Testing Theory in Process Industry Transformation System

1

Testing Theory in Process Industry Transformation System using

Case Studies

A Project Funded by University Grants Commission, New Delhi, India under

Grant F. No. 42-409/2013(SR) dated 25-03-2013.

Principal Investigator

Dr. K.S.Thyagaraj

Assistant Professor

Department of Management Studies

Indian School of Mines

Dhanbad, Jharkhand

Co-Investigator

Dr. Sandeep Mondal

Associate Professor

Department of Management Studies

Indian School of Mines

Dhanbad, Jharkhand

2

Acknowledgements

We thank University Grants Commission, New Delhi, India for funding this research under

Grant F. No. 42-409/2013(SR) dated 23 March, 2013. We thank Bokaro Dairy, Tata Steel and

BCCL administration for granting permission to visit their plants. We also thank Indian School

of Mines, Dhanbad, India for providing the necessary facilities and administrative support.

3

Table of Content

Acknowledgements

1. Introduction& Background Literature (4)

2. Method (8)

3. Data

3.1 Sudha Dairy, Bokaro (11)

3.2 Sudha Dairy, Baghalpur (27)

3.3 Tata Steel, Jamshedpur (42)

3.4 BCCL Moonidih Washery (50)

3.5 BCCL Bhojudih Washery (55)

4. Analysis

4.1 Within Case Analysis (59)

4.2 Across Case Analysis (66)

5. Conclusion & Future Research Directions (72)

References

Appendices

Copy of:

A UGC Letter commencing Project Funding on March 1, 2013.

B Appointment of Project Fellow

C Resignation of Project Fellow

D Appointment of Project Fellow

E Information in respect of the Project Fellow

F. Letter of Appointment as Counting Micro-Observer for 23 Dec, 2015 (the scheduled date of

UGC mid-term evaluation)

G. UGC Letter dated 19 Feb, 2015 requiring Project Closure on March 31, 2015.

H. Statement of expenditure (with Chartered Accountant seal and sign)

I. Project Fund Utilization Certificate

J Project Fund Utilization Certificate (UGC format with Chartered Accountant seal and sign)

K. Credit of balance amount to Secretary, UGC, New Delhi (A/c no. 0157101017339)

L. Fellowship Paid to Project Fellow (with Chartered Accountant seal and sign)

M. Field work/Travel expenditure (with Chartered Accountant seal and sign)

4

1. Introduction & Background Literature

American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS) describe process industries as

businesses that add value to materials by mixing, separating, forming, or chemical reactions. It

further states that these processes may be either batch or continuous and generally require rigid

process control and high capital investment. In batch process short production runs of products are

scheduled. In continuous process there are minimal interruptions in any one production run or

between production runs of products.

Developing the manufacturing sector is fundamental to sustaining a nation’s high growth

regime and ensuring adequate employment opportunities. The process industry is a major

component of the manufacturing sector and a major source of raw-materials. In India, for example,

the eight core industries, namely, Coal, Fertilizer, Steel, Crude Oil, Refined Products, Natural Gas,

Cement, and Electricity account for 38% of weight of items included in the index of Industrial

Production. The contribution of process industries to the nation’s manufacturing output between

1980-2004 obtained from Annual Survey of India (Various Issues) is approximately as follows:

(1) Basic and fabricated metal (17%), (2) Textiles (3%), (3) Leather (1%), (4) Coke petroleum and

Nuclear fuel (14%), (5) Rubber and Plastic (15%), (6) Chemicals (14%), and (7) Food, Beverages,

and Tobacco (16%). Thus process industries account for nearly 80% of the nation’s manufacturing

output. It should be noted that some of the mentioned industries are actually hybrids, that is, the

non-discrete units becomes discrete at some point during the manufacturing process. It is found

that states, e.g., Maharashtra and Gujrat, with high density of capital intensive industries have a

large share of the Nation’s manufacturing output as compared to their employment share (Annual

Industry Survey).

Operations management research has traditionally paid very little attention to this large group

of industries. It is essential to be aware of one’s production environment to gain an understanding

of the managerial issues and accompanying solutions. Process industry is faced today with a

volatile economy, intense competition and rising energy/material costs. Improving operational

efficiency has become a necessity not only for margin purposes, but also for long term success.

Cost reduction and quality/productivity improvement have now become key levers for gaining

competitive advantage. To stay competitive the process industry has to make an attempt at

5

delivering customized goods at commodity costs. At the same time it has to work on sustainability

and environmental and social impacts.

The literature on process industries covers: (i) general Production and Inventory Management

problem (Fransoo 1992), (ii) specific Production and Inventory Management problems and

solutions (Gerchak et al. 1996), (iii) applications of ‘traditional’ Manufacturing Requirement

Planning (MRP) (Dibono 1997), (iv) scheduling in high volume continuous process industry

(Taylor and Bolander 1991), (v) basic Production and Inventory Management taxonomies

(Volmann et al.), and (vi) the differentiating characteristics between process industry and discrete

industry. Some of these differentiating characteristic are: (a) variability (Haxthausen 1995), (b)

co-product/by-product (Nichols and Ricketts 1994), (c) product sequencing (Haxthausen 1995),

(d) units of measure (Appoo 1987), and (e) lot tracking (Haxthausen 1995). Dennis and Meredith

(2000a, 2000b) provide a much more extensive list of work in each of these areas.

This study extends Dennis and Meredith (2000b) work to improve the understanding of

differences within process industry transformation systems. Managerial issues often require

solutions specific to its environment. A better understanding of characteristics of individual

transformation systems should reveal associated productivity improvement techniques, production

planning and control system, and quality control methods to achieve competitive advantage. Also

individual transformation systems technology, information, flexibility and agility needs shall be

better understood. Also an improvement in capacity planning and/or material management based

upon identification of similar process pattern across dissimilar products is foreseen.

Process industries are distinctively organized around production processes (Barnett and Clark,

1996) and efficient supply chain operation is invariably tied to the process design (Shah 2003).

Majority of process industry literature focuses on characteristics that differentiate process industry

(as a whole) from discrete industry. This has only helped us understand that process industry

requires a different type of management emphasis (Utterback, 1996). There are few studies which

provide in-between distinction of process industries. As such our understanding of individual

process industries is fairly limited making it difficult to identify areas of potential improvements.

6

The distinction within process industries is reflected in Taylor et al. (1981) adaption of Hayes

and Wheelwright’s (1979) product/process model of discrete industries to process industries (refer

Figure 1). This product/process model categorized several types of process industries with respect

to product mix and process pattern. The two extremes of product mix were custom and commodity.

The two extremes of process pattern were batch (job shop) and process (flow shop).

Fig. 1.1: Taylor’s Product/Process matrix

Dennis and Meredith (2000b), however, argue that all firms within each industry groups (e.g.,

drugs) doesn’t necessarily have comparable process pattern. As such these firms shouldnot occupy

a common position in the matrix. They further point out the error in assuming that a process firm

shall encounter managerial issues similar to a firm producing discrete products based on its

position in the matrix. Based upon this it is evident that Taylor et al. (1981) product/process model

needs improvement. It is stated that though the product mix largely determines the process pattern

it is important to understandthe specific transformation system characteristics that make up the

process pattern. A better understanding of characteristics of individual transformation systems

should reveal associated productivity improvement techniques, production planning and control

system, and quality control methods to achieve competitive advantage. Also individual

transformation systems technology, information, flexibility and agility needs shall be better

understood. Also an improvement in capacity planning and/or material management based upon

identification of similar process pattern across dissimilar products is foreseen.

7

In this direction, Dennis and Meredith (2000b), propose 16 characteristics to analyze process

industry transformation systems. These 16 characteristics form the basis for their additional

proposal that: (i) process industry transformation systems can be categorized into at least seven

subtypes, and (ii) these subtypes can be loosely grouped into intermittent, continuous, and hybrid

transformation systems.

Dennis and Meredith (2000b) work which is based on empirical study of nineteen industries

does not draw conclusions but puts forth proposals as a step towards theory building. It does not

draw conclusions but puts forth proposals as a step towards theory building. These proposals

neither validate nor falsify existing theory and require further testing. The objective here to test

the following propositions by Dennis and Meredith (2000b):

1. Taylor et al.(1981) product-process model doesn’t convey significant information

regarding transformation systems of individual process industries.

2. Two firms producing same products and occupying the same position on the product-

process matrix could have dissimilar transformation system characteristics and face

different operational challenges.

3. Two firms producing dissimilar products and occupying different position in the product-

process matrix could have similar transformation characteristics.

The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 describes the Case Study

methodology used. In Section 3 we describe the individual cases and conduct within and across

case analysis. We conclude finally in Section 4.

8

2. Method

We use case study to test the propositions by Dennis and Meredith (2000b). Case methods, due to

the effort involved, are primarily useful when developing new theory or selective testing of

existing theories in polar type or extreme cases. A case study utilizes multiple methods and tools

for data collection from a number of entities by a direct observer(s). This is done in a single, natural

setting that considers temporal and contextual aspects of the contemporary phenomenon under

study, but without experimental controls or manipulations (Bonoma 1985, Eisenhardt 2007, and

Yin 1994). Both quantitative and qualitative approaches as well as obtrusive and unobtrusive

methods are applicable. The idea is to understand the phenomenon being studied as thoroughly as

possible through ‘perceptual triangulation’ (Bonoma 1985). Triangulation implies the convergence

of evidence on one meaning (Bonama 1985, Stake 1995, Yin 1994).

The confirmatory test procedure consists of developing a theoretical background, and

developing a systematic research design including evaluation criteria. The theoretical background

of this study has been discussed and is also in Dennis and Meredith (2000b). The research design

comprises the: (1) unit of analysis, (2) appropriate cases to study, and (3) data to collect and how

to collect it.

In a process industry the non-discrete units often becomes discrete at some point during the

manufacturing process. We choose Dairy, Steel (includes Steel products), and Coal preparation

plants as unit of analysis. The product becomes discrete in the Dairy at the point of packaging, in

the Steel industry after casting, and Coal preparation plant the material remains discrete during the

entire process.

Table 2.1Description of the unit of analysis

Annual

production

Primary products Ownership

Sudha

Dairy,

Bokaro

1983 100TLPD Milk ,Curd ,Sweets , Churned

Curd (Lassi), cottage Cheese,

Sweetened clotted milk (Rabri)

Cooperative

Society

9

Sudha

Dairy,

Bagalpur

1983 60TLPD Milk ,Butter, Curd ,Sweets

(Peda), cottage Cheese,

Sweetened clotted milk (Rabri)

Cooperative

Society

Tata Steel,

Jamshedpur

1911 27.37

Million ton

Long and Flat product Privately

owned

BCCL

Moonidih

1983 1.60 Metric

ton /Year

Washed coal, Washed power

coal

Government

Owned

BCCL

Bhojudih

1962 1.70 Metric

ton /Year

Washed coal, Washed power

coal

Government

Owned

In case study approach lack in number of cases studied is compensated by careful selection

and replication of cases. Firms are selected to capture extreme product types and process types.

Suggestions for the number of cases to use in multiple case study research vary, but Eisenhart

(1989) suggests seven cases as the maximum that a person can mentally process. Yin (1994) and

others are more circumspect in regards to hard numbers and instead suggest that data should be

collected until saturation. The selection of firms is aimed at producing similar results or produce

contrasting results but for predictable reasons. Our unit of analysis comprises of firms which are

privately and publicly owned, whose market varies from regional to global. The Dairy firms cater

to regional market, the Coal preparation plant market their product nationwide while the Steel

plant supply globally. A set of two firms in each industry is selected leading to six cases. Due to

time restriction we could study only five cases. Within case analysis helps us to analyze

transformation system characteristics in the context of one process industry, while the across case

analysis serves as a form of replication by analyzing characteristics of the transformation system

in the context of process industry as a whole.

Yin (1994) recommends identifying all decisions pertaining to the research design as well

as the information needed and accompanying questions before the data collection phase. These

questions shall be for the purpose of supporting the proposals and not typical survey or interview

questions. A set of probable sources of evidence too shall accompany each question. Ideally

multiple sources are needed to enable triangulation. Only cases that show adequate triangulation

10

with regards to research questions shall be evaluated. Like any other methodology, case studies

are subject to potential researcher biases. The triangulation of evidence within each case and all

study findings is evaluated by an outside auditor(s) to ensure that they are logical and free from

prejudice (Hirschman 1986). Initial permission for plant visit was obtained over telephone and

subsequently a written permission was obtained. Prior to visiting plant, exhaustive background

study was carried out by accessingpublic document. The focus in particular was on the production

process. The data was collected through unstructured interview from high & middle level

managers as well as the shop-floor workers. Information collected from them wasalso verified by

personal observation and company documents.

11

3. Data

3.1 Sudha Dairy, Bokaro

Firm profile

The Bihar State Milk Co-operative Federation Ltd is a dairy cooperative established in 1983.It is

an enterprise of the government of Bihar. It markets its products under the label "Sudha Dairy".

The co-operative facilitates the procurement, processing, and marketing of the dairy products. It

provides education to the unions on successful dairy processing, and assists with animal care

including artificial insemination, vaccination, and feeding.There are six district level Milk

Producers' Cooperative Unions affiliated to the Milk Federation. These milk unions are covering

twenty-six districts and in addition five districts are being covered by the Federation.

List of Milk unions

Name Address

Vaishali Patliputra Dugdh Utpadak Sahkari Sangh Ltd. Patna

Mithila Dugdh Utpadak Sahkari Sangh Ltd Samastipur

T ihut Dugdh Utpadak Sahkari Sangh Ltd. Muzaffarpur

Deshratna Dr . Rajendra Prasad Dugdh Utpadak Sahkari

Sangh Ltd.

Barauni

Shahabad Dugdh Utpadak Sahkari Sangh Ltd. Arrah

Vikramshila Dugdh Utpadak Sahkari Sangh Ltd. Bhagalpur

12

Figure 1 :Processing of milk

Steam

Cold water supply

Valve

Raw milk

Pasteurized milk

Hot water

Electrical feedback

Pasteurized milk

tank

Chilled

water

supply

Hot water

tank

Cleaner/separator

Milk

pump

Chilled

water

supply

Chiller

Raw milk

tank

Temperature

recorder

Diaphragm valve Steam reducing

valve

Balance tank Milk

pump

Homogenizer

Flow controller

Pump

Chilling section Regeneration Section Heating section

Milk

Tanker

13

Figure 2.Processing of milk and its product in Sudha Diary,Bokaro

Butter

Peda

Rabri

Cheese

Misti Doi

SMP/milk

Plain Doi

Water supply Lassi

Raw milk

Homog

enizer

Turboje

t

blender

Heat

Exchanger

Vat

Milk

Silo/Tank

Milk Bed

Heat

Exchanger

Khoa Pan

Packaging

section

Cold

store

vat

14


Process:-Processing of milk begins from raw material i.e. crude milk supplied by different unions

established in Bihar. These milk unions receive raw milk from farmers, process them and transport

through milk tanker or milk rail wagon to these plants. It is tested in quality control lab using

lactometer and barometer used for measuring SNF percentage and fat percentage. Depending upon

the fat and SNF percentage present in the milk, its price is being determined. Reading of incubators

determines process to be carried out in the next stage.

Reading of Incubator (bacteria %) Action to be carried out

>25k Raw milk will be sent to Silo whose capacity is

20K*3 and 30K*2

<25k Raw milk will be sent to heat exchanger

There are two alternative channels for mixing butter / skimmed milk powder, Whole milk powder

into the crude milk for increasing/decreasing fat and SNF percentage.

Raw milk Packaging

Machine-3

Packaging

Machine-2

Packaging

Machine-1

Upper head

tank

Cold store-1

Packaging

Machine-5

Packaging

Machine-4

Silo

Heat

exchanger

Homog

e-nizer

Turboj

et

blende

r

Silo

15

Classification of milk

Milk Milk Type Fat (in %) SNF (in %)

Sudha Gold Full cream milk 6 9

Sudha Gold Sudha shakti 4.5 8.5

Sudha Gold Cow milk 3.5 8.5

Sudha Healthy Toned milk 3 8.5

Sudha Smart Double toned milk 1.5 9

Raw milk either from Silo or milk tanker transferred into the heat exchanger for processing

involves subsequently heating @82 degree Celsius for 15 seconds and cooling @ below 5 degree

Celsius. Processed milk is stored in upper head tank with installed capacity 44KL or silo with

capacity of 120KL depending upon their availability. From upper head tank, milk is supplied to

different packaging machine. Packed milk, varying on the basis of quantity and quality, transferred

into crates subsequently stored in cold store @8 degree Celsius.

Number of routings: From figure 3, there is only one production line. So, the number of routings

will be one.

Raw materials used: Raw milk, Skimmed milk powder, Whole milk powder, Whole Butter

Ingredients used: None

Inventory points: In process section, there are three inventory points, points i.e. Milk Silo, upper

head tank and Cold store-1.

Work centers: There are five work centers i.e. Homogenizer, cleaner/separator, turbo-jet blender,

heat exchanger and packaging machine.

Run time: 7 minute is required for processing 1000 liters of milk.

Degree of flexibility in work centre/equipment choice

Dairy industry is exhibiting relatively high degree of flexibility in work center and equipment

choice because of availability of alternative production line and availability of redundant

equipments.

16

List of equipments used in process section:

Name of equipment

quantity

use

Homogenizer 2 Mixing butter with raw milk.

cleaner/separator 1

Separating soil, fat, SNF and any waste

material present in milk.

Turbo-jet blender 1 Sucks SMP and transfer it into vat for

mixing with water/raw milk

Heat exchanger 2 Used for pasteurizing milk

packaging machine 5 Used for packaging milk as well as lassi

Figure 4 :Processing of Peda

Process:-

Milk is heated to a temperature of 78 degree Celsius in milk bed. It is heated for more than 3 hrs.

at 80 degree Celsius in Khoa pan to evaporate water content of milk . Sugar and cardamom powder

is added to solid substance left on the pan. Yield of process depends upon the availability of fat

and SNF in the crude milk .This mixture(Khoa) is then left for cooling after transferring it into

different trays. Later on pressed and packaged to form “peda” of defined dimension .

Number of routings: There is only one production line. So, the number of routings will be one.

Milk tanker Milk bed

Heat

exchanger

Khoa pan Packaging Cold store-2

Upper head

tank/silo

17

Raw materials used: Raw milk

Ingredients used: sugar and cardamom powder

Inventory points: There are two inventory points in the manufacturing of “peda” i.e. before

packaging in tray, Cold store-2.

Work centers: There are four work centers i.e. khoa pan, milk bed and press machine used while

packaging, heat exchanger.

Run time: Run time is more than 3 Hrs., subjected to availability of steam.




equipments.


Name of equipment

quantity

use

Khoa pan 2 Heating milk for preparing khoa.

Milk bed 1

Used for pasteurizing milk

Press machine 2 For giving proper dimension to the ball of

khoa


18

Figure 5 :Processing of Sudha special(Rabri)

Process:-

Milk is heated to a temperature of 78 degree Celsius in milk bed. It is heated for more than 3 hours

at 80 degree Celsius in Khoa pan to evaporate water content of milk. Sugar, cardamom powder,

citric acid, coconut powder, corn flower, color is added to solid substance left on the pan. Yield of

process depends upon the availability of fat and SNF in the crude milk. This semi-solid is then

transferred into sanitized cups in the packaging stage these filled cups are sealed and stored in cold

store.



Ingredients used: sugar, cardamom powder, citric acid, coconut powder, corn flower, color

Inventory points: There are four inventory points i.e. before transferring semi-solid substance

into sanitized cup, twice in Cold store-2, before sealing.

Work centers: There are five work centers i.e. khoa pan, milk bed, packaging, heat exchanger and

sealing machine.

Run time: Run time is more than 3 hours subjected to availability of steam.




equipments.


Milk tanker

Upper head

tank/silo

Milk bed

Heat

exchanger

Khoa

pan Packaging Sealing Cold store-2 Cold store-2

19

Name of equipment

quantity use

Khoa pan 2 Heating milk

milk bed 1 Used for pasteurizing milk

Sealing machine 2 Sealing cups


Figure 6:Processing of cheese

Whey

Process:-

Milk is heated to a temperature of 78 degree Celsius in milk bed. It is heated for more than 3 hrs.

at 80 degree Celsius. Citric acid, calcium lactate powder and water is added gradually to coagulate

milk and then whey is drained after filtering it using filter bed. White solid pressed using press

machine for more than 45 minutes to give it rectangular shape. Subsequently it is transferred to

cold store-2, for 3-4 Hrs.. It is fragmented in cutting section to a particular volume of 200 gm and

1 kg. Later on it is packed and stored in cold store-2.



Ingredients used: citric acid, calcium lactate powder and water

Milk tanker

Upper head

tank/silo

Milk bed

Heat

exchanger

Filter Press

machine

Cutting of

cheese

Packaging

Machine-2

Packaging

Machine-1

Cold store-

2 Cold store-

2

20

Inventory points: There are three inventory points in the manufacturing of cheese i.e. twice in

cold store and before packaging.

Work centers: There are seven work centers i.e. milk bed, filter, packaging machine, heat

exchanger, cutting and pressing machine, weighing pan.

Run time: Run time for manufacturing 1kg of cheese is 7 Hrs. + and 200 gm of cheese is 8

Hrs.+




equipments.


Name of equipment

quantity

use

Filter 1

For filtering cheese from whey

Milk bed

1

For pasteurizing milk

Packaging machine 2 For packing cheese bed

Heat exchanger 1 For pasteurizing milk

Cutting machine 1 For cutting cheese of 200 gm and 1 kg

from cheese bed

Pressing machine 1 For shaping

Weighing pan 1 For weighing cheese

21

Figure 7 :Processing of Dahi

Process:-

Milk is heated to a temperature of 78 degree Celsius in milk bed for 20 minutes. Culture and sugar

(for misti dahi) is added after cooling milk to a temperature of 37-40 degree Celsius. Solution is

transferred into sanitized cups in packaging stage and kept in Dahi incubation room at 37-40 degree

Celsius for 3.0 -4.0 hrs.. Cups are Stored in cold store-2 for 12 Hrs.



Ingredients used: Culture and sugar (for misti dahi)

Inventory points: There are three inventory points in the manufacturing of dahi, i.e. twice in

cold store, after packaging.

Work centers: There are five work centers i.e. milk bed, heat exchanger, Dahi incubation room,

sealing machine and before packaging.

Run time: Run time is16 Hrs.+.


Milk tanker

Milk bed

Heat

exchanger

Upper head

tank/silo

Dahi

incubation

room

Cold store-

2 Sealing

Machine Cold store-

2

P

a

c

k

a

g

i

n

g

22



equipments.


Name of equipment

quantity

use

Milk bed 1

Used for pasteurizing milk

Sealing machine 2 For packing cheese bed


Figure 8 :Processing of Lassi

Milk

tanker

Upper head

tank/silo

Milk bed

Heat

exchanger

Dahi

incubation

room

Vat Tank

Packagin

g

machine-

4

Packagin

g

machine-

3

Cold

store-1

Packagin

g

machine-

5

Packagin

g

machine-

2

Packagin

g

machine-

1

Cold

store-2

23

Process:-

Produced curd is transferred to vat through pump for processing using centrifugal motor and

transferred to tank. From here it is packed into packets through packaging machine. Packed lassi

is stored in cold store-1.



Ingredients used: Culture and sugar

Inventory points: There are four inventory points in the manufacturing of lassi i.e. twice in cold

store-1 and 2, vat and tank.

Work centers: There are six work centers i.e. milk bed, heat exchanger, Dahi incubation room,

vat, before Dahi incubation room and Packaging machine.

Run time: Run time is17 Hrs.+.




equipments.


Name of equipment

quantity

use

milk bed 1 Used for pasteurizing milk

Packaging machine 5 For packing lassi and milk


Vat 1 Used for processing lassi

24

Degree of product variety

There is medium degree of product variety in dairy industry because products are chemically

similar but there is variation in the percentage composition of fats, SNF and water in different

grades of milk

Degree of Structural and Formulation Complexity

This industry exhibit relatively low degree of structural and formulation complexity because of

flexibility in controlling different production parameters i.e. pressure, volume, temperature, PH

level.

Degree of continuity flow

Dairy industry display continuous and intermittent flow with possible economic intentional

interruption because of negligible start up cost. Production process of milk is continuous whereas

process for milk product is intermittent.

25

General purpose equipmentSpecialty equipment

EQUIPMENT MATRIX

Cleaner/Separator

Solar Panel

Balance Tank

Water pump

Boiler Tank

Coal Blower

Paneer Sealing machine

Paneer Press machine

Paneer Cutting machine

Weighing pan

Thermometer/temperature recorder

Milk pump

Homogenizer

Silo

Turbojet blender

Lactometer

Betrometer

MBRT water bath

Centrifuge machine

Incubator

Peter dish

Deep freezer

D

E

D

I

C

A

T

E

D

Heat exchanger

9*9 ammonia compressor

6*6 Ammonia compressor

Vilter compressor

Booster

IBT coil

Air Blower

Milk bed

Sealing machine

Khoa pan

Vat

Upper head tank

Milk Packaging machine

N

O

N

D

E

D

I

C

A

T

E

D

26

Transformation

system

characteristics

Milk Peda Rabri cheese Misti

dahi

Plain

dahi

lassi

Number of

routings

1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Number of raw

materials

4 1 1 1 1 1 1

Number of

ingredients

0 2 6 3 2 1 2

Number of

inventory points

3 2 5 5 6 6 5

Number of

separate work

centers

5 4 4 5 3 3 4

Run time 7 minutes 3 hrs+ 3 hrs+ 1kg 200

gm

16 hrs+ 16 hrs+ 17 hrs+

7

hrs+

8

hrs+

27

3.2 Sudha Dairy, Bhagalpur

Firm profile

The Bihar State Milk Co-operative Federation Ltd is a dairy cooperative established in 1983.It is

an enterprise of the government of Bihar. It markets its products under the label "Sudha Dairy".

The co-operative facilitates the procurement, processing, and marketing of the dairy products. It

provides education to the unions on successful dairy processing, and assists with animal care

including artificial insemination, vaccination, and feeding.There are six district level Milk

Producers' Cooperative Unions affiliated to the Milk Federation. These milk unions are covering

twenty-six districts and in addition five districts are being covered by the Federation.

List of Milk unions

Name Address

Vaishali Patliputra Dugdh Utpadak Sahkari Sangh Ltd. Patna

Mithila Dugdh Utpadak Sahkari Sangh Ltd Samastipur

T ihut Dugdh Utpadak Sahkari Sangh Ltd. Muzaffarpur

Deshratna Dr . Rajendra Prasad Dugdh Utpadak Sahkari

Sangh Ltd.

Barauni

Shahabad Dugdh Utpadak Sahkari Sangh Ltd. Arrah

Vikramshila Dugdh Utpadak Sahkari Sangh Ltd. Bhagalpur

28


Steam

Cold water supply

Valve

Figure 2.Processing of milk and its product in Sudha

Diary,Bhagalpur

Raw milk

Pasteurized milk

Hot water

Electrical feedback

Pasteurized milk

tank

Chilled

water

supply

Hot water

tank

Cleaner/separator

Milk

pump

Chilled

water

supply

Chiller

Raw milk

tank

Temperature

recorder

Diaphragm valve Steam reducing

valve

Balance tank Milk

pump

Homogenizer

Flow controller

Pump

Chilling section Regeneration Section Heating section

Milk

Tanker

29

Butter

Peda

Rabri

Cheese

Misti Doi

SMP/milk

Plain Doi

Water supply

Raw milk

Homog

enizer

Turboje

t

blender

Heat

Exchanger

Vat

Milk

Silo/Tank

Khoa Pan

Packaging

section

Cold

store

Milk Bed

Milk cream Ghee boiler

Milk

cream

Ghee

30


Process:-Processing of milk begins from raw material i.e. crude milk supplied by different unions

established in Bihar. These milk unions receive raw milk from farmers, process them and transport

through milk tanker or milk rail wagon to these plants. It is tested in quality control lab using

lactometer and barometer used for measuring SNF percentage and fat percentage. Depending upon

the fat and SNF percentage present in the milk, its price is being determined. Reading of incubators

determines process to be carried out in the next stage.

Reading of Incubator (bacteria %) Action to be carried out

>25k Raw milk will be sent to Silo whose capacity is

20K*3 and 30K*2

<25k Raw milk will be sent to heat exchanger

There are two alternative channels for mixing butter / skimmed milk powder, Whole milk powder

into the crude milk for increasing/decreasing fat and SNF percentage.

Raw milk

receiving

bed Packaging

Machine-3

Packaging

Machine-2

Packaging

Machine-1

Upper head

tank

Cold store-1

Packaging

Machine-4

Silo

Heat

exchanger

Homog

e-nizer

Turboj

et

blende

r

Silo

Milk

tanker

Upper head

tank

31

Classification of milk

Milk Milk Type Fat (in %) SNF (in %)

Sudha Gold Full cream milk 6 9

Sudha Gold Sudha shakti 4.5 8.5

Sudha Gold Cow milk 3.5 8.5

Sudha Healthy Toned milk 3 8.5

Sudha Smart Double toned milk 1.5 9

Raw milk either from Silo or milk tanker transferred into the heat exchanger for processing

involves subsequently heating @82 degree Celsius for 15 seconds and cooling @ below 5 degree

Celsius. Processed milk is stored in upper head tank with installed capacity 44KL or silo with

capacity of 120KL depending upon their availability. From upper head tank, milk is supplied to

different packaging machine. Packed milk, varying on the basis of quantity and quality, transferred

into crates subsequently stored in cold store @8 degree Celsius.

Number of routings: From figure 3, there is only one production line. So, the number of routings

will be one.

Raw materials used: Raw milk, Skimmed milk powder, Whole milk powder, Whole Butter


Inventory points: In process section, there are three inventory points, points i.e. Milk Silo, upper

head tank and Cold store-1.

Work centers: There are five work centers i.e. Homogenizer, cleaner/separator, turbo-jet blender,

heat exchanger and packaging machine.

Run time: 7 minute is required for processing 1000 liters of milk.




equipments.

32


Name of equipment

quantity

use

Homogenizer 2 Mixing butter with raw milk.

cleaner/separator 1

Separating soil, fat, SNF and any waste

material present in milk.

Turbo-jet blender 1 Sucks SMP and transfer it into vat for

mixing with water/raw milk


packaging machine 5 Used for packaging milk as well as lassi

Figure 4 :Processing of Peda

Process:-


at 80 degree Celsius in Khoa pan to evaporate water content of milk. Sugar and cardamom powder

is added to solid substance left on the pan. Yield of process depends upon the availability of fat

and SNF in the crude milk .This mixture (Khoa) is then left for cooling after transferring it into

different trays. Later on pressed and packaged to form “peda” of defined dimension.



Milk container Khoa pan Packaging Walk-in cold

store

33

Ingredients used: sugar and cardamom powder

Inventory points: There are two inventory points i.e. before packaging in tray,Walk-in cold

store.

Work centers: There are three work centers i.e. khoa pan and press machine used while packaging.

Run time: Run time is more than 3 hours subjected to the availability of steam.




equipments.


Name of equipment

quantity

use

Khoa pan 2

Heating milk

Press machine 2 Shaping

Figure 5 :Processing of Sudha special(Rabri)

Process:-


at 80 degree Celsius in Khoa pan to evaporate water content of milk. Sugar, cardamom powder,

citric acid, coconut powder, corn flower, color is added to solid substance left on the pan. Yield of

process depends upon the availability of fat and SNF in the crude milk. This semi-solid is then

transferred into sanitized cups in the packaging stage these filled cups are sealed and stored in

Walk-in cold store.


Milk container Khoa

pan Packaging Sealing

Walk-in

cold store

Walk-in

cold store

34


Ingredients used: sugar, cardamom powder, citric acid, coconut powder, corn flower, color

Inventory points: There are four inventory points in the manufacturing of “Sudha special (Rabri)”

i.e. before transferring semi-solid substance into sanitized cup, twice in Walk-in cold store, before

sealing.

Work centers: There are four work centers i.e. khoa pan, packaging, walk-in cold store and sealing

machine.

Run time: Run time is more than 3 Hours+ subjected to availability of steam.




equipments.


Name of equipment quantity

use

Khoa pan 2 Heating milk

Sealing machine 1 Sealing cups

35

Figure 6:Processing of cheese

Whey

Process:-

Milk is heated to a temperature of 80-85 degree Celsius and subsequently 2% of citric acid, calcium

lactate powder and water is added gradually to coagulate milk. Whey is drained after filtering it

using filter bed. Residue is taken into press machine for more than 25 minutes for shaping.

Subsequently, it is chilled using chilled water for 3-4 hours. It is fragmented to a particular volume

of 200 gm and 1 kg manually using knife. Later on it is packed and stored in walk-in store.



Ingredients used: Citric acid, calcium lactate powder and water

Inventory points: There are two inventory points in the manufacturing of cheese i.e. walk-in

store and before packaging.

Work centers: There are six work centers i.e. vat, filter, packaging machine, cutting (manually)

and pressing machine, weighing pan.

Run time: Run time for manufacturing 1kg of cheese is 6 hours and 200 gm of cheese is 7 hours.




equipments.

Milk container Filter Press

machine

Cutting of

cheese

Packaging

Machine-2

Packaging

Machine-1

Cold store-

2 Vat

36


Name of equipment

quantity

use

Filter

1

Filtering cheese from whey

Vat 1

Heating milk with citric acid

Packaging machine 2 For packing cheese bed

Pressing machine 1 For shaping

Weighing pan 1 weighing cheese

37

Figure 7 :Processing of Dahi

Process:-

Milk is heated to a temperature of 78 degree Celsius in milk bed for 20 minutes. Culture and sugar

(for misti dahi) is added after cooling milk to a temperature of 37-40 degree Celsius. Solution is

transferred into sanitized cups in packaging stage and kept in Dahi incubation room at 37-40 degree

Celsius for 3.0 -4.0 hours. Cups are Stored in cold store-2 for 12 hours.



Ingredients used: Culture and sugar (for misti dahi)

Inventory points: There are three inventory points in the manufacturing of dahi i.e. twice in cold

store, after packaging.

Work centers: There are three work centers i.e. Dahi incubation room, packaging machine, and

chilling done manually by the help of water.

Run time: Run time is 6 hours.




equipments.

Milk

Container

Dahi

incubatio

n room

Cold store-

2 Packaging

Machine Cold store-

2

C

h

i

l

l

i

n

g

Milk bed

P

a

c

k

a

g

i

n

g

38


Name of equipment

quantity

use

Milk bed 1

For pasteurizing milk

Sealing machine 2 For packing cheese bed


Figure 8 :Processing of Butter

Process:-

Milk cream is transported from Barauni (Bihar) or available in plant itself after processing of milk

with high Fat and SNF content .It is heated at 90-95 degree Celsius, for 4-5 hours and subsequently

transferred into small tanker and transported to Bihar sharif (Bihar).


Raw materials used: Milk cream


Inventory points: There are two inventory points i.e. Milk cream stored before processing and

butter before transporting.

Work centers: There are one work centers i.e. Ghee boiler.

Milk

storage

tank

Cleaner/separ

ator

Ghee

boiler

Heat

exchanger

Milk cream

from Barauni

Sent to

Biharshariffor

refinement Stored in

small

tanks

Milk with

low fat

39

Run time: Run time is 4 Hours.

Degree of flexibility in work centre/equipment choice: There are one work centers i.e. Ghee

Boiler.


Name of equipment

Quantity

Use

Ghee Boiler 1

Heating milk cream

So, from above table we can conclude that there is very low degree of flexibility in work

centre/equipment choice.


There is medium degree of product variety in dairy industry because products are chemically

similar but there is variation in the percentage composition of fats, SNF and water in different

grades of milk


This industry exhibit relatively low degree of structural and formulation complexity because of

flexibility in controlling different production parameters i.e. pressure, volume, temperature, PH

level.


Dairy industry display continuous and intermittent flow with possible economic intentional

interruption because of negligible start up cost. Production process of milk is continuous whereas

process for milk product is intermittent.

40

General purpose equipmentSpecialty equipment

EQUIPMENT MATRIX

Cleaner/Separator

Solar Panel

Balance Tank

Water pump

Boiler Tank

Coal Blower

Paneer Sealing machine

Paneer Press machine

Paneer Cutting machine

Weighing pan

Thermometer/temperature recorder

Milk pump

Homogenizer

Silo

Turbojet blender

Lactometer

Betrometer

MBRT water bath

Centrifuge machine

Incubator

Peter dish

Deep freezer

Press Machine

D

E

D

I

C

A

T

E

D

Heat exchanger

9*9 ammonia compressor

6*6 Ammonia compressor

Vilter compressor

Booster

IBT coil

Air Blower

Milk bed

Sealing machine

Khoa pan

Vat

Upper head tank

Milk Packaging machine

N

O

N

D

E

D

I

C

A

T

E

D

41

Transformation

system

characteristics

Milk Peda Rabri Cheese Misti

dahi

Plain

dahi

Butter

Number of

routings

1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Number of raw

materials

4 1 1 1 1 1 1

Number of

ingredients

0 2 6 3 2 1 0

Number of

inventory points

3 2 5 5 3 3 2

Number of

separate work

centers

5 4 4 5 3 3 1

Run time 85 Kl/17

hrs

3 hrs+ 3 hrs+ 1kg 200

gm

6 hrs+ 6 hrs+ 4 hrs+

7

hrs+

8

hrs+

42

3.3. Tata Steel, Jamshedpur

Tata Steel’s Jamshedpur plant, the very first steel plant in India (production started in 1912).It is

among the country’s largest integrated steel-making facilities, producing 10 million tons of steel

every year. Steel is considered a green product because it is 100-percent recyclable and has an

infinite life cycle. It is among the top 10 global steel companies and one of the worlds’s most

geographically diversified steel producers. Tata Steel is operating in 26 countries and a commercial

presence in more than 50.

Steel manufacturing process at TATA STEEL, Jamshedpur

The basic process of making iron and its tougher alloy — steel — have not changed in the last

three millennia. First, the ore has to be found. Then it must be reacted with other elements at very

high temperatures. Third, the liquid steel must be collected and casted into shape. And, finally, the

steel must be treated to give it the properties needed for end use.

At Tata Steel’s Jamshedpur plant, the steelmaking process starts at the mines. Iron ore

is brought in by trucks/train wagon from Noamundi in Jharkhand and Joda in Odisha. Coal comes

from West Bokaro and Jamadoba in Jharkhand and even as far away as Australia. This plant uses

approximately 25 million tons of iron ore and coal/coke blend every year to produce about 10

million tons of steel.

Untreated ore cannot be used to make steel as it reduces the quality of the metal. Therefore,

the raw iron ore is processed at the sinter /pellet plant, where lump ore is treated along with water

and limestone; thereby it is transformed into granular size. The coal used in the plant is cleansed

of impurities in coke ovens. Conveyor belts carry metallic — pellets and sinters — to the heart of

the steel plant, the blast furnace. The blast furnace is a six-storey tall reactor where the seemingly

magical transformation of dark iron ore into glowing hot liquid iron takes place. The ore is charged

into the blast furnace along with fluxes and limestone. Temperatures in the blast furnace reach up

to 1,500 Degree Celsius and the resulting metallurgical reaction converts iron oxide into molten

iron. The blast furnace works round the clock. Tata Steel has eight blast furnaces and six of these

are operational. Hot metal from the blast furnace is transferred into torpedoes and transported to

the LD shops. Here the molten iron is refined into steel using the ‘Basic Oxygen Furnace’ method.

Tata Steel has three LD shops — one dedicated to making steel for long products (used mainly in

43

the infrastructure and construction sectors) and two others for flat steel products (typically used in

automobiles and appliances). At the LD shop the process begins with charging scrap into the

furnace, where temperatures reach 1,700°C. Large ladles, capable of holding 170 tons of liquid

metal, pour the molten iron into the furnace. A water-cooled lance is lowered into the furnace to

blow in pure oxygen. Iron ore (as coolant) and burnt lime and raw dolomite (as flux) are added

from the top. The oxygen removes carbon, silicon, sulphur and phosphorus content from molten

iron and converts it to steel, an alloy that is tougher than iron. One ‘heat’ (a cycle of steelmaking)

takes 45-50 minutes and produces an average of 158 tons of molten steel. The properties required

for steel depend on the end use. And so, from every heat, a sample of the molten steel is analyzed

to see if it meets the requirement. If there is any variation, a ‘correction blow’ is ordered. Once

perfected to specification, liquid steel — still aglow at about 1,630-1,690°C — is tapped into a

ladle car positioned under the furnace. During tapping, Ferro-alloys and aluminum are added

directly into the steel ladle for alloying and deoxidization. This steel goes through further refining,

depending on requirement, at the online purging station, ladle furnace station or RH degasser.

Ladles with a holding capacity of 160 tons carry the liquid steel to the continuous caster machines.

Here the liquid steel finally takes solid form and is shaped into what are called long products or

flat products. The long products are processed at the wire mill to produce wire rods and rebars.

Tata Steel makes a range of long products, including TMT rebars branded as Tata Tiscon, and steel

wires that sell under the brand name Tata Wiron. Flat steel is further processed at the hot rolling

mill or cold rolling mill, depending on end use. Cold rolling mills have a continuous galvanizing

line and produce the galvanized steel used in the automotive, engineering and appliances sectors.

Tata Steel’s branded flat steel products — Shaktee, Galvano and Steelium — are known for their

world-class quality.

44

TABLE 1Transformation system characteristics for Steel and Steel products

Transformation

system

characteristics

STEEL STEEL PRODUCTS

LONG PRODUCTS FLAT PRODUCTS

Number of

routings

3 3 3

Number of raw

materials

2 1 1

Number of

ingredients

2 0 0

Number of

inventory points

1 1 1

Number of

separate work

centers

5 3 3

Run time 13:30 Hrs. :30 Hrs. :30 Hrs.

For steel

Number of routings: There are three production lines because there are three LD-shops which

transform molten iron into liquid steel.

Raw materials used: Iron ore and Scrap

Ingredients used: Coke, is the only source of heat in the furnace and limestone, is used for

removing impurity in the form of flux.

Inventory points: In the production of Steel there is only one inventory point i.e. when molten

iron is brought from blast furnace into the LD shop through torpedoes.

Work centers: There are five work centers i.e. Sinter plant ,Pellet plant, Coke plant, Blast furnace,

LD-Shop.

45


List of equipments used in producing steel:

Name of equipment

quantity

use

Sinter plant 4 Used for treating iron ore

Pellet plant 1 Used for treating iron ore

Blast furnace 6 For converting iron ore into molten iron

LD-Shop 3 For making liquid steel from molten iron

Torpedoes For transporting molten iron into LD-

shop

Ladle Receiver of molten iron

vessel 3 each LD-shop Oxygen lancing done

So, from above table we can conclude that there is very high degree of flexibility in work


Degree of continuity of flow: Flow of material (WIP) is almost continuous. It interrupts at one

point while transporting molten iron from blast furnace to the LD-shop.

Degree of structural and formulation complexity It involves high degree of structural and

formulation complexity because certain level of temperature, pressure, PH level etc. needs to be

maintained for the producing steel. Deviation from defined working conditions may lead to

generation of product of inferior quality.

Degree of product variety Grade of steel to be produced has been pre-determined. Hence, degree

of product variety is low.

46

For steel product

Number of routings: There are three production lines. Billets from LD-1 are processed

simultaneously by merchant mill, new bar mill and wire rod mill for produces long products.

Blooms which is the output of LD-2 and 3 is processed by HSM, CRM and TSCR respectively.

Raw materials used: Liquid steel


Inventory points: In the production of Steel product, there is only one inventory point i.e. when

Billets/Blooms are transported to their respective mills through train.

Work centers: There are three work centers i.e. caster, cutter and mills.


List of equipments used in producing steel:

Name of equipment Quantity Use

Caster 3 each LD-shop Used for giving shape to liquid steel

Cutter 6 Used for separating billets/blooms

Mills 6 For shaping billets/blooms into flat/long

products.

So, from above table we can conclude that there is very high degree of flexibility in work


Degree of continuity of flow: Flow of material (WIP) is almost continuous. It interrupts at one

point while transporting billets/blooms form LD-shop to different mills.

Degree of structural and formulation complexity Production process of steel product involves

low degree of structural and formulation complexity

Degree of product variety Degree of product variety is low. Since, steel products are produced

from liquid steel.

47

General Purpose Equipment Specialty equipment

EQUIPMENT MATRIX

NA Sinter plant

Pellet plant

Blast furnace

LD-Shop

Torpedoes

Ladle

Vessel

D

E

D

I

C

A

T

E

D

NA Caster

Cutter

Mills

N

O

N

D

E

D

I

C

A

T

E

D

48

FIGURE 1 . STEPS OF STEEL MANUFACTURING

Conversion of Iron

ore into Sinter/pellet

Charging blast

furnace with sinter,

coke and limestone

Transfer of molten

iron through torpedo

from blast furnace to

LD shop

Charging vessel for

oxygen lancing with

molten iron and

scrap

Billets from LD-1

and blooms from

LD-2 & 3 sent to

rolling mills

Casting the liquid

steel through caster

Flat and long

products available

for suppliers

49

FIGURE 2 . STAGES OF STEEL MANUFACTURING

IRON MAKING

STEEL

MAKING

SHAPING

OF STEEL

Sinter Plant (4)

LD-3

LD-2

LD-1

TSCR

Hot Strip Mill

CRM

Merchant Mill

New Bar Mill

Wire Road Mill

Blast Furnace

(8)

Pellet plant (1)

Coke plant (1)

Limestone plant

(1)

Long

Product

Flat Product

50

3.4 Moonidih Washery

Firm profile

Moonidih Washery is being run by Bharat Coking Coal Limited, one of the subsidiaries of Coal

India limited. Coal India limited is a Public Sector Undertaking engaged in mining of coal and

allied activities. It occupies an important place in as much as it produces bulk of the coking coal

mined in the country. BCCL meets almost 50% of the total prime coking coal requirement of the

integrated steel sector. BCCL was incorporated in January, 1972 to operate coking coal mines

operating in the Jharia & Raniganj Coalfields, taken over by the Govt. of India on 16th Oct, 1971

to ensure planned development of the scarce coking coal resources in the country.

This plant is incorporated in the year 1983 whose operable capacity is 1.60

metric ton /year. Run of Mines (ROM) from various mines and seams are processed to produce

washed coal and washed power coal (Middling). Washed coal is used as fuel in steel manufacturing

firms whereas washed power coal (Middling) is used in power plant. This unit uses Heavy Media

Cyclone Technique for particle size 37 mm and Water-only Cyclone for particle size less than 0.5

mm.

Run of Mines (ROM) of size 450 mm is feed into De sliming screen with water through

rotary breaker and secondary crusher. Particle size feed into the De sliming screen is of 37 mm.

De sliming screen is used for separating fine coal and water. Heavy Media Cyclone method utilizes

Magnetite as media, used for purifying lump coal. Water only Cyclone method is used for

purifying fine coal of particle size less than 0.5 mm.

Coal preparation serves several objectives. One of the significant aims is to increase the

heating value of the coal by motorized removal of impurities. This is often necessary in order to

find market place for the product. Run-of-mine coal from a mine may include as much as 60

percent reject materials. Air pollution control often requires fractional removal of pyrites with the

ash to reduce the sulfur content of the coal. Ash content often must be controlled to conform to a

prescribed quality i.e. ash content should be restricted to 19.4-21%, stipulated in contractual

agreements with state run steel manufacturing firms. Because of firing characteristics, it is often

as important to retain the ash content at a given level as it is to reduce it. Freight savings are

substantial when impurities are removed preceding loading. Finally, the rejected impurities are

51

more easily disposed of at the mine site remote from cities than at the burning site, which is usually

in a populated area.


Raw materials used: Run of Mines (ROM)

Ingredients used: Magnetite as media for Heavy Media Bath Technique.

Inventory points: There is zero inventory point because production process integrated of different

sub-systems of the plant in a building of height 36 feet.

Work centers: There are five separate work centers i.e. ROM bunker, Rotary Breaker, Secondary

Crusher, C.C. Thicker and C.C. Silo. Equipments related cleaning coal have been assembled in 6

storey building.

Run time: This plant processes 700 Ton of ROM every hour.


Washery industry demonstrates medium degree of flexibility in work center and equipment choice

because of unavailability of alternative production line and availability of redundant equipments.

List of equipments used:

Name of equipment Quantity

Use

Rotary Breaker 2 Crushing ROM into size of 125 mm

Dilute Pump 2 Circulating water

C.C. Silo 4 Storing cleaned coal

C.C. Thicker 2 Storing cleaned coal (<0.5 mm)

Magnetic separator 4 Regenerating Magnetite.

De sliming screen 4 Separating fine coal and water

Secondary Crusher 3 Crushing ROM into size of 37 mm

HM Cyclone 4 Separating waste material from coal

Dense Media Pump 2 Circulating media

52


Medium degree of product variety in the yield of washery industry is prevailing because products

are chemically similar as well as similar percentage composition of constituent elements.


Washery industry demonstrates relatively medium degree of structural and formulation complexity

because certain level of specific gravity (1.5 Kg/m3 for HM Cyclone) has to be maintained.


In Washery industry, flow of material is continuous throughout the production process with

possible economic interruption.

Transformation System characteristics

Number of Routings 1

Total number of Raw materials 1

Number of ingredients used in the product 2

Number of different finished goods 2

Number of inventory points for the routings 0

Number of separate work centers for the routings 5

53

EQUIPMENT MATRIX

General purpose equipment Specialty equipment

NA Dilute Pump

HM Cyclone

Magnetic Separator C.C. Thicker

Dense Media Pump

D

E

D

I

C

A

T

E

D

NA Rotary Breaker

De sliming Screen

Secondary Crusher C.C. Silo

N

O

N

D

E

D

I

C

A

T

E

D

54

PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM IN MOONIDIH WASHERY

ROM

Bunker

Rotary

Breaker

Storage Pile De-sliming

screen

Secondary

Cyclone

Midd.

HFScreen

Secondary

crusher

Reject Bin

C.C. Silo HF screen

Secon.WO

cyclone

Midd.

Screen

HM Pump

Primary

WOCyclone

HM

Cyclone

Dense

mediaPump

C.C.

Thicker Reject

Bunker

Midd. Silo

Sec.

Mag.Separa

tor

Prim.

Mag.Separa

tor

Dilute Pump

Reject

Screen

CC Screen

55

3.5 Bhojudih Washery

Firm profile

Bhojudih Washery is being run by Bharat Coking Coal Limited, one of the subsidiaries of Coal

India limited. Coal India limited is a Public Sector Undertaking engaged in mining of coal and

allied activities. It occupies an important place in as much as it produces bulk of the coking coal

mined in the country. BCCL meets almost 50% of the total prime coking coal requirement of the

integrated steel sector. BCCL was incorporated in January, 1972 to operate coking coal mines

operating in the Jharia & Raniganj Coalfields, taken over by the Govt. of India on 16th Oct, 1971

to ensure planned development of the scarce coking coal resources in the country.

Operable capacity of this unit is 1.60 metric ton /year, started its operation

since 1962 for processing Run of Mines (ROM). ROM is from various mines and seams. Washed

coal is supplied to government owned steel plant, Steel Authority of India Limited and washed

power coal (Middling) to power plant. Heavy Media Bath Technique is used for processing coal

of particle size 75-16 mm using magnetite as media. Batac jig technique is used for processing

coal of particle size less than 16mm by generating pulsation. Forth Floatation technique uses pine

oil as media for beneficiation of coal of particle size less than 0.5mm.

Coal preparation serves several objectives. One of the

significant aims is to increase the heating value of the coal by motorized removal of impurities.

This is often necessary in order to find market place for the product. Run-of-mine coal from a mine

may include as much as 60 percent reject materials. Air pollution control often requires fractional

removal of pyrites with the ash to reduce the sulfur content of the coal. Ash content often must be

controlled to conform to a prescribed quality i.e. ash content should be restricted to 19.4-21%,

stipulated in contractual agreements with state run steel manufacturing firms. Because of firing

characteristics, it is often as important to retain the ash content at a given level as it is to reduce it.

Freight savings are substantial when impurities are removed preceding loading. Finally, the

rejected impurities are more easily disposed of at the mine site remote from cities than at the

burning site, which is usually in a populated area.

56


Raw materials used: Run of Mines (ROM)

Ingredients used: Magnetite and Pine oil as media for Heavy Media Bath Technique and Forth

Floatation technique respectively.

Inventory points: There is zero inventory point because production process is entirely continuous.

Work centers: There are no separate work centers. All equipments have been assembled in 6

storey building. Different equipments have been kept at different heights.

Run time: This plant processes 500 Ton of ROM every hour.


Washery industry demonstrates medium degree of flexibility in work center and equipment choice

because of unavailability of alternative production line and availability of redundant equipments.

List of equipments used:

Name of equipment Quantity

Use

Bath Pump 2 Circulating water used with media

Dilute Media Pump 2 Circulating media

Compressor 2 Maintaining pressure differences

Blower 2 Maintaining pressure differences

Vibrating Screen 4 Generating pulsation for filtration.

Crusher 2 Crushing ROM

Batac Jig 1 Separating waste material from coal

HM Bath 1 Separating waste material from coal

57


Medium degree of product variety in the yield of washery industry is prevailing because products

are chemically similar as well as similar percentage composition of constituent elements.


Washery industry demonstrates relatively medium degree of structural and formulation complexity

because certain level of specific gravity (1.5 Kg/m3 for HM Bath and1.65 Kg/m3 for Batac Jig)

has to be maintained.


In Washery industry, flow of material is continuous throughout the production process with

possible economic interruption.

Transformation System characteristics

Number of Routings 1

Total number of Raw materials 1

Number of ingredients used in the product 2

Number of different finished goods 2

Number of inventory points for the routings 0

Number of separate work centers for the routings 0

58

EQUIPMENT MATRIX

General purpose equipment Specialty equipment

NA Dilute Media Pump

HM Bath

Batac Jig

D

E

D

I

C

A

T

E

D

NA Bath Pump

Compressor

Blower

Vibrating Screen

Crusher

N

O

N

D

E

D

I

C

A

T

E

D

59

4. Analysis

Data analysis has two components: within case analysis and across case analysis. Within case

analysis helps us to analyze transformation system characteristics in the context of one firm rather

than one industry, while the across case analysis serves as a form of replication by analyzing

characteristics of the transformation system in the context of one industry rather than one firm

(Yin 1994).

Within case analysis

The objective behind doing “within case analysis” is to structure and refine the information

obtained from plant visit to bring sense i.e. for precise description of characteristics of

transformation system for each firm which is element of unit of analysis. While visiting plant we

were exposed to multiple respondents, with varying degree of knowledge prowess in operational

and technical domain. Therefore, it becomes necessary to compile gathered information in an

organized manner which is subsequently conducive in analyzing the same in best suitable manner.

Dairy Firms

We started our data collection from one unit i.e. unit-1 of dairy industry, involved in collecting

raw milk from different milk unions for processing and producing milk products, serving few

provinces of the state. Dairy industry usually consists of Product producing milk of different

quality defined in terms of Fat and SNF percentage and Process Sections is involved in the

production of different milk products i.e. Curd, Cheese, flavored milk, flavored liquid curd. This

unit is being owned by co-operative society and equipped with machines which are relatively more

automated than our other unit of analysis in dairy industry.

There are two unconventional channels, with single conventional production line, for mixing

butter / skimmed milk powder, Whole milk powder, which serves the purpose of ingredient, into

the crude milk which contributes towards increasing/decreasing fat and SNF percentage

respectively, depending upon the type of milk to be produced. In process section, number of

inventory points depends upon the supply of raw milk and demand of processed milk in the local

market. In case of smooth running of plant there will be no inventory points but in case of supply

- demand mismatch there will be two inventory points i.e. Milk Silo and upper head tank. There

are five work centers i.e. Homogenizer, cleaner/separator, turbo-jet blender, heat exchanger and

60

packaging machine, with high degree of flexibility in equipment/work centre choice because of

availability of alternative production line and availability of redundant equipments. There is

medium degree of product variety because products are chemically similar but there is variation

in the percentage composition of fats, SNF and water in different grades of milk.

In product section, number of routing for each product is one, using raw milk as only raw

material with varying number, from 2-6, and characteristics of ingredients .. Number of inventory

points is one for majority of products. Maximum average number of work centers, for product

section in dairy industry, is six.

Following replication strategy for generalizing the research outcome across industry we

collected data from other manufacturing unit of same firm. But it is different from our previous

unit of analysis in terms of functioning, production capacity as well as degree of automation.

This unit primarily functions as hub because it is among six milk unions, where farmers from

nearby provinces supplies raw milk and majority of milk collected thereof is processed and

supplied through milk tankers and milk wagons to the units situated in the southern part of the

province, which is basically industrial area, with rich deposits of mines and minerals and

geographically plateau region and lacking in cultivatable land. This unit also produces milk and

milk products for serving few nearby districts of the province. As far as production process is

concerned, both plants utilize similar methods, but they vary in terms of degree of automation and

quantity of milk and milk products produced by unit-2.Meanwhile, there process characteristics

pertaining to transformation system is similar to our previous unit of analysis.

Operational issues concerning to dairy industry has been described in this paragraph. Units

of milk, in terms of their quality and quantity, to be produced every day along with the type of

milk product to be produced are driven by demand of the product in the local market. But, they

produce specific product of specific quality every day to meet consistent demand of market. In

other words, they are following combined MTO-MTS strategy. In dairy industry, quality and, in

some cases, quantity of the output depends upon the quality of raw material i.e. crude milk, has

been determined in terms of fat and Solid Non Fat (SNF) content. Due to uncertainty associated

61

with the supply of raw milk, into the plant from different milk unions or farmers, as well as with

the demand of milk and its product, there inventory storage cost increases .In this industry there is

responsiveness issue because of supply demand mismatch between raw material and finished

product.

Steel manufacturing industry

Company-1 is today among the country’s largest integrated steel-making facilities, producing

10 million tons of steel every year. Steel is considered a green product because it is 100-percent

recyclable and has an infinite life cycle. It is among the top 10 global steel companies and one of

the world’s most geographically diversified steel producers, with operations in 26 countries and a

commercial presence in more than 50.

This unit is involved in manufacturing flat products and long products, with very low degree

of product variety because of insignificant variation in constituent element in terms of quality and

quantity, i.e. Hot rolled, Cold rolled, metallic coated, direct rolled, prefinished steels, packaging

steels, electroplated steels, electrical steels, narrow strips, long product i.e. for catering to the need

of infrastructure building and automobile manufacturing industry. It offers a wide range of

standard and differentiated products for different and demanding markets worldwide such as ultra-

high strength steel for Automotive, specialty steels for Aerospace and ultra-high hardness steels

for Defense & Security.

In our analysis, transformation system of steel manufacturing industry has been analyzed for

two products i.e. liquid steel and flat and long product because of prevailing major or substantial

difference in the characteristics of transformation system. In steel manufacturing process, there are

three production lines because there are three LD-shops which transform molten iron into liquid

steel which can be on subsequent stage can be casted into different shapes for producing different

products. Raw material used in manufacturing of liquid steel are iron ore and scrap with few

ingredients which works as catalyst, i.e. expedites conversion rate, are limestone and coal in the

form of coke for providing sufficient amount of heat and oxygen to blast furnace. In the production

of Steel there is only one inventory point i.e. when molten iron is brought from blast furnace into

the LD shop through torpedoes with four work centers, Sinter plant, Pellet plant, Blast furnace,

LD-Shop with high degree of flexibility in selection of work center and equipments. Steel

62

manufacturing process basically involves high degree of structural and formulation complexity

because of high precision in controlling different process parameters.

Whereas in steel product manufacturing process number of production line highly depends upon

the number of products belonging to different class of product i.e. flat and long product. This

industry is involved in manufacturing flat products i.e. Hot Rolled, Cold rolled, metallic coated,

direct rolled, prefinished steels, packaging steels, electroplated steels, electrical steels, narrow

strips, long product i.e. sections , rebar , plates ,rails, wires, wire rods for catering to the need of

infrastructure building and automobile manufacturing industry. It offers a wide range of standard

and differentiated products for different and demanding markets worldwide such as ultra-high

strength steel for Automotive, specialty steels for Aerospace and ultra-high hardness steels for

Defense & Security. Therefore, this industry primarily follows Make-To-Stock (MTS) strategy

and on the other side, for meeting the demand of specialty product placed by automotive,

aerospace, defense and security sector; they adopt Make-To-Order (MTO) Strategy. In the entire

steel product production process, this involves conversion of lump iron ore into steel products by

Blast Oxygen Furnace (BOF) or Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) technology ,there are three inventory

points ,where Work In Progress (WIP) is in queue ,this results into increase in lead time as well

as decrease in production rate .Hence, increases inventory storage cost.

Steel products have certain specific quality standard which has been decided upon percentage

composition of Iron, nickel, Chromium, carbon, Argon and other elements. Quality of steel

depends mostly upon carbon percentage prevailing in the steel .Therefore, for achieving quality

standard different metallurgical tests has been performed on liquid steel and subsequently

electrolytic refining should be done to bridge the gap between predetermined and prevailing carbon

percentage in the hot metal, if any. Hence, the repeated occurrence of electrolytic refining

performed on the same sample or number of samples increases lead time as well as augments cost

of production of steel by consuming more time and valuable resources of the organization.

Coal preparation plant

Unit-1 is incorporated in the year 1983 whose operable capacity is 1.60 metric ton /year , run by

one of the subsidiary of government owned organization, which is enjoying the stature of

Maharatna company and is the single largest coal producer in the world, for processing Run of

Mines (ROM), from various mines and seams, and supplying their yield i.e. washed coal to

63

government owned steel plant and washed power coal (Middling) to power plant using Heavy

Media Cyclone Technique, used for coal of particle size 37 mm and Water-only Cyclone technique

used for coal of particle size less than 0.5 mm.

Run of Mines (ROM) is the raw material for coal beneficiation plant, of size 55 mm, which is

subsequently feed into rotary breaker and, later on, into secondary crusher to fragment it into

particle size of 37 mm..Heavy Media Cyclone method, which utilizes Magnetite as media, is used

for purifying lump coal whereas Water only Cyclone method is used for purifying fine coal of

particle size less than 0.5 mm.

This plant is having single routing with high degree of automation i.e. continuous integration

of different sub-systems of the plant, in a building of height 36 feet, without any inventory point

and without any specific separate work-centers. This plant is having medium degree of flexibility

in equipment / work center choice with moderate level of structural and formulation complexity

because of flexibility in quality of the product. Yield of this industry is having medium degree of

product variety because product is chemically similar but vary in terms of percentage composition

of constituent elements.

Unit-2 whose operable capacity is 1.60 metric ton /year ,started its operation since 1962 ,

operated by one of the subsidiary of government owned coal mining company, which is enjoying

the stature of Maharatna company and is the single largest coal producer in the world, for

processing Run of Mines (ROM), is the raw material for coal beneficiation plant ,from various

mines and seams, and supplying their yield i.e. washed coal to government owned steel plant and

washed power coal (Middling) to power plant using Heavy Media Bath Technique, used for coal

of particle size 75-16 mm ,uses magnetite as media, Batac jig technique used for processing coal

of particle size less than 16mm,by generating pulsation ,and Forth Floatation technique, uses pine

oil as media, for beneficiation of coal of particle size less than 0.5mm.

Characteristics of transformation system of this coal beneficiation plant are almost similar to

our previous unit of analysis. There is variation in the number of ingredients used in this plant is 2

i.e. magnetite and pine oil.

64

Coal preparation serves several objectives. One of the significant aims is to increase the

heating value of the coal by motorized removal of impurities. This is often necessary in order to

find market place for the product. Run-of-mine coal from a mine may include as much as 60

percent reject materials. Air pollution control often requires fractional removal of pyrites with the

ash to reduce the sulfur content of the coal. Ash content often must be controlled to conform to a

prescribed quality i.e. ash content should be restricted to 19.4-21%, stipulated in contractual

agreements with state run steel manufacturing firms. Because of firing characteristics, it is often

as important to retain the ash content at a given level as it is to reduce it. Freight savings are

substantial when impurities are removed preceding loading. Finally, the rejected impurities are

more easily disposed of at the mine site remote from cities than at the burning site, which is usually

in a populated area.

Because of indulgence in contractual agreement with state run steel manufacturing

organization to produce washed/clean coal with ash content limited to 19.4-21%, these state run

coal preparation plant follow Make –To-Order (MTO) strategy.

To achieve the pre-determined quality of coal, specific gravity of 1.5 Kg/m3 and 1.65 Kg/m3

for Heavy Media Bath (HM Bath) and Batac Jig method respectively should be maintained.

Therefore, major operational issues pertaining to this industry is quality issue. In case of non-

conformity with the agreement, mentioning the quality standard, the company will lose their profit.

Use of technology depends upon the size of coal for example for lump coal whose size is 75-

16 mm, Heavy media bath technology is used whereas for coal particles whose size is 16-0.5 mm

,Batac jig is used, for particle size less than 16 mm, froth floatation method is used. Therefore, the

cost of production varies with the technology used in washing coal. Magnetite, iron ore, is used as

media in HM Bath/HM cyclone technology, is costlier than pine oil used as media in froth

floatation process. Therefore, for given plant cost of production entirely depends upon the cost

incurred in procuring media. Therefore, it becomes important, efficient utilization of media used

in a particular process for specified particle size.

65

Since these plants are established in 1960’s and 1980’s,they are not running in full capacity

and producing two types of product i.e. washed coal for metallurgical purpose and washed power

coal, which is also termed as middling, for power plants.

These units are using MTO strategy for producing washed coal of specific quality because

of prior contractual agreement with state run steel manufacturing firm. Therefore; they don’t have

performance issue pertaining to uniform lead time.

Aspects such as (i)The supply of Run of Mines (ROM) to any washery plant is from

different coal seam or different mines, which is varying on certain parameters such as density,

hardness, sizing and cleaning characteristics, coking property, ash, volatile matter, sulphur and

phosphorus content, etc.. Hence, different factors related to production process needs to be

adjusted according to the desired yield of the process. (ii) They are having common process routing

i.e low degree of routing and equipment flexibility in production process, which are operational

issues of washery industries needs concern. Therefore, washery plant primarily involves efficiency

issues, secondarily flexibility and responsiveness issues is not prevalent.

characteristics Dairy Steel Washery

Number of Routings 1 1 3 1 1

Total number of Raw materials 1 1 2 1 1

Number of ingredients used in the

product

9 9 2 1 2

Number of different finished goods 6 6 2 2 2

Number of inventory points for the

routings

1 1 1 0 0

Number of separate work centers

for the routings

6 6 4 0 0

66

Across case analysis

Replication strategy is implemented by us for generalizing our theory across industry by visiting

two plants/units of varying production capacity and production technology and sometimes they

vary on the basis of their yield, of a manufacturing industry in tandem. Data gathered from these

sites is being arranged and later on compared which will be conducive in drawing conclusion after

testing our above mentioned propositions. Therefore, the across case analysis is concerned with

identifying patterns across different organizations and their products. Analysis is being done across

industry as well as across product so that the outcome of our research can be applied to most of

the process industry.

Dairy Industry Vs Steel Industry

Dairy industry is having single production line for each finished product i.e. milk and milk product,

after processing milk with different ingredients, for different milk products, in varying quantity

with one inventory points with six separate work centers whereas, steel industry has three

production because there are three LD-shops which transform molten iron into liquid steel which

can be on subsequent stage can be casted into different shapes for producing flat and long product,

with single inventory points using four separate work centers using iron ore and scrap as raw

material and coke and limestone as catalyst. Dairy industry and steel industry are exhibiting

relatively high degree of flexibility in work center and equipment choice because of availability

of alternative production line and availability of redundant equipments. There is medium degree

of product variety in dairy industry because products are chemically similar but there is variation

in the percentage composition of fats, SNF and water in different grades of milk with relatively

low degree of structural and formulation complexity because of frivolity in controlling different

production parameters whereas steel industry demonstrates relatively very low degree of product

variety because products are chemically similar as well as similar percentage composition of

constituent elements, with high degree of structural and formulation complexity is prevailing in

production of steel because of requisite précised control of different production parameters such

as PH level, pressure, volume, temperature, concentration of reactant etc..In terms of degree of

continuity flow, dairy industry and steel industry displayed continuous and intermittent flow with

possible economic intentional interruption in dairy industry because of negligible start up cost

67

whereas in the situation of shutting down of plant in steel industry will cost higher as well as off

quality product. Production process of milk is continuous whereas process for milk product is

intermittent. In steel plant, production process of pig iron is continuous and production process of

steel product is intermittent. Therefore, after analyzing transformation system of both industries,

we found variation in characteristics of the transformation system with some similarity i.e. number

of inventory points in characteristics of the transformation system.

Dairy Industry Vs Washery Industry

Dairy industry is having single production line for each finished product i.e. milk and milk product,

after processing milk with different ingredients, for different milk products, in varying quantity

with one inventory points with six separate work centers. Washery industry has single production

line, producing washed coal and washed power coal using solution of water and magnetite/pine

oil as ingredients similar to dairy industry without any inventory points, separate work centers.



equipments whereas washery industry demonstrates medium degree of flexibility in work center

and equipment choice because of unavailability of alternative production line and availability of

redundant equipments. There is medium degree of product variety in dairy industry and washery

industries because products are chemically similar but there is variation in the percentage

composition of constituent elements Relatively low degree of structural and formulation

complexity displayed by dairy industries because of frivolity in controlling different production

parameters whereas washery industry demonstrates relatively medium degree of structural and

formulation complexity because of array in the quality of yield. Medium degree of product variety

in the yield of dairy and washery industries are prevailing because products are chemically similar

as well as similar percentage composition of constituent elements. In terms of degree of continuity

flow, dairy industry displayed continuous and intermittent flow with possible economic intentional

interruption because of negligible start up cost whereas in case of washery industries flow of

material is continuous throughout the production process with possible economic interruption.

Therefore, after analyzing transformation system of both industries, we found variation in

characteristics of the transformation system with some similarity such as in number of inventory

points, number of routings, number of raw materials, degree of product variety.

68

Steel Vs Washery industry

Steel industry has three production because there are three LD-shops which transform molten iron

into liquid steel which can be on subsequent stage can be casted into different shapes for producing

flat and long product, with single inventory points using four separate work centers using iron ore

and scrap as raw material and coke and limestone as catalyst though Washery industry has single

production line, producing washed coal and washed power coal from Run- Of –Mines (ROM)

using solution of water and magnetite/pine oil as media, with zero inventory points and no separate

work centers.

Steel industry is exhibiting relatively high degree of flexibility in work center and equipment


equipments although washery industry displayed medium degree of flexibility in work center or

equipment choice because of unavailability of alternative production line of existence of

redundant machines. Relatively medium degree of product variety in washery industries is

displayed because products are chemically similar but there is variation in the percentage

composition of constituent elements whereas steel industry demonstrates relatively very low

degree of product variety because products are chemically similar as well as similar percentage

composition of constituent elements .High degree of structural and formulation complexity is

prevailing in production of steel because of requisite précised control of different production

parameters such as PH level, pressure, volume, temperature, concentration of reactant etc. while

washery industry demonstrates relatively medium degree of structural and formulation complexity

because of array in the quality of yield. In terms of degree of continuity flow, steel industry

displayed continuous and intermittent flow of material and in the situation of shutting down of

plant will cost higher as well as off quality product .In steel plant, production process of pig iron

is continuous and production process of steel product is intermittent whereas flow of material is

continuous throughout the production process with possible economic interruption in washery

industries. Therfore, steel and washery industry is varying on every defined parameters without

any similarity.

69

Table-4 Across industry

characteristics Dairy Steel Washery

Number of Routings 1 3 1

Total number of Raw materials 1 2 1


product

9 2 3

Number of different finished goods 7 6 2


routings

1 2 0


for the routings

6 4 0

Run Time (Transformation run time

Move time)

L H M

Degree of flexibility in work

centre/equipment choice

H H M

Degree of continuity of flow Refer to table 5 Refer to table 5 Refer to table

5

Degree of structural and

formulation complexity

L H M

Degree of product variety 2 1 2

70

Table 5 Degree of continuity of flow (Industry Wise)

FLOW ECONOMIC

INTENTIONAL

INTERRUPTION

INDUSTRY

TYPE

Continuous + intermittent Yes

Dairy

Continuous + intermittent No Steel

Continuous Yes Washery

In Table 4 & 5, we are striving to classify different transformation system of process industry in

terms of clearly manifests that the transformation system of different types of process industry

can be clearly distinguished on the basis of different parameters such as number of routings, degree

of continuity of flow, raw materials and ingredients used, yield of transformation system, run time,

number of inventory points within a routing, number of separate work centers used within routing,

flexibility in work center and equipment choice, structural and formulation complexity, Degree of

product variety, Startup cost, safety and environmental issues. Above table we can draw following

conclusion, based upon majority of transformation system characteristics:-

Transformation system of dairy and coal preparation plant is entirely different from steel.

Therefore, we can conclude that, on the dimension of industry, there are three different

transformation systems. But, each one is using similar type of equipment i.e. Specialty Non-

Dedicated equipment.

Table-3 Across Product

characteristics Milk Milk product Steel Steel product Washery

Number of Routings 1 4 3 1 1

71

Total number of Raw materials 1 1 1 1 1


product

6 3 2 2

Number of different finished goods 7 1 6 2 2


routings

H M M L 0


for the routings

3 7 16 0

General purpose equipment

Dedicated (%)

Non-Dedicated (%)

Specialty equipment

Dedicated (%)

Non-Dedicated (%)

Run Time (Transformation run

time Move time)

L H H M M

Degree of flexibility in work

centre/equipment choice

2. 7 3 1

Degree of continuity of flow Refer to

table 5

Refer to table

5

Refer

to table

5

Refer to table

5

Degree of structural and

formulation complexity

L H H M M

Degree of product variety 4 1 1 2 1

Startup cost L H H L L

Safety concerns L H H M M

Environmental concerns L H H M M

Operation Flexibility H L L M L

72

5. Conclusion & Directions for Future Research

This is a study of Process Industry transformation system. The objective was to test the

following propositions by Dennis and Meredith (2000b): (i) Classifying PI on the basis of

production volume and product variety doesn’t convey significant information regarding

individual transformation systems, (ii) Two firms producing same products and occupying the

same position on the product-process matrix could have dissimilar transformation system

characteristics and face different operational challenges, and (iii) Two firms producing dissimilar

products and occupying different position in the product-process matrix could have similar

transformation characteristics

We use case study to test the propositions by Dennis and Meredith (2000b). Case methods, due

to the effort involved, are primarily useful when developing new theory or selective testing of

existing theories in polar type or extreme cases. The confirmatory test procedure consists of

developing a theoretical background, and developing a systematic research design including

evaluation criteria. The research design comprises the: (1) unit of analysis, (2) appropriate cases

to study, and (3) data to collect and how to collect it.

In a process industry the non-discrete units often becomes discrete at some point during the

manufacturing process. We choose Dairy, Steel (includes Steel products), and Coal preparation

plants as unit of analysis. The product becomes discrete in the Dairy at the point of packaging, in

the Steel industry after casting, and Coal preparation plant the material remains discrete during the

entire process. A set of two firms in each industry, Dairy, Coal Preparation, and Steel is selected

leading to six cases. Due to time restriction we however could study only five cases (which is only

one case in Steel industry). Our unit of analysis comprises of firms which are privately and publicly

owned, whose market varies from regional to global. The Dairy firms cater to regional market, the

Coal preparation plant market their product nationwide while the Steel plant supply globally.

The within-case analysis shows in-between differences between the two Dairy plants and two

Coal Preparation plants in terms of transformation system characteristics. These indicates that two

firms producing same products and occupying the same position on the product-process matrix

could have dissimilar transformation system characteristics and face different operational

challenges.

The across-case analysis shows a few in-between similarities between the Dairy plants and Coal

Preparation plants in terms of transformation system characteristics. These indicates that two firms

73

producing widely dissimilar products and occupying different position in the product-process

matrix could have similar transformation characteristics. Though this study supports the

proposition still further evidence using a different set of cases is needed.

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Testing Theory in Process Industry Transformation System