MAINTENANCE, REPAIR AND OVERHAUL (MRO) POTENTIAL FOR UNEMPLOYMENT ERADICATION, VALUE FOR MONEY AND BEYOND
(6 minutes read)
Genesis
It is natural that large number of equipment sustenance models develop in silos at least initially which are then followed by integrated approach to optimise the costs as well as enhance equipment availability be it in the civvy street or in the battlefield. In case of the defence equipment, it becomes more pronounced as major failures may result in a battle getting lost to the adversary, the cause being very miniscule repair or missing maintenance support reasons notwithstanding.
Initial approach to address such challenges in the defence environment was based on dedicated repair echelons, excessive maintenance inventories and comprehensive overhaul to a certain extent disregarding optimisation of HR and financial resources. The challenges even in this approach had many problems as the equipment of import origin did not get supported adequately by OEMs for varying reasons. This has been felt in a substantial way in India where we have more than 60 percent equipment of Russian origin and Russia has got involved in war with Ukraine for the last five months.
We have now increased our focus on ‘Make in India’ and ‘ Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ but lot needs to be done to operationalize the national desires on the ground. It has also emerged that dual use MRO will be a better model where the expertise can be used both for the defence as well as civil field to the maximum extent possible.
India has the huge unemployment problem and its youth bulge can be advantageous only if we are able to skill them and employ them. MRO alone has the huge potential of offering jobs to our youth, bring cost of maintenance of the equipment to the lowest possible and become a world leader in the field. Some aspects related to this are covered in the succeeding paras.
Policy Formulation
A robust MRO ecosystem in the country is the low hanging fruit to enhance the Comprehensive National Power (CNP) with large employment generation potential in the country and abroad. It can be developed to its full potential through multipronged approach. At the apex level, a policy statement is needed to be made wit the aim of generating employment for 5 cr people including upskilling those who are already in the field. Reducing the inventory holding for MRO at all the echelons at least by 50 percent with focus on Just in Time (JIT) approach to start with. This should be preferably come from the Government at the apex level.
For products of MRO to succeed, all stake holders have to make their contributions without waiting for the other doing his/her bit and therefore all government/semi-government /private organizations have to synergize their effort in their own sphere of working with proviso of integrating it as and when needed.
Start Ups, think tanks and nation builders (a term being coined for those who think good of the nation in a selfless manner) have to start making their contribution in influencing the environment, giving out innovative solutions and institutionalizing the knowledge gained in the process.
Scale Up
If MRO has to be an important part of CNP, it has to be operated not only nationally but also at the international level. A ‘Brand India’ has to be unleashed in this particular segment. All MRO requirements of defence equipment and civil end equipment have to be studied and enmeshed with each other to make it cost effective.
A fine mix of creating/augmenting the existing facilities along with pre positioning of spares has to be done to ensure minimum down time with reduced overstocking. Statistical analysis of the breakdown pattern of each facet has to be done to ensure that the stocking levels are in sync with the actual need.
A national level networked environment will be the inescapable need for a synergetic model where a combined level of all types can be handled. If suitable skilling is done, MRO timings can be reduced in addition to quality content being improved.
Best Practices
India has grown in the field of innovation including in the field of MRO. Ideal spare and repair mechanisms have been missing even in the battle field conditions. Such challenges have been handled by the innovative methods. Though there are endless best practices, some of these are mentioned in the brief:
. An institutionalised framework to compile and thereafter finetune various innovations by those who work in the field of the equipment.
. Creation of aggregator of aggregators. All ventures like GoMechanic etc. to be aggregated in a larger platform to optimise the national resources. It could be like another app on the lines of ‘Just Dial” to integrate all the services.
. Focusing on refurbishing should be also an important part of MRO wherein refurbishing with quality control can be undertaken as has been done by some brands of car sellers. An interaction with the Government will also be needed wherein scrapping policy is based on operative parameters as against on the number of years of equipment life.
The excellence in every facet will be the inescapable need including the optimising of the tools, development of multipurpose tools and nter-usable parts to simplify the entire matrix of equipment management.
Summary
MRO has the huge potential. It can keep a tank or a gun operational even beyond the obsolescence stage, make input costs abysmally low with excellent output and bring in ever vibrant ecosystem between all the stakeholders. Employment generation along with cost effective MRO, with assured delivery will be the obvious pay offs if the concept in taken ahead in a meaningful manner.
K Eswaran
Very valid points
Maj Gen Birochan Bhatt
Worldwide MRO is given its due importance while inducting new Weapon System especially if the platform is required to sustain for more than 50 years. Total Cost of Ownership and Life Cycle Concept needs to be dovetailed in the estimated procurement Cost. MRO has tremendous potential if it is combined with civ infrastructure to perform double role. Very pertinent issues have been mentioned by the author. Policy decision makers have to take note of it to fill up void of huge unemployment in a demographic dividend rich country
Jastej Matharu
Thank you for that clear and valuable insight. Regards. Jastej
Maj Gen Prem Sagar,VSM, Retd
India because of it’s location has the potential to emerge as a global MRO hub for civilian passenger as well as cargo ships and aircrafts.
Some work is already happening inthis regard. Today, Cochin Shipyard derives good amount of revenue by providing MRO support to the international shipping industry. Cabinet has recently cleared setting up of an international Aviation MRO hub at the upcoming Noida International Airport, as reported in 30 Jun edition of Times of India.
All major domestic appliances manufacturers are rolling out their products with some sort of AMC, which ofcourse is backed up by their custom built MRO. Aware consumers, also consider the service support network before buying any major item.
MRO should and must form an integral part of Atmnirbhar Bharat. MRO has the potential to become a major component of our service offerings to the world. For that to happen various private and government institutions have to heave togather, as has been brought out by the auther.
A very contemporary and timely article.
My compliments to the auther for putting together various facets of the very important subject in a very clear and concise manner.
Pradeep Bajaj
It is foregone conclusion that MRO is process that can add substantially to our potential in all fields, including industrial,. As I understand, Army processes have built in this aspect in their system, through fitters and workshops at different levels. Nevertheless, fast progressing technology needs to be addressed in MRO.
Thanks for clear understanding of the MRO
Jastej Matharu
Thank you very much for your insight. Yes indeed, fast progressing technology needs to be addressed. Regards. Jastej Matharu