Plant Layout: Part-2(IMPORTANCE OF PLANT LAYOUT)

1. It is long-term commitment
2. It facilitates the production process, minimizes material handling, time and cost, and allows flexibility of operations
3. It facilitates easy production flow, makes economic use of the building, promotes effective utilization of manpower, and provides for employee’s convenience, safety, comfort at work, maximum exposure to natural light and ventilation.
4. It affects the flow of material and processes, labour efficiency, supervision and control, use of space and expansion possibilities.

Plant Layout: Part-1(Definition) 

Plant layout refers to the arrangement of physical facilities such as machinery, equipment, furniture etc. with in the factory building in such a manner so as to have quickest flow of material at the lowest cost and with the least amount of handling in processing the product from the receipt of material to the shipment of the finished product.

DEFINITION : Following are the definitions

 “the overall objective of plant layout is to design a physical arrangement that most economically meets the required output – quantity and quality.”

 “Plant layout ideally involves allocation of space and arrangement of equipment in such a manner that overall operating costs are minimized.

DETERMINANTS OF PLANT LAYOUT

1. TYPE OF PRODUCT (size, shape and quality)

2. TYPE OF PROCESS (technology employed, sequencing etc)

3. VOLUME OF PRODUCTIONS- (INCREASE OR DECREASE)

Machine Maintenance : Part-3 (Types of maintenance)

Traditionally, 5 types of maintenance have been distinguished, which are differentiated by the nature of the tasks that they include:

Corrective maintenance:  Corrective maintenance is a maintenance task performed to identify, isolate, and rectify a fault so that the failed equipment, machine, or system can be restored to an operational condition within the tolerances or limits established for in-service operations.

Preventive Maintenance:  Preventative maintenance is maintenance that is regularly performed on a piece of equipment to lessen or reduce the likelihood of it failing. Preventative maintenance is performed while the equipment is still working, so that it does not break down unexpectedly.

In process houses mostly Corrective and Preventive maintenance are performed.

Predictive Maintenance:  Predictive maintenance (PdM) techniques are designed to help determine the condition of in-service equipment in order to predict when maintenance should be performed. This approach promises cost savings over routine or time-based preventive maintenance, because tasks are performed only when warranted.

Zero Hours Maintenance (Overhaul): The set of tasks whose goal is to review the equipment at scheduled intervals before appearing any failure, either when the reliability of the equipment has decreased considerably so it is risky to make forecasts of production capacity . This review is based on leaving the equipment to zero hours of operation, that is, as if the equipment were new. These reviews will replace or repair all items subject to wear. The aim is to ensure, with high probability, a good working time fixed in advance.

Periodic maintenance (Time Based Maintenance TBM): The basic maintenance of equipment made by the users of it. It consists of a series of elementary tasks (data collections, visual inspections, cleaning, lubrication, retightening screws,…) for which no extensive training is necessary, but perhaps only a brief training. This type of maintenance is the based on TPM (Total Productive Maintenance).

Machine Maintenance : Part-2

Objectives of Maintenance Management

The following are some of the objectives of maintenance management:

• Minimizing the loss of productive time because of equipment failure (i.e. minimizing idle time of equipment due to break down).
• Minimizing the repair time and repair cost.
• Minimizing the loss due to production stoppages.
• Efficient use of maintenance personnel and equipments.
• Prolonging the life of capital assets (equipment or machines) by minimizing the rate of wear and tear.
• To keep all productive assets in good working conditions.
• To maximize efficiency and economy in production through optimum use of facilities.
• To minimize accidents through regular inspection and repair of safety devices.
• To minimize the total maintenance cost which includes the cost of repair, cost of preventive maintenance and inventory carrying costs, due to spare parts inventory.
•  To improve the quality of products and to improve productivity.

Machine Maintenance : Part-1

Maintenance Objectives

•  Maintenance is an important factor in quality assurance, which is another basis for the successful competitive edge.

•    Inconsistencies in equipment lead to variability in product characteristics and result in defective parts that fail to meet the established specifications.

•   Beyond just preventing break downs, it is necessary to keep equipment operating within specifications (i.e. process capability) that will produce high level of quality.

•      Unnecessary breakdown also leads to the increase in cost of the production.

Impact of Poor Maintenance

1. Production capacity: Machines idled by breakdowns cannot produce, thus the capacity of the system is reduced.
2. Production costs: Labor costs per unit rise because of idle labor due to machine breakdowns. When machine malfunctions result in scrap, unit labor and material costs increase. Besides, cost of maintenance which includes such costs as costs of providing repair facilities, repair crews, preventive maintenance inspections, spare parts and stand by machines will increase as machines break down frequently.
3. Product and service quality: Poorly maintained equipment produce low quality products. Equipment that have not been properly maintained have frequent break downs and cannot provide adequate service to customers. For example, winding and unwinding rollers of Jigger machine are not maintained properly, they may results uneven dyeing or uneven colour pick up due to tension variation in the fabric across the width.
4. Employee or customer safety: Worn-out equipment is likely to fail at any moment and these failures can cause injuries to the workers, working on those equipments. For example, boiler used in process house, if not maintain properly (removing of scale), it may burst and cause injuries to the boiler attendants.
5. Customer satisfaction: When production equipments break down, products often can not be produced according to the master production schedules, due to work stoppages. This will lead to delayed deliveries of products to the customers.

Handling of dyes & Chemicals-method & precautions: Part-4 (Some important hazards and safety aspects)

•    Direct contact of dyes & chemicals with skin or eyes may cause irritation. If this occurs, flush thoroughly with water. If irritation persists, get medical attention.

•      Gloves to be used while handling dyes & chemicals.

•    Prolonged inhalation of dyes & chemicals should be avoided especially personnel who is dealing with storage of the finishing chemicals. It is recommended to use toxic fume/vapour respirators approved by competent authorities.

•      The method of storage and handling of dyes & chemicals is one among various reasons for inconsistency performance. In most of the process houses the dye & chemicals storerooms are maintained in most disorderly manner. Often the dye & chemicals containers are kept in open condition thereby the dye powders/pastes/chemicals get exposed to varying climatic conditions especially, extreme humidity and temperature. Therefore they should be stored in dry and cool conditions as per the recommendation of manufacturers.

Handling of dyes & Chemicals-method & precautions: Part-3 (Safety Program)

 (c) Emergency preparedness: To establish the plan and procedures for emergency response. Emergency preparedness is vital to reduce injuries, ill-health and other damages, as quick and correct response is necessary in case of emergencies. In textile finishing, common emergency situations involving chemicals include fire, explosion, spills or release of hazardous chemicals, splashing of hot fluid, and any situation which result in personal injuries and acute illnesses.

(d) Hazard communication: To establish appropriate means of communication of safety and health matters to employees. This includes the provision of information, instruction and training to enable employees to do their jobs safely; and

(e) Monitoring and review: To monitor the effectiveness of the safety measures and review and revise periodically to cope with new requirements or significant changes in the concerned processes and /or materials