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The Company’s efforts to develop new products for its customers, as well as expand its own product mix met with considerable success in FY 07. For the first time, Commercial production of various grades of high strength steel for automobiles was established. Super ductile rebars and galvanised wires with thin organic coating were rolled for the first time. For a niche segment, the Company achieved a breakthrough in establishing a new grade of cold rolled ultra carbon electric grade steel with very low watt loss. This will significantly improve the efficiency of many electrical appliances.
During the year, Tata Steel was approved by ESAB International Inc as a “global vendor” for its WR3 (M) grade to be used for CO2 welding application. “Super ductile” rebars were developed by the Company for seismic resistant applications. Tata Steel initiated Quality Function Development (QFD) with key customer segments to capture and prioritise customer requirements.
Improvements & Innovations
The Company sought to consolidate its various improvement initiatives under the ASPIRE Programme with the |
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launch of ASPIRE T3 (Theory of
Constraints, Quality Management and Technology). Improved understanding and application of TOC yielded results, especially in the area of Supply Chain management. An indication of the benefits is available from the 20% reduction in average distributor inventory of Tata Steelium CR Sheets and Tata Shaktee GR Sheets. Marketing & Sales team were trained on TOC at the regional level to enable them to implement it better.
Information Technology played a vital role in the integration of overseas plants with the Tata Steel System. SAP was implemented at SIW, Thailand, three Tata BlueScope Plants and the Wire Division Plant at Dodaballapur. By phasing out Mainframe based applications, Tata Steel has ensured better and quicker support at a much lower manpower cost.
Customer Service Division
In FY 07, the material handled by the Company’s hubs saw a 23% increase, containerisation of export cargo recorded a 24% rise and overall despatch from the Works grew by 8.5%. The Division also brought about a 7.5% increase in Rail despatch and GEPAs without any logistic infrastructure requiring to be enhanced.
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Procurement
Even as the Company’s production recorded a new high, the Division complied with 100% requirement of Raw Material and consumables. Simultaneously it reduced costs by Rs 240 Crores in FY 07.
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Highest ever procurement of CP
Grade limestone
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Highest ever receipt of
converted coke
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Highest ever purchase of low
ash met coke and fluid coke
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Established Sila Eastern as a
reliable source for good quality limestone
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Explored rail transportation
to various locations to minimize increase in road
transportation cost
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Effective use of Reverse Auction and Product
Substitution to achieve price reductions and savings
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