Gopesh Parekh
Asst. Manager (Operations) Electrotherm India Limited, Gujarat Plant, Gujarat
Yogesh Patel
Manager (Quality Division), Electrotherm India Limited, Gujarat Plant, Gujarat
Dhaval Prajapati
Purchase, Electrotherm India Limited, Gujarat Plant, Gujarat
Mitesh Modi
Service Manager, Electrotherm India Limited, Gujarat Plant, Gujarat
Abstract
An induction furnace is an electrical furnace in which the heat is applied by induction heating of metal. Induction furnace capacities range from less than one kilogram to one hundred tons, and are used to melt iron and steel, copper and precious metals. Here DM Unit (Demineralized-water) is used for cooling of power devices and copper conductors. Conductivity of DM water is continuously monitored and power supply unit is tripped in case conductivity exceeds the set limit. Stainless steel sacrificial electrodes are used to prevent electrolysis of copper components. Magnet float assembly in conjunction with sensitive proximity switches are used to monitor the flow in different paths. The DM water cooling system with flow monitoring mechanism ensures enhanced life of water cooled copper conductor and power components. But major defects of the DM unit i.e. water leakage from S.S connections. It is a highly time consuming and expensive task to arrest the leakages once occurred at the shop floor or at the site. The location for this leakage has been in most cases from welding joints and connections. There have been many delays in commissioning lines due to these leakages and the resulting rework and have also caused complaints from site wherein the customer’s plant had interruption of power during the period of rectification. We have selected this problem as a project and solve it by six sigma methodology to achieve first time right prevention of S.S Connection leakage which will eliminate production of defective parts and be a step towards Lean manufacturing in D.M Unit.
Keywords- Six Sigma, Leakage, S.S connection, Defect, Lean