Rajan is always eager to hear from MD, during MD’s communication meets, about new developments & challenges faced at Company level. That day MD stressed upon bringing down the Cost of Generation to ensure sustenance of Trombay operations. MD’s words kept echoing in Rajan’s mind & he reached home in a thoughtful state.
Rajan’s son Prashant greeted him at the door & asked him to play with him. Rajan told him “Beta my mind is occupied with some serious problem of our company, you play with your friends”.
Prashant insisted on knowing the problem. Rajan tried to explain, saying “We at Tata Power Trombay Station generate power mainly from Coal. In recent times, the power business has turned in to a fiercely competitive one. Cost of Generation is the most important component for survival of the business. However, we must fire costlier environment friendly imported coal, received via sea route, to comply with the stringent environment norms. This results in our power being costlier, as compared to the competitors.”
After listening attentively, Prashant said “Daddy, it seems that you people are in a big trouble. I remember, our teacher saying that Teamwork Divides the Task & Multiplies the Success. So, why don’t you talk to Rakesh uncle & Mahesh Uncle in the office?”.
Next day in the office Rajan called an urgent meeting with his colleagues Rakesh, Yogesh, Sachin, Mahesh and Lalit to discuss ways to reduce Cost of Generation. Even after three hours of discussion & 15 cups of coffee, the team reflected that there is not much of scope as the processes are already at a matured level. However, after serious brainstorming the team could see some light at the end of the tunnel & realized that there is a scope for reduction in Auxiliary Power Consumption at Coal Plant, which was recently showing an increasing trend. They further decided to adopt the six-sigma methodology as it is a disciplined, data-driven approach for eliminating defects in any process. Next day, a dedicated team lead by Rajan was formed & started working under the guidance of Senior Leadership for optimizing APC by 'Improving Coal Conveying System Efficiency'. Senior Management regularly reviewed the progress during management reviews.
In the beginning, the team eyed a target saving of Rs. 40 Lakh/Annum, which appeared very stretched, as processes and equipment were believed to be operating at their best. The team devised optimum coal conveying stream utilization strategy and developed a software program in-house, formulating barge unloading strategies under all the possible scenarios.
By adopting a holistic problem-solving approach, Rajan & team could ultimately achieve a saving of Rs. 1.03 Crore/Annum.
While reaching & surpassing the target, the team could also achieve:
- Improved turnaround time of barges
- Better stockpile management with optimized resource utilization
- Significant reduction in diesel consumption
- Improved maintenance practices
After successful completion, Rajan & team received a glittering trophy. Rajan very proudly presented the same to Prashant saying “Beta, our team wants to thank you” Prashant was puzzled & asked “What for?”. Rajan replied “You said that day ‘Teamwork Divides the Task & Multiplies the Success’ & we followed the same.”
Lessons Learned
- Each step of the journey opens up new opportunities, not envisioned during ‘Table Top discussions’.
- Opportunities can be created and grabbed even when the process is supposedly operated under well-defined established conditions (perceived maturity of process).
- Operating at ‘Perceived Benchmark Level’ limits the thinking capacity towards improvement.
- Breakthrough results can be achieved by use of software programs and technology where conventional methodologies limit the scope for improvement.