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PRODUCTION PROCESS OF ASHOK LEYLAND

ABSTRACT:

Theme of the paper is to deal with the production process and operation involved in

the commercial vehicle manufacturing company ASHOK LEYLAND. At the end of

reading you get the idea regarding the manufacturing or production process,

operations, supply chain management undertaking in the respected vehicle

manufacturing company.

PRODUCTION PROCESS IN ASHOK LEYLAND

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INTRODUCTION:

Ashok Leyland is a commercial vehicle manufacturing company based in Chennai, India. Founded in 1948, the company is one of India's leading manufacturers of commercial vehicles, such as trucks and buses, as well as emergency and military vehicles. Operating six plants, Ashok Leyland also makes spare parts and engines for industrial and marine applications. It sells about 60,000 vehicles and about 7,000 engines annually. It is the second largest commercial vehicle company in India in the medium and heavy commercial vehicle (M&HCV) segment. With passenger transportation options ranging from 19 seaters to 80 seaters, Ashok Leyland is a market leader in the bus segment .The company claims to carry over 60 million passengers a day,

more people than the entire Indian rail network. In the trucks segment Ashok Leyland primarily concentrates on the 16 ton to 25 ton range of trucks. However Ashok Leyland has presence in the entire truck range starting from 7.5 tons to 49 tons. The joint venture announced with Nissan Motors of Japan would improve its presence in the Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) segment (<7.5 tons).

In 1968, production of the Leyland Titan ceased in Britain, but was restarted by Ashok Leyland in India. The Titan PD3 chassis was modified, and a five speed heavy duty constant-mesh gearbox utilized, together with the Ashok Leyland version of the O.680 engine. The Ashok Leyland Titan was very successful, and continued in production for many years.

PRODUCTION PROCESS IN ASHOK LEYLAND

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ACHEIVEMENT’S OF ASHOK LEYLAND:-

1966 Introduce full air brakes.

1967 Launched double-decker bus.

1968 Offered power steering in commercial vehicles.

1979 Introduced multi-axle trucks.

1980 Introduced the international concept of integral bus with air suspension.

1982 Introduced vestibule bus.

1992 Won self-certification status for defense supplies.

1993 Received ISO 9002.

1997 India's first CNG powered bus joined the BEST fleet.

2001 Received ISO 14001 certification for all manufacturing units.

2001 Launched hybrid electric vehicle.

MANUFACTURING PLANTS OF ASHOK

LEYLAND:

Ashok Leyland has seven manufacturing plants:

1) Ennore

2) Hosur: Unit 1

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3) Hosur: Unit 2

4) Hosur: Unit 2A

5) Alwar

6) Bhandara

7) Pantnagar

Ashok Leyland products.

1:-Buses

Leaders in the Indian bus market, offering unique models such as CNG, Double Decker and Vestibule bus.

2:-Trucks:-

Pioneers in multi axle trucks and tractor-trailers.

3:- Engines:-

Diesel engines for Industrial, Genset and Marine applications, in collaboration with technology leaders.

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4:- Defense & Special: -

Largest provider of logistic vehicles to the Indian army.

PRODUCTION PROCESS IN ASHOK LEYLAND

Mission

Achieving Customer Delight

Excellence in technology and engineering

Continuous Improvement and Learning

Teamwork, training, transparency, people - based management and

internal customer satisfaction.

Protection of working environment that promotes safety and health

of our employees.

Vision

To become Customers’ first choice, by focusing

organizational energy on understanding and delivering on their

need for state-of-the-art technology, cost and quality benchmarks,

and overall relationship, which they expect from a world class

supplier.

USERS OF ASHOK LEYLAND PRODUCTS:

INDUSTRIAL USER: Industrial user includes transporter, Logistics Company, coal and

mining industry and other industries etc.

PUBLIC USER: Public user includes individual or passenger transport.

GOVERNMENT USER: Government user includes state and central transport like DTC,

UPSRTC and other.

DEFENSE USER: Defense user includes Indian army trucks, tanks and transport

buses.

PROCESS FLOW CHART OF ASHOK LEYLAND

purchase of raw material

components machined

rough milling drilling finish milling

washing boring end milling assembly of bearing caps

fixing of flywheel housing

assembly of oil pump

fitting of steiner

compressor fitting

fitting of oil coolant

fitting of belt

finish products

CRANKSHAFT: - CRANKSHAFT is attached with a gear and is fixed to the bottom of the cylinder block by bearing caps.

CAMSHAFT: - CAMSHAFT is attached with a timing gear and is fixed in the required space provided in the cylinder block.0

INPUT AND OUTPUT PROCESS

INPUTS:-

Collecting information about the parts of truck and buses, which Ashok Leyland is going to produce.

Production system of Ashok Leyland. Production Strategy of Ashok Leyland (Strategy for HCV and LCV is

different.)

PROCESS PLANNING:-

Ashok Leyland selects the process for production. Study of new product which Ashok Leyland is going to produce and

study of process. Study of Machinery, which is used to produce the product. Ashok Leyland do lot of research for their production process.

OUTPUTS:-

Final product is prepared(Product is with new technology) Hybrid features of new product.

*Hybrid engine. *Hybrid model. *Hybrid technology.

OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT

Ashok Leyland is trying to improve efficiency and

production quality, reduce costs and increase customer

satisfaction.

Among the means company is adopting just-in-time

inventories system.

Strategic Sourcing:

Strategic sourcing recognizes

that people, including

innovative suppliers, are a

valuable part of an

organization and focuses on

reducing waste or non-value-

added costs.

Technology

Upgradation: The

Company has a strong focus

on technology upgradation in

order to meet the growing

demand for newer & better

models.

The technology

upgradation initiative

the Company expects to

produce more fuel

efficient vehicles with

robust designs which

are globally best in their

class.

World-class Technology:

To offer world-class

technology that is relevant and

affordable to the Indian

customer is the philosophy

that drives R&D at Ashok

Leyland.

Value to the Customer:

The immediate R&D priorities

are to pro-actively address

safety and environmental

issues, harness and adopt

technologies that provide

value to the customer in an

atmosphere enabling

creativity and innovation.

Test Tracks: but Company

R&D is not confined within

walls. It extends to the test

tracks as well. Rigorous tests

are carried out under stringent

simulated conditions that

replicate the most treacherous

landscapes.

Innovations: Ashok

Leyland product development

successes have come from a

keen sense of anticipation and

attentiveness. The company

initiated research into

alternative fuels well before

legislative debate had even

begun in the country.

Best practices: The new

lines, apart from being state-

of-the-art in terms of

machines and tools, also

incorporate many global

industry best practices. The

automated coolant

management system

significantly reduces coolant

consumption.

The Manufacturing Execution

System (MES) allows for

online monitoring of all

operational parameters such as

breakdowns, tool change and

power consumption - both

current status and history.

Automation: New

benchmarks have been set in

automation to minimize

activities that cause human

fatigue or pose hazards and

achieve speed. Gantry

Systems are used for axle-

beam, axle arm, camshafts

and crankshafts lines. Robots

are used for ‘handling’ hot

axle arms and axle beams.

Compact and versatile:

A significant addition to

capacities, the new lines are

extremely versatile.

“Transformation training

becomes crucial in such

movement of men from

accustomed work situations to

a whole new set-up”.

PRODUCT SUPPLY CHAIN

It has been found that the

automobile giant Ashok

Leyland ltd, chennai has got

one of the very successful

supplier development program

as part of its world-class

supply chain management.

Manufacturer Dealer Customer

CMD identifies the vendors, rates the vendors based on feedback received from Supplier Quality Assurance

Cell, sends drawings / specifications, calls for quotes with detailed break-up of operation-wise costs, and

negotiates the price at which the parts will be supplied.

Ashok Leyland considers its vendors as partners in progress and believes in establishing mutually beneficial relationships.

Ashok Leyland provides necessary technical assistance in the form of Project and Production Engineering, to maintain quality levels. In addition, where required, Ashok Leyland also helps vendors financially.

DRAWBACK:

As Ashok Leyland is giving it’s best to its customer but then also there are some drawbacks:-

The domestic sales of the company are not up to the

mark.

Ashok Leyland has not got a foothold in the luxury

trucks segment in its domestic market.

Ashok Leyland have low cost advantage over its

competitors, once the competitors find out the low cost

production methodology then there will no

competitive advantage.

CNG buses of Ashok Leyland are also not playing

well on the roads, some or other break down creating

problem for them.

Some of the automobile company is going to launch

HMV to give competition to Ashok Leyland and till

now Ashok Leyland not got any alternative to

comptite with it.

FEATURES OF THE COMPANY:

As we know through this project that Ashok Leyland is also one of the leading automobile manufacturers in the world and it also came to know that:-

Provide World class technology:-To offer world-class technology that is relevant and affordable to the Indian customer is the philosophy that drives R&D at Ashok Leyland. Over the years, this philosophy has been translated time and again into products that seamlessly integrate international technology with local needs. "The role of R&D is central in fulfilling the company-wide commitment to total customer satisfaction" states Mr. R. Seshasayee, Managing Director, and adds that the increased infrastructural and financial support expresses the company's determination to become self-reliant in R&D.

Provide Value to the customer:-The immediate R&D priorities are to pro-actively address

safety and environmental issues, harness and adopt technologies that provide value to the customer in an atmosphere enabling creativity and innovation. Powering those who "engineer tomorrows" with an enabling infrastructure has been top priority for the company.

Keep innovating there product:-Ashok Leyland product development successes have come from a keen sense of anticipation and attentiveness. The company initiated research into alternative fuels well before legislative debate had even begun in the country. The result was the implementation of CNG technology ahead of the rest promising a breath of fresh air for polluted cities.

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