Information system planning for the hydraulics and power line division of BEML (KGF)

Abstract

The project aims at Developing the Information System Plan for the Hydraulics and Power line Division of BEML, KGF complex. It also augments the existing Information System in the division. BEML is a multi-product, multi-division Earth moving equipment manufacturer. It is a public sector company under the ministry of Defense. BEML's products have vital applications in diverse sectors of economy such as Coal, Mining, Steel, Cement, Power, Irrigation, Construction, Road building, Defense and Surface Transport. Its product range includes Dozers, Excavators, Loaders, Dumpers, High quality Hydraulics, Heavy duty diesel engines, Welding robots and turnkey heavy fabrication jobs etc. The project is carried out at he Hydraulics and Power line division engaged in the manufacturing of Hydraulic and Power line modules like Cylinders, Control values , Axles and Transmissions etc. for captive use at different Divisions of BEML. With the advent of mega projects in the core sectors, the customers are switching over to higher capacity range machines with latest technology and automation. On the other hand medium and small private contractors have opted for mechanization. With the opening of the Indian market, the foreign players are establishing in the domestic market and posing the threat of "product dumping" in the Indian market. Thus BEML faces the twin challenges of the threat of MNCs and changing needs of high technology machines, as reflected in the Earth moving industry analysis using Porter's 5-Force Frame-work. As a proactive strategy to combat these challenges, BEML is continuously upgrading its products through transfer of technology from collaborators, in house R and D development and continuous improvement of its business processes. Thus, the necessity is felt for upgrading the Information System and make it coherent with the business plan The Project follows a structured methodology for deriving IS plan from the business plan of BEML. The corporate Vision, Mission and Business objectives of BEML were studied and critical success factors pertaining to H and P division were identified. These included cost of production, warranty and rejections cost, inventory cost and employee efficiency. These factors are vital for attaining the business objectives of 11% growth in annual sales, 10% reduction in the production cost, pruning manpower efficiency etc. For these CSFs, performance indicators were established in consultation with the senior management and mapped with the existing business processes. Based upon the mapping of business process and CSFs , the portfolio of applications to be computerized was outlined. Also by this mapping, production planning and control and manufacturing of components emerged as the most critical application in the H and P division. This application was studied thoroughly for the activities and sub-activities. This revealed the following Grey areas of concern:(a) Production planning is not fully based on MRPI or MRPII concepts.(b) Numerous changes take place in the corporate production program, which affects materials and capacity planning.(c) Inaccurate inventory status at various stages of production.(d) Lack of integrated feedback system for planning at different levels. The system analysis and modelling of the Production Planning and control was done using Oracle- Designer 2000 application. A Process Model, Data-flow Diagram and Entity Relationship Diagram was developed for the current system. These were reviewed to determine the in-adequacies in the present information system. To overcome these problems a production planning and control based upon the MRPII concepts is suggested to the company. Also to streamline capacity planning of resources, a new information system architecture is proposed for the maintenance department. The new system will generate the reports for better maintenance scheduling and resource capacity planning required by the central planning department. And, in order to strengthen the Quality information system. Ql-Analyst package is suggested, which is a product of the SPSS group. A brief outline of SPC implementation using the package is explained in the report. Finally, to improve the communication system across different function and divisions, e-mail is being suggested. The current hardware status of the PCs and network components was reviewed to derive the requirement for the selected portfolio of applications. These include the following:(a) Additional PCs(b) Networking components. An aggregate cost estimate is generated for implementing the above system. Also the plan for development is prepared in the form of a GANTT chart. In order to effectively implement the Information System, it is recommended to adopt the Understand-Simplify-Automate principle. Also, the cultural gap between the shop and IT personnel should be bridged by the steering group headed by a senior manager and continuous management development and exchange for various technical skill required. It also stems the need for newer job roles in future. However, the finer details have been kept outside the scope of the project