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APPLICATION OF KAIZEN IN AIRCRAFT

MAINTENANCE

AND LOGISTIC OPERATIONS: A CASE STUDY

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Kaizen an Overview

1.2 Kaizen umbrella

1.3 Maintenance and Improvement

1.4 Kaizen and Innovation

1.5 Comparison between Kaizen and Innovation

1.6 Problem solving tools of Kaizen

1.7 About the organization

1.7.1 Introduction

1.7.2 About Indian air lines under study

1.7.3 The division under study

1.7.4 Air craft maintenance planning

Chapter 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Chapter 3: PRESENT WORK

3.1 Problem statement

3.2 Objectives of study

3.3 Methodology

3.3.1 Collection of information

3.3.1.1 Data collection

3.3.1.2 Characteristics of respondent

3.3.2 Identification of critical areas

3.3.3 Evaluation of existing processes

3.3.3.1 Evaluation of Spare management

3.3.3.2 Evaluation of Method improvement

3.3.3.3 Evaluation of Material handling

3.3.3.4 Evaluation of Computer support

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Chapter 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Proposed method /concept

4.2 Analysis of proposed method

4.2.1 Analysis of spare management

4.2.2 Analysis of Method improvement

4.2.3 Analysis of Material handling

4.2.4 Analysis of Computer support

4.3 Implementation

Chapter 5: CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE SCOPE5.1 Conclusion

5.2 Future scope

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Chapter- 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 KAIZEN AN OVERVIEW

The word KAIZEN comes from the Japanese language. In the management literature it is

Kai + Zen. Kai means CHANGE & Zen means BETTER. Thus, it means change for the

better. The wide meaning is continuous improvement consistently, every time, every step, every

place that leads to self-development. In other words Kaizen indicates a process of continuous

incremental improvement of standard procedure of work. This kind of creative improvement is

something that every employee is capable of contributing. Kaizen also thrives by being adopted

by the organizational culture. Successful implementation of Kaizen results in a cooperative

atmosphere where every one is aware of the key goals and measures of success. In this type of

environment, implementation of new concepts is readily achieved with a high degree of

success.

Kaizen believes in the principles that A very large number of small improvements are more

effective in an organizational environment than a few improvement of large value. Another

philosophy of Kaizen principle is Do not believe what is practiced now is the best, there could

be a better method of doing things.

According to: the father of the Kaizen techniques Masaaki Imai (1986) Kaizen means

Continuous improvement which is not only a philosophy of work place, but also a continual

improvements in every facet of life, including business, industry, commerce, government,

diplomacy defence and social welfare.

Womack and Jones (1996) refers that Kaizen is a successful technique because it employs the

lean thinking approach of designing a flexible, controllable, efficient and unique manufacturing

process in terms of saving cost, space, time and man power. Kaizen is the creation of a team

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that includes cross functional employees such as managers and operators working together on

targeted areas with set of goals and series of brain storming processes. This team is expected to

obtain solutions for resolving the problem within short span of time. Kaizen is more than just a

means of improvement, because it represents the daily struggles occurring in the work place

and the manner in which those struggles are overcome.

Kaizen carries the connotation in industry of all the subcontracted and partially contracted

activities, which take place in the Japanese workplace to enhance the operations and the

environment. Kaizen epitomizes the mobilization of the workforce, providing the main channel

for employees to contribute to their companys development. In isolation, the concept seems

simple: with every pair of hands, you get a free brain (Besant, 2000). There are close

comparisons to be drawn between kaizen and ideas of past research in industrial relations,

starting from Elton Mayo and the Human Relations school of Maslow, McGregor, Argyris and

Herzberg.

Peculiarities of Kaizen

Kaizen is continuous- which is used to signify both the embedded nature of the practice

and its place in a never ending journey towards quality & efficiency

Kaizen is a work force- providing the main channel for employees to contribute for their

companies development.

Kaizen is incremental in nature- starting from the worker to the top management

contribute their labour for technical innovation.

Kaizen is participative- entailing the involvement & intelligence of the work force, the

generating intrinsic psychological & quality of work life benefits for the employees.

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1.2 KAIZEN UMBRELLA

1.3 MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENT

Management has two major components;

(a) Maintenance and

(b) Improvement

Maintenance refers to the activities not only maintaining current machine standards for

reliability but also directed towards maintaining current technological managerial and operating

standards. Improvement refers to those activities directed towards improving current standards.

Under improvement the higher-level manager are more concerned with improvements they

spent more time on improvement process. But at the lower level, an unskilled worker working

at a machine may spend all of his time following instructions. As he becomes skilled, he is

more conscious towards production. Again when he becomes proficient in his work he begins

to think about improvement in the way his work will be easy. Thus worker contributes less

towards improvement. The Japanese perception of management boils down to one percept:

maintain and improve.

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K A I Z E N

KANBAN

APPROACH

IMPROVEMENT ZERO DEFECT

EFFECTIVENESS

NETWORKING

Fig 1.1 Kaizen umbrella

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1.4 KAIZEN AND INNOVATION

In Japanese perception, again improvement is categorized in two parts:-

(a) Kaizen and

(b) Innovation.

Kaizen signifies small improvements made in the status quo as a result of ongoing effort and

Innovation signifies a drastic Improvement in the status quo as a result of a large investment in

new technology or equipment. Following figure shows the breakdown among kaizen,

innovation and maintenance as perceived by Japanese management.

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Top Management

Supervisors

Workers

Middle Management

Innovation

KAIZEN

Maintenance

Fig - 1.3 kaizen perceptions of job functions

Improvement

Maintenance

Top Management

Middle Management

Supervisors

Workers

Fig. 1.2 - Japanese perceptions of job functions

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1.5 COMPARISON BETWEEN KAIZEN AND INNOVATION

There are two contrasting approaches to progress: the gradualist approach and the great-leap-

forward approach. Japanese companies generally favour the gradualist approach and Western

companies the great-leap approach an approach epitomized by the team innovation. Table 1.1

presents the characteristics of Kaizen and innovation (Shingo, 1985).

One of the beautiful things about Kaizen is that it does not necessarily require sophisticated

technique and large investment. To implement Kaizen, only simple and conventional

techniques such as the seven tools of quality control (Parrot diagram, Cause and effect diagram,

control charts, graphs, histograms, scatter diagrams and check sheets) are required. On the

other hand, innovation usually requires highly sophisticated technology, as well as a huge

investment. The difference between two opposing concept may thus be likened to that of a

staircase and a slope. The innovation strategy is supposed to bring about progress in a stair case

progression. On the other hand, the kaizen strategy brings about gradual progression. (Kaizen

teian 2, 1990).

New Standard

KAIZEN

Innovation

New Standard

KAIZEN

Innovation

8

Time

Figure 1.4 Comparisons of Kaizen and Innovation

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Table: 1.1 Characteristics of Kaizen and innovation.

Kaizen Innovation

Effect Long term, lasting Short term, hence existing

Time structure Continuous and incremental Intermittent and non incremental

The method Maintenance and improvement Rejection and rework

The practical

demands

Demands less investment, however

greater effort to maintain

Demands large investment,

however less effort to maintain

Involvement Every body Select few champions

Effort orientation Persons Technology

Feedback Comprehensive feedback Limited feedback

Advantage Works well in slow growth economy Better suited to fast growth

economy

1.6 PROBLEM SOLVING TOOLS OF KAIZEN

CAUSE AND EFFECT DIAGRAM:This diagram is used to analyze the characteristics of a

process or a situation and the factors that contribute to them. Cause and effect diagram is also

called fishbone graph or Godzilla-bone graphs.

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Figure 1.5 Causes and Effect Diagram

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PARETO DIAGRAM:This diagram classifies problems according to cause and phenomenon.

The problem is diagrammed according to priority, using a bar-graph format, with 100 percent

scale indicating the total amount of value cost.

GRAPH: The frequency data obtained from measurements display a peak around certain

value. The figure illustrates frequency in the form of a pole to indicate variations over a period

of time and categorical breakdown of values.

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Figure 1.6 Pareto Diagram

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1 2 3 4 5 6

Months

Freque

ncy

Fig 1.7 graph

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3 M U- CHECK LIST:A number of Kaizen check point system has been developed to help

both workers and management for improvement. The 3-MUs are Muda(Waste), Muri (strain)

and Mura (discrepancy) and is described in Kaizen methodology placed at appendix B.

4-M CHECK LIST: The 4 M check points i.e. Man (operator), machine (facilities), material

(item/equipment) and method (operation) are given more attention in the Kaizen methodology

which is elaborately described at Appendix C.

CHECK SHEET: The check sheet is designed to tabulate the results through routine checking

of the situation.

SUGGESTION SYSTEM The suggestion System is an integral part of the Kaizen

methodology. According to Sugihara, management should encourage participation by making

workers feel free to make all sorts of suggestions that do not cost much to implement. The

suggestion can be discover the new methods, processes and improvement in the organization,

which could not found through direct studies.

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1.7 ABOUT THE ORGANISATION

1.7.1 Introduction

1.7.2 About Indian Air Lines under study

This study is carried out at Indian Air Lines, Delhi. The main aim of the station is to keep the

aircrafts airworthy. At this station, there are more than 1500 employees in all ranks and

branches who are involved to perform their duties towards the organizational goal. The total

employees in the organization are classified into three main categories such as flying branch,

Technical branch & Non technical branch.

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STATION

ADMINSTRATIVE

DIVISION

TECHNICAL DIVISION

OPERATIONAL

DIVISION

Fig 1.9 station and its main divisions

EMPLOYEES CLASSIFICATION

FLYING BRANCH

TECHNICAL BRANCH

NON-TECHNICAL BRANCH

Figure 1.10 classifications of employees

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The flying branch employees are basically pilots. All the pilots are of officers rank. The

skillful handling of aircraft needs a continuous practice, which is performed by the pilots

regularly. Thus the maintenance becomes imperative for the existing number of aircrafts. Like

other organization, Indian Air Lines also maintains skilled technical manpower. The skilled

manpower comprises of diploma and graduate engineers in all branches viz mechanical,

electrical and electronics. The main role of technical branch at the station is to maintain the

aircrafts serviceable.

The non-technical branch employees are of both category i.e. officer and clerk. Basically they

are employed to support the technical employees. The other roles of this branch are:

(a) to provide logistic support to the technical and flying branch.

(b) to provide medical facilities to the employees and their families and

(c) to carry out administrative control and welfare measures of the employees at the station.

1.7.3 The division under study

The engineering division of the station is the area of study. This division plays a vital role in

operational preparedness of the aircraft. Chief engineering officer (CEO) is the head of the

engineering and logistic divisions at the station. Under him there are some technical and

logistics specialists employed to assist him in the field of technical activities and logistic

support at the station. Figure 1.11 represents the aircraft engineering division.

)

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ENGINEERING DIVISION

LOGISTICS

DEPARTMENT

AICRAFT

MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT

Figure 1.11 Aircraft engineering division

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The maintenance department is manned by highly skilled technicians, carries out scheduled and

unscheduled maintenance servicing of aircraft. Whereas logistics department supplies spares,

equipments, food and clothing to the employees. Besides, logistic division has close

relationship with technical division in supply of spares and equipment for aircraft maintenance.

1.7.4 Aircraft maintenance planning

Maintenance infrastructure setup at a flying station is meant to support flying and generate

aircraft hours by way of completion of maintenance servicing. These are to be carried out as

per pre-planned schedule in the given time frame and with the defined gang size/manpower.

Based on the aircraft / aero engine status of the fleet at the base and known constraints, aircraft

wise, flying hours are to be allotted for the month with projected utilization for the next two

months along with planned servicing effort. Depending upon the rise in unserviceability and

unforeseen circumstances, the flying task may be regulated so as to ensure maintenance safety

is not jeopardized and personnel not unduly stressed. Stagger plan for aircraft is drawn to

ensure smooth induction of aircraft for servicing and maintaining desired availability of aircraft

over the year.

Types of planned servicing

(a) Periodic servicing are those servicing carried-out at set intervals based on aircraft flying

hours and calendar basis. The periodic servicing normally falls into the following categories:

Before and After flight servicing, Primary servicing, Weekly servicing, Intermediate servicing,

Minor servicing (50,100,200 hrs servicing), and Storage servicing .

(b) Non-periodic servicing are those servicing which are carried out as and when required

to be done when certain defects occurring to equipment, e.g. Defect report, Special technical

instructions, servicing instructions, Modifications, Internal and external preservation/de-

preservation of aircraft and aero engine.

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Chapter-2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

After World War II, most Japanese companies had to start literally from the ground up. Every

day brought new challenges to managers and workers alike, and every day meant progress.

Simply staying in business required unending progress, and KAIZEN has become a way of life.

It was also fortunate that experts like W.E. Deming and J.M.Juran introduced the various tools

that helped to elevate this KAIZEN concept to new heights to Japan in the late 1950 and early

1960s.

Deming, visited Japan several times in the 1950s, and it was during one of those visit, he made

his famous prediction that Japan would soon be flooding the world market with quality

products. Deming introduced the Deming cycle also known as PDCA cycle, one of the

crucial QC tools for assuring continuous improvement to Japan. Deming stressed the

importance of constant interaction among research, design, production, and sales in order for a

company to arrive a better quality that satisfied customers.

In July 1954, JM Juran was invited to Japan to conduct a JUSE seminar on quality control

management. This was the first time Quality Control was dealt with from the overall

management perspective. Jurans lectures in 1954 opened up another aspect of quality control

towards the managerial approach to quality control. This was the first time the term Quality

Control was positioned as a vital management tool in Japan. From then, the term Quality

Control has been used to mean both quality control and the tools for overall improvement in

managerial performance.

JUSE (The Union of Japanese Scientist and Engineers), an organization coordinating the

nationwide Quality Circle movement and assisting in its expansion, there are more than

170,000 Quality circles officially registered with JUSE and probably twice that many operating

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independently of JUSE. Since the typical circle has six to ten members, it is estimated that

there are at least 3 million workers in Japan directly involved in some kind of official quality

circle activity.

According to the Japan Industrial Standards (Z8101-1981) definition, quality control is a

system of means to economically produce goods or services which satisfy customer

requirement. The definition is expressed as follows: Effective implementation of quality

control necessitates the cooperation of all people in the company, including top management ,

managers, supervisors , and workers in all areas of corporate activities such as market research

and development, product planning , design, preparations for production, purchasing, vendor

management , manufacturing, inspection, sales and after-services, as well as financial control ,

personnel administration, training and education. Quality control carried out in this manner is

called company-wide quality control or total quality control.

In 1975, Nissan Motors made a slogan for an improvement campaign as part of a KAIZEN

program was named the Seven-Up-Campaign, and improvements were sought in the seven

areas viz. standard time, efficiency, costs, suggestions, quality assurance, safety, and process

utilization. The campaign chosen in 1978 was the 3-K 1, 2, 3 Campaign. the 3-K standing for

kangae (thought), Kodo (action), and Kaizen and the 1, 2, 3 standing for the hop-step jump

sequence of thinking, acting, and improving.

After a day-long discussion on the KAIZEN concept, William Manly quipped: I thought they

had two major religions in Japan: Buddhism and Scientism, now I find they have a third:

KAIZEN! Facetious though this sounds, one should have a religious zeal in immediate payout.

This is a behavioral change requiring missionary zeal and the proof of its value is in the

satisfaction it brings and in its long term impact. KAIZEN is based on a belief in peoples

inherent desire for quality and worth, and management has to believe that it is going to pay in

the long run.

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Mankichi Tateno, (1979), proclaimed that the company was going to introduce Total Quality

Control. He formulated three goals: (1) to provide products and services that satisfy customer

requirements and earn customers trust. (2) To steer the corporation toward higher profitability

through improved work procedures, fewer defects, lower cost, lower debt services, and more

advantageous order filling. (3) To help employees in order to fulfill their potential for achieving

the corporate goal, with particular emphasis on such areas as policy deployment and voluntary

activities.

Monden, (1983), said thatLeveling of production is the most important requisite for kanban

based manufacturing. The main prerequisite for a successful implementation of the Kanban

techniques is a demand which remains uniform and repetitive over long periods of time, with

small fluctuations vis--vis annual average values.

Spurling, (1983), has made the following remarks on Mitsubishi automobiles. It was able to

achieve the quality with minimum investment by introducing a series of improvements such as

reducing inventories and changing the plant layout. For instance, the old layout had been

designed. As a result, it was possible to achieve an 80 percent reduction in stock on the line and

a 30 percent increase in worker performance.

Finch and Cox, (1986), have studied the implementation of JIT into two groups :Those that are

independent of the firm size (focused factory, reduced setup times, group technology, total

preventive maintenance, cross-trained employees and Kanban); second that relate to the firm

size and may be more difficult for the small manufacturing firm to satisfy (stable, uniform

workload and jut-in-time delivery of purchased parts).

Imai, (1986), has remarked Kaizen means continuous improvement. Not just a philosophy of

work place, but it means continually improving in every facet of life, including business,

industry, commerce, government and diplomacy, among others. In full implementation, it

becomes the foundation of all activities. In the production activities within Organization,

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utilization of the Kaizen philosophy addresses continuous improvement not only in the field of

management, but also in the general work force.

Golhar, (1990), has carried out survey of 32 small manufacturing firms and reported that the

surveyed firms have focused on employee involvement to improve quality, inventory reduction

and increasing employee participation by using kaizen principles.

Golgano, (1990), has stated that the word quality virtually includes everything:

competitiveness, delivery times, costs, excellence, corporate policy, productivity, profits,

product quality, volumes, results, service, safety, environmental consciousness, focus on

shareholders.

Mehra and Inman, (1992), conducted a survey of JIT implementation, and concluded that JIT

production strategy and JIT vendor strategy were significant elements of JIT implementations.

Success in JIT implementation was assessed and based on downtime, inventory and workspace

reductions, increased quality, labour utilization and equipment utilization and inventory

turnovers. The elements of JIT production strategy were setup for time reduction, lot sizes,

group technology, cross training and preventive maintenance. The elements of JIT vendor

strategy were: vendor lot size, sole sourcing, vendor lead times and quality certification of

suppliers.

Sherkenbach, (1993), has said that there is a need to strengthen the convection; actions are

necessary, real and objective to improve the quality of the products and services. For the

enterprises, quality becomes a question of survival. The customers are demanding more and

more in terms of quality and the competing enterprises are struggling more and more to win the

market.

Rastogi and Mohanty, (1994), described four strategies for total productivity optimization of a

real life manufacturing company. These strategies are developed to attain overall growth, cost

reduction, upgrading of technical efficiency and management effectiveness. Such strategies

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have been modeled mathematically by using a nonlinear mathematical programming approach.

The model base and the database used in implementing the strategies can serves as decision

support to management for optimizing total productivity.

Brandolese, (1994), has mentioned the quality problem and the aim to help and provide a better

understanding of the basic concepts of total quality through a critical discussion. Six main

topics are touched upon: language and terminology problems, the historical framework of

quality related concepts (like kaizen or continuous improvement) vis--vis other managerial

models (specially, the learning curve), the role played by demand and its fluctuations, the

contrast between a process based and a result based approach, the relationship between total

quality for the industrial environment and the relationship between companies and trade unions.

Emmanuel A., Onyeagoro, (1995), has given his remarks on manufacturing planning and

controls that to remain competitive; organizations are exploring new ways for increasing

productivity by reducing work in progress inventories and product lead time. This article

describes a case study of the successful introduction of production cells in a company engaged

in small batch production. Following a detailed analysis of the utilization of machines in the

companys machine shop, a new manufacturing technique is proposed to the work flow process.

Yavuz and Satir, (1995), have done theirresearch work on Kanban based operational planning

and control in assembly and flow lines. The article focuses on simulation models and

distinguishes between explorative and comparative type research. Operational and

experimental design features reported and are summarized in tabular format. Features of each

study are discussed, findings are compared and they give ideas for research directions.

Gupta and Brennan, (1995), have implemented Just in Time methodology in a small

manufacturing company. Preliminary analysis identified various problems in the existing

manufacturing operations. The achievements of the JIT implementations included a reduction in

material traversing, reduced lead times and inventories leading to an overall reduction in the

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cost of manufacturing. A smooth flow of material from the raw material stage to the finished

product stage was established. Three separate product lines were combined into a flexible

manufacturing assembly line. With the adoption of a holistic approach to JIT implementation,

it was found that even a small company can make significant strides towards world class

manufacturing status. The experience gained by the company encourages and benefit other

small companies to embrace the JIT approach.

Newitt, (1996), has given new insights onto old thinking. He has suggested the key factor to

determine the business process requirements. He has brought insights that Kaizen philosophy in

the business process management will liberate the thinking of both management and employees

all levels and provide the climate in which creativity and value addition can flourish.

Radharamanan et al. (1996), carried out a study on quality and productivity improvements in a

custom made furniture industry using KAIZEN, Kaizen philosophy was applied in a small

sized custom made furniture industry for continuous improvement and developed the products

with higher quality, lower cost, and higher productivity to meeting the customer requirements.

Yung, (1996), has applied some simple techniques like statistical process control (SPC) and the

seven basic tools for manufacturing a product. This paper presents a case study where Printed

Circuit Board (PCB) fabrication company employs very simple techniques (e.g. SPC and seven

basic tools etc.) to significantly improve both product and process quality and productivity. In

the same study, he applied the intimate relationship between SPC, the seven basic tools,

KAIZEN and Total Quality Management (TQM) principles in practice. Statistical Process

control (SPC) is proved to be an effective means to improve quality and productivity; while the

basic seven tools of kaizen are powerful for problem solving.

Chaudhuri, (1997), described the key concept of the continuous improvement system at Morris

electronics limited, an Indo-Japanese joint venture firm. He has contributed to dramatic

improvement in productivity implementing kaizen techniques. He also highlights the evolution

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of the collaboration between Morris and Hitachi metals and its impact on the development of

higher level competencies.

Frohner and Iwata,, (1999), have evaluated the designing principles of Japanese production

systems derived from theory or empirical research. They derived principles for Japanese

production systems and are highly influenced by unique elements of Japanese culture. The

cultural background has to be known, when the principles are applied properly in a completely

different cultural background. A fundamental explanation for the large variety of approaches

and techniques towards organization (e.g. KANBAN, TQC, TQM, Kaizen, POKA-YOKE) are

discussed in the field of management.

Joseph et al., (2000), have madea Kaizen based approach on a small manufacturing designing

system. The focus of this project was the virtual manufacturing of meat tenderizer. The

problem, was identified in this virtual situation is that the product is currently too expensive to

produce. Cellular manufacturing system was used to reduce production costs and improves the

quality of every product. In order to address this system design problem, a design engineer, a

manufacturing engineer, a quality engineer, and two machining operators were invited to be the

team members in this Kaizen project. After identifying the problem, a brainstorming process

was used to explore the teams goal by reviewing the current process of the product. Kaizen

brings continuous improvement, and it also developed a communications network throughout

the organization which intrinsically supports a method of checks and balances within daily

operation.

John, (2000), has stated a evolutionary model on continuous improvement He brought out

that; todays complex and turbulent environment needs a continuous improvement in products

and processes. This paper reports on extensive case study based on research, exploring how

high involvement in continuous improvement can be built and sustained as an organizational

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capability. It argues that Kaizen needs to be viewed as a cluster of behavioral changes, which

establish innovation routines in the enterprise, and presents a reference model for assessment of

progress in the evolution of such capabilities.

Samson, (2000), has emphasized on kaizen as an essential tool for inclusion in industrial

technology curricula covers a wide range of curricula. The case study provides a description of

the steps used to implement lean thinking in a typical mid western company developed a

dynamic tri-resin fiberglass rod which has hundred times more tensile strength than that of

steel. Exercises described in his paper, can be used within existing courses in all manufacturing

focused industrial technology programs to assure that graduates are sufficiently familiar with

this important thrust.

Ashmore, (2001), discovers kaizen is a hard headed weapon in hard-pressed manufacturing

engineering industries. He has found that the implementation of kaizen techniques at Toyota,

company has increased its sales by a multiple of not less than 69 percent and its profits by 54

times in a economic year.

De Haan, (2001), has comments on the importance of Kaizen to Japanese production control

mechanisms. Kaizen needs to be distanced from the more recent western development,

whereby management involved employees in reengineering brainstorming sessions.

Palmer, (2001), has focused his study on the Inventory management kaizen that was

conducted at BAE SYSTEM to remove the MUDA (waste) from the receiving and storing

process. Kaizen even encompassed about 5 months, one week for the actual analysis of the

process and the remainder working to implement the changes that were identified. He found

that the kaizen brought improvement that the process time reduced from 610 hrs to 290 hours.

Ultimately, the whole kaizen event resulted in as saving well over million dollars per year.

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Yasin et al., (2003), have done their research work on organizational modifications to support

JIT implementation in manufacturing and service operations. A field study was conducted to

investigate the actual implementation experiences of a selected group of service and

manufacturing users of JIT. Their findings from the literature and the field study are used to

develop four research hypotheses that are tested using survey data from 130 manufacturing and

61 service firms.

Beabout, (2003), has carried out his thesis work on a aircraft maintenance management

organization using statistical process control (SPC) at the 135 th Airlift Wing, Maryland, USA.

Air National Guard desires a visualization tool for their maintenance performance metrics.

They were monitoring their metrics via an electronic spreadsheet. They desire a tool that

depicted the performance information in a graphical manner. This study focuses on the

development of a visualization tool utilizing two of the seven tools offered by Statistical

Process Control (SPC). This research demonstrates the application of p-charts and Pareto

diagrams in the aircraft maintenance arena. P-charts are used for displaying mission capable

(MC) rates and flying scheduling effectiveness (FSE) rates. Pareto diagrams are then used to

highlight critical aircraft subsystems.

Brunet et al., (2003), prepared a note on kaizen as practiced in a selection of Japanese

companies. This paper describes the methodology of study, and presents findings from the

research, taking NIPPON Steel Corporation (NSC) as a base model & comparing this with the

data from companies. The development of Kaizen activities in NSC is presented together with a

description of the current nature of Kaizen, which is compared with other firms in the steel &

automotive industries to assess uniformity. The paper concludes that Kaizen evolves uniquely

within each organization, following changes to the organizations business environment.

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Chapter -3

PRESENT WORK

3.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT

In the competitive world of industrialization, all industries are aspiring towards higher

productivity by focusing on the system simplification and Organizational potential with the help

of different modern tools and techniques like QC, TPM, TQM and Kaizen. But, during last 15

years of my service, I have realized that the system is running in old, uncompetitive fashion. In

the age of IT, still recording of maintenance activities and operations have been carried out

using pen and paper. A rectification of complex problems has been solved by reading a heap of

manuals. In the age of robotics, material handling is being carried out manually by the

employees working in the organization, which resulted in more human fatigue and damage to

the material.

It is not possible to change the technology, infrastructure and working system overnight in a big

organization like Indian Air Lines. Thus Indian Air Lines needs attention for continuous

improvement (i.e. KAIZEN) in their system particularly in maintenance and Logistic field. This

thesis is an attempt to identify such critical areas, which requires continuous improvement by

taking a case study of maintenance and logistic department at Indian Air Lines, Delhi.

3.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of the present study are as under:-

(i) To identifying the areas of focus for continuous improvement.

(ii) To apply kaizen tools in those identified areas.

(iii) To support and apply the improved processes.

(iv) To measure the effectiveness of these improved processes in terms of productivity

or other parameters.

(v) To focus the attention of management towards the under utilized systems.

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3.3 METHODOLOGY

Depending on the objectives of the improvement, there are many ways to implement kaizen

methodology. Here, the present study of Kaizen methodology is applied in maintenance and

logistic divisions of Indian Air Lines, Delhi Aerodrome, where aircrafts undergo maintenance

servicing. The flow chart shown in figure 1.3 demonstrates the kaizen procedure methodology

used in this case.

25

Figure 3.1 Flow chart of Kaizen

Identification of critical areas

Evaluation of existing process

/ design concepts

Proposed method / concepts to

improve existing methods

Analysis of proposed method

in comparison with existing

method

Implementation

Collection information to

access the perceptions ofemployees

Continuous

improvement

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3.3.1 STEP I COLLECTION OF INFORMATION TO ACCESS THE CRITICAL

AREAS

The Kaizen approach requires that all employees of the Organisation are encouraged to

participate in Kaizen activities. The approach adopted in this study is questionnaire method, to

gather information directly from the employees. Questionnaire is prepared to record the

perceptions of employees of maintenance and logistics divisions. A questionnaire contains a

number of questions printed on a definite order on a set of forms. The questionnaire is

structured based i.e. there are definite, concrete and predetermined questions. The questions are

presented with exactly the same wording and in the same order to all employees. The questions

contained in questionnaire are simple and easy to under stand. This method of collecting data

from the technicians, senior technicians, supervisors unbiased. Logistics and maintenance staff

and other employees had enough time to give well thought answers to the questions of the

questionnaire.

3.3.1.1 Data Collection :

Questionnaire was filled up by fifty employees from different sections of the maintenance and

logistics divisions. Employees perceptions were recorded. Data is collected from two sources,

primary source and secondary source.

Primary data during research work can be collected either through observation or through direct

communication with the respondent in the form of questionnaire or through personal interview.

It means that there are several methods of collecting primary data like observation method,

interview method, through questionnaire, and through projective techniques. But in this study

questionnaire was used to collect the primary data directly from the employees working in the

maintenance and logistics division. This was done by handing over the questionnaire to the

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employees. Also observations method is used again and again in this study to collect the

concrete data. The questionnaire contained different questions related to spare management,

material handling, method improvement training, morale of personnel; suggestion system,

social gathering and computer support in the maintenance of aircraft were prepared. Secondary

data were collected from books, internet, research papers, old thesis papers, technical library,

maintenance and servicing manuals of aircraft and maintenance magazine published by the

Indian Air Lines and HAL. Especially authors fifteen years of working experience in the

particular maintenance division of various air lines stations is considered for collecting

secondary data.

Sampling may be defined as the selection of some part of an aggregate or totality on the basis of

which a judgments or inference about the aggregate or totality is made. In other words, it is the

process of obtaining information about an entire population by examining only part of it. The

items so selected constitute, what is technically called a sample, their selection process or

technique is called sample design and survey conducted on the basis of sample is described as

sample survey. Sample is truly representation of population characteristics without any bias, so

that it results in a valid and reliable conclusion. In this study, the sample of 50 employees

(technicians, senior technicians, supervisors and technicians) on random basis is chosen to

formulate a questionnaires relating to the servicing and logistic support for the aircraft

maintenance.

3.3.1.2 Characteristics respondent

Length of service

Employees length of service starting from 5 years to 40 years of experience was considered for

the study of critical area and also their percentage of responses was tabulated below:

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Table 3.1 Percentage length of service of the respondents

S. NO. Length of service % of total respondents

A Below 5 years 8

B 5 Years and upto 10 years 16

C 10 years and upto 15 years 32D 15 years and upto 20 years 32

E 20 years and above 12

Designation

The designation of the respondent i.e. Technician, senior technician, Supervisors and technician

is considered as another characteristic of respondent for finding out the critical areas of the

study is as tabulated below:

Table 3.2 Percentage designation of the respondents

SL NO Designation % of respondents

A Technician 48

B Senior technician 26

C Supervisors 18

D Workers 08

Age group

It is also an important characteristic which was considered for finding out the responses from

the employees. The age group considered for the study from 20 years and above is tabulated

below:

Table 3.3 Percentage age group of the respondents

SL NO Age % of respondents

A Below 20 years NIL

B 20 years and below 25 years 10

C 26 years and below 30 years 22

D 31 years and below 35 years 34E 36 years and below 40 years 26

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F 41 years and above 8

Educational qualification

Educational qualification of the employees plays a vital role in finding out the problem and

critical areas in order to find out the best result. The percentage of qualifications of the

respondents used in this study is tabulated below:

Table 3.4 Percentage educational qualification of the respondents

SL NO Qualification % of respondents

A Post Graduate 18

B Graduate 48

C Higher Secondary 24

D Diploma 6

E Others 4

3.3.2 STEP II IDENTIFICATION OF CRITICAL AREAS

Critical areas were identified on the basis of response of employees. In this step employees

perception was measured by evaluating the questionnaire responses. Employees perceptions

were recorded by a questionnaire, containing two sections. Section A describes single

question, whether continuous improvement required in maintenance of aircraft or not. The Sec

B of questionnaire consists of twenty questions relating the various aspects of servicing and

personnel factors such as method improvement, spare management, material handling

equipment, computer support in aircraft maintenance, suggestion system , training, personnel

morale social gathering and wastage. All questions have two answers yes or No.

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The section A of questionnaire was evaluated and revealed that there is a need of continuous

improvement in the maintenance and logistics department. The figure 3.1 represents the

percentage of employees opinion towards continuous improvement.

88%

12%

YES

NO

The section B of questionnaire is evaluated, and four critical areas were identified for

continuous improvement. The identified critical areas are spare management, method

improvement, material handling equipment and computer support in maintenance and logistic

division of the station. The table 3.5 demonstrates the specific critical areas and percentage of

respondents perception towards identified critical areas.

Table 3.5 Percentage of employees in identified Critical Areas

Sl No Areas % of Employees

1 Spare management 86

2 Method Improvement 96

3 Material handling 84

4 Computer support in aviation field 92

30

Figure 3.2 Responses of the employees for continuous improvement

IDENTIFIED CRITICAL AREAS

8696

8492

0

20

40

60

80

100

Spare

man

agement

M

ethod

Improvement

Material

handling

Co

mputer

su

pportin

avia

tionfield

CRITICAL AREAS

PERCENTAGE

OF

EMPLOYEES

Figure 3.3 Identified Critical areas.

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3.3.3 STEP III EVALUATION OF EXISTING PROCESS / DESIGN CONCEPTS

In this step, discussions were carried out with employees who are directly related to these

identified critical areas. The problems in these critical areas are collected by field studies. The

various problems which are pointed out in the identified areas are spare management, method

improvement, material handling and computer support in logistic department.

3.3.3.1 Evaluation of Spare management

In this base, spares and equipment is procured by demand based method. Item is supplied on

the basis of known demand or forecasting based on the flying task allotted to a unit. The spares

or equipment is automatically replenished by ARS system to a flying base as per the total flying

time for a known period and how many aircraft will be fallen due for scheduled / planned

servicing in these known periods.

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In an air lines base under study an average of 100 priority demands are

raised against aircraft and air-borne equipment every month. Survey

indicated that, maintenance staff has to wait till the procurement of spares

from the supply/repair agency. Since then, aircraft and air-borne

equipments are unserviceable i.e. not fit for flying. Thus the air lines need

continuous progress in procurement lead time on priority demands to meet the flying task and

operational efficiency of the station. So, kaizen offers a means of continuous improvement in

this area to eliminate delay in procurement time.

Problem faced:

Presently, there is a rapid rise in unserviceability of aircraft due to unforeseen problems

happening unexpectedly. During this, maintenance staffs need immediate spares/equipment to

encounter the problems. However, these maintenance servicing are unplanned, logistics

department is not able to supply the spares / equipment in time to maintenance division for

servicing of unserviceable aircraft. Basic problems are as:

The user who is raising the demand, is not fully conversant with the demanding

procedure and publication details.

In between User and Logistics department so many formalities lay which results in

increasing the processing time of demand.

The persons who are dealing with priority demands are not acquainted with newly

introduced IMMOLS system

In logistic division, no other clerk respond to the priority demand quickly, when the

dealing clerk is absent for some reason.

In case user refers the wrong supply agency in the demand form. Thus that will result in

duplication of job because demand will come back to the user section without any

action.

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User A Dealing Supply Agency

Department

(Logistics)

User B Equipment Depot

3.3.3.2 Evaluation of Method improvement

The Preservation and depreservation of aero engines and jet pipes play a major role in

maintenance and servicing in the field of aviation. The aim of preservation is to form a

protection to the aero engine components and its accessories along with jet pipe, against

corrosion attack during storage and transportation, as well as when the aircraft is temporarily

put out of service due to unserviceability.

The depreservation is the process of removal of oil / grease from the inner and outer surfaces of

aero engine, which is applied during the process of preservation before putting into service or

installing on aircraft, otherwise it may lead to a cause of fire during engine running condition.

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Figure 3.4 why user had to wait.

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The preservation and depreservation trolley named AMZ-53 is manufactured by Russian. It is a

multipurpose trolley consist of three containers, two air bottles with compressed air of150

Kg/Cm2, one air reducer, one safety valve and three filters. No.1 cylinder holds 25ltrs of oil

OX-27 which is used for aircraft engine lubrication.

No. 2 cylinder holds 25ltrs OM-11 which is used for internal and external preservation of the

aircraft engine and Jet pipe.

No. 3 cylinder holds 25ltrs of aviation gasoline used for depreservation of the engine and leak

checks of engine after rectification work.

Each cylinder having one dispenser each fitted with hose at the end. During operation of the

system, each cylinder is supplied with compressed air available in two air bottles which is

supplied to the system with reduced pressure of 2-3 kg/ cm2.

Existing Procedure

By fixing the trigger on the guard, the operator keeps his thumb on the exit of dispenser

and adjusts his thumb to reduce the flow area of dispenser. After that it directs the jet of

fluid towards the parts of the aero engine / jet pipe to be preserved / depreserved.

The procedure consumes approximately 40ltr of fluid during single operation.

It is not possible for the operator to adjust properly his thumb to the outlet of dispenser

which results in failure of processes.

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Figure 3.5 Preservation trolley AMZ-53

Description: 1-safety valve, 3-pressure gauge, 4. reducer, 5-reducer, 6-pressure gauge, 7-charging pipe union, 8-shutoff valve,

9-airbottle, 10-dispensing hose, 11-dispenser, 12-tank(qty 3), 13-filter, 14-filter, 16-shutoff valve, 17-air relief valve, 18-filter,

19-instrument panel, 20-handling lug, 21-end piece for pressure filling of oil.

Figure 3.6 Dispenser

1-body; 2-valve; 3-cylinder; 4,8-spring; 5-earthing cable; 6-latch; 7-triggewr; 9-strainer filter; 10-barrel; 11-blank cover

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Problems faced

The outlet area of the dispenser is more, and hence it is not possible to take out grease

from the spherical sockets of the preserved parts easily.

The operator is unable to control the operation properly because of more area of the

outlet of dispenser. This results a large amount of wastage of oil / gasoline.

As oil/gasoline is inflammable fluid, the work area is very prone to fire hazard wherever

it spills during the process of preservation.

Due to unhealthy nature of oil/gasoline, the operator always feels annoyance while

carrying out preservation and depreservation.

The process of preservation requires about 40 ltrs.of preserving fluid during each

operation and hence the operator has to fill the dispensing container at least twice

(because capacity of container is 25ltrs).

3.3.3.3 Evaluation of Material handling

In the Indian Air Lines where sophisticated aircrafts like Boeing, Airbus are used, need

requirement of special material handling equipments during maintenance, servicing of aircrafts.

It is observed that most of the material handling is carried out manually during the operation.

Thus Indian Air lines needs specific material handling equipments for safe and efficient

maintenance of aircraft to achieve the goal of the organization

Existing Manual Operation

The existing manual operation requires 8 persons to carry out the operation because the

weight of after burner diffuser is heavy (85 kg) and bulk in size, especially to be lifted and

lowered through a height of 10 feet during replacement operation.

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Six persons are required for lifting and lowering the items.

One technician is required for fitting and removing the attachment bolts.

One supervisor is required for guiding the manual operation.

It has been observed that, maintenance activities carried out manually during removal and

fitment of aero engine after burner diffuser replacement. The manual operation is involved

with negligible personal safety and wastage in man powers.

3.3.3.4 Evaluation of Computer support in logistics department

In logistic department purchasing, provisioning, budgeting, demand and issue of spares plays in

daily routine job. By the implementation of IMMOLS (integrated material management on line

system) in the Indian Air Lines base made the logistic system very easier and saved large

wastage of man hours. Still, problems remain same in the personal clothing issue program.

37

10

feet

Figure 3.7 Height of the after burner diffuser during replacement

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Chapter- 4

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In previous chapter, the four critical areas were identified by analyzing questionnaire response.

The problems in these critical areas are found out by discussion with the employees as well as

management. Also, practical observations are documented to analyze the various problems of

these critical areas. In this chapter the proposed method / concepts are adopted for improvement

in these identified critical areas. An analysis is carried out using Kaizen methodology for

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improvement in identified critical areas. The analysis and implementation of proposed method

in comparison with existing method are discussed here in detail.

4.1 STEP IV PROPOSED METHOD / CONCEPTS TO IMPROVE EXISTING

METHODS

The different concepts and methods are adopted to bring improvement in existing concepts /

methods. Various Kaizen techniques are applied in the identified four critical areas of study.

Spare management

By studying the problems for delay in supply of spares to the maintenance line, a quality Circle

team is formed by combining two engineers, four supervisor and 10 workers. The goal of QC

program was to reduce the waiting period for the spares to minimum possible. All delay areas

are identified and different measures are taken to improve the existing delay in procurement of

spares. The Different tools of kaizen such as cause and effect diagram, Pareto diagram and

check sheets are used to solve the problem.

Method improvement

By visualizing the problems existing in preservation and depreservation method of aero engine,

4M checklist system is applied to bring the improvement over it. The 4 M check list of Kaizen

activities are Man (operator), Machine (facilities), material (item) and method (operation). In

the existing method of operation, various problems are identified i.e. method is unhealthy to

operator, more wastage in material and it is an inefficient method. All these problems are

reduced to a great extent by changing the exit pipe of the dispenser with a suitable nozzle.

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Material handling

By visualizing the existing material handling of after burner diffuser, 3-MU check point is

considered to help workers during operation. The 3 M U checklists of Kaizen activities are

Muda (Waste), Muri (Strain) and Mara (Discrepancy). In the existing operation various

problems recognized i.e. strain, fatigue, and wastage of man power is found out during the

operation. By keeping the entire 3 MU problem in view, improvement is carried out. This

improvement is done by fabricating an iron lashing cable from local market to replace the

conventional existing manual operation.

Computer support

By considering the problems in the existing clothing issue programme, study is carried out by

suggestion system which is an integral part of the Kaizen methodology. In this study,

employees have been asked directly for suggestions, to bring the improvements in the personal

clothing issue program. About 50 suggestions are collected directly from the employees. The

best suggestion found out to be Implementation of clothing issue program on existing

IMMOLS network. With the help of Software Company the existing IMMOLS network is

added with an additional menu i.e. Personnel Clothing. This menu can be accessed by the

employees at their work site terminal to find out their entitled clothing. As per the entitlement

browsed at the employees terminal, the newly introduced Personnel Demand Form has to be

filled up. The rest all is done by the issuing section. Also, the clothing is issued with the use of

a hand written form instead of old conventional method of approval at various steps. The new

form is dropped to the issuing section. The data base is then checked online by issuing section.

The items which are entitled for the employee are delivered by issuing section to the

employees work site.

4.2 STEP V ANALYSIS STAGE

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Analysis of the proposed method is carried out on four identified critical areas by using the

different problem solving tools of Kaizen. The analysis, comparison and result of the study in

four critical areas are described as follow:-

4.2.1 Analysis of spare management

The occasions arise when normal demands for spares do not materialize in time. To ensure

operational preparedness of aircraft and equipment, priority demands for supply of spares are

raised. For procurement of spares from supply agency certain procedures are followed. The

figure 4.1 shows the flow diagram of procurement of spares from the supply agency.

42

Approval by O i/c

Getting N/A from store

Taking demand no. from IMMOLS

Seeking approval from C E O

Seeking approval from SLO

Figure 4.1 Flow diagram of procurement of spares

Signal demand rises through AOG cell

Message sends through signal or via internet to supply agency

Dealing clerk in supply / repair agency

Spares/ item comes through logistics procedure

Receipt and Dispatch section

Received by User section

Demand by user section

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Cause-and-Effect Diagram and Situation Analysis:

In order to analyze the cause of delay in supply of spares to maintenance line, QC circle

members conducted a brainstorming session regarding the waiting time for supply of spare and

equipment. Circle members itemized the factors at a brainstorming session and arranged them

in a cause and effect diagram as shown below:

Absent (duty off) Linkage failure

Out of office

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MAN MACHINE

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Unserviceable (waiting for repair)

Report sick Busy

Semi-skilled Insufficient Machine

Busy in other job

Form not filled properly Tea break

Medical Lack of co-ordination

Less Comp. knowl. Other workload

Starts leaving a message everybody do not trained with system

Other unavoi- Item waiting after receivingdable jobs

Further, Circle members decided to conduct a survey on existing method to find out the delay in

supply of spares to the maintenance line. About 50 old demands are studied for delay and data

is collected. Out of 50 old demands under study, ten demands are put under check sheet.

Table 4.1 Check sheets to identify the delay in procurement.

S.

No

Item Problem

Recognitio

n Date (A)

Demand

date (B)

Material

Transfer

Request

date (C)

Clearance

date (D)

Difference

between

column

A & D

1 Data Recorder 12 Jul 07 14 Jul 07 16 Jul 07 30 Jul 07 18 days

2 Tachogenerator 06 Apr 07 09 Apr 07 13 Apr 07 22 Apr 07 16days

3 Amplifier 03 Feb 07 05 Feb 07 08 Feb 07 13 Feb 07 40 days4 Pressure relief 10 Mar 07 12 Mar 07 14 Mar 07 16 Apr 07 36 days

44

DELAY IN

SUPPLY

OF SPARES

USER WORKING

SYSTEM

Figure 4.2 Causes and effect diagram for delay in supply of spares

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valve

5 Hydraulic

accumulator

03 Jan 07 05 Jan 07 07 Jan 07 10 Mar 07 65 days

6 Hydraulic pump 20 Feb 07 23 Feb 07 25 Feb 07 18 Apr 07 57 days

7 Servo Unit 22 May 07 24 May 07 27 May 07 07 Jun 07 16 days8 Flight detection

integrator

10 Jan 07 12 Jan 07 14 Jan 07 25 Jan 07 15 days

9 Synchronizing

unit

01 Mar 07 02 Mar 07 04 Mar 05 17 Mar 07 16 days

10 RPM Gauge 02 May 07 04 May 07 07 May 07 02 Jun 07 31 days

On scrutinizing the check sheet it is understood that the time taken for procurement of some of

the items like hydraulic accumulator and hydraulic pump is about 2 months. To find the main

areas of delay in supply of spares, circle members made a brain storming session. About 50

demands which are raised in the month of September is analyzed to find out the reasons

starting from the raising of the demands by the user sections up to the material received by the

maintenance line. The main causes of delay in the procurement of spares are listed below:

Table 4.2 Reasons why maintenance staff had to wait

Reasons Total no. of

problem

Cumulative

A Supply agency delay 29 29

B Maintenance staff delay 24 53

C Approving delay 18 71

D Material transfer delay 14 85

E Receiving delay 10 95F Any other delay 5 100

Identifying the areas contributing for the delay of spares, various measures are taken, these are

described below.

Adequate training on IMMOLS system.

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On line assistance to user.

In time approval of demand by approving authority.

Immediate raising of Material Transfer Request (MTR) to supply agency through

Intranet.

Immediate supply of spares from supply agency to user base by courier or speed post.

On receipt of spares from supply agency immediate delivery to maintenance line.

Manning the IMMOLS Server round the clock to attend the queries.

After a month together, again study is conducted in the previous areas of delay. The results

obtained after implementation of various measures to curtail delay in supply of spares. The

table 4.4 illustrates the comparison of delay before and after quality circle conducted in the

maintenance and logistic division. In this table, the frequency of delay in supply agency is

reduced from 29 to 10. The frequency of other delays (i.e. approving delay, material transfer

request delay, maintenance staff delay, receiving delay and other delays) are reduced 24 to8, 18

to6, 10 to 2 and 5 to 1 respectively.

Table 4.3 Comparison study before and after measuring action.

Reasons for delay Frequency of

problem

before study

Cumulative

freq. before

study

Frequency of

problem

after study

Cumulative

freq. after

study

A Supply agency

delay

29 29 10 10

B Maintenance staff

delay

24 53 8 18

C Approving delay 18 71 6 24

D MTR delay 14 85 5 29

E Receiving delay 10 95 2 31

F Any other delay 5 100 1 32

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The frequency of delays before and after measuring action is diagrammed according to priority

on the pareto diagram. It is revealed that the total delays reduced to 32%. Figure 4.3 shows the

percentage of improvement in supply of spares.

Figure 4.8 graph of average employees attend the clothing issue program

4.2.2 Analysis of method improvement

47

PER

CEN

TAG

E

OF

DEL

AYS

Figure 4.3 Pareto diagram (combination of before and after measuring action)

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The existing method of preservation and depreservation was leading to wastage of material and

unhealthy working environment. The major problem was the design of exit pipe of the

dispenser (15 mm dia). The exit pipe of the dispenser is replaced with a metallic nozzle of

2mm diameter. This brought out an improvement in operation of preservation and

depreservation. It resulted in reduction in wastage of material. Also, the mask is used by the

operator which creates a healthy environment to the worker.

48

21 mm 13 mm 32 mm

Body

Valve

Exit

barrel

Trigger15mm dia.

Outlet

Figure 4.4(a) Detachment of exit barrel from the dispenser body

Hexagonal

union

Tapered

section

Figure 4.4 (b) newly designed nozzle

2 mm

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Qualitative improvement

It is observed that there are tremendous qualitative improvements in the operation:

49

26 mm

Body

Outlet

barrel

Trigger

Nozzle

Body

Outlet

barrel

Trigger

Nozzle

Body

Outlet

barrel

Trigger

Nozzle

Figures 4.4 (c) Dispenser with nozzle after method improvement

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A fine spray / jet of fluid come out from the equipment, which removes all oil stains

from the inhibited parts and takes out the grease from the intricate parts during

depreservation.

Level of satisfaction of operators is increased, as this process reduced the spillage that

was creating the unhealthy environment.

A fine layer of preservation oil (with minimum consumption) develops during

preservation.

Operator becomes very enthusiastic towards improvement (because it reduces the extra

job i.e. cleaning of floor area and refilling of the system).

Savings

By repeated operation it is observed that approximately 15 liters of material (i.e. oil or

aviation kerosene) saved in one operation.

Cost of preservation oil is Rs 80/ - per liter

Cost of aviation kerosene is Rs 20/ - per liter

During servicing both preservation and depreservation is carried out.

Cost of 15 liters of oil 80x15= Rs 1200/ -

Cost of 15 liters of kerosene 20x15= Rs 300/ -

Total saving in cost for one servicing Rs 1500/ -

There are five such operations carried out in a month and hence sixty operations in a year.

Thus total savings in a year by this improvement is 60x1500= Rs 90,000/ -

In terms of material

Total consumption of oil for single operation (before) = 40 liters

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Total consumption of oil for single operation (after) = 25 liters

Savings of material for single operation 15 liters

% percentage saving during single operation = 15/40x 100 = 37.5 %

4.2.3 Analysis of material handling

3 MU Check points Muda, Muri and Mura are adopted and existing manual operation is

analyzed to take out the drudgery from the system. In 3 MU check point, Muda (waste) in man

hours, muri (strain) and fatigue involved in operation and Mura (discrepancy in the way of

handling the equipment is considered during the analysis. This kaizen technique brought an

improvement in the handling of equipment i.e after burner diffuser during replacement.

Fabricating an iron lashing cable of 2 feet length with loop in one end and an eye end attached

to the other is manufactured from the local market. The figure 4.5 shows the design of lashing

cable. In improved method only two persons are required for handling of item during

replacement. The designed lashing cable is used with idle machine (lifting crane) to perform

the job with faster speed and less man power. This method visualizes a utilization of idle

machine lifting crane and Kaizen.

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Lifting point

Figure 4.5 Lifting point of after burner diffuser

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52

Loop endLoop end

Eye end

Bolt

Figure 4.6 Iron lashing cable

Boom

Rotating

handle

Pulley

Base

Jack

Wheel

Figure 4.7 Lifting crane

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Lifting crane is intended to remove the canopy, ejection seat, radio equipment and other units

weighing not above 300 kg. The boom can operate through a radius of 1700mm to2000 mm and

360 turning angle. This lifting crane is utilized for replacement of after burner diffuser.

The various steps followed for replacement of After Burner Diffuser are:

Operation during removal of diffuser

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Attach the eye end of the cable to the lifting point provided on the After Burner

Diffuser.

Connect the crane in the loop provided at the other end.

Supervisor rotates the crane handle to lift AB Diffuser.

Technician removes the required attachment bolts and nut.

AB Diffuser is lowered and kept safely on its stand.

Operation during fitment diffuser

Attach the lashing cable to the crane and after burner diffuser.

Supervisor rotates the crane handle and lifts after burner diffuser, during this time

technician supports the after burner diffuser to avoid falling of it.

Moving the crane towards the engine carries out an alignment.

Technician attaches the required fasteners and tightens.

Releases the load from crane and removes the lashing cable.

Results

The existing manual operation is being carried out in 30 minutes (i.e. for removal and fitment)

with the help of eight employees. Whereas, by the utilization of lifting crane and small

improvement by means of a iron cable the same operation is carried out by only two

employees. Thus it is concluded that, new method saves 6 men for 30 minutes each during a

single operation.

Total time saved during single operation 6X30=180 minutes or 3 man hours.

There are 3 operations carried out in one month. Thus,

Total man hours saved per month is 9 hours.

Total man hours saved per year is 108 hours.

Table 4.4 Comparison of old and new procedure in material handling

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4.2.4 Analysis of computer support

The suggestion system brought a clear view to implement Kaizen in the clothing issue system.

The best and improved method of personnel clothing issue is as follows:

New Issue Program for Employee

The employee checks out at his terminal to find out the entitlement. He has to only fill up a

personal demand request and submit it to Logistic section. Equipment clerk tallies the

individuals demand request by checking the data base in the computer provided to him. He

takes out a hard copy of demand and arranges delivery of demanded items to work site of

individual employees. In this system of issue program the employee need not to be disturbed

during his period of duty.

Personnel demand Request

OLD METHOD NEW METHOD

Man 8 persons required to carry out the

operat5ion.

Only 2 persons required.

Machine Crane is idle most of the time. Proper utilization of idled crane.Damage Chances of damages to the item. No chances of damages

Safety Personnel safety is less. Personnel safety increases.

Fatigue Workers feel more fatigue. Workers fatigue reduced.

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Particulars

Personal No. Name . Branch

Sl No Item Qty Size Date Of

Last Issue

Due

Date

Date: Signature of Individual

In the new method of issue program saving in wastage of man power is obtained. The wastage

of man hours in old method is calculated below:

Quantitative Study: There are more than 1500 employee working in the air lines under study.

The data collected from direct source is appended below:

Table 4.5 Month wise study of clothing issue program

Month Frequency

of program

No. of employees

attend the program

Total employees

attend per month

Average per

program

Apr 05 4 60; 58; 65 & 63 246 61.5

May 05 4 55; 62; 62 & 63 242 60.5

Jun 05 4 40; 48; 50 & 44 182 45.5

July 05 4 53; 58; 60 & 59 230 57.5

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Aug 05 4 51; 58; 64 & 63 236 59

Sep 05 4 60; 59; 61 & 62 242 60.5

The net average = Sum of the averages of months/ Total number of month

= 61.5 + 60.5 + 45.5 +57.5 + 59 + 60.5 / 6

= 58 (approx)

METHOD USED TO FIND OUT THE TOTAL WAITING TIME

There are 58 persons attend the clothing issue programme in one program day. The observed

distribution of arrival times and service times are recorded and solved by system simulation. By

repeated observation, direct data collected from the persons involved in the programme. The

following frequency distributions of inter arrival time of employees and service time of the

counter have been established.

Table 4.6 Frequency distribution of inter arrival time

57

Figure 4.8 Month wise average employees attend the clothing issue program

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Inter Arrival time (Minutes) Frequency %

1 15

2 25

3 35

4 10

5 86 10

7 20

8 35

9 10

10 25

This system is carried out in one service counter and served by one bearer only. Hence the

persons at queue will enter the service channel as per FCFS basis. Simulation of the clothing

issue system with one counter and assigning random number for inter arrival time of persons to

path in queue and service times in the counter is allotted in following table: -

Table 4.7 Random number distribution of Inter arrival time

Inter arrival time(in mins.) Frequency % Cumulative Freq. Random number

0 15 15 0-141 25 40 15-39

2 35 75 40-74

3 10 85 75-84

4 8 93 85-92

5 7 100 93-99

Table 4.8 Random number distribution of Service time

Inter arrival time

(minutes)

Frequency % Cumulative

Frequency

Random Number

5 10 10 00-09

6 15 25 10-23

7 25 50 24-49

8 35 85 50-84

9 5 90 85-89

10 10 100 90-99

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The simulation of this study (clothing issue program) is carried out in one counter. The persons

in queue enter the service channel (counter) as per FCFS (First come first service) basis is

recorded in the following taste to find out the total waiting time of the workers. From this

waiting time, it can be conclude that the wastage of man-hours in the manual system and which

is removed by the computer support system.

Table 4.9 Analysis of waiting time by simulation modeling

Sl

No

Random

Number

arrival

(RNA)

Inter

arrival

time(IAT)

(in mins.)

Random

Number

service

(RNS)

Service

time

(ST) (in

minutes)

Cumulative

arrival time

(CAT)

Service

Begins

(SB)

Service

Ends

(SE)

Waiting

time

(WT)

1 -- -- 96 10 0 0 10 0

2 11 0 82 9 0 1 19 10

3 71 2 56 8 2 19 27 17

4 65 2 68 8 4 27 35 23

5 41 2 58 8 6 35 43 29

6 35 1 40 7 7 43 50 36

7 17 1 82 8 8 5 58 42

8 01 4 11 12 12 58 64 469 7 0 34 12 12 64 71 52

10 34 1 25 13 13 71 78 58

11 12 0 66 13 13 78 86 65

12 43 2 17 15 15 86 94 71

13 38 1 79 16 6 94 102 78

14 49 2 58 18 18 102 110 84

15 13 0 67 18 18 110 118 92

16 05 0 42 18 18 118 125 100

17 95 5 38 23 23 125 132 102

18 76 3 84 26 26 132 140 106

19 85 4 38 30 30 140 147 110

20 69 2 86 32 32 147 156 115

21 57 2 85 34 34 156 165 122

22 63 2 12 36 36 165 171 129

23 41 2 27 38 38 171 178 133

24 3 0 46 38 38 178 185 140

25 91 4 58 42 42 185 193 143

26 58 2 69 44 44 193 201 149

27 62 2 53 46 46 201 209 155

28 75 3 48 49 49 209 216 160

29 89 4 93 53 53 216 226 16330 23 1 61 54 54 226 234 170

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31 11 0 89 9 54 234 243 180

32 36 1 98 10 55 243 253 188

33 59 2 58 8 57 253 261 196

34 39 1 95 10 58 263 271 204

35 19 1 81 8 59 271 279 212

36 21 1 34 7 60 279 286 21937 74 2 23 6 62 286 292 224

38 86 4 92 10 66 292 302 226

39 90 4 71 8 70 302 310 232

40 64 2 78 8 72 310 318 238

41 18 1 05 5 71 318 323 247

42 18 1 32 7 71 323 330 251

43 67 2 41 7 74 330 337 256

44 20 1 84 8 75 337 345 262

45 72 2 79 8 77 345 353 268

46 34 1 86 9 78 353 362 27547 54 2 88 9 80 362 371 282

48 30 1 72 8 81 371 379 290

49 22 1 45 7 82 379 386 297

50 48 2 32 7 84 386 393 302

51 74 2 99 10 86 393 403 307

52 76 3 59 8 89 403 411 314

53 02 0 69 8 89 411 419 322

54 07 0 29 7 89 419 426 330

55 64 2 50 8 91 426 434 335

56 95 5 48 7 96 434 441 338

57 23 1 10 6 97 441 447 344

58 91 4 30 7 101 447 454 346

Total 10217 min

It is concluded that, 170 man-hours saved in one program, 680 (170X4) man-hour saved in one

month and 8160 man hours saved per year.

Table 4.10 Comparison of old and new clothing issue program

Old Method New Method1. Wastage of man-hours.

2. Low level of employee satisfaction.

3. Employee do not get his full entitlement.

4. Chance of hampering of planned work.

1. Drastic saving in man hours.

2. High level of employee satisfaction.

3. Employee gets his full entitle in time.

4. No chances of hampering of planned task.

4.3 STEP VI IMPLEMENTATION

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All the four critical areas of study are analyzed and implemented by Kaizen tools are

elaborately discussed in succeeding paragraphs.

The existing spare management system was causing more delay in supply of spare to the

maintenance line and resulting in non-completion of maintenance schedule in time. By

implementation of Kaizen tools i.e. cause and effect diagram, pareto diagram and check sheets,

the delay in supply of spares is reduced to a great extent i.e. 68%.

The existing method for preservation and depreservation of aero engine was resulting in a large

wastage of material and producing hazardous environment. By introduction of Kaizen tool 4 M

check point, it is revealed that an improvement can be made with a jet in the existing dispenser

in the preservation and depreservation trolley. As a result, it leads to a reduction of 37.5% of

material and also improved the safety to the man carrying out the operation.

Material handling equipment, which is third critical area of study, is discussed in detail under

analysis stage. The existing handling of material (aero engine diffuser) was performed

manually, for which 8 men were needed and involved with negligible safety to man and

material during replacement of after burner diffuser in aircraft maintenance. By using kaizen

tool 3 MU an improvement in replacement of after burner diffuser is brought out. This is done

by a locally manufactured lashing cable and utilizing an idle material handling equipment (i.e.

lifting crane). This improved the performance of aircraft maintenance and saving in man-hours.

Computer support in Logistics division is discussed under the analysis stage of this chapter. The

existing system for personal clothing issue for the maintenance and non-maintenance

employees was wasting a lot of man power in the form of waiting time for clothing issue

program in the logistics section, which was also hampering the maintenance work of the

aircraft. The Kaizen tools suggestion system is utilized for improvement in issued program.

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By addition of personnel clothing menu on existing IMMOLS network and change in the

procedure of personnel clothing issue, it is revealed that there is a tremendous reduction in man

hours as described in analysis stage of this chapter.

Thus introduction of Kaizen tools improved the overall performance of maintenance and

logistics operation. Since it is a continuous improvement process, it needs to be always

considered as best tool for further improvement.

Chapter -5

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CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE SCOPE

5.1 CONCLUSIONS

With the application of kaizen methodology in maintenance and logistic operations, The

following conclusions were drawn:-

(i) On the basis of questionnaire filled by the employees, the four critical areas i.e.

spare management, method improvement; material handling and computer support

were identified.

(ii) By implementation of kaizen methodology in spare management, the delay in supply

of spares is reduced by 32%.

(iii) In method improvement, change in design of nozzle made a fine spray of preserving

oil. It leads to reduction of 15 liters of oil consumed (37.5% reduction) and hence

Rs. 90000/- per year.

(iv) By applying kaizen tools in the area of material handling, lifting crane is utilized by

the means of a locally fabricated lashing cable. This small kaizen task, improved the

safety handling procedure during maintenance work and saved 108 man hours every

year.

(v) The upgrading procedure of personal clothing issue programme in logistic division

reduced 8160 man-hours every year.

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5.2 FUTURE SCOPE

1. The study explained, can be expanded and implemented in other stations of the Indian

Air Lines.

2. The research work can be expanded in the same field by using other techniques of

Kaizen such as Kanban, JIT, TPM and TQM.

3. The Kaizen methodology can be applied for further study in operational (flying) field of

aviation in Indian Air Lines.

APPENDICE A

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QUESTIONAIRE

Responders are requested to express their opinion enabling the study to identify the real

problems.

Responders Name:

Designation:

Age:

Sex:

Length of service:

Educational qualification:

SECTION A

(1) Will you agree that there should be continuous improvement in maintenance in the

aviation field?

(a) Yes (b) No

SECTION B

( ) Tick marks the suitable answer.

Sl.

No.

Questions Yes No

1. Do you feel the need of computers in your maintenance tasks?

2. Will information technology be accepted by all personnel of your

organization?

3. Do you need the on-line data on performance of aircraft maintenance?

4. Is the existing methodology for maintenance of aircraft time

consuming?

5. Is there a need of introduction of improved method of maintenance?

Contd/02

-02-

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6. Do you feel safe when involved in maintenance activities of aircraft?

7. Are you satisfied in your work output in maintenance work with existing

tools and equipment?

8. Are you satisfied in the existing spares management system?

9. Does the existing spare management system help in forecasting ofspares/equipment?

10. Is your Priority demand of items supplied in time to work site?

11. Is the degree of safety adequate with the existing material handling

equipment?

12. Are you comfortable with your working environment?

13. Are you satisfied with the material handling equipment used in

maintenance operation in IA?

14. Is there any arrangement for social gathering in your organization?

15. Do you feel improvement in maintenance methods and facilities toreduce the wastage of resources?

16. Does existing material handling equipment need improvement?

17. Do you think satisfaction of workers increase the productivity of

maintenance work?

18. Is there any importance of personal morale in the IA?

19. Do you think maintenance improvement is an endless process?

20. Is the training plays a vital part in aircraft maintenance?

Signature of responder

APPENDICE B

3- MU CHECKLIST OF KAIZEN ACTIVITIES

MUDA(waste) MURI(strain) MURA(discrepancy)

1.Manpower 1.Manpower 1.Manpower

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2.Technique

3.Method

4.Time