PRODUCTIVITY AUDIT OF

COAST GUARD STORE DEPOT,

MANKHURD, MUMBAI

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INDEX

Chapter No Topic Page No

(I) Project Objective 3

(II) Introduction – Coast Guard Store Depot 4

(III) Background 5

(IV) Methodology: Approach to the Problem 6

(V) SWOT Analysis of CGSD 7

(VI) Current Status 9

(VII) Improvement Initiatives 11

1. Reduction in Demand Processing Time 11

2. Transportation/Delivery of Stores 17

3. Delivery of Lubricating Oils to Outstation Ships 21

4. Inventory Handling (Machinery Stores) 24

5. Procedural Modifications w.r.t. Record Keeping 26

(VIII) Strength and Limitations of the Study 28

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Chapter – I

PROJECT OBJECTIVE

This pro ject is an at t empt to improve the financ ia l and funct iona l

e ffic iency o f Coast Guard Sto re Depot to enable it to

(a) Reduce it s Cost of Operat ions , and

(b) Reduce the Response Time,

by app licat ion o f pr inc ip les o f Product ion Management and

Operat ions Research.

The scope o f study is limit ed to t he Store Depot s o f Ind ian Coast

Guard and spec if ica l ly t he one locat ed at Mumbai. Coast Guard is par t

o f Min ist r y o f Defence and there fo re it s operat ing and account ing

po lic ies are highly conservat ive and the re fo re d ist inct ly d if ferent from

corporat e wor ld. Many o f t he reco mmendat ions o f t his report have

a lready been implemented by Coast Guard Sto re Depot dur ing the

progress o f t his pro ject report with benef it s as list ed here in.

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Chapter - II

INTRODUCTION – COAST GUARD STORE DEPOT

Raised in 1978, Ind ian Coast Guard is ent rust ed with the respons ib il it y

o f sa feguard ing the mar it ime int erest s of t he nat ion in peace t ime and

support ro le t o Ind ian Navy dur ing war . The ser vice is in a

deve lopmenta l st age and is gro wing a t a hect ic pace. While t he

government has been l ibera l in sanc t ioning add it iona l ships and

a ircra ft fo r surve il lance o f vast Ind ian Coast line, it has not been as

accommodat ing in meet ing Coast Guard’s requ irement s o f manpower

and suppor t fac il it ie s . As a resu lt , manpower growth and in frast ructure

deve lopment have no t kept pace with fo rward line growth. Thus, t he

service has beco me ext remely lean wit h t eeth to t ail rat io reaching

abnor mally high proport ions. (Teeth to ta il rat io is Defence equ iva lent

o f Line to St aff rat io ) . There is severe mismatch between expectat ions

o f fight ing crew on ships and suppor t ava i lable t o t hem from ground

based unit s l ike Headquar t ers, Repa ir and Maintenance Support Unit s

and Log ist ic Support Unit s.

Wit h no so lut ion in s ight in fo reseeable future fo r manag ing manpower

scarc it y and in frast ructural/st a ff suppor t problems, t echno logica l t oo ls

and product ivit y improvement s are the only opt ions ava i lable t o

mit igat e t he de fic iency in leve l o f ser vice.

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Chapter - III

BACKGROUND

Coast Guard Sto re Depot , Mankhurd (he re ina ft er re fer red as CGSD) is

t he premier log ist ics suppor t o rganizat ion fo r Ind ian Coast Guard. It

meet s a l l log ist ic s requ irement s, t echnica l and non t echnica l, o f ships

and ground st at ions o f t he Coast Guard on t he west coast o f t he

count ry. In add it ion, it also looks aft er t he machiner y spares

requ irement s o f cer t ain c lass o f ships, some o f which are based as far

as Andaman and Nicobar Is lands. Thus, t he area o f it s respons ib il it y

st ret ches fro m Kutchh in Gu jrat to Kochin in Kera la and up to

Andaman and Nicobar Is lands inc lud ing New Delhi.

CGSD was est ablished in 1982 as t he first log ist ic suppor t cent re o f

t he Coast Guard in two sto rage sheds bo rrowed fro m Ind ian Navy,

where it cont inues t il l dat e. In t he la st qu ar t er century, t here has been

l it t le growth in sanct ioned man power , desp it e manifo ld increase in

workload due to growth o f Coast Guard dur ing the per iod. E ffic ienc y

o f front line unit s is o ft en a d irect funct ion o f e f f ic iency o f support

unit s, espec ia l ly log ist ic s support unit s. In Ar my, t here is a famous

saying - “Army marches on i t s stomach” . In t he indust r y, product ion

f loo r’s perfo r mance is d ict at ed by the qua lit y and t imely supp ly o f raw

mater ia l and maint enance o f it s machines.

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Chapter - IV

METHODOLOGY: APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM

As st at ed in t he object ive c lause, t his pro ject is an at t empt to improve

the financ ia l and funct iona l e f f ic iency o f Coast Guard Store Depot to

enable it t o reduce it s cost o f operat ions and response t ime while

meet ing the demands ra ised on it . Ther e fo re, t he funct ions o f CGSD

have been scrut inized with respect to fo llowing parameters: -

(a) Expend iture o f Financ ia l Resources

(b) Time

(c) Labour requirement

(d) Accuracy o f operat ions

The se lect ion o f funct ions fo r study was done on the bas is o f quantum

of one o r more o f t he above resources be ing consumed by them. Cost ,

t ime and labour int ens ive act ivit ies were chosen where in any

improvement s in procedures wil l resu lt in subst ant ia l saving o f one o f

more o f above e lement s.

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Chapter - V

“SWOT” ANALYSIS OF CGSD

1. (St rength) Advance Stage of Computerisat ion - Inventory

management has been co mputer ized. Software has st abil ised and

is operat ing sat is facto r ily.

2 . (St rength) Support from Indian Navy - Coast Guard has an

underst and ing wit h I nd ian Navy fo r drawing essent ia l sto res

fro m Mater ia l Organisat ion on book debit bas is.

3 . (Weakness) Bureaucrat ic Procedures . Be ing a Govt

Organisat ion, it has t o adhere to many ine ff ic ient and archa ic

procedures.

4 . (Weakness) Locat ion - CGSD(MB) is locat ed at Mankhurd,

a lmost 30 Kms away fro m most o f t he dependent unit s which are

locat ed in Nava l Dockyard at Co laba o r Mumbai Por t Trust .

Thus, de l iver y/ t ransport at ion o f stores is a t ime consuming and

cost ly process.

5 . (Weakness) Storage Space - Stowage space is a majo r

const raint . There is no space ava i lable fo r lat era l expans io n.

Ver t ica l expans io n opt ion has a lr eady been exhaust ed to a limit

by const ruct ion o f mezzanine floo r in majo r par t o f t he store.

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There is l it t le scope fo r fur ther expans io n.

6 . (Weakness) Manpower Shortage - Manpower is ano ther majo r

const raint . Manpower growth has no t kept pace with increase in

number o f ships and est abl ishment s. Thus, t here is severe crunch

o f manpower in a l l unit s o f Coast Guard. CGSD(MB) a lso su ffer s

fro m the same a ff l ict ion.

7 . (Weakness) Funds Crunch - Funds ava i labi l it y is a lso rest r ict ed.

Be ing a govt depar tment and support arm o f one o f t he Fight ing Ar ms

o f t he nat ion, t here are no threat s or opportunit ie s at present

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Chapter - VI

CURRENT STATUS

Wit h the ske leton st a ff ava i lable fo r running the set -up, eff ic ient

procedures are required to eliminate unproduct ive work and speed up

the process. However , t he depot is a government o rganizat ion and

there fo re has t o adhere to r igo rous account ing, muster and aud it

procedures and ru les which consume great deal o f manpower and

e ffo r t . Bureaucrat ic procedures, r ig id as t hey are, have l it t le room fo r

improvement .

While so me o f t he bureaucrat ic procedures are necessar y evi ls

cons ider ing weak ownership st ructure in a government set up and

there fo re possibi l it y o f gross misuse, a subst ant ia l number o f ru les

have l it t le pract ica l ut il it y and can be done away wit h. However ,

government procedures are hard to change in t he short run and poss ible

only at t he highest leve l and there fo re, t hey are best le ft untouched in

t he short run. That leaves us wit h t he in t erna l procedures fo r hand l ing

the demands and mater ia ls at Depot .

The need to have e ff ic ient procedures was lo ng fe lt and qu it e a few

st eps in r ight d irect ion have a lready been t aken in t he past . A large

number o f rout ine funct ions o f is sue procedure have a lready been

computer ized which has reduced the demand hand l ing t ime a great

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dea l. Fur ther , computer izat ion has reduced the demand o f exper ienced

personne l and many o f t he jo bs requ ir ing log ist ic s t ra ined and

exper ienced regu lar personne l are today be ing hand led by co mputer

l it erat e casua l emplo yees. I t has a lso improved the dec is io n mak ing

process due to quick and easy ava i labi l it y o f dat a.

But what has been done so far is pr imar ily conver t ing the manua l

processes to computer ized processes, like manua l search o f invento ry

to computer ized search and so on. This convers io n it se lf has improved

the funct ioning o f depo t a great deal and there is quantum jump in

sat is fact ion leve l o f dependent unit . Aver age response t ime was

brought down from 15 days in 1995 to less t han 2 days fo r 90% of t he

invento ry it ems. In emergency s it uat ions, t his t ime is co llaps ible t o

just a few hours. However , computers have only made cer t ain

processes fast er and less labor ious and less demand ing o f exper ience

and exper t ise. The procedura l ine ff ic ienc ies remain as t hey were.

Ano ther limit at ion has been bureaucrat ic procedures. Desp it e

ava i labi l it y o f co mputer ledgers and bin cards, manua l/paper ledgers

are st il l be ing maint a ined due to audit requ irement s.

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Chapter - VII

IMPROVEMENT INITIATIVES

1. Reduction in Demand Processing Time

As st at ed ear lier , demand process ing t ime was reduced to le ss

t han 2 days by int roduct ion o f computer ised inventory

management . However , t his was st il l be low sat is facto ry leve l.

Idea lly, t he representat ive o f demand ing unit ar r iving wit h the

demand shou ld return with the it em. I n o rder to fur ther compress

t he process ing t ime to less t han a day, demand hand ling process

was ana lysed.

Internal Demand Handling Procedure

(a) Soft and Hard copies o f t he demands are brought by the

representat ives o f t he demand ing unit s and handed over t o

t he EDP sect ion. EDP sect ion generat es t he DATA SHEET

containing ava i labi l it y st atus, past is sue det ails and o ther

in fo r mat ion necessar y fo r dec is io n mak ing by the

concerned o fficer s fo r each o f t he it ems demanded.

(b) Demands, together with dat asheet , are then handed over to

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In-Mail Sect ion who compile a l l t he mails and put up to

t he Off icer - in-Charge, CGSD fo r perusal.

(c) All t he mai ls are t herea ft er seen by the Dy Off icer - in-

Charge and two other St aff Off icers be fo re be ing handed

back to EDP sect ion fo r pr int ing “ Issue Notes” conta ining

det ails l ike quant it y author ized fo r issue, bin number ,

ba lance quant it y, et c . These issue no tes are t hen handed

over to concerned sto re houses.

(d) I t ems are drawn fro m the bins as pe r Issue Notes and

handed over to t he concerned rep resentat ive. Aft er

confir ming the quant it y by the representat ive, it ems are

t hen handed over by representat ives fo r packing. I ssue

no tes are returned to EDP sect ion fo r pr int ing o f is sue

vouchers.

(e) Issue Vouchers are pr int ed in 5 cop ies and put up fo r

s ignatures o f t he concer ned sect ion’s St aff Officer . (Two

copies are sent to t he ship, one fo r retent ion and one fo r

return as rece ipt . Two copies are subsequent ly sent to

aud it author it ies and one copy is ret ained as t he o ffice

copy) .

( f) Once the it ems are packed, fo rward ing let t er, packing no te

and gat e pass are s igned by the same o ff icer .

(g) Packages are t hen loaded on the t ruck under t h e scrut iny o f

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t he Secur it y St aff and d ispat ched to t he concerned unit s.

Ent ire process cyc le was obser ved to be approximate ly 12

working hours long, t hereby sp il l ing the process to t he next day.

Thus, demands rece ived on Monday could be d ispat ched on

Tuesday a ft ernoon sess io n only. The syst em warranted presence

of t he demand ing unit s’ representat ives t il l load ing on the t ruck.

There fo re, t he demand ing unit s’ representat ives had to vis it t he

Depot on two consecut ive days fo r one set o f demands, t hereby

fur ther st ra ining the scarce ava i labi l it y o f manpower on ships.

I t was fe lt t hat it cou ld be co mpressed to about 7 hours to enable

d ispat ch on the same day and save one ext ra t r ip o f

representat ives to depot .

Analysis of Demand Handling Procedure

Cr it ica l ana lys is o f demand hand ing process was under t aken to

det ermine the unwarranted st eps , bot t lenecks and a lso where

process t ime cou ld be shrunk. Fo llo wing was the resu lt o f

ana lys is: -

(a) All t he mai ls (demands and o ther rout ine admin ist rat ive

mai ls) rece ived on a day were put up in a s ing le fo lder

which made the vo lume o f mai l subst ant ia l and consumed

t ime fo r perusa l. T he mai l fo lder took a lmost 45 minutes

on each o ff icer ’s t able ( t ot al c ircu lat ion t ime over 3 hrs) .

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(b) Representat ives t r ick led in t il l 1100 Hrs inst ead o f 0900

Hrs and consequent ly, t he co mpilat ion p rocess got delayed,

t hereby de laying a ll t he subsequent ly processes.

(c) Fo lder was c ircu lat ed in t he o rder o f senio r it y. I f any one

o fficer was stuck up with so me o ther job, fo lder wa it ed on

his t able t il l his return, t hereby de laying a l l t he

downst ream act ivit ies.

(d) Removing the Bot t leneck by Balancing the Flow - Pack ing

sect ion was ident ified a ser ious bo t t leneck. Wit h only one

packer and one he lper in t he sect ion, pack ing process took

approximate ly 2.5 to 3 hrs a ft er is sue o f t he it em and the

process invar iably sp il led to next day. Ana lys is revea led

that Packing Sect ion was over loaded in t he lat e

evening s/ear ly mornings and under loaded in midd le par t o f

t he day. Scrut iny o f issue procedures revea led that Stores

St aff drew the it ems aga inst approved demands from the

bins and p laced them on the ground in front o f t he bin.

Aft er drawing a ll t he it ems author ised fo r issue on the day,

t hey were then handed over to t he representat ives (problem

of big bat ch s ize) . Thus, a ll t he representat ives got t he ir

it ems a lmost at t he same t ime and approached the pack ing

sect ion within minutes o f each o ther , t hereby caus ing a

sudden over load on the pack ing sect ion in t he

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evenings/next day ear ly mor ning , and consequent ia l

de lays.

Remedial Measures Recommended

Based on the above study, fo llowing amendment s in t he

procedure were recommended: -

(a) Rest r ict demands acceptance t ime t il l 0930 hrs in EDP

sect ion so that all t he demands can be co llect ed and put up

to O i/C by 1030 Hrs. This measure resu lt ed in saving o f

process t ime by 1½ Hrs. (Already implemented

successful ly)

(b) Make separat e fo lders fo r demands and o ther mai ls.

Demands fo lder is t o be compiled on p r io r it y and put up.

Remaining mai l is t o be put up in a separat e fo lder lat er .

Approximate saving in process t ime – 30 minutes. (Already

implemented successful ly)

(c) Demands fo lder is to be o f Green co lour fo r easy

ident ificat ion and according necessar y pr io r it y in d isposa l

by the o fficers. (Already implemented successful ly)

(d) Demands fo lder is no t to wait on any t able due to absence

o f t he o fficer . I f any o ff icer is no t ava ilable due to any

reason, fo lder is t o be fo rwarded to next o fficer . (Off icers

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have agreed to overlook the seniori ty aspect during

circulat ion of demands folder) .

(e) Store houses to process one unit ’s demands and hand over

t he it ems to t he representat ive fo r ver i ficat ion and pack ing

befo re st art ing wit h next unit ’s demands to avo id sudden

over load on pack ing sect ion and consequent ia l de lays.

Approximate saving in process t ime – 2 hours. (Already

implemented successful ly)

Gains Accrued from Above Measures

(a) Primar y object ive o f reduc ing the process t ime fo r

demands hand ling to le ss t han 8 hours was achieved. Al l

demands are processed on the same day and d ispat ched to

unit s in t he evening.

(b) Financial Savings - Cons ider ing that on each issue da y

(Monday, Wednesday) , approximate ly 6 representat ives

ar r ived in t he depot , saving o f one day process ing t ime

resu lt ed in saving o f 624 man days per year fo r Coast

Guard. At t he CTC (Cost t o Company) o f Rs 500/ - per man

day/day, it means saving o f Rs 3 ,12,000 per year .

(c) In add it ion, it a lso led to ava ilabi l it y o f more t ime with

sto re house st aff fo r other funct ions.

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2. Transportation/Del ivery of Stores

As ind icat ed in t he SWOT ana lys is, d ist anc e o f demand ing unit s,

ra ilway st at ion and a irpo r t ( fo r d ispat ch o f sto res required by

out st at ion unit s) fro m Depo t is one o f t he weaknesses. Each

de liver y t r ip by t he t rucks is a t ime and resources consuming

a ffa ir . Owing to dist ance and s low t ra ffic cond i t ions in Mumbai,

each vehic le is u sua l ly capable o f co mplet ing only one t r ip in a

day. Thus, t here were inst ances when cer t ain evo lut ions had to

be de fer red to next day due to non-ava i labi l it y o f vehic le.

Sanct ion fo r addit iona l vehic les and dr ivers was no t ava i lable.

While it is no t feas ib le t o reduce the d ist ance by shift ing the

Store Depot nearer to t he demand ing unit s due to space

ava i labi l it y const raint s in South Mumbai , it was fe lt t hat number

o f t r ip s can be reduced by proper planning o f mo vement o f

vehic les. Accord ing ly, cr it ica l ana lys is o f t ransport department

funct ion was carr ied out .

Major Routine Transport Requirements

(a) Deliver y o f is sued it ems to loca l operat iona l ships on

Mondays and Wednesdays and to ships under p lanned

repa irs add it iona lly o n Fr idays.

(b) Collect ion o f scrap from ships ever y Tuesday a ft er noon.

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(c) Dispatch and co llect ion o f sto res cons ignment s fro m CST,

Dadar , Mumbai Cent ral and Lokmanya T ilak Ra i lwa y

Termina ls as we ll a s Airport s and Shipp ing Docks.

(d) Vis it t o Headquart ers at Worli fo r administ rat ive work and

Co laba to CDA off ice.

(e) Collect ion o f stores fro m Nava l Sto re Depot s at Sewri and

Ghatkopar.

Analysis

(a) Once the it ems were issued, same were door delivered to

unit s on the same day. T hus, t ransport le ft in t he a ft ernoon

o r evening wit h issued it ems and returned lat e evening o r

night empt y.

(b) As per t he regu lat ions o f t he Coast Guard, high va lue/ lo ng

l ife / lucrat ive nature unserviceable it ems (Scrap) are

requ ired to be returned to t he Depot to ensure

accountabil it y, avo id wast ages and recover res idua l va lue

through scrap d isposa l. E ver y Tuesday, a t ruck is sent

(empt y) to t he unit s fo r co llect ion o f such it ems.

(c) Thus, it was observed that while a t ruck came back empt y

fro m Nava l Dockyard in t he night , most ly same t ruck went

back in empt y cond it io n to same p lace next day e it her fo r

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co llect ion o f Scrap mater ia l o r other admin ist rat ive jo bs.

Thus, one fu l l t r ip was get t ing wast ed.

(d) Other t ransport requirement s are on adhoc/rando m bas is

and only day to day p lanning can be done to c lub more

than one requ irement in a s ing le t r ip .

Remedial Measures

(a) In o rder to save the ext ra t r ip , two opt ions were examined:

( i) Retain the t ranspor t at Nava l Dockyard on Monday

night s and ut il ise t he same fo r br ing ing scrap on

Tuesday morning.

( ii) Defer despatch o f it ems t il l next day morning. Aft er

de liver y o f it ems, same t ranspor t would br ing the

scrap back on Tuesdays.

(b) On c loser scrut iny, second opt ion was found more use fu l.

S ince lat e evening/night de l iver y o f it ems d id no t serve

any use fu l purpose to t he demand ing un it s, it was found

poss ible to defer t he de liver y t r ip to next day morning

without any adverse impact any where. Such defer ment

would a l low co mbin ing onward t r ip with any ra ilwa y

st at ion t r ip/admin ist rat ive t r ip and ut il ise t he return t r ip

fo r br ing ing scrap.

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Gains Accrued from Above Measure

Savings expected by implementat ion o f above measure are

ca lcu lat ed as fo llows: -

(a) Dist ance per t r ip - 60 Kms

(b) Operat ing expenses @ Rs 15/ - per KM - Rs 900/ - per t r ip

(c) Man power cost (Dr iver’s CTC) per day - Rs 500/ -

(d) Total Expense per t r ip - Rs 1400/ -

(e) No of t r ip s saved per weeks - 02

( f) No of t r ip s saved per annum - 104

(g) Total Savings - Rs 1,45,600/ -

(Recommendat ions have already been implemented by CGSD).

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3. Delivery of Lubricating Oils to Outstation Ships

Being a govt department , most o f t he services are ava i lable

e it her t hrough in- house resources o r fr om o ther dep ar tment s on

book debit bas is and cost ing det a ils o f such ser vices are no t

ava i lable wit h Depo t . However , cer t ain ser vices are hired fro m

market and pa id in cash. Suc h expend it ures were scrut inised to

f ind ways to economise the same. Dur ing scrut iny o f expend iture

reco rds, it was rea l ised that expend itur e on hir ing o f t rucks fo r

t ransport ing sto res to out st at ion ships was one o f t he largest

expend iture heads be ing to t he tune o f Rs 5,00,000 per annum.

Analysis

Analys is o f despatch reco rds like bi l l o f lad ing, pack ing no tes ,

et c , revea led that lubr icat ing o il was the co mmo n and biggest

const it uent in each o f t he cons ignme nt s. Int erview o f Depot

Dispat ch Depar tment st aff brought out the fact t hat despatch o f

lubr icat ing o il is a majo r is sue s ince not ice is o ft en shor t and

be ing bu lky and in f lammable it em, it can no t be despatched by

parce l van o f t rain . T hus, o ils can be t ranspor t ed e ither by Coast

Guard ships which cou ld be vis it ing the out st at ion locat ions o r

by hired t ruck. Transport at ion by ship a lso ent a ils var ious

problems l ike requ irement o f cr ane at load ing and

d isembarkat ion po int s fo r load ing/unloading o f 250 Kg o i l

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barre ls and a lso damage to ship ’s pa int in t he process. There fo re,

t rucks have beco me pre fer red mode o f despatch fo r o il. Other

it ems which are despatched by t rucks alo ng wit h o il are loaded

to ut il ise t he spare capac it y on t rucks. The cost o f hir ing each

t ruck is in t he range o f Rs 4000 fo r closer loc at ions l ike

Manga lo re t o Rs 27,000 fo r locat ions like Kochi. But fo r

requ irement o f o il despatch, t hey cou ld be sent by o ther cheaper

modes ava i lable fo r t he ir despatch , like ships and t ra in.

This reve lat ion led to focus on o il log ist ic s management . Coast

Guard Headquar t ers places supp ly o rders on var ious o il

companies l ike IOC, HPCL, et c, fo r supp ly o f par t quant it ie s o f

o il to Coast Guard Store Depot s at Mumbai, Chenna i and Port

Bla ir . These Depo t s in t urn supp ly o i l to var ious ships under

t he ir area o f jur isd ict ion. CGSD (Mumbai) is respons ib le fo r

supp ly o f o ils to a ll ships operat ing in West Coast o f Ind ia fro m

Porbandar to Kochi.

Recommendations

I t is reco mmended that annua l requ irement o f var ious o ils be

obtained fro m each st at ion and supp ly o rders be ra ised on o il

f ir ms fo r d irect supp ly o f pro ject ed quant it ies o f o ils t o base

st at ions o f Coast Guard in var ious c it ies rather t han supp lying

bu lk quant it ie s to CGSDs and then re -t ransport ing them to

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var ious locat ions. S ince present supply o rders manda te par t

de liver ies at two o r t hree locat ions over st aggered int erva ls, no

res ist ance is envisaged from o il companies if t he list is

increased. Oil companies wou ld probably increase the ir sa le

pr ice by a smal l amount to cat er fo r addit iona l work load.

However , increase is l ike ly to be inconsequent ia l s ince they wil l

be de l iver ing o il fro m the ir loca l re finer ies/depot s.

Gains to be Accrued

(a) Inst ant ava i labi l it y o f o il t o user unit s.

(b) Saving to t he tune o f Rs 3,00,000 per annum each ( tot al

Rs 6,00,000) by CGSD (Mumbai) and CGSD (Chenna i) in

fer r ying the o il t o user locat ions.

(c) In add it io n, it w i l l a lso spare lo t o f manpower wast ed in

ext ra evo lut ion o f unload ing o f o il dr ums at CGSDs and then

re load ing on t rucks/ships fo r t ranspor t at io n to user loca t ions.

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4. Inventory Handling (Machinery Stores)

Machiner y sto re is largest o f a l l t he s ix sect ions o f stores

account ing fo r 85% of t he tot al invento ry and 45% o f t he

demands hand led ever y year . Majo r it y o f t he machiner y spares

are sto red on mezzanine f loo r in 9 feet high open she lf a lmirahs.

The sto re is manned by one Sto re Ass is t ant , one labour and one

he lper ( casua l labour ) . Be ing the s ing le largest depar tment o f t he

depot , it was dec ided to ana lyse the funct ioning o f t he

depar tment to find any room fo r improvement .

Analysis

Funct iona l aud it o f t he sect ion revea led that t he it ems have been

sto red on fir st come f ir st served bas is wit hout applicat ion o f any

log ic wit h regard to hand ling e ff ic iency. It was found that while

many l ight we ight it ems were sto red on lower se lves, p lent y o f

heavy it ems were sto red on higher se lves requ ir ing por t able

ladder and min imum two personne l fo r drawing those it ems fro m

she lves. Also many frequent ly demanded it ems were p laced on

higher se lves requ ir ing use o f po r t able ladder and he lper t o draw

them from bins. As a resu lt , ava i labi l it y o f two personne l at a ll

t imes was mandatory fo r e ff ic ient funct ioning o f t he sect ion.

Also fast moving it ems were scat t ered al l over t he place . I t was

fe lt t hat syst emat ic sto rage o f it ems would reduce e ffo r t in

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drawing it ems fro m bins and have int ang ible benefit s in t he lo ng

run.

Remedial Measures Recommended

Available so ftware was used to generat e “Demand Frequenc y

Data” to ident ify fr equent ly demanded it ems. Similar ly, phys ica l

survey o f a ll t he she lves at t ier 5 to 9 was carr ied out to ident ify

heavy it ems.

A p lan has been cha lked out to shift a l l t he fast moving it ems

c loser to deliver y po int on she lves 4 and 5 fo r ergonomic ease

and heavy it ems in lower se lves 1 t o 3 fo r ease o f hand l ing whi le

sto r ing and issue. Al l s low mo ving l ight it ems are to be shift ed

to she lves 6 to 9.

While t his rear rangement o f stock wil l no t ent a il any t ang ib le

f inanc ia l savings, it wil l make the t ask o f sto r ing and drawing

it ems fro m se lves eas ier , less labor ious and fast er int ang ib ly.

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5. Procedural Modif ications w.r. t. Record Keeping

Record keep ing funct ions were ana lysed to find scope fo r

improvement . Fo llowing emerged from the cr it ica l ana lys is: -

(a) Format o f issue vouchers was found to be space

ine ff ic ient . More than ha lf t he page was obser ved to be

le ft out fo r signatures t hereby leaving space fo r reco rding

maximum 5 issued it ems per page. It was fe lt t hat fo rmat

could be revised to accommodate more number o f it ems per

page thereby saving on st at ioner y and pr int ing cost s as

we ll as hand ing e ffo r t s and cost s.

(b) Gate pass is a mandato ry requ irement .

(c) Pack ing no te was be ing used in mult ip les. A separat e

pack ing no te was be ing issued fo r stores o f each sect ion

(All stores are d ivided into s ix sect ions) . It was fe lt t h at a

combined pack ing no te fo r all sect ions could be issued to

save paper , pr int ing and hand l ing e ffo r t s.

(d) Forwarding let t er accompanying the issue vouchers d id no t

appear to serve any use fu l purpose.

(e) Retent ion o f one hard copy o f t he issue voucher as o ff i ce

copy a lso d id no t appear to serve any use fu l purpose. Soft

copy o f t he same is ava i lable in co mputer fo r any future

reference and one hard copy is rece ived back fro m unit as

rece ipt .

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( f) Other processes were found to be work ing without any

apparent de lays.

Improvements Recommended

(a) Format o f issue vouchers was mod if ied to accommodate a ll

s ignatures in a s ing le row rather t han ver t ica l fo r mat

t hereby re leas ing more space fo r pr int ing list o f issued

it ems. S imilar ly, fo r mat was fur ther modified to inc lude

issue voucher fo rwarding and returning st at ement s , t hereby

obviat ing the need fo r fo rward ing let t ers from the depo t as

we ll as demand ing unit s. (Already implemented)

(b) Format o f pack ing no te was mod ified to inc lude it ems o f

a ll sect ions in a s ing le Co mbined Pac k ing no te. (Already

implemented successful ly)

(c) Pract ice o f ret ent ion o f one hard copy o f each issue

voucher was reco mmended fo r d iscont inuance. (Yet to be

implemented)

(d) Modif ied fo r mat o f is sue vouchers and pack ing no te

reduced the pr int ing load by approxima te ly 3000 sheet s o f

paper , t hereby e ffect ing a saving o f Rs 12,000 per annum.

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Chapter - VIII

STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Most o f t he recommendat ions made in t his study have a lready been

implemented by the CGSD (Mumbai) with subst ant ia l saving s to t he

exchequer and improved sat is fact ion leve l o f it s c l ient s as we l l a s

emplo yees. So , t his study is no t a pure ly academic exerc ise but a

workable mode l which has ear ned acceptance by the subject .

However , t he subject is unique in charact er and there f o re it s problems

were a lso unique. So lut ions to t hose unique problems , t hough apt ly

su it ed to subject o f study, are hard to be genera l ised fo r wider

app licat ion in t he indust ry.