Striving for excellence is hardly something new for Tata Group companies. Even so, when the Babrala fertiliser division of Tata Chemicals (TCL) decided to implement a part of Tata Steel's ASPIRE programme — their total operational performance (TOP) improvement programme — three years ago, they had not imagined that their scheme would be so successful. Incidentally, the Babrala division holds the distinction of owning and operating the most energy-efficient ammonia and urea fertiliser facilities in the country.

Continuing in the same vein of excellence, Manthan, which means churning, was born, following McKinsey's recommendations. And the race towards an overall improvement in operations began in earnest.

The division set up a steering committee under the leadership of general manager I L Momin and implemented an 'accelerated performance improvement programme'. The programme aimed at overall performance improvement, both dramatic and continuous, within a short period of time. Plans were drawn and executed during the annual turnaround of the plant in March 2005 when the company replaced a few exchangers, overhauled a few machines, replaced some insulation and implemented several improvement projects through the Manthan waves.

Commenting on the programme, TCL managing director Prasad Menon said, "This is a very important project through which we envision the improvement of the efficiency of our work processes, of the way we deal with consumers and of our ability to negotiate with our suppliers. This project should help us to build a culture of performance orientation at TCL."

Manthan was designed as a structured, time-bound, team-based programme with top management support and a bottom-up approach. It used the creativity and energy of the people of TCL and all its stakeholders to impact the company's bottom line with minimal investment and in the shortest possible time frame. It was formally rolled out in October 2002 with the full support of the senior management and the employees. The project concentrated on four critical areas of business, namely, purchasing, manufacturing, micro-marketing and the supply chain for initiating performance improvement activities.

A given cycle of Manthan was planned to cover the entire Babrala operation in a 12-month period. Each cycle was, in turn, composed of four waves that addressed different well-defined cost and revenue components. A wave was divided into four phases and the duration of each wave was 12 to 14 weeks. Each wave had to be rigorously followed by an implementation plan to ensure follow-up and monitoring of performance against agreed-upon savings targets.

Considering the high cost of energy, the reduction of energy consumption became the single most important factor for the company. It ensured that not a single calorie went unutilised. TCL worked on its belief that operating at the lowest possible energy levels would have great national significance in terms of resource conservation in an energy-deficient country. The company maintained that an operation like Manthan demanded a systematic approach in operations and activities, and a continuous search for ideas that could further reduce energy consumption to take the company to globally unassailable cost levels and set newer records.

Despite the initial hiccups, it was just a matter of time till results began to show at Babrala. The division notched up a best-ever score of 5.124 Gcal per metric tonne (mt) of urea in January 2005. In May, the employees had bettered themselves with a new record of 5.055 Gcal per mt of urea. This was a reduction of 0.069 Gcal, amounting to about Rs 1.91 crore in the company's bottom line on an annualised basis.

The 325-member strong team believes that Manthan is not merely about reducing energy levels. It is also a platform for generating ideas, identifying talent and building next generation capabilities for the company.

The operation team, led by S Bhasker Kumar, senior manager — Production, and S G Choudhary, general manager — Operations, seeks newer ways and means of saving energy on a daily basis. They scout for every single calorie that is unutilised. "Despite all the challenges, we, at the Babrala unit, were determined to improve the overall performance of the company. So far, we have been successful," says Subroto Bannerji, Manthan programme manager.

"The critical objective was to channelise the organisation's knowledge and experience to generate and implement ideas that significantly improved operations while improving quality and service standards in a structured manner and making Babrala a dream fertiliser complex on the world map," says A J Gupta, vice president — Manufacturing, Babrala Works. "The key to success has been the active involvement and empowerment of the people. Energy saving at Babrala is not a mere one-time objective. It has assumed the dimension of an everlasting and powerful movement."

The team is convinced that the May 2005 record is not the limit. Striving towards still lower consumption levels on a daily basis, team members feel that it is only a matter of time before the May record will be history. In 2004-05, the Babrala division achieved an annual level of 5.227 Gcal/mt, as against 5.94 Gcal/mt in 1995-96. It has now set itself a target of 5 Gcal/mt on an annual basis. Compared to the achievement of its nearest competitor Indo Gulf, TCL is ahead by about 0.3 to 0.4 Gcal per mt of urea.

Despite all its acheivements, the Babrala division is determined not to rest on its laurels and hopes to achieve its target very soon. The Manthan project has induced competitors to benchmark the company in the race towards improving overall performance. But, for the Manthan team this only serves to egg it on towards raising the bar higher.