wewibsede.org Ref. No.: OM0025 Chandan Creations’: Process Selection Dilemma Chandan Shah (Shah) owns Chandan Creations (CC), a small-scale handicraft industry, which manufactures Rabi’ and distributes them (o the retailers aeross the country., However, at CC rakhis are made throughout the year to fulfil the demand for ‘Raksha Bandhan’ (Exhibit 1). CC produces almost 80-90 lakh rakhis each year and sells them to the distributors or retailers at INR 3-INR 150 per dozen depending on the quality, design, material used and size of the rakhi. To make these, Shah sourees the raw material from places like Dethi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, ete. He also distributes rakhis all overthe country ~Dethi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore and many other places. The production cost including labour and raw material to Shah, on an average is around INR 18.5 per dozen rakhis Exhibit 1 Raksha Bandhan ‘Raksha Bandhan isa Hindu festival, which celebrates the relationship between brothers and sisters. It is celebrated on the full moon of the month of Shvavana (Shravan Poornima, which falls in the month of August) The festival is marked by the tying of a rakhi, or holy thread, by the sister on the \rist of her brother. The brother in return offers a gift to his sister and vows to look after her as she presents sweets to her brother. The brother and sister traditionally feed one another sweets. It is not necessary that the rakhi be tied only to a blood brother; any male can be “adopted” as a brother by tying a rakhi, whether they are cousins or a good friend, In the Vedie period, on a Shravan Poornima day, the deities and demons were fighting a battle against each other. Unfortunately the demons were in a stronger position, as compared to the deities. The king of the deities, Lord Indra, was very much worried about the result of the battle. His wit Contd, "ak is 4 sere thread embellised with sisters lve and ffscton fr het brother, ROA is ted by the Sse nthe ight wr ot her brother on the occasion of Rah festival called “Raksha Bandon’, meaning bond of protection ‘This case study was writen by Sse AD Samad under he dro f DV. Sines, ISSCC. ned 0 he asd the sis for class discussion rather than to illustrate citer effective or ineffective handing of & management situation, The case was Prepared fom generalised experiences, © 2009, nscnc No part ofthis publication may be eopied, store, rawsmited reproduced or distributed in any form oF medium whatsoever without me permision of the copyeght owner‘Chandan Creations’: Process Selection Dilemma Indrani could not see him worried and prayed to the almighty to help her husband. Indrani was a religious lady, so she prepared a talisman with her religious power and tied it around Indra’s right Indrani believed that her talisman will safeguard Indra from the attack of demons. Eventually, she proved right, as that day, the deities won the battle and Lord Indra escaped unhurt. As the talisman had the power of protecting the person who wore it, iteame to be known as Raksha Sutra and the ceremony of tying it was called Raksha Bandhan. Since this particular act of tying the talisman took place on Shravan Poornima day, it has become a tradition to celebrate Raksha Bandhan on the Shravan Poornima day every year. With time, the fest brother-sister duo, rather than husband-wife, al came to comprise of Indian history is replete with women asking for protection, through rakhi, from men who are neither their brothers nor Hindus. Its said that when Alexander invaded India in 326 B.C. his wife tied a rakhi to the king Porus and in return, Porus promised to protect her and her husband. We also have various such examples of tying rakii, the most famous of them is the story of the Queen Kamavati of Chittor, who sent a rakhi to the Mughal Emperor Humayun, to save her kingdom from the invasion of Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, The Emperor was so touched by the gesture, that he abandoned an ongoing military campaign to ride to her rescue. That particular day of Purnima was celebrated as Raksha Bandhan first in Marwar and then, all over Rajasthan. Gradually, it came to be celebrated all over In ‘Compiled by the author from: History of Rakhi Pes aki and val, hp: estvalilovindi.convratiistor “Raksha Bandhan”, upon. wikipedia.orghviki/Raksha Bhandan Making of Rakhi: The Process The making of the rakhi at CC requires almost 1516 kind of raw materials along with tools like scissors, sewing needles, glue, etc. The raw materials required are velvet cloth, golden zari? flowers, golden coloured cards, paper cardboard, artificial beads or pearls, sheets of sponge of various colours, sewing thread of various colours, button dori (a thicker coloured thread — plain or mixed with golden zari ~ used to tie the knot), chamki or glitter, wax, cloth/tissue flowers, small teddy bears, fur and plastic dolls, artificial peacock feathers, idols of gods, and other decorative items, packing sheets (which can hold a 1-4 dozen rakhis) and packing boxes (which can hold a dozen packing sheets). etc. The process of making rakhi starts with the cutting of paper cardboard or golden coloured cards into various shapes. The shape and design of the finished rakiti depends on the shape of the paper cardboard. Sheets of sponge are also cut in the shape of the cards. Then wax is applied/coated on to the sewing thread to make it stronger and prevent it from breaking during sewing or after. ‘The wax also ensures that the beads and the glitters are stuck to it after sewing and are held in place. Then the process of sewing starts. Beads and glitter are sewed or glued onto the zari/cloth/tissue flowers in ‘various combinations and designs. The next step in the making of rakhi is the assembling of all the above prepared material Zar ste of teed ide of Fine gold or silver wire wed in taditoal Indian ap Pakistan garments This tread is woven Into fabries, primarily made of sik, to erate inate pte. I is blieved tis tain started uring the Mughal es‘Chandan Creations’: Process Selection Dilemma The card board or the golden cards are place at the bottom, which forms the base of rakfr, then they are mounted or placed in layers with a combination of flowers or sheets of sponge that are sewed with pearls or glitters and finally all these are sewed to hold them together and a hole is punched in the middle. The final decoration that is added to the raki is the dolls or idols or bigger beads, which come on the top of rakir. Then the dor’ is passed through these dolls and through the punched hole and is glued on the bottom of the cardboard, so that it holds all the layers in place. Enough length of doris left on both sides to facilitate to tie the knot on the wrist. Now, that the rahi is manufactured (Exhibit 11) itis packed using the packing sheets. Holes are punched in the sheets and the dori of rakhi is passed through that hole and tied to the adjacent rakhi Then these sheets are placed in boxes that are then labeled and sent for distribution, Shah employs 200 people to make rakhhis and the complete process is manually done without the use of any machinery except the cutting and sewing tools. The whole process of making a rakit ~ from cutting the cardboard shapes to gluing of the dori tothe base —takes around 4 minutes depending onthe size and design of rakii and the packaging of a sheet takes one minute, The cutting of the one cardboard piece (the base) takes one minute, However, the packing is done at Shah's place using a different set of workers. &, Exhibit Different Models of Rakhis e |e i |\2 a Another important aspect at CC is that, Shah docs not maintain any manufacturing facility where workers prepare these rakiis. Instead all the required raw material is weighed and given to the workers. The designs are also given by Shah and every year he adds new designs to his portfolio. A f} i ba Prepared by the author The workers take the raw material and work at their homes, Then once the raw mat ial is completed and rakhis are made, the rakhis along with the scrap or wastage is brought to Shah, once again weighed and taken back. The number of rakiis prepared are counted and checked for quality in the presence of the worker and the worker is paid based on the numbers produced, However, damaged or defective pieces are not considered for payment. Each worker working on an average of 8 hours per day produces on an average of around 12 dozen rakhis per day.‘Chandan Creations’: Process Selection Dilemma Proposed Expansion But, Shah now wants to expand his production capacity and his market and for the purpose he proposes to purchase the cardboard cutting machinery which would require an investment of around INR 2.5 lakh and would save the cardboard cutting time for the workers. The machine requires a worker to insert the cardboard sheet. The machine automatically punches at equal intervals of time, Each punch requires a cycle time of 10 seconds. With each punch it would produce around 8 cardboard pieces and would cut around 48 pieces per minute, By installing the machinery Shah's cost of production would come down to INR 18 per dozen rakhis. Shah also proposes to have a production facility, which would cost an additional INR 7.5 lakh, where workers could work under one roof as in an assembly plant, This would save the workers time and Shah could use theit serviees for the complete 8 hours per day. However, he is apprehensive about making this investment inthis process, ashe isnot sure how much time it would taketo breakeven and whether ‘would provide him a significant inerease in his firm’s productivity and profits. Suggested Questions for Discussion 1. What is the type of manufacturing process is used by Chandan Creations? Explain about the various process flow structures. Do you think, the produetion type used by CC is suitable for it or should it use some other process flow? II, How many rakiis can Shah produce in a year if he installs the machinery? When will he achieve breakeven?