THE ANAND HEIJUNKA

PRODUCTION SYSTEM
Anand has been driving manufacturing excellence across the group through the Anand Production System (APS).
This has helped all Anand plants to move away from the traditional manufacturing paradigm to the application of
world class manufacturing practices.
With the advent of the VLFM (Visionary Leaders For Manufacturing) program, Anand was introduced to the concept
of Heijunka production. This knowledge was further integrated into the original Anand Production System & is
now being driven as the Anand Heijunka Production System (AHPS).
The impact of this system at five Anand plants in Pune viz. Gabriel, Spicer, Behr, Victor & Mahle, has been impressive.
The Quality, Cost, Delivery & Productivity has significantly improved in two of the plants & the other plants are
catching up. Four more plants in North (Gurgaon: Mahle, Gabriel, Parwanoo: Gabriel, Mahle) have also initiated this
process in 2011-12. This will be spread to 28 Anand plants in the next one year covering all plants in the North, West
& South.
The key learnings from the Heijunka
System which have been incorporated
in to AHPS are:
1. Diversified & less fluc tuated
production through Heijunka Workload
2. Control flow between tiers through
pull method
3. Streamlined processes to improve
flow of material & information
The Anand Heijunka Production System
(AHPS) has 9 dimensions as enablers
which impacts Operational Results.
1. Focused Leadership:
Focused Leadership provides an
impetus to AHPS adherence &
sustenance with enhanced & systematic
focus on customer requirements,
Organizational Goals & strategy, Heijunka, technology & closed loop review mechanism. Also continuous
uninterrupted supply of material at lower cost & high quality can be made possible by engaging supplier as
partners. This change in paradigm in supplier relationship should also be the leaders focus.
2. Develop People:
This dimension enables organizations to visualize Skill requirements, Gap finding & Training action plans to
overcome the gaps. The Kaizen culture along with a motivated workforce aligned with company goals goes a long
way to achieve continuous improvement.
Develop people thus ensures availability of knowledgeable & skilled workforce to run operations & various
support functions viz. operators, materials, PPC, Maintenance, Quality through sustained focus on training & skill
enhancement.
3. Work Place Transformation:
Transformation of the work place from a traditional factory to being Safe & Ergonomically designed is the
foundation block. Hence, the focus on 5S, Safety of employees & Ergonomic work conditions is the focus of this
AHPS dimension.

THE ANAND HEIJUNKA

PRODUCTION SYSTEM

The Work Transformation (WT) map highlights gaps in 5S, Safety & Ergonomic conditions that can be bridged with
focused improvements through Kaizen events.
4. Improve Machine Availability:
The condition of the equipment dictates if the processes are stable & if they can sustain the quality & meet
production targets. This key focuses on implementation of Autonomous Maintenance, conducting preventive
maintenance along with spare parts management to reduce breakdowns & improve MTBF & MTTR. Also the
reduction of changeovers ensures higher utilization of machines for production. This has a positive impact on
productivity.
5. Stabilize Quality:
The added focus on prevention rather than detection is the focus of this dimension.
The process starts from Planning for Quality, measuring process capability & making processes stable (capability),
ensuring incoming quality of parts & maintaining the quality of measuring instruments. Also adherence to product
& process audits & added emphasis on Quick Reaction to Quality Concerns (QRQC) highlights gaps ensuring
stronger quality systems to detect & prevent defects.
6. Map flow:
Mapping of flow means mapping information & material flow. Mapping the material flow starts with creating a Tier
structure & drawing Visual Maps (V Maps) to visualize the production fluctuation, layouts, Productivity & efficiency
of a Tier/ Line/ Cell/ Machine. VMap is drawn at 3 levels: VMap 1: COOs outlook, VMap 2: production managers
outlook & VMap 3: at Cell/ Machine level. VMap 2 highlights production fluctuation & VMap 3 highlights
productivity (Man & Machine), efficiency & Layouts. The improvements identification & implementation of solution
is done through Kaizens.
7. Synchronized Flow:
The objective of synchronized flow is a leveled & diversified production workload, which can mitigate order
fluctuations from the customer, internal variation (in machine availability, quality: rejection, rework, material
availability etc.) & material supply (from suppliers, vendors etc.).This is achieved by implementing FG store to
absorb customer order fluctuation, Heijunka Production planning for internal production variation (along with
stores between tiers & Pull=Kanban system) & window timings for delivery (from suppliers/ vendors). The result of
Heijunka & window timings results in lower inventory, higher delivery performance & higher human & machine
productivity.
8. Develop Suppliers:
Uninterrupted & on time material supply with required quality & quantity at low costs can be ensured by
developing & sustaining suppliers as an extension of our own operations. This requires training & demonstration
on machine maintenance, quality & production systems by Anand Engineers. This also involves educating &
training supplier leadership on their role in supporting & nurturing the development processes started by Anand
Engineers. All AHPS dimensions which are applicable internal to Anand are applicable to suppliers.
9. Develop New Products:
This dimension ensures that design & development of products follows Advance Product Quality Planning (APQP)
as defined by TS 16949 & best practices in Project Management. The entire product development cycle staring from
Analysis of Customer Requirements to Production Launch (internally) & support to supplier during launch & ramp
up is covered.
Operational Results:
There are 17 result criteria specified in AHPS, out of which 10 are yearly targets (viz. OEE, Inventory etc.) & 7 are
absolute targets (5S score, Manpower deployment etc.).