CEAT
wins productivity award for cost cutting
Tyre manufacturer CEAT Sri Lanka has won the All-Island award for
the Best Continuous Improvement team, at the National Convention
on Quality and Productivity, the company said in a statement.
A
Cross Functional Team (CFT) mandated by the company with cost reduction
in consumables in tyre manufacture presented its findings and solutions
for the award, and was adjudged the winner.
"The
success of one of our Cross Functional Teams at this competitive
event reflects the quality culture at CEAT and the commitment to
continuous improvement processes that are taking place," said
Oscar Braganza, the Managing Director of CEAT Sri Lanka. "We
have implemented the suggestions made by the CFT, and expect significant
savings as a result."
This
was the first occasion that CEAT Sri Lanka participated in this
event.
The seven-strong CEAT team, won the award for their innovative solution
to reduce the wastage of Benzolene, an expensive white petrol solvent
used in the manufacture of tyres.
During
their research, the team, designated 'SMART,' used several quality
tools to identify key problem areas and discovered that 65 litres
of Benzolene gets evaporated every day as a result of the open Benzolene
vessels at various stages of the production process. This evaporation
was costing the company nearly Rs 2 million a year.
The
team then designed a new vessel to store the solvent, with a lid
that would automatically close after a brush was dipped in and taken
out. A model was developed by the team and production outsourced.
"Our participation at this convention was primarily to gain
knowledge from other Quality Circles, so winning the award for continuous
improvement came as a pleasant surprise.
It is the result of months of hard work put in by the team,"
Bandula Kariyawasam, the leader of the team said.
In
addition to its solutions to Benzolene wastage, the SMART team also
came up with suggestions to solve the wastage of hand gloves, created
a smaller form of mill knife which is less expensive, and modified
the currently used pneumatic drills, which had low durability.
CEAT
Sri Lanka is rapidly moving towards implementing a Total Quality
Management (TQM) system equipped with new management techniques
and is also strengthening its ISO 9001:2000 accredited Quality Management
System, Cross Functional Teams and Quality Control Circles. Other
quality improvement projects such as the 5S Housekeeping and a suggestion
scheme are also in various stages of implementation.
CEAT
Sri Lanka manufactures a range of tyres at plants in Kalutara and
Kelaniya. The company has exported more than 1600 container loads
of tyres to date to India, Dubai, Singapore, Philippines, Africa
and countries in the SAARC region.
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