1) JK Files (India) Limited aimed to become the largest and best manufacturer of files in the world through redesigning operations, processes, and technology infusion to build world-class plants, de-skilled processes, and offer a wider range of high-quality products. 2) The company redesigned value stream layouts across plants to reduce material movement, work in process, and throughput times, improving productivity and quality consistency. 3) New technologies like induction heating furnaces and saw cutting were introduced to improve steel quality while reducing wastage. Robotic hardening and new generation grinding/teeth cutting machines increased productivity five to six times. 4) Other changes included single-piece lamin

1. Redesign & Technology Infusion in
“Engineering File” Manufacturing
Process.

2. About Us.
JK Files (India) Limited, a
subsidiary of Raymond Ltd is today
the largest producer of files in the
world. It has an impressive 32%
global market share.
With expertise of over 60 years in
the business, JK Files (India)
Limited has established over 1300
Distributors and dealers networks
across globe. We export 50% of our
products to over 100 countries
including the technologically
sophisticated markets of U.S.,
Canada and Europe.
The plants located in India are Ratnagiri and Chiplun (all in Maharashtra),
Pithampur (in Madhya Pradesh), Kolkata, Vapi (Gujarat) and Surabaya in
Indonesia are all ISO 9001: 2008 certified.
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3. Context & Background.

At JK Files, we aim at becoming the Largest and the Best manufacturer of
Files in the world. And to achieve this we need to
Build - World Class plants & best manufacturing practices to
retain the Competitive edge & sustainable growth.
To Build De-skilled & Robust Processes with High Capability
& Reliability.
Offer wider range of products with consistent Quality and on
time Availability.

This can only be achieved by dedicatedly working on each fronts of the
existing process & eliminating the wastes by using breakthrough
technologies.
 So we have targeted a massive redesign of our operations & the
machineries. Since we are the leaders in manufacturing the files in the
world, the technology is not easily available outside & we need to focus on
each and every minute integrity of the process & design it such away that
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we are miles away from our competitors.

4. Drivers of the Project
OPERATIONS RE-DESIGN
• VALUE STREAM BASED LAYOUTS.
• TO REDUCE THROUGHPUT TIME & WORKING
CAPITAL
TECHNOLOGY INFUSION
• INTRODUCE NEW TECHNOLOGY
• FOR BETTER PRODUCTIVITY, QUALITY
CONSISTENCY , BETTER ENVIRONMENT &
SAFETY
PROCESS RE-ENGINEERING
• ALTERNATE PROCESS
/ELIMINATION/COMBINATION OF PROCESS.
• TO REDUCE WASTAGE & CONVERSION COSTS
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5. Value Stream Layouts
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6. Value Stream Layouts
Objectives:
• To reduce material movement
• The machines to rearrange in an organised manner (nearer to the next
work station) enabling single piece flow
• Indirect workmen engaged in material handling to reduce through
reducing the TOUCHES
• Reduce the working WIP
Results/Benefits Achieved:
• This Re-layouting activity was done across all the plants of JK Files
leading to a Monthly cost saving of Rs. 26 Lac and the micro indicators
are summarized as follows:
• Productivity per Man-day was improved by 18 %.
• WIP was reduced from 13.5 days to 7 days
• Material Movement was reduced from 460m to 240m.
• 31% Saving in Floor Space
• Throughput reduced from 7 days to 2 days.
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7. Value Stream layouts.
Before
After
Chiplun
.
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Ratnagiri.
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8. Value Stream layouts.
Before
After
Kolkata.
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Pithampur.
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9. Results / Benefits Achieved.
Indicators
Ratnagiri
Chiplun
Kolkata
Pithampur
9,782 m²
5,986 m²
7,800 m²
5,850 m²
8,645 m²
6,484 m²
4,048 m²
2,530 m²
750 m
245 m
450 m
365 m
410 m
205 m
224 m
130 m
16 Days
7 Days
14 Days
7 Days
14 Days
8 Days
10 Days
5 Days
8.4 Dz/Manday
11 Dz/Manday
7.5 Dz/Manday
8.5 Dz/Manday
Saving in Floor Space
Before Value Stream
After Value Stream
Distance Traveled by Material
Before Value Stream
After Value Stream
WIP
Before Value Stream
After Value Stream
Producivity per Manday
Before Value Stream
After Value Stream
6.2 Dz/Manday 6.8 Dz/Manday
6.8 Dz/Manday 7.8 Dz/Manday
Quality Consistency
Before Value Stream
After Value Stream
4.5%
4.0%
4.5%
3.0%
4.0%
3.0%
3.6%
3.0%
7 Days
2 Days
7 Days
2 Days
7 Days
2 Days
7 Days
2 Days
Throughput time
Before Value Stream
After Value Stream
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10. Technology Infusion
– Steel Hot Rolling Mill Upgradation
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11. Steel Hot Rolling Mill (HRM) Upgradation.
Objectives:
• Steel Hot Rolling mill being the starting point of our internal supply
chain, consistency in steel (output and quality) obtained from hot rolling
determines the operational efficiency in file manufacturing .
• In our previous process of hot rolling, we were losing substantial
quantity of steel as scrap.
• The capacity of our HRM is 600 MT per month.
• So as to minimize the wastages we have adopted the latest techologies
like Induction heating in Neutral atmosphere, Peeling etc.
Results/Benefits Achieved:
• An Annual Saving in Raw material of 384 MT (Rs. 173 Lac) is being
achieved by minimizing the process scrap by Infusion of New
Technology in the Manufacturing. The micro details of savings in
discussed in the following slides.
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12. Present Hot Steel Rolling Process.
Semis
Heating in oil
fired furnace
Manual
Gas Cutting
Stock / Dispatch
to plants
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Shearing in multiple
mood lengths
Section Rolling
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13. Technology Infusion in Hot Rolling Process.
Semis
Heating in
Heating in oil
Induction
fired furnace
furnace
Circular Saw
Manual
Cutting
Gas Cutting
Stock / Dispatch
to plants
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Shearing in multiple
mood lengths
Section Rolling
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14. Benefits
BILLET CUTTING –CIRCULAR SAW




Consistency in the size of billets for input to Induction heating
Consistency in the length of rolled sections
Faster throughput
Perpendicular cutting of billets reducing material loss
INDUCTION BILLET HEATING





Consistency of Heating temperature resulting in Dimensional consistency
No over-heating of billets. Uniform temperature at the surface and the core
Reduction in the De-carb levels
Reduction in Scale and Burning losses
Automatic Accept-Reject mechanism
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15. Technology Infusion
– Yield Improvement by Hot Point Rolling for Taper files.
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16. Hot Point Rolling for Taper Files
Objectives:
 For Triangular files we need to have 1/3rd of its length in a taper form.
Taper length
W
Body length
 Previously this was achieved by Grinding process.
 Avg. 237 MT of material is lost in Grinding during point preparation process.
(which is not recoverable)
 Poor Dimensional consistency of files.
 Low productivity.
Results/Benefits Achieved:
• An Annual Saving of Raw material by 237 MT is being achieved by
elimination of the Grinding process. The micro details of savings in
discussed in the following slides.
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17. Hot Point Rolling for Taper Files
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18. Hot Point Rolling for Taper Files
Stage I Stage II
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19. Technology Infusion
– New Generation File Grinding machine.
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20. New Generation Files Grinding Machine
Objectives:
• Grinding being the operation for Surface preparation for Teeth Cutting,
which requires good surface finish & accuracy to control the quality of
cut being produced.
• In the present Grinding machine the material removal rate cannot be
controlled in Microns, it is only designed for heavy material removal.
• Today we are using a Magnesite bonded grinding wheel which is going
obsolete day by day. To upgrade the present technology we need to
switch over to vitrified bonded grinding wheel.
Results/Benefits Achieved:
• An Annual Saving of Rs. 32 Lac is achieved with the new design of the
machine & use of Vitried bond grinding wheel. The micro details of
savings in discussed in the following slides.
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21. Conventional Grinding Machine.
New Generation Grinding Machine.
Drawback in Current
Benefits:
 Process:
3 times Productivity.
High Energy Consumption.
Power requirement
reduced by 50 %
Low Productivity & Machine
 Use of Low Power High
Utilization. Electrical Motor.
Efficiency
Low Safety.
Use of Vitrified Bond
Grinding Wheel.
Constrain in Grinding wheel
 Multi Station Grinding with
avalibility.
PLC control Feed to
improve the productivity.
No precise control.
 Deskilled Process with
Auto Dressing &
Compensation.
 Higher Productivity with
Auto Indexing.
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22. New Generation Files Grinding Machine
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23. Technology Infusion
– New Generation Teeth Cutting Machine.
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24. New Generation File Teeth Cutting Transfer Line.
Objectives:
• We were using conventional individual cutting machine for cutting
operation on different sides of the file, after each operation the files are
manually transferred to the next operation resulting in higher foot print &
WIP. Following were the major concerns in the earlier process :
• Low Productivity & Low Machine Utilization.
• Skill is required to set the machine properly.
• Age old design.
• High consumption of lubricating oil & spare parts.
Results/Benefits Achieved:
• Productivity improvement by 6 times leading to an annual Saving of Rs.
39 Lac with the new design of the machine. The micro details of savings
in discussed in the following slides.
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25. Conventional NewTeeth Cutting File Teeth Cutting .
Prototype of File Concept for Machine.
Drawbacks in Current
Process:


Monotonous work cycle.

High Skill Requirement
for Quality output.

Complicated Setting
parameters.

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Low Productivity.
High Maintenance
required.
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26. New Generation File Teeth Cutting Transfer Line.
Benefits:




Multi-Machine operation,
Productivity Improvement by 6 times
De-skilling of operation
Consistency in Quality
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27. New Generation File Teeth Cutting Transfer Line.
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28. Technology Infusion
– Robotic Hardening.
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29. Robotic Hardening.
Objectives:
• Previously we were using conventional MANUAL hardening process of
the files, where each & every file is hardened manually one by which
requires a lot of skill for achieving the hardness & straightness of the
files. Due to this below were major concerns in the manual process:
• Low Productivity & Low furnace Utilization.
• Hazardous work Environment. (continuous exposure to temp. of
appx. 600 to 700° C)
• Poor Quality consistency.
• Monotonous work cycle.
Results/Benefits Achieved:
• Productivity improvement by 5 times.
• An Annual Saving of Rs. 125 Lac is being achieved with the introduction
of Robots in Hardening.
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30. Manual Hardening.
Robotic Hardening.
Drawbacks in Current
Benefits:
Process:
 Manpower productivity
 Improvement by 5 times.
Low Productivity.
 Monotonous work cycle.
 Low manual interface.
 Poor consistency &
 AccuracyConsistency.
Quality
 Hazard free process.
 Hazardous work
environment.
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31. Redesign of Packaging.
– Single Piece Packing.
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32. Single Piece Laminate Packing.
Benefits:
 Brand take away by the end user.
 Difficult to counterfeit & Temper proof.
 Longer shelf life.
New Packaging inline with
new merchandise for
modern trade
Before
After
 Eye-catching display
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33. Alternate Power Source
– Solar Rooftop PV cells.
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34. Solar power by Roof top PV cells of 60 kW.
Solar Power: JK Files (india) Ltd, Thane Office
 Generation of 69,000 units annually.
 Savings of Rs. 8.8 Lac per annum
 48 MT of CO2 is avoided.
 Life of the system – 25 Years.
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