PRODUCTIONAND

OPERATIONSMANAGEMENT

PROJECT

Project submitted by:Aastha Grover (4728)Aayushi Garg (4732)

Nishith Bahety (4693)Vaibhav Goel (4730)Vishesh Jain (4717)

SHAHEED SUKHDEV COLLEGE OF BUSINESS STUDIES (CBS)

UNIVERSITY OF DELHI

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Ms. Geetanjali

Juneja, without whose able guidance and support,

this project would have only been a vision.

We would also like to thank Bata India Ltd.,

Faridabad for their valuable support in providing us

with all the necessary help to carry out our study.

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INDEX1. Objectives of the study 12. Introduction to operations management 5

3. Process and Operations System 84. Different Types OF Layout 105. Production & Operations Management at BATA 18 6. Industry Profile 197. Process Flow chart 238. Description of Production Process 24

9. Quality Control 3310. Research & Development 3511. References 39

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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDYHaving developed a keen interest in Production & Operations Management as a subject in the current semester (3rd) and realizing its importance in today’s competitive and customer oriented market scenario we thought that it would be a great learning experience if we could get to witness and learn the practical aspects of it. Thus, we decided to make a formal pre-planned visit to the footwear plant of Bata India Ltd at NIT, Faridabad, and learn about the plant’s functioning. The main objectives of our study were:

1. To understand the flow of process in the plant.

2. To study the nature of production system.

3. Understand the key challenges associated with operations management.

4. To know the various quality control measures used.

5. Study the inventory- management at the site

6. Identify the specific areas of Operations Management at the site where there is scope for improvement.

METHODOLOGY USEDMethodology means selecting the various methods and techniques to be used while conducting the study. The various steps includes: -

1. Selection of a company to serve as organization of study.

2. Collection of relevant data.

3. Analysis and interpretation of the data.

4. Generation of a final report.

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INTRODUCTION TO OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

WHAT IS OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT?

Operations management is an area of business that is concerned with the production of goods and services, and involves the responsibility of ensuring that business operations are efficient and effective. It is the management of resources, the distribution of goods and services to customers, and the analysis of queue systems.

APICS The Association for Operations Management also defines operations management as "the field of study that focuses on the effectively planning, scheduling, use, and control of a manufacturing or service organization through the study of concepts from design engineering, industrial engineering, management information systems, quality management, production management, inventory management, accounting, and other functions as they affect the organization".

Operations also refer to the production of goods and services, the set of value-added activities that transform inputs into many outputs. Fundamentally, these value-adding creative activities should be aligned with market opportunity for optimal enterprise performance.

Operations management is a systematic approach to address all the issues pertaining to the transformation process that converts some inputs into outputs that are useful, and could fetch revenue for the organization.

CURRENT TRENDS IN MANUFACTURING IN INDIA

1. If India is to achieve an overall growth of 8% per annum, it is essential that both manufacturing and services grow at more than 11% even when agriculture growth picks up to close to 4%.

2. A comparison with other major Asian countries show that the size of the value added in the Indian manufacturing sector ($ 66 billion in 2000) was less than one fifth of the Chinese manufacturing sector ($ 373 billion) and even less than half of the Korean manufacturing sector ($ 144 billion).

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3. Share of the manufacturing sector in India’s GDP has remained stable at around 17% while in China the manufacturing sector accounted for around 35% of the GDP and in the case of Korea, it was 31%

SHARP DECELERATION IN MANUFACTURING SECTOR GROWTH

1. Manufacturing sector growth in India has fallen sharply in the last seven years as compared to the first seven years after the reforms. Manufacturing sector growth slumped from 7.4% in the first seven years of reforms (1990-91 to 1996-97) to just 4.7% over the last seven years (1997-98 to 2003-04).

2. Manufacturing sector growth in the last seven years was lower than the 5.1% growth clocked by industry or the 5.7% growth of GDP during the period.

COST DISABILITY FACTORS FACED BY INDIAN MANUFACTURING SECTOR

Higher input costs for the Indian manufacturing sector can be attributed to:

1. Cascading effect of indirect taxes on selling prices of commodities

2. Higher cost of utilities like power, railway transport, water

3. Higher cost of finance and

4. High transactions costs

LOW OPERATING SURPLUS IN THE INDIAN MANUFACTURING SECTOR

A detailed investigation of 15 major manufacturing sectors in India shows that the share of operating surplus in the total value of output averaged 15% in India – much lower compared to 22.6% in Malaysia, 29.4% in Indonesia and 30.6% in Korea.

HIGH COSTS OF INPUT MATERIALS AND UTILITIES IN INDIA: A MAJOR DISADVANTAGE IN THE GLOBAL MARKETS

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A comparison of costs of input materials and utilities in India, China, Malaysia and Korea across 15 important manufacturing segments showed that on the average the share of input materials and utilities in total output value was as high as 81.3% in India as against 75.5% in China, 68.7% in Malaysia and only 58.5% in Korea.

ADVANTAGE INDIA: THE LOW LABOR COSTS IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR

Estimates show that the average share of labor costs in manufacturing across 15 major

industries was 6.9% in India as compared to 8.7% in Malaysia, 10.7% in Korea and 5.5% in

Indonesia.

IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY OF THE LAGGARD SEGMENTS IN INDIAN MANUFACTURING

This improvisation was done through the cluster approach in 82 identified areas in 23 industries spread across 31 states and union territories. This included the following:

1. Promoting a balanced growth approach for accelerating growth of large manufacturing clusters across all sectors and states is essential to give a significant boost to the sector.

2. An analysis of the productivity levels in 23 major manufacturing sector segments across 31 major states and union territories show that there is significant potential for improving labor productivity. Benchmarking the industries with low labor productivity in the laggard states to the highest labor productivity levels currently achieved in the leading states can be the first step in improving the overall productivity levels in the manufacturing sector.

3. Our study has identified as many as 79 odd large clusters spread across 23 major manufacturing segments in 31 states where there is sufficient scope for significantly improving productivity levels.

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MANUFACTURING SECTORS SHOWING IMPROVED COMPETITIVENESS IN GLOBAL MARKETS: 1980-2000

1. Our analysis identified 47 major manufactured products whose share in the global markets has improved significantly between 1980 and 2000. The share of these 50 products in India’s total merchandize exports has gone up from 40.3% in 1980, to 50.9% in 1990 and further to 57.4% in 2000. We estimate that the share of these 50 major manufactured products in total merchandize exports may be now closer to around two thirds.

2. The share of these 50 manufactured products in the global market currently ranges between 1% to 13%. On the average their un-weighted share of the global export market is just 2.8%. We should now target that the share of these 50 major manufactured products in the global markets double to above 5% in the next five years.

3. Special product specific export promotion schemes and other measures to facilitate faster growth of these export competitive manufacturing sectors may be urgently devised.

PROCESSES AND OPERATIONS SYSTEM

Process design is a planning process for each and every component manufactured, that determines the number of steps involved in manufacturing, the number and types of steps used and the time spent in each of these steps. The following are the 4 most generally used flows in manufacturing organizations:

1. Continuous Flow System: A continuous flow system is characterized by streamlined flow of products in the operating system. The conversion process begins with input of raw material at one end. It progresses in an orderly fashion to finally become finished goods at the final stage. With such a system, the raw material and other required items are fed into the system at the beginning of the process. Once they are fed into the system, it is not possible to stop the system. Various chemical processes happen in a closed manufacturing setup and finished goods are obtained at the end of the manufacturing process. In some cases, it is possible to derive products during the intermediate stages of the process in the form of by-products. Since the process is continuous, there should be a balance between all the stages in the manufacturing process to maintain an even flow of the material from the raw material stage to that of

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finished goods. The need to keep the production facilities continuously running directly translates into a need to be good in maintenance management. An example of this can be the paper manufacturing process.

2. Assembly Line : Assembly line is also characterized by a continuous and streamlined flow but this is used in case of discrete industries i.e. various components are manufactured in a discrete fashion and final product is obtained through an assembly process. It is basically a mass production system wherein the volume of production is very high and the number of variations in the final product is low. Therefore, it is possible to organize the entire manufacturing by dedicating the required manufacturing resources for each product variant and arranging the resources one after the other, as per the manufacturing sequence. Better management practices, methods of designing the amount and nature of activities to be performed in each workstation and configuring product based layouts are important in this system. Automobile and two-wheeler manufacturers are typical examples who use such a system.

3. Batch Production: This system is used in case of mid-volume and mid-variety industries. A batch production system is different for process and discrete industries. In case of process industries, in one batch, one set of variations is manufactured and in the next batch, another set of variations is manufactured. In between these two batches, the necessary setup and changeover of resources are made to facilitate smooth production and maximum productivity. In case of discrete manufacturing systems, the entire manufacturing setup can be split into units in which similar processing requirements can be combined and manufacturing resources arranged to cater to these requirements. One batch of components may be produced in one of these units and another batch in yet another unit.

4. Job shop : In such systems the flow pattern is non-standard and complex because there are unique process designs for each and every customer order. Moreover, customer orders are typically for one off items and organizations cannot benefit from any batching and repetitive manufacturing practices. Some organizations undertake projects that are typically large scale, involve high levels of customization and have long lead times, thus it involves multiple entities and multiple stages of the process. These require jumbled flow systems. Scheduling of various activities and control of these is an essential requirement and appropriate tools are required. Turnkey project executers like BHEL and L&T are good examples for this. There can also be organizations where the production may not be as low as 1 unit as in above case but the number of customers are very large, resulting in large variety. Since each customer order could potentially demand unique process requirements, the resulting flow in the system becomes highly jumbled. An example can be an optical shop.

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DIFFERENT TYPES OF LAYOUTS

In manufacturing, facility layout consists of configuring the plant site with lines, buildings, major

facilities, work areas, aisles, and other pertinent features such as department boundaries. While

facility layout for services may be similar to that for manufacturing, it also may be somewhat

different—as is the case with offices, retailers, and warehouses. Because of its relative

permanence, facility layout probably is one of the most crucial elements affecting efficiency. An

efficient layout can reduce unnecessary material handling, help to keep costs low, and maintain

product flow through the facility.

Firms in the upper left-hand corner of the product-process matrix have a process structure

known as a jumbled flow or a disconnected or intermittent line flow. Upper-left firms generally

have a process layout. Firms in the lower right-hand corner of the product-process matrix can

have a line or continuous flow. Firms in the lower-right part of the matrix generally have a

product layout. Other types of layouts include fixed-position, combination, cellular, and certain

types of service layouts.

PROCESS LAYOUT

Process layouts are found primarily in job shops, or firms that produce customized, low-volume

products that may require different processing requirements and sequences of operations.

Process layouts are facility configurations in which operations of a similar nature or function are

grouped together. As such, they occasionally are referred to as functional layouts. Their purpose

is to process goods or provide services that involve a variety of processing requirements. A

manufacturing example would be a machine shop. A machine shop generally has separate

departments where general-purpose machines are grouped together by function (e.g., milling,

grinding, drilling, hydraulic presses, and lathes). Therefore, facilities that are configured

according to individual functions or processes have a process layout. This type of layout gives

the firm the flexibility needed to handle a variety of routes and process requirements. Services

that utilize process layouts include hospitals, banks, auto repair, libraries, and universities.

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Improving process layouts involves the minimization of transportation cost, distance, or time.

Advantages of process layouts include:

1. Flexibility. The firm has the ability to handle a variety of processing requirements.

2. Cost. Sometimes, the general-purpose equipment utilized may be less costly to purchase

and less costly and easier to maintain than specialized equipment.

3. Motivation. Employees in this type of layout will probably be able to perform a variety

of tasks on multiple machines, as opposed to the boredom of performing a repetitive

task on an assembly line. A process layout also allows the employer to use some type of

individual incentive system.

4. System protection. Since there are multiple machines available, process layouts are not

particularly vulnerable to equipment failures.

Disadvantages of process layouts include:

1. Utilization. Equipment utilization rates in process layout are frequently very low,

because machine usage is dependent upon a variety of output requirements.

2. Cost. If batch processing is used, in-process inventory costs could be high. Lower volume

means higher per-unit costs. More specialized attention is necessary for both products

and customers. Setups are more frequent, hence higher setup costs. Material handling

is slower and more inefficient. The span of supervision is small due to job complexities

(routing, setups, etc.), so supervisory costs are higher. Additionally, in this type of layout

accounting, inventory control, and purchasing usually are highly involved.

3. Confusion. Constantly changing schedules and routings make juggling process

requirements more difficult.

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PRODUCT LAYOUT

Product layouts are found in flow shops (repetitive assembly and process or continuous flow

industries). Flow shops produce high-volume, highly standardized products that require highly

standardized, repetitive processes. In a product layout, resources are arranged sequentially,

based on the routing of the products. In theory, this sequential layout allows the entire process

to be laid out in a straight line, which at times may be totally dedicated to the production of only

one product or product version. The flow of the line can then be subdivided so that labor and

equipment are utilized smoothly throughout the operation.

Two types of lines are used in product layouts: paced and unpaced. Paced lines can use some

sort of conveyor that moves output along at a continuous rate so that workers can perform

operations on the product as it goes by. For longer operating times, the worker may have to

walk alongside the work as it moves until he or she is finished and can walk back to the

workstation to begin working on another part (this essentially is how automobile manufacturing

works).

On an unpaced line, workers build up queues between workstations to allow a variable work

pace. However, this type of line does not work well with large, bulky products because too much

storage space may be required. Also, it is difficult to balance an extreme variety of output rates

without significant idle time. A technique known as assembly-line balancing can be used to

group the individual tasks performed into workstations so that there will be a reasonable

balance of work among the workstations.

Product layout efficiency is often enhanced through the use of line balancing. Line balancing is

the assignment of tasks to workstations in such a way that workstations have approximately

equal time requirements. This minimizes the amount of time that some workstations are idle,

due to waiting on parts from an upstream process or to avoid building up an inventory queue in

front of a downstream process.

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Advantages of product layouts include:

1. Output : Product layouts can generate a large volume of products in a short time.

2. Cost: Unit cost is low as a result of the high volume. Labor specialization results in

reduced training time and cost. A wider span of supervision also reduces labor costs.

Accounting, purchasing, and inventory control are routine. Because routing is fixed, less

attention is required.

3. Utilization: There is a high degree of labor and equipment utilization.

Disadvantages of product layouts include:

1. Motivation : The system's inherent division of labor can result in dull, repetitive jobs that

can prove to be quite stressful. Also, assembly-line layouts make it very hard to

administer individual incentive plans.

2. Flexibility : Product layouts are inflexible and cannot easily respond to required system

changes—especially changes in product or process design.

3. System protection: The system is at risk from equipment breakdown, absenteeism, and

downtime due to preventive maintenance.

FIXED-POSITION LAYOUT

A fixed-position layout is appropriate for a product that is too large or too heavy to move. For

example, battleships are not produced on an assembly line. For services, other reasons may

dictate the fixed position (e.g., a hospital operating room where doctors, nurses, and medical

equipment are brought to the patient). Other fixed-position layout examples include

construction (e.g., buildings, dams, and electric or nuclear power plants), shipbuilding, aircraft,

aerospace, farming, drilling for oil, home repair, and automated car washes. In order to make

this work, required resources must be portable so that they can be taken to the job for "on the

spot" performance.

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Due to the nature of the product, the user has little choice in the use of a fixed-position layout.

Disadvantages of foxed position layout include:

1. Space: For many fixed-position layouts, the work area may be crowded so that little

storage space is available. This also can cause material handling problems.

2. Administration: Oftentimes, the administrative burden is higher for fixed-position

layouts. The span of control can be narrow, and coordination difficult.

COMBINATION LAYOUTS

Many situations call for a mixture of the three main layout types. These mixtures are commonly

called combination or hybrid layouts. For example, one firm may utilize a process layout for the

majority of its process along with an assembly in one area. Alternatively, a firm may utilize a

fixed-position layout for the assembly of its final product, but use assembly lines to produce the

components and subassemblies that make up the final product (e.g., aircraft).

CELLULAR LAYOUT

Cellular manufacturing is a type of layout where machines are grouped according to the process

requirements for a set of similar items (part families) that require similar processing. These

groups are called cells. Therefore, a cellular layout is an equipment layout configured to support

cellular manufacturing.

Processes are grouped into cells using a technique known as group technology (GT). Group

technology involves identifying parts with similar design characteristics (size, shape, and

function) and similar process characteristics (type of processing required, available machinery

that performs this type of process, and processing sequence).

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Workers in cellular layouts are cross-trained so that they can operate all the equipment within

the cell and take responsibility for its output. Sometimes the cells feed into an assembly line that

produces the final product. In some cases a cell is formed by dedicating certain equipment to

the production of a family of parts without actually moving the equipment into a physical cell

(these are called virtual or nominal cells). In this way, the firm avoids the burden of rearranging

its current layout. However, physical cells are more common.

An automated version of cellular manufacturing is the flexible manufacturing system (FMS).

With an FMS, a computer controls the transfer of parts to the various processes, enabling

manufacturers to achieve some of the benefits of product layouts while maintaining the

flexibility of small batch production.

Advantages of cellular manufacturing include:

1. Cost: Cellular manufacturing provides for faster processing time, less material handling,

less work-in-process inventory, and reduced setup time, all of which reduce costs.

2. Flexibility: Cellular manufacturing allows for the production of small batches, which

provides some degree of increased flexibility. This aspect is greatly enhanced with FMSs.

3. Motivation: Since workers are cross-trained to run every machine in the cell, boredom

is less of a factor. Also, since workers are responsible for their cells' output, more

autonomy and job ownership is present.

OTHER LAYOUTS

In addition to the aforementioned layouts, there are others that are more appropriate for use in

service organizations. These include warehouse/storage layouts, retail layouts, and office

layouts.

With warehouse/storage layouts, order frequency is a key factor. Items that are ordered

frequently should be placed close together near the entrance of the facility, while those ordered

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less frequently remain in the rear of the facility. Pareto analysis is an excellent method for

determining which items to place near the entrance. Since 20 percent of the items typically

represent 80 percent of the items ordered, it is not difficult to determine which 20 percent to

place in the most convenient location. In this way, order picking is made more efficient.

While layout design is much simpler for small retail establishments (shoe repair, dry cleaner,

etc.), retail stores, unlike manufacturers, must take into consideration the presence of

customers and the accompanying opportunities to influence sales and customer attitudes. For

example, supermarkets place dairy products near the rear of the store so that customers who

run into the store for a quick gallon of milk must travel through other sections of the store. This

increases the chance of the customer seeing an item of interest and making an impulse buy.

Additionally, expensive items such as meat are often placed so that the customer will see them

frequently (e.g., pass them at the end of each aisle). Retail chains are able to take advantage of

standardized layouts, which give the customer more familiarity with the store when shopping in

a new location.

Office layouts must be configured so that the physical transfer of information (paperwork) is

optimized. Communication also can be enhanced through the use of low-rise partitions and

glass walls.

A number of changes taking in place in manufacturing have had a direct effect on facility layout.

One apparent manufacturing trend is to build smaller and more compact facilities with more

automation and robotics. In these situations, machines need to be placed closer to each other in

order to reduce material handling. Another trend is an increase in automated material handling

systems, including automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/AR) and automated guided

vehicles (AGVs). There also is movement toward the use of U-shaped lines, which allow workers,

material handlers, and supervisors to see the entire line easily and travel efficiently between

workstations. So that the view is not obstructed, fewer walls and partitions are incorporated

into the layout. Finally, thanks to lean manufacturing and just-in-time production, less space is

needed for inventory storage throughout the layout.

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PRODUTION

&

OPERATION MANAGEMENT

@

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ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

Bata is one of the world's leading footwear retailers and manufacturers with operations across 5 continents managed by 4 regional meaningful business units (MBUs). The MBU approach provides quality resources and support in key areas to the companies operating in similar markets such as product development, sourcing or marketing support. Each MBU is entrepreneurial in nature, and can quickly adapt to changes in the market place and seize potential growth opportunities.

THE FOUNDERS

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Bata's strength lies in its worldwide presence. While local companies are self-governing, each one benefits from its link to the international organization for back-office systems, product innovations and sourcing.

Although Bata operates in a wide variety of markets, climates and buying power Bata companies share the same leadership points. Two important ones are product concept development and constant improvement of business processes in order to offer customers great value and the best possible service.

Serves 1 million customers per day Employs more than 40,000 people Operates 5000 retail stores Manages a retail presence in over 50 countries Runs 40 production facilities across 25 countries

In INDIA Bata has 5 production facilities and 1 leather unit:

1. Batanagar, Kolkata2. Faridabad, Uttar Pradesh3. Bataganj, Patna4. Southcane, Bangalore5. Hosur, Tamil Nadu6. Leather Unit at Patna

20% of total Indian shoe production comes from Bata i.e. about 8 crore pairs.

Bata India has several fully owned retail stores in different parts of India, apart from various franchisee stores. There are basically three types of Bata Stores:

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1. Flagship Stores - Target Sales are 1 crore plus and Target Population is the high-income group

2. Family Stores - Target Sales range between 50 lakh and 1 crore and the target group is the middle-income population.

3. Bazaars - Taget Sales of less than 50 lakh and the maximum purchasers are people from low-income group.

OUR VISITWe fixed an appointment with Mr. Mukesh, the HR manager, and left for Bata India’s Plant located at NIT, Faridabad. After a rather tiring 90mins journey to the site, we finally reached Bata’s production facility, spread over approx. 20 acres of land.

We were escorted inside the plant office from where, after a brief formal introduction with the Mr. Mukesh, we began our tour of the plant with Mr.Kamlesh, the Productions Manager, who explained to us, each and every step of the manufacturing process in detail, moving from one assembly line to another, from one workstation to another. all throughout the well-guided tour, we kept asking him whatever queries we had in mind, all of which were very promptly answered by him Later, we sat in his cabin and and discussed other issues related to productions and operations management at Bata.

THE MANUFACTURING PROCESSThe plant mainly produces canvas P.T shoes and the Hawaii slippers. Our area of concern was the production of the canvas shoes and the associated manufacturing process.

Bata uses Batch Production system. Although it only manufactures canvas shoes but within that it has various size variants. Within the batch production system, assembly line process is followed. The plant has 2 assembly lines working simultaneously, one for the stitching of shoe upper and other is a semi-automated conveyor belt for assembly of the shoe, at the end of

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which we get the shoe. Simultaneously, there are other processes like the production of adhesive cement and rubber latex, shoe binding etc are done simultaneously at different workstations.

The plant in all has 6 conveyor belts and 6 stitching lines but presently the management is operating only 3 of them, in view of the low demand for their products this year.

One conveyor belt requires 35 people to work and 6 people are required on the stitching conveyor. The factory employs 450 people. One set of conveyors (i.e. both stitching and assembly included) produces about 1800-1900 pairs of shoes in one day. The gross monthly production of the plant averages around 5 Lac pairs.

Despite the fact that the whole production process is semi-automated, the Bata Plant

still remains a labour intensive unit. As such, having a good and efficient HR department

is very important. In order to infuse a constant drive to work harder in its employees at

various levels, the department has made use of various pin-up boards and small

hoarding where it has put up many inspiring and motivational quotes, some of which we

have captured below :

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PROCESS FLOW CHARTThe whole process of the production of shoes can be depicted through the following chart:

RAW MATERIAL STOCK

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Compound Chemical Out Shoe Thread Binding Cloth Boxes

Folding

Cutting

Stamping

Making Binding

Cement

Latex

Stitching

Assembly

Vulcanizing

Making Sole Pull

1. RAW MATERIAL STOCK

The raw materials which includes the chemicals used for making cement adhesive, rubber latex and sole (both inner and outer), Cloth (bought from Bombay Dyeing) used for making upper , material used for making binding, thread and the packaging cartons etc are stocked in the warehouse . Inventory of all the above items is properly maintained with the help of a ‘Material Stock Position’ chart made on the walls of the warehouse and a computerized Inventory Database.

Th the

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Every department has been allocated a maximum stock limit beyond which they cannot store the raw materials for themselves. It has to be used as frequently as possible. Every fortnight, the stocks and usage is reviewed. The transmission of raw materials from stock warehouse to respective departments is recorded and same is done with the transmissions between various departments. All this data is readily available for review to all departments and can be checked anytime.

2. CEMENT AND LATEX MANUFACTURING

The cement adhesive and rubber latex are the main chemicals used to paste together the different parts of a shoe, are manufactured in the plant itself. Both these materials are produced keeping in mind the exact requirements and also the correct specification, which is the right mix of chemicals to make it the best pasting element and get the desired quality.

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3. SOLE PULL MANUFACTURING

The inner and outer soles required in the shoe are also produced in-house. Huge rubber sheets measuring 3 ft x 2 ft having a thickness of approx. 2 cms are first are heated to a high temperature and then cut into pieces of different sizes using specialized machines.

Sheet Manufacturing: The rubber compound is mixed, grounded and then processed at high temperature to convert it into sheets of uniform length and thickness The sheets thus prepared are then placed in a curing chamber for 8 minutes where they are again processed at high temperature of around 170oC At such a high temperature, the sheets expand and then sent for vulcanization where it is processed for 3 hours to set the shrinking limit of rubber. These sheets can be cut only after 2 weeks of vulcanization. This is known as seating process.

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4. MAKING BINDING

A binding is required on the outer of the shoe to bind the edges of the cloth upper. This binding material is also made within the plant, using cloth. It is machine stitched onto the cloth upper.

5. FOLDING, CUTTING AND STAMPING

The cloth that forms the shoe upper is procured from Bombay Dyeing It is first folded into huge lots and then cut into pieces of uniform sizes according to the different size lots. These cloth pieces are then stamped with what may be called a batch number and the shoe size. An example of a batch no. may be “F-321 8422”. In this code, F represents plant code of the Faridabad factory, 321 is the code of the particular workstation and assembly line , 8 represents the year of manufacture, 42 the week and 2 signifies the day of the week in which production has been done. This stamping particularly helps if there is a defect found out in the shoe after sale. After stamping is done, the upper is sent for stitching.

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6. STITCHING

The cloth received after stamping is set for stitching and making it into a proper upper of the shoe. The stitching process starts with folding of the piece and stitching it in a particular fashion to give the shape of an upper. Next, it is sent for stitching the binding onto the edges of the shoe. After the binding on the edges has been done, the shoe is transferred further where lace holes and flips used under that are stitched onto the upper. The last step in the stitching process is to put laces into the shoe, which is done by hand. The upper of the shoe is now ready to be sent for assembly process.

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7. ASSEMBLY

The assembly process uses a dual level conveyor belt as can be seen in the picture.

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A fact worth noting is that the conveyer does not have a linear arrangement of workstations; rather it is an ellipsoidal conveyer with different workstations positioned all around it. At first glance, it is not easy to comprehend as to wherefrom where the process begins. However, a closer look reveals that fully assembled shoes are hand picked away from the conveyer at one particular point on the conveyer. Despite its unconventional design, it is a very well organized and systematic assembly line configuration where none of the employees sit idle at any point of time., thus minimizing idle time losses.

There is a parallel conveyer which basically consists of many metal shoe moulds onto which the entire shoe assembly is built.

The shoe building process starts at one when one person applies cement on the inner sole and places it on the conveyor belt. The next person then applies cement of edges of the upper of the shoe and again puts back the piece onto the conveyer. Next, the inner sole is put on the upper part of the mould and the cloth is pasted on the sole to get the exact shape of the shoe Now, when the shape is achieved, the shoe is dipped into latex so that the latex covers the lower sides of the shoe.

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It is then placed in a drying chamber to dry the latex wherein the temperature is around 70oC.

Once the latex is dried and the shoe is taken out of the chamber, it is again placed on the conveyor and the next person puts the outer sole (coated with cement) on the conveyor as well. The sole is then pasted on to the shoe tightly and pressed by a large bag containing

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SHOE GOING IN

SHOE COMING OUT

water. This water filled bag is a part of the conveyer only, and water is used to prevent the formation of air bubbles, which may lead to manufacturing defects.

The person sitting next checks once again that there is no gap in the pasting. The side foxing is then pasted on the dried latex and the shoe moves on. The next employee pastes the Bata logo on the back of the shoe and also presses the side foxing. On the next station, the toe guards, both side strips as well as circular one, are available to the employee, coated with cement. Both of these are pasted on the shoe. The shoe is now prepared to be vulcanized and hence is transferred by the last worker on the conveyor, from the conveyor to the conveyer trolley.

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8. VULCANIZATION

After the assembly process, though the shoes are ready but they are still very sticky and not set for use. Thus, they need to be vulcanized to harden the shoe and ensure that the parts have been pasted properly and the chemicals used have dried up. The shoes which are already put in trolleys (as depicted above) are then sent to the vulcanizing chamber. Around 19-20 trolleys are sent in 1 chamber with about 70 pairs in each trolley. The vulcanization process requires an approx. time of 1 hour, 135-140oC of temperature and 3 atmospheres of air pressure. The shoes are then sent to the quality checks department.

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9. QUALITY CONTROL

After the vulcanization process, the shoes are set to be packed but before thatan important step is to check the quality i.e. quality control. In Bata every shoe is checked manually by an inspector and is assigned the following grades:

1. A-This is the best grade stating that the shoe is ready to be packed and ready for sale.

2. B-This grade shoe becomes a factory seconds product and thus is sold at low prices.

3. C-This is the lowest grade which can neither be sold in seconds lot nor repaired and is thus cut and disposed off.

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10. PACKING

The shoes once checked are then packed very thoughtfully to protect the shoe from any kind of damage. Each pair is first rolled inside plastic sheets and then put into cardboard boxes, made exactly to size. These small boxes are then put into large ones, the master cartons for transportation purposes. Each box is labeled with its destination address and other details such as batch, manufacturing information etc.

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These boxes are not stored at the plant for more than 2 days. They are immediately delivered to their destination retail stores which stock it themselves.

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RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENTThe Research & Development wing at Bata Faridabad designs new shoes, slippers, sandals etc.

This R&D wing only works on rubber based products; it does not design leather Footwears. They design footwear mainly for the teenage group.

How The Department Functions:-

Whenever the R&D department designs a new product, it must first get it approved from the in house Testing Laboratory, which thoroughly tests the product to check whether it Is fit to handle real world footwear treatment. This is a sort of a pre-commercialization test of the product. The laboratory has various machines some of which are:

1. One which duplicates the movements of the foot when a person walks. They maintain that any product should be good enough for at least 5 million such movements before anything happens to it.

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2. One is a machine is to test the sole of the shoe. It is ensured that the sole survives 1.5 lakh shots, before it becomes unfit for use.

3. Then there is also a device to check the quality of the boxes in which packing of the shoes is to be done.

4. They also check the abrasion of rubber component

5. A certain moisture level has to be maintained in the production of shoes and this is also checked in this department.

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6. The shrinkage of the rubber sole is also tested here in an oven. It should be according to the specified norms.

.

7. The textile and thread used in the production is also tested and needs to be approved.

These machines are also used to check the manufactured shoes sometimes like once in a month. One shoe is picked from the lot and is tested on all these parameters. This can be regarded as a part of quality control.

After the new product has been approved by the laboratory it goes to the management, which decides on the target market for the new product, the price of the product, the feasibility of producing that product, the investment required, etc. This is a crucial stage in the development of a product. The management has to carefully evaluate weather producing the product will yield satisfactory profits or not, if not then the product is dropped then and there. To find this out what Bata does is that instead launching a product in the entire market, it launches it in a

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Thread Testing Textile Testing

small segment of the market to test the response of the customers so as to minimize losses if any.

It is only after a product has been approved by the management, can it go into production. Where first any new machinery required for the production has to be acquired and then the product is finally produced.

AREAS WHICH REQUIRE IMPROVEMENT

1. The space available was very under-utilized.

2. There was only one quality inspector.

3. Nothing noticeable but we sensed a tiff between the labour unions and the management.

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REFERENCES

1. Mr. Mukesh, the HR manager2. Mr.Kamlesh, the Productions Manager

Websites www.Google.co.in www.Bataindia.com

Books

a

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At

Operation Management by Heizer & Render

&

Production and Operations Management

by B. Mahadevan