Tata Steel faced significant challenges during the 2008 recession when orders dropped 40% overnight. This led them to cut maintenance costs, which resulted in unreliable equipment, excessive downtime, and high costs from premature failures. In 2010, Tata Steel launched a project called CAM-F to better manage assets and reduce costs. Andy Dobson was brought in to support the Steel and Slab department. He helped update maintenance records and plans, ensured regular reviews and adherence to plans. This improved equipment efficiency and performance while reducing maintenance costs by over £300k and using fewer external resources. Following the success in the Port Talbot operation, similar improvements were implemented across Tata Steel's global operations.

1. Case Study
Specialist Expertise in Manufacturing Process Improvement
Andy Dobson, PaCkRaT Ltd.t/a Lean 4 Business Registered in England,
Company no. 4676181 Vat. No. 122 6139 44
Tel: 0845 108 3949 Mob: 07850 776994 E: andy@lean4business.co.uk
An Asset Management Approach to A Strong Future
Tata Steel amongst many global businesses impacted by the onset of the world
recession in 2008.
The immediate actions of cost cutting led to reliability and cost issues over the longer
term; jeopardising the future of the company worldwide as well as the local economy of
South Wales. They needed a well thought through maintenance programme to ensure
production was capable of responding to demand and operational costs were minimised.
Background
The Tata brand is highly respected throughout the
world and is the world’s most geographically
diversified steel producer. They have operations
in 26 countries as well as commercial offices in
over 35 countries.
Tata are the second largest producer of speciality
steels in Europe.
Tata Steel and Strip Products serve demanding
markets worldwide, each with differing needs.
Markets include Aerospace, Automotive,
Construction, Consumer Products, Defence &
Security, Energy & Power, Lifting & Excavating,
Packaging, Rail and Shipbuilding.
Their Issue
In 2008 Tata Steel’s orders dropped 40% almost
overnight with the onset of the global recession
and the subsequent world steel demand and price
slump. They had to cut costs anywhere they
could to be able to stay in business.
One of the items put on hold was equipment
maintenance, meaning that maintenance
compliance was down to as low as 15% at the
Port Talbot site.
The Story
In 2010, with little maintenance being carried out
in the previous year, equipment was unreliable,
resulting in excessive downtime and poor service
to a demanding customer base. Costs were also
starting to rack-up as equipment was failing
prematurely...
This was an unsustainable situation and had to be
addressed. A project was instigated; CAM-F
(Company Asset Management Framework) – a
rigorous methodology to manage assets efficiently
and effectively, reducing downtime and cost of
operation.
Andy Dobson joined the existing team in late
2010 to provide specific support for the Steel and
Slab department. Although not having worked in
Steel-Making before, Andy’s Lean engineering
background, helped the department to develop,
implement and sustain CAM-F. There were
specific issues with Steel and Slab and Andy
worked to fit CAM-F to the specific requirements
of the area.
Previously the maintenance catalogues for each
piece of equipment were kept remotely, however
as maintenance had not been a major priority,
they had not been kept up to date and had been
poorly implemented in SAP.
Changes to the assets had also not been reflected
in the maintenance catalogue so maintenance
was often being neglected.
Andy was responsible for ensuring that weekly
maintenance reviews were carried out and that
maintenance plans were adhered to. Andy
worked in a mentoring role in order to bring up
understanding and increase compliance.
This meant the equipment worked efficiently and
maximum output was achieved. Also, going
forward maintenance costs were reduced by over
£300k with an added benefit of using fewer
external resources, thus further reducing
maintenance expenditure.
As a result of the improvements demonstrated at
the Port Talbot operation, many of the processes
were also implemented in the other global
operations to aid reduce running costs and
stablise production in an over supplied and price
sensitive market.
“Andy worked in our asset management
improvement programme at Tata Steel and made
a very good contribution through his people-
oriented approach to change. He also has a lot
of consultancy experience and a very good
knowledge of operational excellence approaches
such as Lean and Six-Sigma”.
Roger Hammond, CEO Chief Operating Officer
and Partner at Act-3D B.V