WEEK 2

It has been two weeks here now, and to say that these have been eventful, would be an understatement. The week one experiences I have already shared in the last post, so lets move on to week 2 of my stay at HLL, Orai. The week started with me getting onto the main crux of the project, that is the noodle conveying system. The first task was to procure the current P&I drawings of the systems and to figure out the changes by which the system might yield results in a shorter span of time. So I got hold of the drawings and also to the current numbers of the system like the flow rate of air, rpm of root air lock valve for the different mazzonis, which is on the higher side and therefore, resulting in a lot of wastage of energy and also leading to line choking. Also did some calculations of the system myself to be sure on values and data on which I was operating.
The next day I made a process flow diagram for the mazzonis, and thought of a system of transporting noodles, which would need to be modified and parameters decided, so as to find out its feasibility. Also studied a handbook reference for designing a noodle conveying system. The tasks to be done for the actual conveying system were tabulated by me, and divided into short-term do-able or long-term design change jobs.
The rest of the week is spent taking the technical data and measurements for the various components already in the system, like heat exchanger, root air blower, roots air lock, flap diverters (each and very flap diverter accessible was measured along the entire conveying line spread over 4 floors), after that the steps t be taken were worked upon. The heat exchanger was to b descaled and pipeline designed or it so that the water used can be taken from chiller (having lower temperature) than from the cooling tower which has some impurities and causes scaling. I also had meting with the Process Manager, a cool guy, who is an IIT B alumnus, and datelines for the various tasks were set. The week was quite tiring, and towards the end, it gave me a feel of how things work in the industry, an especially enriching experience was that of the Weekly Review Meeting of the factory which I attended today, it consisted of the entire team of the factory from the factory manager to the officers who gave their weekly progress reports and next week targets to be met, I also came to know that the factory had made a higher than expected production in the past week which was attributed t better working culture and healthy competition between workers of different shifts, with each shift trying to outdo the other in terms of production. The meeting gave me new insights on how the system works in the industry.
Also the recreational facilities are good here, and we spent the late evenings playing badminton and pool which energizes us for the next day

Week 1 in ORAI

Last week has been quite something for me. It started on Sunday May 14, when I left for Mumbai for my summer internship with HLL. We were to report to the training center called “GULITA� where we were introduced to each other and to the HR manager at HLL, Mr. Anuj Dutt. Sunday passed with some informal interactive games so that we could get mixed with interns from other Institutes.
On Monday we had the familiarisation program in which we were given an introduction to various aspects of HLL, like the internship program, the overview on HLL, manufacturing in HLL, supply chain systems in HLL, SHE (safety health and environment) policy of HLL, and lastly TPM in HLL. We were also given a chance to interact in an open house with Mr. Ajay Kumar (HR manager), which was quite good.
I reached Orai, my place of internship on Tuesday after a long and tiring journey, which lasted six hrs in all, and gave me backache. I reported to my project in charge on Wednesday who gave me the brief about the project and I was also given the security induction, which basically told me about the safety policies followed by HLL plant in Orai, was given the safety shoes and uniform to be worn in the plant.
Orai is small town located 122kms from Kanpur and is and industrial place with many chemical units located in small area. The Orai plant is a soap-manufacturing unit with main production being Breeze and Lifebuoy. My project deals with the noodle conveying system of the unit which has been facing a problem due to noodles getting choked up in the conveying pipes due to reasons like pressure loss, low velocity etc. I have already studied reports of the systems and the packing hall flow diagram has been made. The target is to increase the capacity up to the point the packing system can handle, as that is the main unit that will cause a bottleneck.
Apart from the project, other noticeable thing in an industry is professionalism. The people report on time, which makes us report on time too and teaches us punctuality. The concept of uniform is a wonderful one, and believe me or not, the entire unit form the clerk to the Factory Manager (the head) wear the same uniform which is quite amazing. Also lastly, in an industry, the main thing which is big concern for everyone is safety and environment issues which again is a very good thing to happen, and a firm like HLL is very particular at implementing these rules, any negligence on employee’s part for not following some cardinal rules can cost them the jobs, which stresses the importance HLL places on safety of their employees.