Bata India: Project planning write up

The General Manager of Bata Plant was restlessly flipping the past Project plan production reports
because the company took order of 10000 pairs of customized shoes and providing it within 30 days.
The proposed meeting for approval of the project management production plan with the chairman and
other board members was due in next two days. He was aware of the agenda of meeting and spent the
last few sleepless nights to make a perfect plan. However, the uncertainties of the labor market,
unavailability of skilled workers at reasonable wages and the seasonality cycle of shoes production
were giving him nightmares. The management wanted him to plan the labor requirement for the
upcoming production season to optimize the profits, reduce the risk without additional cost. He was
contemplating on the detailed planning with minimum possible errors for canvas shoes demand to
fulfil needs of the client. Improper planning would lead to increase in the overall cost, loss of
production and other valuable resource and organization reputations. The stakes were high, and he
was aware of the gravity of the situation.
  
Bata India Ltd.
Bata India went public in the year 1973, with a benevolent view of providing employment to the local
people and best quality of life to the people. Bata’s mission was to provide the best quality shoes to its
customers. The plant worked more efficiently and effectively to fulfil the public demands. Bata India
has established itself as India’s largest footwear retailer.

With a never-ending focus on quality Bata India Ltd. had also bagged numerous prestigious awards
such as best quality; best service; best HR management; best omni-channel retailer, in the last year .
Moreover, Bata India had managed to register a handful of products and its quality as well.

Canvas Shoes Production (Exhibit 1)

1. Cement and Latex Manufacturing:

Cement adhesive and rubber latex were the main chemicals which were used to paste together the
different parts of a shoe. Both these cement adhesive and rubber latex were produced keeping in mind
the exact requirement and correct specifications which was the right mix of chemicals and to make it
the best pasting element so that the desired quality was obtained.

2. Sole Pull Manufacturing:

Inner and outer shoe required in the shoe were produced with the help of rubber sheets which was
measured around 3 ft. x 2 ft. which had a thickness of approximately 2 centimetres. This rubber sheets
were first heated to high temperature and were then placed in a curing chamber for approximately 8
minutes where they were again processed at a high temperature of around 170oc. Such high
temperature resulted to expand the sheets and were then sent for vulcanization.

3. Making Binding:

Binding was required on the outer part of the shoe to bind the edges of the upper cloth. This Binding
Material was also made in the plant itself using a cloth. It was machine stitched onto the upper cloth.

4. Folding, Cutting and Stamping:

Cloth for the upper part of the shoe was produced by Bombay Dyeing. It was first folded into huge
lots and then cut into pieces of uniform sizes as per the different size lots. These cloth pieces were
then stamped with what was called as a batch number and the shoe size. After the stamping was done
the upper part of the shoe was then sent for stitching.

5. Stitching:

The stitching process basically started with the folding of the piece and stitching It in a designated
fashion to give a proper shape. After this it was sent for stitching the binding onto the edges of the
shoe. After the binding is done, the shoe was then transferred further where lace holes and flips were
used. The Last Step in the Stitching Process was to insert the laces into the shoe which was done by
hands.

6. Assembly:

The Assembly Process included a dual level conveyor belt. Fully Assembled Shoes were then hand-
picked from the conveyer belt at a particular point on the belt. It was indeed a very well organized and
systematic assembly line configuration wherein none of the employee sat idle at any given point of
time, thereby minimizing the idle time losses.

7. Vulcanization:

After the assembly process the next step was of vulcanization. Though the shoes were ready but they
were still very sticky and were not set for the usage. Therefore, this vulcanization step was present to
harden the shoe and to ensure that were pasted properly and whether the chemicals were dried up or
not.

OPERATIONAL CYCLE:
Apart from shoes production plant, there were other departments such as powerhouse station,
sustainability, waste management, human resource management, and accounts that supported plant
operations. The prime factor in optimizing the shoes production was good co-ordination among all
these departments. A failure of one department eventually led to stoppage/delay in the production of
shoes. Bata had done well in terms of coordination of the various departments and achieved
significant amount of efficiency.
THE DILEMMA

Product manager had to submit the Project production plan for the upcoming project to the
management. All the planning was a function of the daily production, and he wanted to have
maximum accuracy in the forecasted daily production from identifying from the process. The labor
union knew these factors and played hard to increase the wages and other benefits for the laborers.
The Product Manager wanted to optimize the labor cost during production period.

He was deeply involved in the thought process of selection of the best alternative/s that would
optimize the returns. The sudden sound of the rooster’s crows interrupted his thoughts. He smiled and
thought it was time to rise with the sunrise.
 EXHIBIT 1: BATA CANVAS SHOES PRODUCTION PROCESS FLOW

Raw Binding
Compound Chemical Shoe Thread
material Cloth

Making Sole
Folding
pull
Making
Binding
Cutting

Stamping

Cement

Latex

Stitching

Assembly

Vulcanizing

Controlling

Packaging
Exhibit 2: Production process
Our regular daily activities for manufacturing of Bata Canvas Shoes

Duration
Sr. Number Activity Precedence
(Hours)
Cement & Latex
1 1.5 -
manufacturing
2 Sole Pull Manufacturing 2.5 -
3 Folding 0.4 -
4 Cutting 0.5 Folding
5 Stamping 0.3 Cutting
6 Making Binding 2.1 -
7 Stitching 3.4 Stamping & Making Binding
Cement & Latex manufacturing,
8 Assembly 2.2 Stitching, Sole pull
manufacturing
9 Vulcanizing 2.8 Assembly
10 Controlling & Quality 1 Vulcanizing
11 Packaging 1.8 Controlling & Quality
Source: Company Information

Name of the student:

Team Number - 6
21M110- Dhyey Salot
21M131- Shubham Khair