Manufacturing excellence through TPM implementation: a practical analysis

To compete effectively in the global marketplace of the twenty-first century, manufacturing companies are trying to maintain a high level of flexibility and responsiveness to achieve agility and to remain competitive. Manufacturers are under tremendous pressure to improve productivity and quality while reducing costs. The new competition is in terms of reduced cost, improved quality products with higher performance, a wider range of products and better services all delivered simultaneously to enhance value to customers. In such environment providing good quality product at low cost for a medium scale industry has become very tough. To provide good quality product at low cost, small industries need a formulation of some manufacturing approaches like agile manufacturing to manufacture defect free products within their materials cost limit. Medium scale steel manufacturing industries like Magnum steel limited (MSL), banmore are facing problems of higher rejections in form of wastes so as to increase their cost. This thesis aims to analyze the application of agile manufacturing in magnum steel limited in order to reduce wastages through implementing lean tools and techniques. An agility audit questionnaire is used for assessing the agility level of the company to identify the current level of performance within the company with respect to the key elements of agility. MSL‟s agile experience is reported including a list of recommendation for improving its competitiveness to offer solution alternatives not only to the current problems but also to the ones that may be encountered in the future. International Journal of Research in Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJREAS) Vol. 6 Issue 11, November 2016 ISSN(O): 2249-3905, ISSN(P) : 2349-6525 | Impact Factor: 6.573 International Journal of Research in Engineering & Applied Sciences Email:[email protected], http://www.euroasiapub.org An open access scholarly, online, peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, monthly, and fully refereed journals 75 INTRODUCTION Businesses are restructuring and re-engineering themselves in response to the challenges and demands of 21st century. The 21st century businesses will have to overcome the challenges of demanding customers seeking high quality, low cost products, responsive to their specific and rapidly changing. In the past, economies of scale ruled the manufacturing world and everybody knew that mass production and full utilization of plant capacity was the way to make money. This style of manufacturing resulted in inflexible plants that could not be easily reconfigured, and were associated with swollen raw materials, work-in-process and finished goods inventories. Since the early 1980s, in pursuit of greater flexibility, elimination of excess in inventory, shortened lead-times, and advanced levels of quality in both products and customer service, industry analysts have popularized the terms `world-class manufacturing‟ and lean production‟ (Sheridan 1993). Customer Demand Uncertainty is a big obstacle for companies to sustain their competitiveness in the market that responding customer requirements becomes essential. Besides companies need to consider also their cost structures which should have in high consistency to survive as well. In highly competitive environment, the companies need to try some responsibilities to continue their sustainability in the market. Satisfaction of customer requirements within agreed time, high quality and service levels are essential point to keep firms positions. On the other hand reduction of cost in the system is another perspective to survive hence those characteristics; customer responsiveness following cost reduction in the system conducts the firms to take some decisions and responsibilities in the changeable market conditions