Forging

OVERVIEW ABOUT THE INDUSTRY:

• The Indian Forging industry has now emerged as a major contributor to the manufacturing sector of the Indian economy.
• Along with automotive sector, non-automotive sectors also evolved as main customers to forging industry.
• By and large, the Indian forging industry still remains highly fragmented, with around 400 units out of which only 2-3% are considered to be organized players.
• The organized players accounts for about 65-70% of the total market, while unorganized players cater mainly to job work and the replacement market.
• With increasing globalization, the forging industry will continue to grow and do well in the immediate future to cater to growing international needs.
• At the same time the industry is becoming more capital intensive and hence becoming a constraint.
• The small scale units too are increasing their capital investment to keep pace with increasing demand in the global markets.

Forging Value Chain

CHALLENGES FACED BY THE INDUSTRY

Domestic

• Volatile international and domestic prices of forging quality steel.
• Compliance with stringent environmental norms.
• Low capacity utilization, productivity not at par with other industry norms.
• Uneducated labor and low competent staff.
• High attrition rate, especially at the senior management level.
• Slow and unplanned product development process.

Exports

• Impact of volatile foreign exchange rates.
• Increased input cost in India; overseas buyers not ready to pay.
• Inadequate investment in technology upgrades.
• Stringent quality and system requirements.
• High cost of poor quality.

Operational Challenges
Materials

• Stock out and overstocking situations coexist for steel raw material.
• High lead time of raw material.
• Material mix-up issues leading to customer dissatisfaction.

Machine and Equipment

• 50% downtime on most of the hammers.
• Inadequate material heating capacity leading to equipment waiting.
• High die changeover time, unsafe working conditions.
• High operating costs (labor, fuel, and power).

Process

• Capacity imbalance at forging, machining, and heat treatment.
• Heavy rework and rejection.
• Excess in-process WIP leading to a cluttered shop floor.
• Poor synchronization between forging and heat treatment.

System

• Poor adherence to the system leading to confusion and wrong decisions.

VEDZEN'S PAST EXPERIENCE IN THE SAME/SIMILAR INDUSTRY

Vedzen is known for its Lean Kaizen consulting services, aiming to enhance operational efficiency and quality across various industries, including forging. The company's approach typically involves:

1. Lean Manufacturing: Implementing lean principles to reduce waste and improve productivity.
2. Kaizen Practices: Continuous improvement strategies to enhance processes incrementally.
3. Quality Management: Ensuring high standards in production processes and end products.
4. Training and Development: Providing training to staff on best practices in manufacturing and process optimization.

Key Experiences in the Forging Industry

1. Process Optimization:

• Value Stream Mapping: Identifying and eliminating non-value-added activities.
• Workflow Improvement: Redesigning the layout for better material flow and reduced handling time.
• Cycle Time Reduction: Techniques to shorten production cycles without compromising quality.

2. Waste Reduction:

• Lean Implementation: Applying 5S (Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain) methodologies to maintain an organized and efficient workspace.
• Waste Elimination: Targeting specific types of waste (overproduction, waiting, transport, extra processing, inventory, motion, and defects).

3. Quality Enhancement:

• Total Quality Management (TQM): Emphasizing quality in every aspect of the production process.
• Six Sigma Techniques: Utilizing statistical tools to identify and eliminate defects.
• Root Cause Analysis: Identifying the fundamental causes of defects and implementing corrective actions.

4. Training and Development Programs:

• Workshops and Seminars: Conducting sessions on lean manufacturing and Kaizen principles.
• On-site Training: Customized training programs tailored to the specific needs of the forging industry.
• Employee Engagement: Initiatives to involve employees in

WHAT VEDZEN CAN DO FOR THE CLIENT?

Vedzen applies its expertise in Lean Kaizen principles to help forging industry clients improve profitability, reduce costs, optimize inventory, enhance capacity utilization, improve delivery, and develop a skilled workforce. Here’s a detailed overview of how Vedzen can benefit forging industry clients:
Improve Profitability:

• Efficient Use of Raw Materials: Implement techniques to enable the use of substitute materials, thereby reducing the dependence on primary raw materials.
• Energy Efficiency: Improve the efficiency of high energy- consuming equipment such as furnaces, presses, and forging machines to reduce energy consumption and lower energy costs per unit of production.
• Alternative Fuels: Enable the use of waste materials as alternative fuels in forging processes, reducing costs and environmental impact.

Reduce Costs:

• Automation and Intelligent Machining: Identify opportunities for automation and assess the cost-benefit through detailed analysis. Implement intelligent machining operations to reduce costs, increase production, and improve product quality.
• Raw Material BOM Analysis: Analyze the Bill of Materials (BOM) to eliminate redundancies and streamline material codes. Set up replenishment systems for better material control and cost
• management.
• Consumables Management: Establish efficient replenishment systems for consumables to control inventory costs and optimize storage space.

Optimize Inventory:

• Obsolete Inventory Management: Eliminate obsolete inventory through reallocation and usage.
• Best Practices in Inventory Management: Develop and implement best practices to avoid the accumulation of obsolete inventory and ensure efficient inventory turnover.
• Housekeeping Improvements: Conduct a one-time mission to drastically improve housekeeping and ensure sustainability, reducing wastage and damage to goods.
• FIFO Implementation: Implement ‘first-in, first-out’ (FIFO) or similar practices to avoid wastage and damage of goods.

Improve Capacity Utilization:

• Capacity Studies and Optimization: Conduct capacity utilization and bottleneck identification studies. Propose measures to optimize utilization and increase overall efficiency.
• Investment Analysis: Identify areas requiring capacity enhancement through investments and conduct detailed studies to support decision-making.
• Monitoring Systems: Develop measurement systems for monitoring the availability and efficiency of critical equipment.
• OEE Improvement: Identify opportunities for Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) improvement for critical equipment.

Improve Delivery:

• Lean Production Systems: Implement lean production systems and concurrent engineering methods such as Standard Work in Process (SWIP) and changeover standards.
• Bottleneck Elimination: Identify and eliminate production bottlenecks.
• Optimized Packing and Dispatch: Improve the packing and dispatch processes to ensure requirement-based supply, optimal vehicle utilization, and synchronization with production schedules.

Improve Housekeeping:

• 5S Standards: Develop and implement 5S standards with clear targets and checklists for sustained improvements.
• Daily Audits: Conduct daily audits to ensure the closing of actions and maintain high standards of housekeeping.

Improve Vehicle Utilization:

• Supportive Manufacturing Lines: Modify manufacturing lines to better support delivery vehicles.
• Line Balancing and Synchronization: Achieve line balancing and synchronize production through effective scheduling and scientific batch sizes to improve vehicle utilization.

Workforce Development:

• Cultural Change: Foster cultural changes among employees to enhance the utilization of human resources.
• Coaching and Mentoring: Coach and mentor employees at the root level to develop leadership potential, participate in teams, acquire skills for multiple jobs, and focus on safety and quality. Extend coaching and mentoring capabilities to managers and supervisors.

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