S.H.E initiatives: Epoxy resins

world class manufacturing | total productive maintenance | six-sigma | kaizen suggestion system | 5S activities | quality of life clubs | quality circle

At the Epoxy resins division, we realise the importance of safety and health, and stress on incorporating it in our occupational ambience. We are focussed on achieving the status of a World Class Manufacturer (WCM). We are committed to a larger audience, the nation where the company operates in, the society, and the global community.

Responsibility is another commitment the division endeavours to ensure. Its WCM directives already focus on building caring individuals, enhancing the organisation as a whole. Environmental consciousness, health and safety concerns are ingrained into every employee. Inline with our corporate values to participate in exercising environmental protection, the division extends its duty to the nation and the world through the appropriate management of environmental issues. We are ISO14001 and ISO9001 certified to comply with internationally recognised standards.

World Class Manufacturing
World Class Manufacturing (WCM) is a unique strategy for enterprise excellence through focus on manufacturing. This strategy encompasses the essentials of change initiatives in the world of managing manufacturing. It is a long-term structure approach which is cyclical (PDCA — plan, do, check, act), comprehensive and systematic business tool. The process involves a cultural transformation leading to organisational change, better management processes and organisational learning. It focuses on people, process, and results on a continuous basis. WCM is a competitive strategy focusses on sustainable and superior quality, cost, delivery, innovation, productivity and pride (QCDIP) performance. WCM helps in achieving this sustainable, superior performance by putting in place the "art of manufacturing for consistent excellence". It is diagnostic in nature as it enables the abnormalities to show themselves.

The WCM programme aims at improving the nation's competitiveness and business excellence through breakthrough and continuous innovations supported by a team based management system. It strives for zero loss culture coupled with highest standard of quality and productivity. WCM is an accepted way of managing a business to gain competitive advantage thereby ensuring long term success. It ensures the meeting of the needs of customers, employees, financial and other stakeholders, and community at large. Aditya Birla Chemicals is striving to establish itself as a World Class Manufacturer by adopting business tools like Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Total Quality Management (TQM), Kaizen suggestion system (KSS), Six Sigma, 5S improvement principles, quality circles, and quality of life clubs.

Total Productive Maintenance
Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) helps to improve plant maintenance by providing significant tangible results, and transforms the plant's environment and people. The goals of TPM are to achieve zero breakdowns, zero accident, and zero defects. At the Epoxy Division, the implementation of TPM was initiated in 1999, inaugurated by Mr. S. Hirao, a TPM consultant of Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM). Although the company achieved the TPM Excellence Award in 2002, we understand that TPM is an ongoing initiative, and strict guidance through total employee participation is the roadmap to zero breakdowns, zero accident, and zero defects.

Six-Sigma
The goal of Six-Sigma is to increase profits by eliminating variability, defects and waste that undermine customer loyalty. Six-Sigma is a rigorous and a systematic methodology that utilises information (management by facts) and statistical analysis to measure and improve a company's operational performance, practices and systems. Defects are identified and prevented in manufacturing and service-related processes to anticipate and exceed expectations of all stakeholders effectively.

Kaizen Suggestion System (KSS)
To ensure involvement of each individual, the Epoxy division has implemented the Kaizen suggestion system that motivates employees to come out with innovative suggestions for improving the organisation's performance in terms of quality, safety, work efficiency and cost reductions. The benefits of KSS include improved worker pride and employee morale, improved working environment and conditions, work efficiency, quality of work, overall cost reductions, and safety at the workplace.

5S activities
A disciplined improvement, 5S activities have been in place at the epoxy division since 1996. Based and developed in Japan, 5S is a process of workplace organisation and house-keeping which is carried out gradually and systematically. 5S improvement principles consists of: