Humans have always been fascinated with flight. Flying machines such as the “Pushpaka Vimana”, dragons, griffons as well as giant eagles and peacocks were the choice vehicles of transport in legends of yore. Even in the Ramayana, Sita was abducted by Raavana using his flying chariot and Hanuman soars through the skies to rescue her.
Thanks to Wright brothers for inventing the airplane and making our dreams a reality. Just like land and sea, warfare took flight soon and the era of aerial dogfights and bombings began. Helicopters were invented soon after and provided unprecedented manoeuvrability and accessibility which helped in war and peace.
In a multipolar world, almost all countries are upgrading their technologies of making planes and choppers. HAL of India has also started making attack helicopters. Its engine runs efficiently due to a critical component called diffuser and HAL badly needed a partner to produce diffusers without defects and approached us. Here’s what happened.
HAL : We have a big problem…!!
Titan : Well, Congratulations..!!
HAL : Whaaatt???
Titan : I mean… for coming to the right people ..... we are here to solve it…
HAL : You don’t understand …we need diffusers to be produced for our customer SAFRAN to these strict specifications but are unwilling to share us the knowhow.
Titan : Don’t worry we can do without that.
HAL : Is this possible?
Titan : Have faith in us. Wait and watch…
There were no apparent solutions initially but the team brainstormed and generated ideas based on their experience and knowledge on other methods of part clamping by fixtures for high accuracy. Even once an idea was finalized, there were no suppliers available as it was a new and complex design. Titan identified a capable supplier and gave him the required technical support to get the fixture done. Prototypes were iterated for accuracy correction and balancing and the component was proved successfully after a week of intense testing.
Titan thus became the only supplier in India to produce the diffuser component to perfection and the only supplier globally to produce the component without rejections.
HAL were delighted that they have achieved this with the contribution of Titan and informed SAFRAN that they have successfully produced the diffuser.
SAFRAN: Is that true…How much is the rejection percentage... Even we are facing 20% rejection rate guys..
HAL: Nooo…There is zero rejection.
SAFRAN: That is impossible.... I don’t believe it.
HAL: Our supplier Titan has done it... You will believe once you see it for yourself.
SAFRAN: There must be some foul play here... We will come with you to Titan to find out..
SAFRAN saw the innovative fixture at Titan that was used to manufacture the diffuser. They were overjoyed and believed more than ever in Titan’s capabilities. They started approaching Titan directly with huge orders for their global requirement, a game changer for Titan’s fortunes.
Lessons Learned
- This project taught us that nothing is impossible with innovation.
- Teamwork, where minds work in synergy, resulted in a unique solution.
- This project was a lesson in perseverance as we planned, designed, implemented, failed, modified and finally innovated.
- At a point when the challenge seemed impossible, the team refused to give up and the management provided maximum support to their plans reflecting Titan’s commitment to the customer.
- The team felt elated on seeing their hard work bearing fruit and are now motivated to deliver innovative solutions in other projects also.