CHAPTER III
REASONS FOR DECLINE IN PRODUCTIVITY
Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort
Paul J. Meyer
1. The productivity of the dockyard depends on the productivity of each facility or department. Each facility's specialized function can be considered as part of a chain reaction for a ship during maintenance. Some of the facilities cannot start specific jobs on the ship until the other facilities finish. For example, an engine facility must wait until the pipe facility removes a pipe connection with the engine. During refits, any delay in any activity of the facility affects the entire refit cum operational cycle for a ship. Even a short delay in a facility at the beginning of the process may become a significant problem, because that short delay will snowball into longer delays as the maintenance process continues.
2. So, what can be the cause for these delays? I would be prejudiced to blame it in entirety to the lack of commitment by the dockyard workers as felt by me during my tenures during refit. During the course of research the views of officers from both the dockyards and the end users viz. ships and submarines was undertaken. The most valuable inputs were received by officers who have served tenures on both the sides of my research. After due consideration to all the factors the opinions as expressed by the dockyards and the ships is as follows:-
Dockyard
3. The Dockyards have generally expressed satisfaction about the quality of work performed. They have also indicated that where the quality of refit had been below par, it was generally attributable to substandard material or spares or need to use the same / repaired part due to non-availability or absence of Repair Technical Documents (RTDs) etc rather than due to poor workmanship.
Ships
4. The contrary view has been expressed by the ships, who have pointed out that besides the reasons adduced by the Dockyards, there have been many cases where defects or damage has occurred due to poor workmanship of the civilians working onboard. Also non expertise on various system assigned to the dockyard civilians, lack of commitment and working to time completion rather than job completion. Also the recent change in overtime (OT) policy has adversely affected the work culture.
5. There appears to be considerable validity in the opinion that continued non-availability of adequately trained manpower to undertake refit tasks is attributable, in large measure, to the organisations themselves, as they have failed to provide the necessary training. In addition the following inputs received from the ships and the submarines reflect the productivity of the dockyards:-
(a) Refit plans are not adhered to, both as regards spans of refits and refit cycles.
(b) A number of important defects are not undertaken during refits by Dockyards. Many defects and rework occur due to bad workmanship or poor quality of work done by the Dockyards.
(c) Dockyards do not have adequate control over their personnel.
(d) The projected requirements of additional manpower, indiscriminate use of casual labour and offloading is indicative of management inefficiency. The management and planning at all levels is unsatisfactory. Generation of skills has been neglected due to lack of structured training and appointment pattern.
Reasons Attributable to reduced productivity
6. The Navy is the service with the highest amount of civilians, particularly in the supporting arms. The Naval Repair Organisations and logistics infrastructure are primarily manned by civilians, in contrast to the situation in the other two services. The total number of civilians exceeds that of service personnel in the Indian Navy alone. However the short tenures given to service officers, which lead to lack of continuity, are a major factor leading to ineffective supervision and poor management. Short tenures of naval officers have generated the following major drawbacks:
(a) Insufficient continuity, which is necessary in many skilled jobs.
(b) Experience, which has been gained, is not passed on for successive jobs.
(c) Instability has led to seeking short-term solutions sometimes at the cost of overall benefits.
7. Other reasons include:-
(a) Shop floor supervision is generally ineffective as the number of officers in various departments is inadequate.
(b) Non-officer supervisors are ineffective due to lack of theoretical and practical knowledge. 60% of supervisors are not even SSC passed and 45% have no technical qualifications whatsoever. In general, the standard of both educational and technical qualifications of supervisory grades is poor. The quality of 'old timer' supervisors is poor.
(c) There is a total absence of supervisory training being accorded as a pre-requisite for promotion to that grade.
(d) A large number of tradesmen do not know how to read or write and an even larger number cannot read drawings.
(e) Workers have no incentive to undertake training courses, as it does not confer any additional benefit on them.
(f) Union rivalry is a major cause of industrial strife in Dockyards.
(g) Collective bargaining and militancy amongst workers have inhibited the management from taking legitimate and firm disciplinary actions.
(h) The disparity of wages between those paid in the Naval Dockyards and those paid in public and private sector undertakings for workers performing similar or less complex tasks is a major demotivating factor. This also causes problems in attracting and retaining the right kind of people.
(i) Till such time as the wage structure of workers and supervisors is brought at reasonable parity with their counterparts elsewhere and incentive schemes introduced, overtime will have to remain to pad up the wage bill.
(j) The problem of accommodation in Bombay and Vishakhapatnam, the recent boom in Gulf countries where workers can command large salaries and increased industrialisation in the country leading to better opportunities to skilled workers are contributory factors to poor retention.
(k) The material handling system in both Dockyards is archaic and has measurably reduced productivity.
(l) Non-availability of transport within Dockyards is a major factor leading to avoidable wastage of man-hours in both Bombay and Vishakhapatnam Dockyards.
(m) The inadequate and unreliable telephone system wastes a large number of man-hours and adds to coordination problems.
(n) The learning curve is likely to make a substantial impact on productivity, which would be a further cushion to the Dockyard. Automation of machinery and replacement of old equipment by new design is likely to either bring in more productive machines for the same manpower or ones which require fewer operators. This is likely to be true particularly for the Bombay Dockyard.
8. Maintenance Concepts Our Navy decided to make unscheduled repairs during the operational cycle of the ship a responsibility of the Dockyards. In the British Navy concept, unscheduled repairs (as distinct from repairs due to accidents) are the responsibility of Fleet Maintenance Units. In the Soviet Navy concept, unscheduled repairs are the responsibility of the Base Complex. Both systems are very rigid about Dockyards not undertaking refits on unplanned basis or refit schedules being subjected to frequent changes – virtues that we lack. It takes time to build up expertise and set up facilities for vertical specialisation.
9. There has been a considerable growth in the number and size of units carrying out material / maintenance 'functions' at all levels, Naval Headquarters downwards. The growth appears to have been on a piece-meal basis and there are no reasons to believe that this organisational growth has been based on a clear perception of long-term objectives / functions that should and can be carried out at various levels. Consequently, there has been overlapping of functions and diffusion of accountability and in many cases, has resulted in 'non-performance'. In the anxiety to justify existing and additional manpower, functions have been added on; many of which have remained on paper only.
10. In so far as staffing pattern is concerned, levels of management – top, middle and low – have been manned almost exclusively by uniformed officers. Qualitative Requirements for even key managerial appointments do not exist. Officers with no previous experience in Dockyards / Base Maintenance Units (BMUs) have been appointed to hold key appointments both in the Dockyards and in the Directorate of Fleet Maintenance and Dockyards. To make matters worse, there has been, more often than not, quick rotation of officers at all levels with debilitating effects on the organisation.