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Seiri and Seiton sweep across the shopfloor

Manjari Raman

Gurgaon, Aug 18: It's 44-degree Centigrade in the shade, and a cluster -- in more ways than one--of managers stands by the 32nd milestone on the Delhi-Jaipur highway. They are waiting to hitch a ride to school: today, TPM guru S Yamaguchi, consultant, Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM) is going to steamroll through the Gabriel India plant to check how well it has done its homework on pre-TPM preparedness. And four other Gurgaon-based Maruti vendors -- QH Talbros, Clutch Auto, Jay Yushin, Bharat Seat -- are to learn from Gabriel's example.

Today's lesson is on 1S and 2S implementation -- TPM-speak for Seiri and Seiton respectively. Seiri says: `Differentiate between necessary and unnecessary and remove everything that is not required'. Seiton cautions: ``Have a prefixed location for pre-determined quantities for everything''. Both are part of the 5-S model consisting of: Seiri (sorting); Seiton (systemising); Saiso (spic and span); Seiketsu (standardisation); and Shitsuke (self-discipline). SaysYamaguchi: ``Preventive maintenance starts with cleanliness. 1S and 2S is the training for discovering abnormalities.''

Back to the basics

Gabriel India Ltd. is the flagship of the Rs 200-crore Anand Group. The Gurgaon plant is 10-years-old and has a turnover of Rs 30-crore. It is dedicated to Maruti and manufacturers McPherson struts, or front shock absorbers, for the Maruti fleet. It started with a capacity of 5000 struts per month, and peaked at 50,000 per month, and is currently operating at 35,000 per month. The company claims to have a 35 per cent share of Maruti's struts and shock absorber business. Two months ago, along with a clutch of other Maruti vendors based in the same industrial belt, Gabriel became a member of the Maruti TPM cluster. Says Rakesh Taneja, deputy general manager, Gabriel: ``We cluster companies have total similarity in terms of the attitude of workers, managers, suppliers and housekeeping standards.'' Therefore, today's visit by Yamaguchi is to serve as a learningplatform for each of the cluster companies on the two basic pre-conditions for TPM.

Tracking 1S and 2S

Sweeping in 1S and 2S should be a snap? It isn't. In just four weeks of Seiri implementation, Gabriel removed seven bulging truckloads of scrap from its plant! ``The more we went into TPM the more we realised we have more to do. It's going to be never-ending journey, but we are enjoying it now,'' says K K Sawhney, president, Gabriel, leading the cluster to the factory.

Gabriel is very conscious about ensuring that TPM at the plant, is not just a matter of what Yamaguchi calls ``NATO: No action, talking only''. So no TPM meeting is allowed to go on for more than 30 minutes. Yamaguchi cuts short even this discussion: he wants to be on the shopfloor. ``If you can't do 1S and 2S, you can't do TPM,'' he warns darkly.

The inspection of the relatively small 10,000-square foot factory, begins even before the group steps on to the shopfloor. Yamaguchi brings the whole delegation to a halt at the gate.He points to a neat row of empty iron bins near the compound wall. An eager Gabriel manager pipes up: ``Yes, it's a good example of 1S and 2S. First, we have removed these bins from inside the factory, and then on the wall we have painted a sign which says `Empty Bins' and finally, we have drawn markings on the ground for the correct stacking of the bins.''

Yamaguchi is still not impressed. ``Where does it say how many bins? Do you know the maximum or minimum which can be stored here? Can you by just looking, guess what quantity is stacked?'' ``No good.'' he mutters moving onto the shopfloor.

Echoes of that ``no good'' resound often--and that's actually the good news. For it's quite clear that the Gabirel team has worked hard to practice 1S and 2S implementation--even Yamaguchi praises the efforts later--but right now, through Gabriel's example, Yamaguchi is trying to set a high standard for the remaining cluster managers. So he begins to point fault.

Room for improvement

  • In the metalshop, the storage containers are stacked neatly -- on the sides are whiteboards which say what each container should have and the quantity per container. Yamaguchi dips into containers and discovers that some cartons are only half full or a third full. The information on the board--and the bin--is thus different. He recommends: Writing one bin contains 100 units is not enough--each bin should be marked clearly to show how much it actually contains. ``You should be able to just see -- and without using words--be able to show just how much each bin contains.''

  • He points to a fire extinguisher -- even that should have a predetermined place. And then skids to a halt before the rack neatly marked ``incoming material for inspection.'' ``Where does it mark the day of arrival? Where is the date of inspection? What is inside the box marked `rejected material'?''

  • In the piston-rod section Yamaguchi squeezes past the tight layout of machines. An effort has been made to avoid spillage but he sternly pointsto three empty trolleys parked near a machine. ``Why do you need three trolleys, especially if no one is using them right now? We cannot see what was before, and what will be there later, but we can see what is there now.'' His logic: in TPM, the now is important and should conform to the principles of TPM. ``At every stage ask: do we need three trolleys or four? For that will depend on how much is needed for work in progress.''

  • The group crosses over to another part of the shopfloor--which looks brighter with all the machines given a fresh coat of paint. ``Don't paint machines--especially when they are damp,'' says Yamaguchi severely. ``It's as unattractive as a sweating woman wearing makeup. Moreover, the peeling paint can do more harm than good.''

  • In the packing area, a zealous supervisor has put up a shelf and marked labels for a hammer, a scotch-tape holder, a scissor. Yamaguchi tries to place the objects in the designated places -- and the hammer falls off. ``Even though the pre-fixedlocation is there, it is of no use,'' says Yamaguchi. Instead he recommends: make a toolboard with many holes into which tools can be slotted. Also, mark the outline of each tool so that workers can replace the tool precisely--ensure that a hammer is placed only where the hammer outline is marked and not where a spanner is marked. ``That way no time is wasted on searching, and there is no danger of tools accidentally falling into machines.''

  • In the welding cell, while a work surface looks neat, Yamaguchi's trained eyes spots more 1S and 2S areas for improvement. His tips: Draw lines on the surface table to mark where each instrument is to be placed. Don't allow haphazard stacking of gauges. Ensure there is a fixed place for sample pieces. ``Pre-fixed location means that after using a tool, the user should know exactly where to place the tool. Just like the toothbrush has a pre-fixed location in a bathroom,'' says Yamaguchi.

    It is to the credit of Gabriel managers that the more acerbic Yamaguchi gets,the more they nod eagerly, scribbling notes for improvement. The new attitude was hard won: in May 1999, when Gabriel's top management decided to embark on the TPM journey, the most common refrain from managers and workers was alike: ``I don't know this new fad called TPM--and I don't care.''

    To change the outlook, the Gabriel TPM team decided to show the nay-sayers--literally: a team of managers took over the daily maintenance of one machine on the shop floor, from the workers. Initially, there was derision, but as over time, it became clear that the managers were sincere about practising what they are preaching, the TPM team suddenly became a role model.

    The reason: the team doing maintenance did not only consist of managers from the production side--but also from the finance and administration department. Says Taneja: ``The first hurdle was the attitude of managers, and we have been able to get over the problem almost 90 per cent. However, as far as operators are concerned, there is not even a 10 percent shift. But we are working on that.''

    And that was the final lesson Yamaguchi drove home: at Gabriel, the 1S and 2S improvements were small steps, but big strides had been taken in terms of culture change. And on a long journey like TPM, it's the right attitude that makes for a good start.

    Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.

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