Tata Steel Thailand judges plant reliability by three visible signals: housekeeping discipline, visually tagged critical assets, and active daily management boards. According to Amit Khanna, VP of Business Excellence at Tata Steel Thailand, real-time gas monitoring on a transformer once detected a worn component that, if missed, would have caused three to four months of unplanned downtime.
As Amit Khanna, VP of Business Excellence at Tata Steel Thailand, puts it, “Housekeeping is the first thing.” A clean, organized plant signals that people care about their workplace—and that’s where safety and reliability begin.
The second clue is how teams treat their critical machines. In some Tata Steel plants, these assets are tagged or even painted a different color. “It tells me everyone knows which equipment really matters,” he said. That shared awareness is what turns reliability from a department’s job into everyone’s responsibility.
The third sign sits right on the wall: the daily management board. When operators use it to track abnormalities and performance shifts, it shows reliability is part of the daily rhythm—not a monthly review topic. “If I see these three things,” Khanna said, “I know people are moving in the right direction.”
How Does Culture Make Digital Tools Work?
A reliability culture is the foundation that makes digital tools produce results. At Tata Steel Thailand, visible discipline in housekeeping, asset awareness, and daily tracking created the conditions where real-time monitoring data was acted on rather than ignored. Without that culture, Khanna explained, even the best tools stay unused.
A few years ago, Tata Steel installed online gas monitoring on a transformer that powered its electric arc furnace. Traditionally, gas levels were checked once a year in a lab. This time, real-time data showed a steady rise—subtle, but clear.
“At first, even we didn’t know what to do with it,” Khanna recalled. The team decided to investigate, and what they found was a worn component that could have failed soon. Replacing it took just three days—and prevented three to four months of downtime.
That single moment changed how people thought about digital reliability. “It was the first time everyone saw what it means when equipment talks to you,” he said.
Where Should Digital Investment Start?
Tata Steel Thailand focused digital investment on equipment that is difficult to repair, time-consuming to replace, or too costly to keep as a spare. Amit Khanna summed up the approach: “Digital and AI have no limits, but resources do. So we started with what would hurt the most if it failed.”
“Digital and AI have no limits, but resources do,” he said. “So we started with what would hurt the most if it failed.”
That approach kept things practical. Rather than adding complexity, digital tools simplified decision-making and proved their value where it mattered most.
Why Do Teams Resist Online Monitoring?
Initial resistance to online monitoring at Tata Steel Thailand centered on one question: if offline testing already works, why add another device? That skepticism reversed once early success stories spread across the plant. Operators began requesting more sensors themselves, showing that demonstrated results drive adoption faster than any top-down directive.
“Now it’s the other way around,” Khanna said. “Operators come to us asking for more. Enthusiasm is driving adoption.”
How Does Sensor Adoption Start in a Plant?
Amit Khanna advises industrial leaders to treat sensors as translators: they convert machine behavior into a language teams can act on. The practical path is to equip the most critical machines first, create one clear success story, and let that story spread organically across the organization before expanding further.
“When you go to a country where the language is different, you need a translator. In our case, sensors are that translator—they help you understand what your machines are saying.”
Start by equipping your most critical machines with sensors. Once you can hear what they’re telling you, reliability becomes measurable. Focus on your most critical equipment. Create one success story, and let that story spread. Reliability doesn’t begin with dashboards—it begins with people who are ready to listen.
Based on an interview with Amit Khanna, VP Business Excellence, Tata Steel Thailand, at CXO Circle Bangkok.
About the author
Lucian Fogoros is the Co-founder of IIoT World.
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FAQ
1. What are the three signs of a strong reliability culture in a manufacturing plant?
According to Amit Khanna, VP of Business Excellence at Tata Steel Thailand, the three signs are: clean and organized housekeeping, critical assets that are tagged or painted so every team member knows which equipment matters most, and a daily management board that operators actively use to track abnormalities and performance shifts.
2. How did real-time gas monitoring help Tata Steel avoid a major outage?
Tata Steel Thailand installed online gas monitoring on a transformer powering its electric arc furnace. Real-time data showed a gradual rise in gas levels. The team investigated, found a worn component, and replaced it in three days. Without that early detection, Amit Khanna estimated the failure would have caused three to four months of downtime.
3. Online monitoring vs. offline testing: which does Tata Steel use for critical equipment?
Tata Steel Thailand moved from annual offline lab testing to continuous online monitoring for its most critical assets, such as the transformer on its electric arc furnace. Offline testing is periodic and can miss gradual changes between checks. Online monitoring at Tata Steel caught a slow gas-level rise that offline testing, done once a year, would likely have missed until failure.
4. How did Tata Steel decide which equipment to digitalize first?
Tata Steel Thailand prioritized equipment based on consequence of failure, specifically assets that are difficult to repair, time-consuming to replace, or too expensive to stock as a spare. This approach, described by Amit Khanna, kept digital investment practical and ensured early projects delivered visible value rather than adding operational complexity.
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