8/7/2019 Mr Saikia and his unending people issues- A case in Quality Management by C P Chandrasekaran

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Mr Saikia and his unending people issues or are they really people issues?

The BMW carrying Mr Hitesh Saikia slowed down the porch of Hitesh Steel wires and smoothlycame to a halt with an elegance that would have taught a lesson even to the most experiencedpilots. Prahlad, the driver looked at the clock in dash board and then smiled at Mr Saikia as it showedexactly 8:59. Mr Saikia was again in time for his meeting with his team in Talegaon plant which is

normally scheduled at 9 AM every first Monday. By the time Saikia entered the hall, it was 9 sharp.Vinu George was there as usual with his laptop and a sheaf of papers. They related to shipments andinvoices. Ravi Shukla was present with an all knowing smile as he had his quality reports with him.Two engineers shuffled aimlessly as they did not know what to look for in the meeting. The momentSaikia entered there was an electric presence and the meeting started suddenly. Obviously, MrSaikia did not believe in niceties, atleast when he was in the plant.Saikia said Vinu, did you hear from our Nigerian friend about the 3 tonne shipment? . Vinu saidwith a caution in his voice sir, yesterday, the customer was talking about some test not being doneand so he is not able to clear the shipment. . Saikia looked disturbed. What testing? Ravi , did younot know this? Ravi said with his usual calmness sir, our test was as per IS and the NigerianGovernment asked for test as per US standard and we had not done it .Saikia did not wait for Ravi to finish. What do you mean ? you did not know to which standard test

should be done ?. You must have a copy of the contract. Get me the contract copy now:Vinu spoke sir, we got contract dated 16 th October and the client had revised it on 13 th November.But the marketing department did not forward it to us. They just forgot .Saikia said this stupid thing between you and Shyamkumar (Marketing VP) is holding my moneyyaar. When will you people learn? Vinu could not conceal his smile at the mention of Shyamkumarand the word stupid which he concluded somehow as referring to Shyamkumar.There was a lull and Ravi spoke sir. It is not an issue sir, we have our collaborator in Lagos who willtake sample and test and he would give the certificate , sir, actually it is a good product sir, I will takeresponsibility for that sir . Now, every one looked relieved. This need not be put in writing, sirVinu pleaded. Saikia said OK, give me the feedback on this by tomorrow, in any case the clientshould pay.Then he told that he wanted to go the shop floor. The tea was served and every one left.In the shop floor, Saikia asked why the raw materials were kept outside the stores. No one knew.Then, Ram kadam, the store keeper appeared and said sir, there is no space in the stores becausethe space is occupied by the new canteen . Saikia said OK , OK. Just take care nothing gets missedout. It is audit time. You will lose your job if anything happens .After the stores, they came to the heat treatment shop. There were four furnaces and one wasunder repair. Saikia asked Why is it not working? . Vinu said sir. they had not carried outpreventive maintenance for the last 4 months due to the export order and suddenly yesterday, theburner was choked .By this time, Ismail who is the furnace foreman joined, Saheb, I have toldmany times the burner maintenance is important and agar usme problem hogaya tho steel ka qualitybekar hojayegi. Lekin sahib, koi bhi uske upar dyan nahi detha hai . Saikia was not happy about thisoutburst. He said Ismail bhai, aap vahi kaam karna jo aap ko bola jatha hai. Aap jaada advice denekizaroorat nahi hai teekay ? . A disappointed and hurt Ismail slowly walked away and the visitcontinued.Vinu said sir, actually, ismail bhai is getting old and is not motivated in his job. can I give anincrement to him to motivate him? saikia was in agreement. give that fellow some thing yaar,keeps on complaining .Now it was time for the final inspection and QC. Metullurgist Sanjay greeted Saikia with a smile buthe looked a bit annoyed. Saikia could notice and said what Sanjay? You appear worried .Sanjay said sir. Last two weeks, the samples show more carbon and sometimes too much variationin the micro and sir, something has to be done. Saikia said but how did you clear the shipments?.

8/7/2019 Mr Saikia and his unending people issues- A case in Quality Management by C P Chandrasekaran

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Sanjay said sir, these are investigations done by me after the shipment because there is no time.They are always after me to clear the goods for shipment . Vinu laughed and told sir, sanjay getstoo scared. That is his nature. I was in BHEL for 20 years. Kuch nahi hota hai. You do not worry, sir .Saikia said Sanjay, take Vinu s advice, Ok and get this crosschecked. anything else? . sanjay said

sir, three temperature gauges have been showing erratic readings. I need to send them forcalibration Saikia asked arrey , again calibration? In the last six months, I have spent 40,000 Rs for

calibration. Tum log zara bhi sochta nahi hai . Again it was Vinu s turn to look for a solution. Ok sir, let me see what can be done temporarily . He stared at Sanjay and then the pair left the QC dept.

Finally it was time for Saikia to walk through the floor and reach the conference hall. He saw theworkers handling a steel bar without gloves. He asked Vinu Vinu, have we not provided them withgloves and safety shoes? . Vinu replied sir. We have issued everything but they do not use them. Itis all their behaviour, sir . then he mumurred last time we did not give production incentive. sothey are doing these nataks . Saikia nodded his head no more than 8.33% this year tum bhismajlena .

Vinu asked sir would you not like to see our new computer centre ? .Without waiting for his reply,he opened a plush glass door and both entered a room with about six work stations where all young

engineers were working on CAD drawings.

Prakash Sirur who seemed to be the head welcomed Sailkia and told him that they have the mostmodern software and can design the tools and formers for production of steel wire shapes.Saikia asked him I am happy but Prakash , how do you verify the design of these formers? Prakashsad sir, actually, that is the beauty of this software. It needs no verification. Automatic sir, allautomatic .

Saikia was very happy that his plant has one of the most modern design offices and left for the outbound logistics department.

Shivaji was there shouting at a few people who seemed to be totally subdued. On the arrival of

Saikia , shivaji stopped and told him sir, they have no brains, sir. Last night , I was here till elevenand told them to pack the case of small consignments and send to Rajkot. Now I find that thesefools have sent the cases to Rajapur . Vinu took him aside and whispered something and both cameback in a minute. Saikia asked what about the packing slip? Is it not written there? What is thisgoing on , vinu? . Immediately, shivaji intervened and said sir, these people do not understandEnglish and so they thought Rajkot means Rajapur. All because of me , sir , sorry sir Saikia could notbut feel sorry as Shivaji worked under his father for 20 years as his driver before he came to thisplant. He had no formal qualification for the post of logistics. Ok , Shivaji, but take care suchmistakes are costly. You should know how to handle these guys .Finally, he came to the conference hall and addressed as follows.

My dear colleagues, I will tell you that this is a wonderful company and a great plant but I found wehave problems because people are making mistakes. I found today so many human related issues.Some one not communicating, some one complaining on the equipment because he has not gotincrement and even some not wearing safety gloves as protest. some people are not even able tounderstand basic thing like difference between Rajkot and Rajapur. This is not good. I request all of you to work hard. Communicate to each other. It is simple. Be motivated. I am with you.As he was about to leave, a phone call came and the Nigerian client was on line. He was very brief.The raw steel purchased by Hitesh steels was of poor quality and so the end product could not beaccepted at any cost. Saikia was visibly angry and he asked for the number of his advocate to send alegal notice to the Nigerian customer.