Case study

Maximising transportation of ore

As a part of Business Excellence initiatives and capability building for higher and higher volumes, Sesa Team looked at maximizing transportation of ore from its Goa mines within the constraint of limited capacity of public roads.

It was realized that the existing routes of transportation need to be supplemented by new routes. Considering the time frame and difficulties for establishing a new route very quickly to achieve the higher volume of transportation, the Sesa team came out with an idea as to crossing of a small river on one side of one mine so as to utilize the road on other side of the river which was not having any iron ore traffic. In view of the time frame and the statutory approvals required for a normal bridge with pillars and spans, the team found out that a Bailey bridge which are fabricated at a different place and just erected wherever required, very commonly used by the army, would be the right solution. Accordingly a supplier of such bridge was located and the bridge was erected within a short time frame of six months.

As a second initiative, where there was local restriction for night transport for a portion of one end of the route, the team decided to maximize the transport during day time by creating a transfer point in between from where the transportation for the balance route would be done for 24 hours a day.

The above two initiatives enhanced the capability of transportation from a particular mine by 3.0 million tons per annum.

During the year Sesa team took various such initiatives in Goa and Karnataka while aspiring to reach the stretched business goals and could achieve 22% increase in sales volume.