Opcenter (Preactor) APS

Lucas-TVS was set up in 1961 as a joint venture between Lucas industries, UK, and TVS Sundram Iyengar and Sons India to manufacture Automotive Electrical Systems.

Lucas TVS is the Leader in Auto Electricals in India today with 50 years of Experience in design and in design and Manufacturing.

Four out of every five vehicles rolled out daily are fitted with Lucas-TVS Products.  The company has revenues in excess of 375m USD and is ISO/TS 16490, TSO 14001 Quality Management System Certified. It has plants in Chennai, Rewari, Puducherry, Pune and Uttarkhand.

Its products range from Gear Reduction Starter Motors, Pre-Engaged Starter Motors, Diesel, Tractor, Gasoline, CV, PC and UV, Internal & external Fan Alternators, Front and rear Wiper motors,  window lift motors and ignition systems.

Its main markets are in Engine and Tractors, Light Commercial and Commercial Vehicles,   Passenger Cars, Utility Vehicles and 2/3 Wheelers. Their customers include TATA, Ashok Leyland, Ford India, Greaves, Yamaha, Hyundai, and Honda.

When Lucas TVS looked for a tool to schedule their tool making facility in the Chennai (Padi) plant they came across Preactor and Preactor Software India based in Bangalore.  Like any tool room each tool had various process steps including tuning and milling operations, jig boring, wire and spark EDM, heat treatment, surface/cylindrical grinding and inspection.

Mr. Sushil Rajanala is the Senior Engineer for the tool room and responsible for the Preactor project. 

“When we started the project there was no exact theoretical value of the capacity of the tool making department.  All priorities were handled manually and there was no visibility of operator efficiency.  Allocation of resources was done manually and there was no control over scrap and re-work”.

The general aim was to utilize their resources and operators more efficiently and have proper visibility on the progress of each project so they could confirm their ability to meet their commitment dates.

P J Yogesh, COO of Preactor Software India described the project.  “We first did a study of the requirements in the tool room then configured Preactor to meet that.  We started off with an entry level version of Preactor but there was a gap in the functionality they needed”.

Mr. Sushil Rajanala described some of the benefits they had achieved since using Preactor.

“Operator efficiency has improved and monthly output increased by 25%.  We can now control throughput at the project level and we know where we need to increase priority if tool falls behind.  Our on-time delivery performance has increased from 60% to 80% and this will improve further as we have complete visibility of the progress on each tool as it moves through the various process steps.”

Mr. G Sadanandam is the the General Manager, Tool Room also commented on the success of the project.

“We cannot live without Preactor and do scheduling daily.  We save a lot of time because it is both a qualitative and quantitative tool with useful reports that helps us make the right decisions on resources required.  It has also helped to make operators more self disciplined in the work they do.”

Lucas-TVS needed Preactor Professional (300 FCS) and this provided the exact needs of the tool room.

P J Yogesh again.  “We tested the solution with the data they provided and this proved to be a success.  Preactor runs stand lone and has no integration requirements at this stage”.

And the future? 

Lucas-TVS want to expand the use of Preactor to the Press Line and Yoke manufacturing and this will be the next step at their Chennai plant.