादन में भी हो रहा है जैसे-जैसे आप मशीन की क्षमता को बढ़ाते जाते हैं, प्रोडक्शन बढ़ाते जाते हैं, ऊर्जा की खपत बढ़ने लगती है. उस खपत को कम करने के लिए हम कुछ उपाय अपनाते हैं, जो कि एक सीमा तक ही खपत को कम करने में सहायक होते हैं. मैं एक छोटा सा उदाहरण बॉयलर का देना चाहूंगा.

अगर बॉयलर को आप अधिक प्रेशर पर चलना चाहेंगे, तो स्वाभाविक है कि आपको बॉयलर फीड पंप अधिक क्षमता का लगाना पड़ेगा, उसकी मोटर बड़ी लगानी पड़ेगी. भले ही बायलर की वाष्प जनन क्षमता उतनी ही हो. अब आपको पेपर मिल में ज्यादा टेंपरेचर देकर कागज को जल्दी सुखाना हो, और इस प्रकार उत्पादन बढ़ाना हो; या फिर दूध से मिल्क पाउडर बनाने के लिए उत्पादन बढ़ाना हो- सभी जगह पर आपको अत्यधिक ऊर्जा की जरूरत पड़ रही है. एक बाल्टी पानी आप अपने घर की छत पर डाल दीजिए; कुछ समय के पश्चात वह सूख जाता है, अर्थात उसका वाष्पीकरण हो जाता है, लेकिन अगर आपको अत्यधिक मात्रा में पानी को वाष्पीकृत करना हो, चाहे इलेक्ट्रिक हीटर के द्वारा या फिर स्टीम के द्वारा या किसी अन्य विधि द्वारा, अधिक ऊर्जा देनी ही पड़ेगी.

ये आजकल का बढ़ता प्रदूषण, बीमारियां, वायरस का प्रकोप इत्यादि वस्तुतः प्रकृति द्वारा दी जा रही चेतावनी ही तो हैं.

विकल्प है तो सिर्फ एक, धीरे चलिए. वो कहते हैं न, "भाई, जरा अपने RPM कम कर लो." सोचिये, क्या यह हर समय की भाग-दौड़, बैंक बैलेंस के पीछे बौरा जाना, एक के बाद एक नया काम, वार्डरोब में बढ़ता हुआ कपड़ों का अम्बार, आपके काम करने के लिए सर्वेन्ट्स की भीड़-भाड़, सबकी जरूरतों के पूरा करने के लिए फैलता बाजार... क्यों दौड़ रहे हैं आप? कब तक और कितना दौड़ेंगे? धीमे हो जाइये, परिवार के साथ समय बिताइए, फुर्सत से बैठकर मनोरंजक फिल्में देखिये, दोस्तों के संग कहकहे लगाइये. हँसिये, मुस्कुराइए. चाय पीजिये, और दूसरों को भी पिलाइये.

15.11.2023

Identify, where can you improve!

Very long back, a coating plant was installed in paper mill. The paper was coated with china clay, starch and other binders, and finally supercalendared to impart good gloss in paper. The supercalendar consists of various rolls one above another, alternatively made of chilled cast iron and cotton.

After a couple of days, a cotton roll showed indication of burning. The roll was seemingly ok from outside, but there was a burning smell. The paper produced also showed signs of thickness variation. As obvious, the

roll was sent for grinding at a nearby workshop.

Soon, it became a practice. Every few days, a roll was getting damaged. The roll could be grinded 2-3 times, and after which it had to be sent to supplier for recoating- a costly affair.

I recall, in despair, I called the roll supplier, narrating the case. His reply was- "Sir, it is your new coating plant, first experience of supercalendar; you need to bear this for some time." Feeling slightly assured, I asked further, "So, what would happen afterwards? Will the operating parameters be optimized, or the operators would get more familiar with the machine?" But this time, his reply was unexpected- "No. After some time, you'd become used to for this."

This was really shocking information.

Was he diplomatically trying to say that this is the way how supercalendar rolls work? This statement indicated that we need to focus more and identify the causes and remedial actions to ensure better life of rolls. After all, every time you change a roll, you are forced to alter some machine operating conditions unwillingly, unintentionally and often unknowingly.

Next day, a meeting with the all concerned was called. A one and a half hour brainstorming could not give any clue. The issue was also discussed with some other industry experts, but no clear idea was readily available.

Under such circumstances, we decided to focus more on cover material characteristics- Cotton. The detailed study about its physical, chemical, microscopic and hydroscopic nature of cotton fibers gave some clues, and we decided to implement that into our plant.

Initial trials were successful. This led us to improve further and the problem (almost) vanished in some time. Later the issue and solution was discussed with the new roll supplier. A little unexpected, (after all, his business was going to be reduced after our approach!) but he too took it positively, and started making some further improvements in material (cotton blended with some specialty fibers), manufacturing (loading and compacting operations, shaft modifications etc.).

Today, compared to earlier times, we are operating that supercalendar at nearly 2.5 times the speed, nearly 1.5 times the nip load, and still getting roll life to the tune of 2-3 times compared to earlier.

Please do keep in mind, "Improvements are possible ONLY if you you are not satisfied with the existing, and want to improve things." Trust me- "Your team, your suppliers, your customers and all concerned support you, if you sincerely want to do -and make efforts- for something good, something positive for industry."

Explore.

24.10.2023

एक मोटर जो दक्षता के हिसाब से उन्नत नहीं है, उसको हम अक्सर कहते हैं- यह मोटर करंट ज्यादा पीती है इसे बदल दो.

ऊर्जा दक्षता अच्छी रहे इसके लिए हम तरह-तरह के प्रयत्न करते आ रहे हैं. कभी मोटर बदलते हैं, कभी पंप बदलते हैं, कभी मशीनरी में कोई और मॉडिफिकेशन करते हैं, लेकिन हमारा एकमात्र लक्ष्य होता है किसी भी प्रकार से उसकी दक्षता को बढ़ाना. उसकी बिजली की खपत को कम करना.

इंसान भी तो एक मशीन ही है. हम खाना खाते हैं, और काम करते हैं. लेकिन देखा गया है कुछ लोग कम खाते हैं, और कुछ ज्यादा खाते हैं. किसी का पेट दो रोटी में भर जाता है तो कोई 6 या 8 रोटी से भी संतुष्ट नहीं हो पाता है.

क्या विश्व में बढ़ती खाद्य पदार्थों की कमी को देखते हुए, सम्पूर्ण मानव जाति को खुराक कम करने पर जोर नहीं देना चाहिए? चिकित्सा विज्ञान द्वारा, योग द्वारा अथवा किसी भी अन्य प्रकार से, परन्तु यह आज के समय की एक महत्वपूर्ण आवश्यकता है. 

10.10.2023

Papermaking... random thoughts.

I got a phone call from a paper professional friend working in a paper mill. They had installed a new steam and condensate system from a reputed supplier. Acording to him, there were some operational problems now and then, and also the biggest problem was that the daily steam flow was lesser than condensate recovered from machine. The difference was more than 5-8%. He further agreed that there had been around 10-15% reduction in steam consumption after the new system was installed.

Anyone can understand that the condensate flow can be lesser than steam consumption due to various leakages, say from rotary joints, pump glands etc.; but in any case it cannot be more than the steam consumption. Well, one possibility could be there that the flow measurement by steam flow meter or condensate flowmeter is faulty. I adviced him to check for that.

He further shared his P&ID with me. I observed that the system had been made too complex. Specifically the use of multiple flash vessels to ensure every bit of sensible heat from condensate is efficiently recovered, which is an obvious aim of any system designer. However, to achieve this, condensate was being pumped from one flash vessel to another, final flash vapours being cooled down in a heat exchanger (water cooled) just to recover smallest amount of recoverable condensate. But, always remember- everything comes at a price. You need cooling water to be pumped to heat exchanger, you need a vacuum pump to ensure vapors are passing through heat exchanger and all that. For these, you need to supply electrical energy.

In a similar case, few years back, I adviced a mill to make their system simpler by removing several sections, which resulted in nearly 1-1.5% more specific steam consumption, but the production rate could be increased by 8-10% immediately. Not only this, the operators found that the new system was more easier to operate.

In an old paper mill, where automation was implemented a couple of years back, I observed that most of the control loops were being operated in MANUAL mode. The process people faced some difficulties which were not attended timely, and they had to just toggle off the AUTO mode.

Nobody to blame here- all process people are determined to give optimum production, optimum quality and that too within their available resources. All automation people want to ensure their systems work well and help the team in achieving milestones in quality and production. All mechanical and electrical people want to reduce breakdowns. So, where actually is the fault?

I have often observed that the communication between machines has been improved a lot. Motor overload is quickly sensed and appropriate action is taken by the relay, chest level is sensed and the control valves ensure that the level, pressure or whatever parameter is needed, is controlled properly within time. On the other hand, the communication between the people has not been improved much. A problem in a load cell results in tension variation in paper, and the rewinder operator claims, "Rewinder is not running properly." In a particular case, the condensate tank level was increasing too much, and the operator informed the instrumentation team that 'their' level control was not working. Soon, it was found that the condensate pump was running but the coupling has broken.

So, what should be done? First, we need to improve communication amongst our team members to discuss about various problems as well as their possible solutions; and second, we need to educate them about the basics and fundamentals of other departments working. Third is to ensure that we are not making our systems unnecessarily complex, so that in case of any problem, the troubleshooting is done quickly.

Please do share your views...