SIFL
SIFL
SIFL
Steel & Industrial Forgings Limited (SIFL) is an ISO 9001:2008 certified, Public Sector Undertaking fully owned by Government of Kerala. Incorporated in 1983 and Started commercial production in 1986. With a realistic production capacity is 5000 MT/annum of closed die forgings; SIFL specializes in the medium and heavy range of forgings of Alloy steel, Super alloys, Aluminium and Titanium. Untiring efforts of two decades has saddled SIFL firmly in the Forging Industry of India and abroad with best ratings for its products and services. Forgings with exquisite designs and shapes, flawless forms and contours, broad bands and spectra of metals like alloy Titanium and Aluminium, all in wide range of weights and unmatched quality have made SIFL the most sought after forging company in the country for critical components. SIFL's diverse product mix caters to a wide range of sectors. These include complex and high precision Aerospace forgings, Specialized Forgings for Defence, Heavy Forgings for Commercial vehicles, Railways and other components for automobiles etc. 1.1 OBJECTIVE OF TRAINING Industrial training at SIFL, Athani for four months was carried out with the following objectives. To understand the organizational framework of the industry. To study in detail the working of different departments. To carry out a case study to reduce on an existing problem, by identifying the root causes and to suggest counter measures
1.2 AREAS OF TRAINING The industrial training at SIFL started with an organizational study. The
functions and activities of all departments where briefly studied to get an overview of the functioning of the industry. A detailed study of functioning of various departments like Primary Die design Department, Technical Department, Quality Assurance Department, Forging Department and Maintenance Department, and there sub department where conducted.
As a part of training, a case study for reducing the defects of the Integral Axle Arms, which is a high valued product of the industry was conducted with the cooperation of forging department. A root cause analysis was conducted to identify the root cause of the failures and suggestions were given to reduce the downtime of machines.
1.3 REPORT OVERVIEW This report contains the details of the industrial training conducted at Steel
and Industrial Forgings Limited, Athani, Thrissur. The report is divided into five chapters. The first chapter gives an introduction to the industry and the area of training. The second chapter covers the company profile, manufacturing facilities, milestones of the company and the organizational structure of SIFL, Athani. The third chapter contains the details about functioning of various departments. The functions and activities of each department are studied in detail. The forth chapter describes the case study conducted for reducing breakdowns in the company. The last chapter concludes the study.
The company produces seventy different aeronautical closed die forgings for HAL, mainly of maraging steel, Titanium and Al alloys, WASP alloys etc. Recent development was made in the production of landing gear of naval version aircrafts. Wheel Hub of Sukhoi 30MKI aircrafts, Tee piece for nuclear submarine were some of major developments made by the company. The company has to look beyond 2012 and set its sights higher, to realize its vision of becoming A globally well-known enterprise making significant contribution to the wealth and welfare of the Nation with its mission of achieving Rs.100 crore in 2012-2013, Rs. 300 crore by 2015 and Rs. 500 Crores by the year 2020.
2.1 CLIENTELE
The company caters mainly to the needs of Automobile, Heavy Engineering, Defence, Railways, Oil and Aerospace sectors. Their major customers are giants of Indian Industries from Indian Railways, BEML, BHEL, HAL, ISRO, Ordnance factories and other Defence establishments of the Public Sector, L&T Komatsu, Caterpillar, Hindustan Motors, Elgi Equipments, Ashok Leyland etc. from the Private Sector. The company also exports forgings to the Middle East, Indonesia and Korea. Their competence and willingness to take up forgings in special alloys and materials of unique chemistry has stood them in good stead for assuring a niche market in the above weight range for a variety of complex forgings. SIFL have so far developed more than 700 different forgings for various applications. SIFL is now in the threshold of exploring new avenues to widen scope and extent of their operations and are poised for a quantum leap with a vision stretching to the year 2020.
therefore, form an effective backup for SIFL, in meeting the entire range of forging requirements. The company's turnover which stood at Rs.16 crores in 2001 doubled to Rs.32 crores in 2004-05. But even now the capacity utilisation is only 50 per cent as against the industry average of 70 per cent.
2.3.2 Mission The Steel and Industrial forging Limited have the following missions for the future. To promote, execute and develop steel based industries in Kerala and other states or elsewhere. To manufacture steel, purchase, import-export and deal in steel or connected products. Media for steel and iron corporate, like galvanizing process and paints refractoriness. . Servicing core sector like defense, railways, power generating and transmission in and outside Kerala and promoting ancillary units. To implement rural technology plans through its modern facilities for casting, forging, fabrication machining and its division of power engineering exports and trading. Apart from the above the company has set certain social and economic goals for the welfare of the company and the state in a general.
2.4 ACHIEVEMENTS Steel and Industrial Forgings Limited so far have some major achievements in the field of defence and aerospace and is a leading supplier of defence and aerospace items.
Certification from DGQA, DGAQA, Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India. Assessed and approved by NQA Quality Systems Registrar against the quality assurance system standards ISO-9001:2008 for manufacture and supply of forgings. Facilities certified by premier inspection agencies viz.: IBR, Indian Registry of shipping, Engineers India Ltd. Best vendor award from BEML. Evaluated by the Central Boilers Board and has been granted recognition as a "Well Known Forge". RDSO, ISRO, Certifications/Approval. SIATI 2003 Award for excellence in Aerospace indigenization. Kerala's Best PSU Award Winner - 2006 - 2007, 2007- 2008. Special Award for notable achievement Performance,2008-2009, 2009-2010 &2010-2011 . in Enterprise
2.5 RECENT MAJOR ACHEIEVEMENTS The recent achievements for the company are as follows and which will be a great asset to the company which will help in achieving greater production and there by getting in to a much greater position in the market.
SIFL procuring 16 Ton Pneumatic Hammer: In its quest to forge ahead SIFL is in the process of procuring a 16 Ton pneumatic hammer. SIFL has entered an agreement with M/S NKMZ International Projects Ltd. for the Supply and set up of a 16 TON Pneumatic hammer at its factory in Thrissur.
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SIFL got recommended for the prestigious AS9100 certification, The AS standard includes the ISO 9001:2008 QMS requirements and specifies additional aviation, space, defence industry requirements definitions. This will enable SIFL to expand its business to higher levels. 2.6 PRODUCTS SIFL's critical forgings are supplied to various sectors like Aerospace sector, Defense sector, Railway sector, Heavy Engineering sector, Earth Moving sector, Agriculture sector, and Automobile sector. SIFL is equipped to manufacture high pressure application forgings like Gate/ Valve Bodies, Choke Bodies etc. in Carbon and Alloy steel material, to meet the requirements of Oil Field Equipment manufacturers, Thermal Power Stations, Refineries, Petro-Chemical Industries and Nuclear Plants. The company has made significant contribution in Aerospace/Aeronautical sector by way of developing complex forgings for various aero engines. The latest of which involves the supply for project CHANDRAYAN by ISRO. The company produces seventy different aeronautical closed die forgings for HAL, mainly of maraging steel, Titanium and Al alloys, WASP alloys etc. Recent development was made in the production of landing gear of naval version aircrafts. Wheel Hub of Sukhoi 30MKI aircrafts, Tee piece for nuclear submarine were some of major developments made by the company. So far the company fast developed about 800 different types of forgings and the development of new components are continued. Forgings are also being exported to countries like USA, Indonesia, Malaysia and Middle East. 2.7 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Organization structure is a basic framework within which managers decision making behaviour take place. Structure basically deals with relationships. All science try to discover the structural relationship in the phenomenon in which they are interested in management, it is needed to understand how organization are structured and how these structures are crested and maintained.
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In a simple term, structure is a pattern in which various parts or components are interrelated or interconnected. The organization structure is the pattern of relationships among various activities and position. Since these positions are held by various persons, the structure reflects the relationship among people in the organization. The organization structure can be viewed as an established pattern of relationship among the components of the organization. In a large and complex organization, structure is set forth initially by the design of the major components or subsystems and then by establishing relationship among these sub systems. It is the patterning of these relationships with some degree of permanency, referred company as organization structure. Design of basic structure involves such issues as how the work of the organization will be divided and assigned among various positions, groups, departments and how the coordination is necessary to accomplish total organizational objectives. The operations and successes of SIFL are taken care of by its capable management and Board of Directors. The senior management ensures that collective strengths are effectively leveraged towards attaining the Companys vision.
K. S. Hamza :Chairman
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MNT : Maintenance QA : Quality Assurance IT : Information Technology PPC : Production Planning and Control SC : Spares & Consumables RM : Raw Materials F & D : Finishing & Dispatch AM : Asst. Manager
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Research and Development department 3.1 PROCESS FLOW OF PRODUCTION OF FORGINGS The process flow diagram of the complete process that happens inside a forging company from the procurement of raw materials to the final finished product is shown in figure 3.1.
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RAW MATERIAL
CUTTING OF BILLETS SETTING OF DIES HEATING AND SOAKING OF BILLETS DIE PREPERATION
FORGING
TRIMMING
HOT INSPECTION
COLD INSPECTION
REWORK
REJECT
HEAT TREATMENT
MACHINING
FINISHING
DESPATCH
The flow starts from the procurement of the raw materials. The raw materials in the form of round square billets or cylindrical rods will be initially tested for the proper grain flow, heat treatments and other general properties as required for the product. The technical department will choose the amount of material to be cut in the form of billet for a product and also the weight and cutting conditions of the billet. The Die for the particular product will be made according to the model of the product following strict tolerance using various operations which is collectively called as Die sinking process and these die will be fitted into the hammer. The billets will be heated according to the required temperature and will be transferred to the hammer. The forging process will be followed by trimming operations and hot inspection. The products which qualify during the hot inspection will get preceded to the cooling area and the non-qualified products will get reheated and the forging operation is repeated till the required dimensional accuracy is achieved. After cooling the products will be examined and checked for visible defects and dimensional accuracies. Each rework and inspection operation is done under the proper supervision of the quality engineer. The non-satisfying products will get reworked and if it is again nonsatisfying then the product will be rejected. The accepted products are then heat treated according to the customer requirement and will get proceeded to the machining and finishing processes and finally to the dispatching section. Every department has some role in the process flow.This chapter gives an idea about the production process and various role of different departments in it. 3.2 PRODUCTION PLANNING AND CONTROL.
Objective of the production planning and control department is the preparation of production and dispatch plan in consultation with other sections to meet
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customer requirement and monitor /coordinate the activities for optimum achievement. 3.2.1 Main activities The main activities of the Production planning are: Entry of sale order in the sale order registers. Preparation and distribution of production plan. Preparation of final monthly production plan in consultation with other departments. Preparation of monthly plans for dispatch in consultation with Finishing and dispatch and marketing departments. Preparing, issuing, routing and control of route cards and work order. Preparation of raw materials on sale order received from marketing after considering the stock of raw materials for forging. Coordination with the purchase section and arrange the material as per production schedule. Preparation of intend for die and insert materials. Forwarding intend to technical and quality assurance to verify the overall chemistry of the die and insert blocks. After clearance from technical and quality, it is forwarded t purchase section for procurement action. Analysis of intended quantity and receipt quantity. Entry of production details in production register.
process needs very strong materials management support to gear up to face challenges of current market. Materials Management provides information about availability of new products and services in the market which leads to cost efficient changes in the process. 3.3.1 Functions Main functions of this department are: Materials planning and control: The market forecast is converted into production schedules by production planning and control. Materials management prepares the materials plan to meet the production schedule. The plan is then implemented and controlled. Procurement: Purchase order is placed on the source and the material is procured from the source. Procurement activity includes preparation placement of purchase order, follow up, transportation and handling. Handling: The material which reaches the company premise is to be unloaded, moved and positioned as per the storage plan. Storage and preservation: The procured material is to be stored and preserved against internal and external deterioration and theft. Against the authorized demand the material from the store is retrieved and issued. Inventory control: Inventory control function controls the inventory levels to ensure shortage free and excess free stock to check the costs and ensure customer satisfaction.
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The following are the major obejctives of the technical department 3.4.1 Preparation of design data sheet The following are the operations that come under the preperation of desing data sheets The customer supplied drawing received from the marketing department is to studeied carefully and if the drawing is of machined part then it have to be converted into forging drawing by providing duitable forging allowanceas per IS 3469 1974. Calculating the cut weight of the RCS billet by proper mathematical calculations and giving the allowances required. The net weight and cut weights are also calculated by cosidering the losses and proper allowances. Finding the feasibility of the job using available capacity of the hammer byobserving net weight of job, thickness and the blow energy required. The supply conditions as required by the customer like raw material , hardness range, types of heat treatment required , grain flow pattern, complexity of shape and operations required are analysed and verified. From job shape forging operation and hammer design, suitable die block ,insert size with suitable lock and mention die size on data sheet and similarly the tooling material for the die. Finding out the die making time required based on operations as per norm.
The following operations are done regarding the documentation .The controlled documents like product design, die design etc. and the quality reports are maintained by the technical department. Design preparation for forged drawing , die and tool drawing. modification and issue of drawing.
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Preparation and issue of trial process sheet and trial cut weight . Issuing cut weight for bulk production. Preparation and issue of process sheet for production and the heat treatment process sheet. Maintenance of all records permanently.
3.4.3 Job development and monitoring Preparation of machine drawing and part drawing and get it approved by the customer. Monitoring and measurement process. The trial batch will be checked for the customer requirement and a feedback will be send to the customer. Continuous improvement in process and design to be monitored based on monthly quality reviews. Preventive actions to be implemented.
3.4.4 Design and development Design and development planning: Date of commencement of product drawing and date of completion, date of die sinking completion etc.. Design and development input: Work order from production planning, product drawing and technical delivery condition of customer. Design and development output: Completed drawing of product ,dies and tools, trial process sheet, process sheet from heat treatment and production etc.. Design and development review. Design and development verification. Control of design and development changes.
3.5.1 Functions The functions of this department are: Inspect raw materials available. Test the quality of scrap. Checking the quality of billets. Checking the quality and size of rolled items
Analyze the heat 3.5.2 Testing equipment There is a well-equipped laboratory for inspecting the raw material and also the jobs after forging. The analysis of hardness, grain distribution, defects etc. are done in the laboratory. Some of the instruments used in the laboratory are: Universal testing machine. Impact testing machine. Profile projector. Notch cutting machine. Disk polisher. Specimen grinder. Rockwell hardness machine. Bi line furnace. Spectrometer.
Metallurgical microscope. 3.5.3 General operations The forgings will be inspected during the hot condition and also in the cold condition after heat treatment for defects and hardness analyzing. The hot inspection is done for checking the forged part for defects like scale pitting, lap. unfilling, crack, mismatch etc.
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For the hot inspection generally Go and No Go gauges are used. For non-uniform sectioned parts a pistol calliper is used for checking the dimensions during hot inspection. The defects found are immediately reported to the forging department for corrective and preventive actions at a thirty minute interval. The green stage after cooling of the forged products they are inspected for defects on cent percentage. Quantity accepted, quantity salvaged and quantity rejected is separated with identification colours and reported to the production and technical departments. Hardness checking of heat treated forgings which are heat treated batch wise will be done in order to check whether the Brinell hardness number is within the range of the customer specification. The hardness will be checked at locations mentioned by the customer on a random statistical method. Shot blasted forgings are then NDT tested whenever necessary as per customer requirement.
o Die penetrant testing. Dimensions are checked by the help of vernier callipers. vernier height gauges, vernier depth gauges , bevel protractor etc. The reports after final inspection based on the customer requirement are evaluated and is reported to the customer. The calibrations of the test equipment are done as per frequency by qualified agency and the records are kept. The Die and Tool inspection are done after each forging shifts. The dies
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are checked with the help of templates .The Dies will be given for resinking it is found to have dimensional differences for the drawings. 3.6 PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT The forging or the production department is a very important part of the company. The most rigorous part of working is done here. The incoming billets are converted to the required shape in the forge shop. The processes occurring in this shop are: The billets received from the cutting section are first subjected to inspection. Then the billets are heated in the required temperature in the furnace. For this purpose there are four furnaces in the forge shop. Three of the furnaces are box type and other is a pusher furnace. All are fixed by furnace oil. The billets are heated according to the production chart and when the required temperature is reached it is transported for hammering. There are two hammers in the forge shop. One has a capacity of 10 tonnes and other has 6 tonnes. The hammer is chosen according to the size and shape of the job. The upper die is mounted on the hammer and the lower die is kept below. Now the hot billet from the furnace is kept in between the hammers and given a number of blows until the required shape obtained. The hammers are powered by compressed by compressed air produced by five compressors. Now as the metal is squeezed two die blocks some part of the metal squeezes out as flashes. This is removed with the help of trimming press. There are two trimming presses in the forge shop each one with a capacity of 1000tonnes and the other with 500 tonnes. After the flashes are removed, it is subjected to inspection-called hot inspection. By this process the dimensions of the hot worked job is analyzed.
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After cooling, the job is subjected to cold inspection and all metallurgical properties are checked. This is done due to the difficulty in checking metallurgical properties during hot inspection. Now the job is send to heat treatment shop in order to achieve the required mechanical property and microstructure. The following figure 3.2 shows the process flow that happens inside the forging department or the production department.
HEATING OF BILLETS
HOT INSPECTION
COLD INSPECTION
TO HEAT TREATMENT
The die sinking process is carried out as explained below. It is mainly done on a copy milling machine. First a wooden pattern of the required die shape is made in exact dimensions. This work is done in the pattern shop. The copy milling machine (YONEDA, double spindle) is used to produce the exact replica of this wooden pattern on the die block. EDM (Electro Discharge Machining) is also used to produce dies. Here an opposite shape of die cavity is made in graphite which acts as the cutting tool in EDM. For circular jobs, lathe machines (BECO-2) are used.
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MARKING CENTRE LINE AND LAYOUT LIFT HOLE DRILLING DIE SINKING
INSPECTION
FORGE SHOP
Figure 3.4 Process flow inside the die design and development
department
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For making inserts, a CNC (BFW, Agni BMV 45 T20) machine is used. For operating this machine, die dimensions are first programmed in the machine to get the required die. The grinding of the finished die is by the pneumatic grinder. Templates are used to check the dimensional accuracy of the die. The die shop also has an air compressor (KHOSLA-Double Staged) which supplies the air required for cooling purposes and to pneumatic grinder. The finished die block is then taken to the forge shop. SIFL is also equipped with CAD facilities including three dimensional modeling for Product Development, Die & Tool design etc. thereby minimizing the development cycle time.
Charging machine for transporting hot jobs in and out of the furnace. After the forging is done, the jobs are brought to the heat treatment shop. In
the H/T Shop first cold inspections is done and after that the job is heat treated according to the requirement of the customer to achieve the required hardness and microstructure. (The uses of heat treatment and its different forms are presented in the next section). Then the job is tested. The hardness gives the measure of the mechanical property of the metal. After this, the job is send to finishing and dispatch section. Figure 3.6 shows the process flow inside the heat treatment department.
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3.8.1 Reasons for heat treatment Heat treatment process is to be done for the achieving of the desired mechanical properties of the product and also the customer requirement. Remove stresses induced by cold working or to remove stresses set up by non-uniform cooling of hot metals. Refine grain structure of hot worked steels which may have developed coarse grain size. Secure the proper grain structure. Decrease the hardness and increase the ductility. Increase the toughness i.e. to produce steel having both high tensile strength and good ductility, enabling it to withstand high impact. Improve the machinability. Improve the cutting properties.
Change or modify the magnetic properties of steel. 3.8.2 Type of heat treatments Full annealing It is the process of softening the steel by a heating and cooling cycle, so that it may be bent or cut easily. In annealing, steel is heated above a transformation temperature and cooled very slowly after it has reached a suitable temperature. The distinguishing characteristics of full annealing are: 1. Temperature above critical temperature. 2. Very slow cooling, usually in furnace. Normalizing It is identical with annealing except that the steel is air cooled. Cooling is much faster than cooling in a furnace. Steel is normalized to refine grain size, make its structure more uniform or to improve machinability. Hardening It is carried out by quenching steel, i.e. cooling it rapidly from a temperature above transformation. Steel is quenched in:-
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1. Water or brine (for the most rapid cooling) 2. Oil (for some alloy steels ) 3. Air (for certain higher alloy steels) After steel is quenched, it is usually very hard and brittle it may even crack if dropped. To make steel more ductile it must be tempered.
RECEIPT OF WORKPIECE FROM FORGE SHOP
COLD INSPECTION
HEAT TREATMENT
HARDNESS TESTING
Tempering It consists of re-heating quenched steel to suitable temperature below the transformation temperature for an appropriate time and cooling back to room temperature. Stress relieving It is the heating of steel to a temperature below the transformation temperature, as in tempering but is done to relieve stresses and thus prevent distortion or cracking during machining. This is sometimes called process annealing.
3.9.1 Breakdown maintenance There is a section which undertakes the job of maintaining, repairing the parts of machinery where breakdown or disasters had happened. This section is helpful to maintain such problems by them temporarily and thus the production function will conduct smoothly without delays. The department authority gets intimation who then attends the status of the particular equipment in maintenance register. The site is inspected, and the log books are updated. The problems are recorded in machine history book and monthly review is performed. 3.9.2 Calibration Thermocouples are identified and calibrated once in 3 months. Nonconforming thermocouples are disposed. Furnaces are calibrated by using calibrated thermocouples. They are
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maintained at 100C. Certificate is issued after calculation. 3.9.3 Preventive maintenance Maintenance of furnaces: Furnaces are provided with thermocouples after ensuring the validity of thermocouples. Furnaces are maintained at a temperature of 100C. The performance is checked and they are handled over for production process. The furnaces are inspected once in 30 days. Eg: lining failure, coil failure (major breakdown). Equipment other than furnace: The 10T and 6T hammer and compressors involves replacement/modification, the necessary spares are made available. If unavailable, the parts are sketched. Before assembly of new spares, components are verified with sketches. Records are maintained for 3 years.
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The finance and accounts department is headed by the finance manager. The objective of the company is the proper and optimum utilization of the financial resources of the company together with profit maximization and wealth maximization. The finance and accounts department undertakes all the investment decisions, cash flow planning and management, budgetary planning and monitoring and fixing the budgetary norms. The finance department helps the management by introducing and operating proper internal audit system and also helps CMD in corporate planning and in financial vetting of all proposals from the basis for decisions and forms the financial policies of the company. The major sections of finance department are: Ledger section Party bills section Payroll section Cash section Internal audit section Working capital
3.11.2 HR Department The main objective of the Human resource department is to provide companywide leadership in formulating human resources policies and programs that enhance the quality of employees services and encouraging employees contribution forwards sustain SIFLs continued excellence. The main functions of department are: General administration Wage and salary administration Recruitment and selection Training and development Industrial Relations Promotion and transfer Performance Appraisal
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3.11.1 Research and Development Department Steel and Industrial Forgings Limited gives importance to Research and Development department. As the company is in forging industry, which is highly consumer oriented industry, care has been given to research and development activities related to the development of better grain flow and microstructure development of the products of SIFL. The organisation study was conducted at Steel and Industrial Forgings Limited, Athani,Thrissur. SIFL is the one and only public limited company in Kerala that produces a wide range of forged products. A detailed study about the activities and functioning of various departments like technical department, die design and development department production department etc. were also conducted. The activities of supporting departments were also studied. Organisation study and departmental study helped significantly to know the functioning of a real world industry.
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CHAPTER 4 ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS TO REDUCE THE REJECTION OF FORGED PRODUCTS IN A FORGING INDUSTRY
4.1 PROBLEM DEFENITION
Even after producing 24x7, forging department is not able to meet its demand in the market and it is running under a loss. The monthly production schedule couldnt be achieved due to fact that majority of finished products dont pass the final quality test. Even though the required number of products are produced in the industry, they cant satisfy the requirement of the customer in terms of quality. It is necessary to reduce the rejection rate of finished products so as to meet the demand and to improve the efficiency of the whole industry. A case study was conducted on the rejection rate of forged cam shaft gear for which the raw material is steel.
From the table it is clear that the even though the production target was achieved in certain months the rejection rate is present in all the months.
4.2.2 Root cause identification Cause-and-effect diagrams or Ishikawa diagrams (Fish bone diagram) is one of the seven basic tools of quality, which is used to identify potential factors causing an overall effect. It was used in the study to identify the root cause of the major rejection identified in the previous section. A Pareto chart, where individual values are represented in descending order by bars, and the cumulative total is represented by the line. The left vertical axis is the frequency of occurrence, and right vertical axis is the cumulative percentage of the total number of occurrences. The purpose of the Pareto chart is to highlight the most important among a (typically large) set of factors. In quality control, it often represents the most common sources of defects, the highest occurring
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type of defect. The production data of cam shaft gear was inspected to find out the root causes of the problem and various possibilities were studied. The quality department staffs were interviewed and a brain storming section was done to find out the possible causes. The possible causes of failure are described with the help of a fishbone diagram.
A Pareto chart (Fig. 2) was constructed as per the frequency of occurrences of rejection
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Sl no.
Cause
No of rejection 73 24 13 10 8
Cumulative
Percentage
1 2 3 4 5
Furnace Die crack Pre forging Die setting Piston crack Scale removal
135
100
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From the chart it is clear that majority of rejection is contributed by furnace. A detailed study was conducted based on rejection due to furnace and reasons were identified. It is shown in the figure 3.
Fig. 3 Fish bone diagram for furnace rejection A sample of 10 billet was taken. The furnace and forging operation is carried out. When the first billet is unloaded from the furnace the next billet is loaded into it. Finally quality tests were carried out in all the billets. It was found that out of 10 billets 8 of them has surface hardness below the required amount. So it is clear that even though the billets are loaded into the furnace in proper manner the rejection of material still prevails due to overheating of billets in furnace. So the root cause of rejection of forged materials is overheating of furnace. Carbon is the element that gives strength to steel. From the root cause analysis it is clear that the major cause for the material rejection is overheating. Due to overheating a process called decarburisation occurs. Decarburisation is process of reduction of carbon content due to heating with oxygen or hydrogen containing gases present in the atmosphere. Removal of carbon content from the surface reduces the surface hardness of the material. Apart from decarburisation other elemental percentage is also affected due to overheating.
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Elemental distribution for steel is given in table 3 Table 3 Element Required Percentage 0.38-0.48 0.50-0.80 0.70-1.10 2.75-3.25 0.25-0.45 0.035-0.055 Percentage obtained 0.29-0.36 0.42-0.67 0.66-0.98 2.37-3.13 0.17-0.42 0.031-0.049
Heat treatment process details for cam shaft gear is shown in table 4
Table 4 Process Temperature range 870-9000C 850-8600C 500-5200C Soaking Time 2.5 hours 2.5 hours 8 hrs Cooling medium air oil air
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Table 5 Property Brinnel hardness Required 277-321 BHN 165000 psi Obtained 243-302 BHN 153500 psi
It is clear from the tables that the quality of the final forged products is greatly reduced due to decarburisation. 4.2.3 Recommendations The study for the reduction rejection of cam shaft gear is done and from the cause and effect diagram. From the study it is clear that the surface hardness of the material is greatly influenced by decarburisation due to overheating of the billet. So we should implement some method to reduce the amount of decarburisation level in the furnace. The best alternative is to install sealed quench furnace for heat treatment operation. The sealed quench is a batch furnace in which the heating and quenching chambers are combined in a single unit. The two chambers are separated by a refractory-lined door which can be opened to allow the hot charge to be
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transferred from the heating chamber to the cooling chamber. Sealed quench furnaces usually operate over the temperature range 750C to 1000C but can operate from 570C to 1100C with suitable modifications.Sealed quench furnace is shown in figure 4.
Fig. 4 Sealed quench furnace Sealed quench furnaces constitute the most common type of controlled atmosphere furnaces. A sealed quench furnace is a furnace in which the heating chamber is attached to the cooling or quenching chamber, both being enclosed so that the workload is always under the controlled atmosphere and is never exposed to the air whilst at temperature. This means that components are clean and bright and not oxidised when they are removed from the furnace. Since oxidation of the billet from within the furnace can be prevented, overheating is reduced and so decarburisation can be avoided. Advantages of sealed quench furnace are as follows. Better control of the surface carbon content of the component, higher productivity of the equipment, less labour required to run the equipment, easier to automate and control the process, more environmentally friendly - without the serious problems of handling toxic salts or the difficulties of disposing of waste salts. 4.3 Feasibility study A study was conducted to check the feasibility. Name of the item : Cam Shaft Gear
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Cut Weight(Kg) Gross weight(Kg) Net Weight(Kg) Price per piece Number of Rejection due to Decarburisation Total production loss Cost of sealed quench furnace Installation Cost Total cost of furnace
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CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION
The industrial training at Steel and Industrial Forgings Limited, Thrissur was done for a period of three months. Organizational study was studied. All the functional departments were visited. A case study was conducted to identify the major causes of rejection of final forged products. The main objective of study was to identify the major cause for rejection of cam shaft gear. Root cause analysis was conducted to identify the major cause. Root cause analysis to reduce the rejection of forged cam shaft gear was done. The major contributing problem was identified as decarburisation and Improvement opportunities to reduce the reduction rate is also suggested.
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4. Dodd, B. and P. Boddington; The causes of edge cracking in cold rolling, Journal Mech. Working Technology, 3, 1980, pp. 239-252
5. K.J. Barnett, Research initiatives for the forging industry, Journal of Materials Processing Technologies 98 (2000) ,162-164.
6. Seam Mc Kelvey and Ali Fatemi, Influence of Surface Finish on Fatigue Behaviour of Forged Steel Including Heating Method, Hardness, and Shot Cleaning Effect, The University of Toledo, May 2011. 25.
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