Magnitude of Problems

Maintenance & repair activities were not given adequate importance during the past in almost all sectors of the economy. Many users have not instituted regular maintenance & servicing practices. These are undertaken on “as & when required” basis when there is a problem in the instrument. This has resulted in downtime, high cost of servicing and even dis-use of instrument in some cases. It will, therefore, be a major task to educate, discipline & motivate users for adopting and adhering to a proper maintenance practices.

While undertaking maintenance and repair services one will have to keep in mind the large variety of instruments of different ages, different makes, different technologies and level of sophistication. If one has to cater to all these, a proper & efficient management for spares inventory and documentation will be most essential.

The user industries are spread all over the country and many are located at remoter places. Servicing of such a wide-based instrument population will require and efficient and well co-ordinated organized approach.

Onset of software in instrumentation brings along various issues to the fore. Prime being the non-availability of trained manpower with manufacturers, their representatives and users for operational training as well as trouble shooting & maintenance. Usage of software in any field always require proper documentation back-up.

Availability at service centres of trained manpower & continuous up-dating of their knowledge are of utmost importance. Formal diploma or graduate education generally restricts to training to the basics of the subject. However, special raining programmes of various depths during the service can help a person to achieve finesse in maintenance. This is all the more true for more complex break-downs. Our survey reveals that his fact has been underestimated or perhaps neglected by the users, manufacturers and service centres alike.

Ways & Means

Constraints that face the Centres which are handling the above task are partly physical & partly management. These will have to be tackled for creating an efficient operating mechanism for alleviating S, R & M difficulties. First among them is creating awareness & gaining confidence of users & manufacturers. One should not underestimate the marketing task & public relation exercise which will e necessary to build the right kind of image.

To reach up to the challenging task of meeting the requirements of S, R&M and to gather viable orders, ground level contacting will be necessary to all types of users all over the country wherever the users are. Policies, procedures, pricing & operations will have to be geared to steady turnover of business from canvassing orders to quoting to attending calls to repairing & reinstalling the equipment. Only then is there a chance of neutralizing the overheads burden of the centres.

Identification, acquisition, classification, storage retrieval, and dissemination of essential information will be a substantial managerial task. The information would include catalogs, manuals, maintenance documents, spares inventory, expertise, location and feedbacks from the field.

Users training program to bring them to a point of competence to undertake certain basic repairs will be essential. This can be accomplished in a number of ways as detailed out in the report. Maintenance problems can be further contained by motivating and energizing the local manufacturers of instrument to invest in and set-up for increasingly effective servicing & maintenance. Steps of “arming the users” and “energizing the suppliers” can, if properly implemented, take care of a substantial routine load at the point of use for process instrumentation and routine Test & Measurement.

On the other hand, the gap in requirements of advanced T&M, Analytical & Medial Instrumentation is and will continue to be large. Instrumentation for Special Application is also an area where the advanced skills of the maintenance providers can face a challenge. The role of S&M bodies would be important in such cases since the user would generally have to rely on outside help. The proposed program would do well to focus its efforts in these areas of need.

Foe effectiveness o service & wider acceptance, it is essential that providers of a service should be located as close to users and possible. A ‘Three Tier Structure’ has been suggested for this purpose. The Ground Level Centres will have territorial role in that they are to develop and handle S&M business in their assigned area. Such centres can include properly selected ETDC’s. IIT’s, Engineering Colleges, existing S&M Centres,. Etc.

As they stand, these organizations are doing casual repair work without clear mandate or organization.

While the above S&M cells would each tackle and execute the general business in its won territory, there will be some occasions when specialized knowledge and hands-on experience of an advanced kind would be needed. Depending should be formed as a next layer of the proposed three-layer structure. Their particular expertise could then be referred from anywhere in India.

It may not be feasible to establish & maintain such a wide network without co-working with various other agencies. In this proposed organization, “National Program on Instrumentation” (NPI) or its designated body should function as the Apex Body. The major role of such a body will be more of administration, co-ordination, policy making, technical * managerial support, etc. as detailed out in the report. A formal structure of centres & sub-centres will need to be created.

To ensure that the proposed network is self-sustaining and capable of financing future growth, a market oriented approach on the part of various constituents of the organization would be necessary. This may involve a re-orientation in outlook and a radically different approach as compared to the current pattern of operation of S&M activities. Motivation of staff, up-dating knowledge base, periodic training for staff on technical as well as managerial subjects, etc. will bring benefits in the form of continually improving performance and confidence.

For ensuring a market-oriented approach and a self-supporting organization, it would be wise to set-up an ’Autonomous Society’. The Society would be responsible to muster the fixed & working capitals as planned for the scheme. By targeting sustainability at each cell, giving it reasonable leeway to manage local affairs insisting on clear management reporting each quarter and then holding each Cell responsible, it should be possible to establish a reasonably efficient and growing network of S, R&M Cells which can play their part and contribute to the growing efficiency of the Indian economy.