IIPM B School - INDUSTRIAL VISIT TO ELECTRONICA MACHINE

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The Indian Institute of Planning & Management (IIPM) Business School - REPORT ON INDUSTRIAL VISIT TO ELECTRONICA MACHINE TOOL LTD

We the students of MBA SS 06 – 08 batch visited the factory premises of Electronica Machine Tool Ltd. located at the industrial area of Saswad, Pune on 8th July, 2006 at 10 AM. Electronica has three decades of competence and quality of manufacturing in EDM and Wire EDM and is the largest exporter of CNC machines worldwide. Founded in 1973, the company’s growth has been strongly augmented through its philosophy of ‘Growth Through Quality and production’. They are a total solutions provider of Machine Tools in Engineering, Plastics, Nuclear Research, Automotive and consumer durables. They have in total five production plants and presence in 40 countries. Their latest achievement is introduction of Economy models and latest technology CNC Wirecut EDM as well as Submerged CNC Wirecut EDM.

Upon entering the factory premises, we were welcomed by their R&D Engineer on duty who guided us through the factory explaining how the entire manufacturing operations take place. The very first thing that impressed us was the cleanliness of the factory shop floor. It was absolutely spic and span with smartly dressed workers performing their duties. First of all, we were shown by our guide the completed EDM machine which was being tested. We saw how rigorously the final product testing was going on where a sample metal piece was being cut. We were told about how the machine works along the x, y, and z axis, how kerosene along with additives is used as a coolant and all other intricacies about the various subparts in the EDM. We also found that all the controls in the machines being manufactured are automated with computerized controls, thus reducing the amount of work and error that an employee does.

Electronica is a pioneer in the field of cost reduction by innovations and developing technological solutions so as to reduce the cost. We were shown how the R & D department has developed technologies to reduce cost for example we were shown how the cost for the base of the EDM machines were reduced from 30,000 to just 10,000 per machine by using Mild Steel along with a special coating developed by them instead to resist corrosion instead of costly Stainless Steel base. Thereafter, we were shown the entire assembly line of the product and came to know about how the EDM machines were produced from scratch. We also came to know how each subsystem was numbered and how each part of that subsystem could be taken out of the storage area within the least possible time.

We were also shown how the wire cut EDM is manufactured and also saw its test operation. There was also an independent testing area in the factory were the engineers of the testing department tested each and every machine being manufactured before being dispatched to the packaging section. There after we were taken to the tools section were grinding and boring operations were taking place. These tools were being used as parts of the CNC machines being manufactured. We also visited the painting section where we found how the cleaning operations are done and how Electronica is using solar power for cleaning operations before painting. They also have a facility for powder coating before painting and a heat chamber for the paint to let the paint set properly. All software programs are developed in-house in VC++ language. They also use commercial CAD software available in the market to aid them in designing and production.

We also came to know that Electronica Machine Tool Ltd. is a Six Sigma organization. Six Sigma simply means a measure of quality that strives for near perfection. Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects (driving towards six standard deviations between the mean and the nearest specification limit) in any process -- from manufacturing to transactional and from product to service. To achieve Six Sigma, a process must not produce more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. A Six Sigma defect is defined as anything outside of customer specifications. A Six Sigma opportunity is then the total quantity of chances for a defect. Thus Electronica produces exceptionally high quality products comparable to the best in the world and is the largest exporter from India for CNC machines. All the leading manufacturing companies of India are the clients of Electronica.

Electronica follows a system of EJIT or Electronica Just In Time so as to deliver the products on schedule. We were surprised to find out that year after year Electronica surpassed the production target and that too way ahead of the scheduled time. Electronica follows a system of incentive based pay to maintain high levels of productivity. A value is assigned to every batch of machines being produced and this multiplying factor is converted into monetary terms. Thus every worker is motivated to work very hard and gives his best to maintain productivity. There are no labour problems for several years and the management and the workers work towards common organizational goals making Electronica a great success story. And this is in line with their corporate mission whereby they wish to achieve Rs.70 crore turnover from exports in 2007.

The industrial visit was a great learning experience for all of us as we came to know how management functions in real life situations and how the management concepts studied in B-Schools are practiced in reality. This trip also helped us in gaining invaluable knowledge about how a Six Sigma company works to achieve high quality error free production continuously. On the whole the industrial visit was a highly educative one allowing the students to learn to deal with real life situations in the managerial field. All of the students looked forward for more such trips to be organized for us by our Institute.