My Report

Summer Project Report
On
Research and Development

of mechanism to dispose off SiO2 (100 MT / Month) through Sale / Alternate
product development / reduction in generation with Positive Realization in
Environment friendly and Statutory compliant way and integrate it with existing
supply chain
undertaken at
Sterlite Technologies Limited

In The Partial Fulfillment of Summer Internship
of
Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial Engineering (PGDIE)
By
Prashant Sharma (Roll No. - 62)
PGDIE- 43
Under the guidance of
Mr. Mukundan R
Mrs. Swati Goyal
Asst. Professor
AGM Supply Chain
NITIE, Mumbai
Sterlite Technologies Ltd.
National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai-400087

(April 2014 June 2014)
Contents
Certificates
Acknowledgements
Executive Summary
1. Introduction
2. Project Scope
2.1. Project Title
2.2 Need for Project
2.3 Project Overview
2.4 Scope
2.5 Deliverables
3. Literature Review
4. Methodology
4.1 Understanding
4.2 Research & Development
4.3 Production
4.4 Earlier Attempt
4.5 Case Study Industry to focus
4.5.1 Few Facts
4.5.2 Research Paper
4.5.3 Silica Applications
4.5.4 Maharashtra Limitless Possibilities
4.5.5 Two ways to approach
4.5.6 Conclusion
5. Data Collection and Execution
5.1 New Customers
5.2 Observations
5.3 Integrating the supply chain
5.3.1 Pareto Analysis
5.3.2 AHP(Analytic hierarchy process)
5.3.3 Relation Diagram
5.3.4 Tree Diagram
6. Conclusion & Scope for future work
6.1 Conclusion
Summer Project, NITIE Mumbai
Page 2
6.2 Future Scope

Academic Conclusion
Professional Conclusion
Reference
Appendices
List of Illustrations
Tables
Table 1: Timeline of Events
Table 2: Infrastructure
Table 3: Fruit Zone of Maharashtra
Table 4: Normalized Cost
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Figures
Figure 1: Customers
Figure 2: Business Overview
Figure 3: Silica & Types
Figure 4: Pareto Chart
Figure 5: Pairwise Matrix
Figure 6: Tree Diagram of Customer Assessment
Figure 7: Relation Diagram
Figure 8: Tree Chart
Certificate of Project Completion
This is to certify that Prashant Sharma, student of PGDIE, Batch No. 43 has
successfully completed the project titled Research and Development of mechanism to
dispose off SiO2 (100 MT / Month) through Sale / Alternate product development / reduction
in generation with Positive Realization in Environment friendly and Statutory compliant way
Page 4
and integrate it with existing supply chain at Sterlite

Technologies Ltd., Optical Fiber Division, Waluj, Aurangabad under guidance of Asst Prof.
Mukundan R, NITIE Mumbai and Mrs. Swati Goyal, AGM - Supply Chain
Management Sterlite Technologies Limited , Waluj, Aurangabad from 7th April, 2014 to 6th
June, 2014.
Based on the professional work done by him/her, this report is being submitted for the partial
fulfillment of Post Graduation Diploma in Industrial Engineering (PGDIE) at NITIE,
Mumbai.
Date: 06th June, 2014
Mukundan R
Mrs. Swati Goyal
Asst Professor
AGM, Supply Chain
NITIE, Mumbai
Sterlite Technologies Limited
Certificate of Originality
This is to certify that the project entitled Research and Development of mechanism to
dispose off SiO2 (100 MT / Month) through Sale / Alternate product development / reduction
in generation with Positive Realisation in Environment friendly and Statutory compliant way
and integrate it with existing supply chain has been carried out by me at Sterlite
Page 5
Technologies Ltd., Optical Fiber Division, Waluj, Aurangabad

under guidance of Asst Prof. Mukundan R, NITIE Mumbai and Mrs. Swati Goyal, AGM Supply Chain Management Sterlite Technologies Limited , Waluj, Aurangabad from 7th
April, 2014 to 6th June, 2014.
Based on the professional work done by me, I am submitting this report for the partial
fulfillment of Post Graduation Diploma in Industrial Engineering (PGDIE) at NITIE,
Mumbai. This report has not been published and submitted to any other institute or university.
Date: 06th June, 2014
Prashant Sharma
Roll No.: 62
PGDIE (Batch of 2013-15)
NITIE, Mumbai
Acknowledgement
A novice cannot do great tasks. Many great people contribute to completion of his work
directly or indirectly
Words fail me to express my sincerest gratitude to Mr. Pankaj Priyadarshi, CCO,
Sterlite Technologies Ltd. for providing me with the opportunity to be a part of this
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prestigious company. I am very thankful to this esteemed

organization that has conferred on me the privilege to pragmatically convert my theoretical
knowledge into practicably viable experience and have an insight and understanding of the
forthcoming corporate life. I am highly indebted to my Mentor Mrs. Swati Goyal, AGM Supply Chain Management for offering me a unique platform to earn exposure and garner
my knowledge through this project. I specially take the opportunity to thank my Guide Mr.
Amit Ratnaparkhi, Manager, Supply Chain for his cooperation, expert guidance & sparing
valuable time to help me move forward in the right direction. I take this opportunity to extend
my sincere thanks to Mr. Shekhar Muley, Supply Chain Management for his kind support
& guidance.
I am very thankful to Prof. Mukundan R, NITIE for his constant support, criticism
and suggestions. Besides, a special vote of thanks to all the staff members of Sterlite
Technologies Limited, Waluj for providing a congenial environment without which it would
have been very difficult to successfully complete the internship.
I am thankful to the NITIE Communication Centre for providing guidelines for report
making.
Prashant Sharma
Roll 62, PGDIE
NITIE Mumbai
Executive Summary
This project work is done to solve the very crucial and live problem of unsold and loss
making disposal of by-product Silica in Aurangabad plant of Sterlite Technologies Limited.
Presently, 100 MT of Silica is produced monthly with negligible takers which results in loss
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making operation of disposing the excess amount in environmental

friendly and statutory compliant way.
The sole objective of this work is to develop an end to end mechanism right from
production to disposal by converting the same to a profit making operation from loss making
one. It includes product development, marketing and integrating the whole supply chain
associated with it in such a way to realize sustainable net profit to the organization as a whole.
The methodology followed to achieve the goal includes thorough and careful study of
production and specification of our product and by-product followed by matching it with the
requirements of the different industries and scope of aligning it with our specification. This is
followed by initiating and coordinating the business talk with the perspective customers and
negotiating the final agreement. Lastly, the supply chain needs to be integrated considering
new customers requirement and companys interest.
The project proved to be very fruitful with successful inception of 3 new customers
under different phases of business talks and negotiation. One of them even issued purchase
order of 200 kgs of Silica which has been fulfilled. A case study is also done to come out with
the most suitable industry to focus for our silica. Pesticide industry comes out as outcome of
that. Relation Diagram is prepared to understand the root cause of problem which comes to be
inferior quality. Pareto and AHP analysis were done as an attempt to assess the customers and
integrate the supply chain.
Quality control, standardizing the specification and having a holistic approach to high
probability industries like Pesticide should be done as future perspective.
Chapter 1
Introduction
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Chapter - 2
PROJECT SCOPE
2.1 Project title
Research and Development of mechanism to dispose off SiO2 (100 MT / Month)
through Sale / Alternate product development / reduction in generation with Positive
Realization in Environment friendly and Statutory compliant way and integrate it with
existing supply chain
2.2 Need of the project

Sterlite is a big name in the field of superior quality optical fiber , cables and
conductors. It has been on top in the industry for long but maintaining the position takes more
effort than gaining it. Most of its market is in foreign countries like China, UK, UAE and
Russia are few to be named, as far as optical fiber business is concerned. The ever increasing
customers expectation and competition leaves no scope for flaw in the product. This is a
challenge as well as constraint for any top notch company like Sterlite .Technology products
like optical fibers need to be perfect on quality front. We dont want our electronic signal to
be attenuated and to reduce energy loss; a very sophisticated production and business
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practices are required. Sterlite understands it and has already

developed the best practices to ensure the quality of its product.
The era of Quality Assurance has arrived and Sterlite has already set up fully
integrated and automatic production facility in most of its plant. Optical fiber is made in
internal plant in Aurangabad. It is a state of art facility which makes silica by treating Silicon
Tetrachloride, Hydrogen and Oxygen.
Core:
GeCl4 + 2H2 + O2 (heat) GeO2 + 4HCl
Cladding:
SiCl4 + 2H2 + O2 (heat) SiO2 + 4HCl
Then, Silica so produced is allowed to deposit on a rod and drawn into fibers at an
elevated temperature by an automatic and highly sophisticated mechanism. Special care is
taken to ensure the quality of the fibers.
Not every silica produced is deposited, some escape which is then stored in jumbo
bags. This is highly pure Silica which may be used in various industries but not in high grade
Optical fibers due to quality concerns. Not only this, Silica so collected has to be disposed as
waste which incurs extra cost to company.
This project work is an attempt to develop a mechanism to dispose this Silica and
integrate it with existing supply chain.
2.3 Project overview
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This project is done in Aurangabad plant of Sterlite

Technologies Limited with a view to increase the profitability of the overall plant.100
MT/month is the production rate of the undeposited Silica. This Silica cannot be reused to
produce Optical Fiber. And even disposing it to some safe place is non-value adding as well as
a loss making affair. The paper work involved in disposal in an Environment friendly and
Statutory compliant way again requires extra effort and hinder perfect focusing in companys
core competency.
The management of Sterlite has put this issue on priority as it was incurring
continuous cost to company. It is a live and very crucial project for the company which will
significantly increase the profitability. The earlier it is done, better it is for the company.
Silica, which is the by-product in optical fiber manufacturing is currently being disposed off
and dumped which incurs cost to the company. The problem lies on the fact that there is no or
minimal taker of silica being generated here. This is not the first attempt to solve this
problem. Earlier also few steps were taken and some projects had been undertaken but there is
still a large gap which this project work aims to fill. There needs to be an integrated and
holistic view of the root cause and a feasible solution of the same.
Few things need to be understood well before analyzing the ways this by-product can be
disposed
1) Environmental Issue As a good corporate citizen, Sterlite has always been respecting
and concerned about the environment and cherish the gift of nature. In consistency
with the above philosophy, it always tries to establish harmony with nature. Disposal
of silica should not hinder the health of our environment and adversely affect the
society as a whole. So, every precautions and guidelines are followed as per statutory
requirements. The chemical and physical characteristics of Silica are detailed in
MSDS (Material Safety and Data Sheet) which also provides the information about
possible hazards and its remedies.
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2) Statutory Compliance way - It includes all the legal

policies as per guidelines given by government of India and that of state to dispose
industrial waste within the regulations.
2.4 Scope
This project is actually multi-dimensional which includes fields like Supply Chain, marketing,
new product development and integration of these. That is the reason , it had to be approached
from three different perspectives which are explained later. The aim of the work is to integrate
every aspect of the product, right from its development and production to its
marketing and sales through an efficient supply chain. It gave me freedom to think in any
direction and interact with different departments and to develop an all-new perspective.
Followings are three modes which are to be considered:
1) Development of a mechanism to dispose SiO2 through saleThis is but natural to look for takers of the given bye-product which cant be used for
in-house production. But, there are bigger issues while doing it practically. The
approach should include studying the customers requirement and looking for the most
appropriate match not only in profitable way but also considering the constraints
involved with logistics and supply chain.
2) Product Development to meet market specifications
The bye-product which we are dealing with may not be most suitable input in other
industries. This generates the scope of developing and matching the specification of
Silica with the requirement of customers. This may include purifying or adding
additives for some special feature as desired by customer in the product.
3) Reduction in production of SiO2This includes any possibility of reducing the production of bye-product at the first
place. Since the sole reason of accumulation of bye product in this case is actually due
to the fact that not all Silica gets sticked to the rod and escapes. Though, plant is
highly automated, there may be some scope to increase the efficiency of this process.
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2.5 Deliverables
To dispose the excess Silica in a profitable way

Development of long term customer-vendor relationship
Integrating the existing supply chain with old and new customers
Discovering the root cause of unsold silica and developing an approach to solve it
Chapter - 3
Literature Review
This project work includes two things, firstly Silica (bye-product) and secondly
Supply Chain to dispose it. There are many inputs given in literature regarding silica and
its various forms and uses. Few management tools related to supply chain are also
available for assessing customers and integrating the supply chain with disposal of byeproduct. These two aspects are discussed separately underneath:
SilicaSilica, also known as Silicon Dioxide is an oxide of element silica with chemical formula
SiO2. It has been known since very long. It is most commonly found in form of
quartz, and also in body of living organisms. Silica is one of the most complex and most
abundant families of materials, existing both as several minerals and being produced
synthetically. Few form of Silica are fused quartz, crystal, fumed silica, silica gel,
and aerogels. It has a wide range of application across many industries from solar panel to
pharmaceuticals.
It is commonly extracted by mining but is also produced or generated as bye-product in
few industrial processes. For instance, it is generated in bulk as bye-product in the
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production of Optical fibers in Sterlite, Aurangabad. Following

is an excerpt from Crystalline Silica and Health Website which clearly defines the types
and characteristics of Silica
Silicon and oxygen are the two most abundant elements in the earths crust. Silica
is commonly found in nature as sand. Silica exists in many different forms that can
be crystalline as well as non-crystalline (amorphous)
Silica
Synthetic Amorphous
Amorphous
Crystalline
Crystobalite
Surface Modified
Thermal
Quartz
Wet
Pyrogenic
Tridymite
Silica Gel
Electric Arc
Plasma
Precipitated
By-Product
Natural
Diatomaceous
Fused
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Calcined
Flux-calcined
Microsilica
Figure 3 Silica & Types
Crystalline silica is hard, chemically inert and has a high melting point. These are
valued/important properties in various industrial uses.
Quartz is the most common form of crystalline silica and is the second most common
mineral on the earths surface. It is found in almost every type of rock i.e. igneous,
metamorphic and sedimentary. Since it is so abundant, quartz is present in nearly all
mining operations.
Cristobalite is scarce in nature. Some volcanic rocks and meteorites may contain small
amounts of it. Cristobalite may also form when quartz is heated at high temperatures
starting at 450C. This is especially true during production and use of refractory materials
and/or during calcination of silica (between 800 and 1110C).
As a result, there is a likelihood of exposure to cristobalite in occupational settings.
Tridymite is also a scarce mineral that is only found in nature in volcanic rocks and
meteorites. Tridymite, however, differs from cristobalite in that it is not stable during
quartz and refractory materials heating processes at conventional process temperatures. As
a result, exposures are very unlikely to occur in occupational or other settings.
The respirable dust fraction corresponds to the proportion of an airborne particle,
which penetrates to the pulmonary alveolar region of the lungs.
Respirable crystalline silica is the respirable dust fraction of crystalline silica which
enters the body by inhalation. This term applies to workplace atmospheres.
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Various uses of Silica

Silica finds wide application in a number of industries.It is virtually impossible to
imagine world without silica.We look around us and find items like ceramic
glass,paints,paper,tiles and many more which take Silica either as raw material or
additive. There are dozens of industries procuring suitable Silica as raw material. Some
important names are as under
Adhesive
Ceramic
Cement
Glass
Marble
Paints
Pesticide
Pharmaceutical
Porcelain..
and many more.
Either in bulk or traces, silica is being used in these industries.
Supply Chain
As per standard definition, A supply chain is a system of organizations, people,
activities, information, and resources involved in moving a product or service
from supplier to customer. Supply chain activities transform natural resources, raw
materials, and components into a finished product that is delivered to the end customer.
Just like B2C marketing, C2C must also have a sophisticated and agile supply chain to get
the desired level of service which is very crucial when one business interacts with other.
To make the whole supply chain profitable, integration of constituting parties seem to be
the key. Strategic decisions pertaining to each level of supply chain need to be taken with
sound management aptitude using management tools available in literature.
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Few analyses are always required to establish the profitability of the whole chain.
With respect to this project, some tools and techniques have been used to analyze and
justify the scope to sale the excess Silica to other Business.
Question is not only disposal of a by-product but it needs to be done in a sustainable
and profitable way.
Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is a

structured technique for organizing and analyzing complex decisions, based on
mathematics and psychology. It was developed by Thomas L. Saaty in the 1970s and has
been extensively studied and refined since then.
It is one of the most versatile and widely used in a variety of management decision
making in various sectors like government, business, industry, healthcare, and education.
It is one of those very few tools which accepts qualitative as well as quantitative input. It
doesnt directly provide the best option available but suggest and support the decision
making regarding the most apt as per given criteria or roles.
Users of the AHP first decompose their decision problem into a hierarchy of more easily
comprehended sub-problems, each of which can be analyzed Independently. The elements
of the hierarchy can relate to any aspect of the decision problemtangible or intangible,
carefully measured or roughly estimated, well or poorly understoodanything at all that
applies to the decision at hand.
Once the hierarchy is built, the decision makers systematically evaluate its various
elements by comparing them to one another two at a time, with respect to their impact on
an element above them in the hierarchy. In making the comparisons, the decision makers
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can use concrete data about the elements, but they typically use
their judgments about the elements' relative meaning and importance.
Goal
Criterion 1
Alternativ
e1
Criterion 2
Aternative
Aternative
Aternative
Criterion 3
Aternative
1
2 A Simple AHP1hierarchy with2 2 alternatives and 3 criteria
It is the essence of the AHP that human judgments, and not just the underlying
information, can be used in performing the evaluations.
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Aternative
2
The AHP converts these evaluations to numerical values that can be processed and
compared over the entire range of the problem. A numerical weight or priority is derived for
each element of the hierarchy, allowing diverse and often incommensurable elements to be
compared to one another in a rational and consistent way. This capability distinguishes the
AHP from other decision making techniques.
Simple AHP hierarchy with associated default priorities
In the final step of the process, numerical priorities are calculated for each of the
decision alternatives. These numbers represent the alternatives' relative ability to achieve the
decision goal, so they allow a straightforward consideration of the various courses of action.
Parato Analysis It is a very effective tool for prioritizing things and thus, help in focusing
on the major and more crucial causes of a problem. This helps the managers to put lesser
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energy to have more gain. It is a formal technique useful where many possible courses of
action are competing for attention. In essence, the problem-solver estimates the benefit
delivered by each action, then selects a number of the most effective actions that deliver a
total benefit reasonably close to the maximal possible one.
Pareto analysis is a creative way of looking at causes of problems because it helps
stimulate thinking and organize thoughts. Analysis can be used to identify the root causes of
the problems. While it is common to refer to pareto as "80/20" rule, under the assumption
that, in all situations, 20% of causes determine 80% of problems, this ratio is merely a
convenient rule of thumb and is not nor should it be considered immutable law of nature.
The Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule,[1] the law of the vital few, and
the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come
from 20% of the causes.
Pareto charts can be used,
During quality control to analyze the causes of defects and failures
When you want to focus your resources on few important items from a large list of
possibilities
To tell the story that attacking problem A might be better than solving problem C,
D and F
Pareto analysis has great practical uses for almost anyone in a managerial role.It is
one of the 7 QC tools and the graph prepared by it is called Pareto chart which
facilitates easy understanding and quick decision making.
This tool can also be used in our project to understand the relative importance of
new and existing customers.This will allow the higher management to better
understand the level of resources and time to be allotted to each of the
customers.The future perspective would be to select and retain customers out of
many options.
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Relation Diagram The purpose of relations diagram is to

generate a visual representation of the relations between an effect and its causes as well as the
interrelationship between the causes in complex problems.
As mentioned in the opening paragraph of the chapter, the structure of relations
diagram is not very rigid; it is quite flexible. Only thing fixed about the diagram is a bold
bordered rectangle in which the effect is written. The causes are entered in light rectangles
and lines are drawn to show relation between the rectangles. The lines have arrows at one end
showing which is the cause and which is the effect - the arrow always leading from the cause
to the effect. The most common shape the diagram takes has the effect at the centre, with
immediate causes surrounding it and secondary and tertiary causes as outer layers. Relations
diagram can be applied to explore cause and effect relationships, especially in complex
situations where the causes are likely to be mutually related. The most common use is in
problem solving to identify multiple interrelated causes. The output of the tool is a list of root
causes for the problem with some indication of their relative importance. The output has to be
considered as only an indication of the relative importance of the causes.
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Priority of corrective actions to eliminate the causes should

be based on the data collected, not on output of relations diagram. The output of relations
diagram is based on the perception of the members of the group brainstorming the issue; it
needs to be supported by facts. While the output is important as it points a direction to data
collection efforts, it is no substitute for facts and data.
Tree Diagram It is one of the new 7 QC tools widely used in decision making. A tree
diagram is often used to discover the steps needed to solve a given problem. It always the
user(s) to gain further insight into the problem and helps the team focus on specific tasks to
complement the tasks at hand to solve the problem.
The purpose of the tree diagram is to explore ways and means to achieve an objective,
develop a list of alternate means to reach the desired situation in a sequential order and to
present them in a visual form. The diagram can be made in 2 forms Tree or Cascade. It
allows the managers to have the concise and compact view of the problem. The most
important application of the tree diagram is for devising solutions for problems. It helps one
to develop a systematic step by step strategy to achieve an objective. It is also useful in
monitoring the implementation of solutions by taking care of accomplishment of means at
different levels.
The steps in the procedure to develop a tree diagram are :
Identify a high priority problem that needs to be solved at the earliest.
Prepare an objective statement describing the desired situation or the target solution.
Decide the appropriate form of the diagram - cascade or tree as well as direction of
flow. Place the target solution in the dark rectangle.
Identify the primary means to achieve the objective. Arrange them in an appropriate
order keeping in mind the likely interrelations between them and place them in
rectangles at the first level.
For each of the primary means, identify secondary means which would be necessary to
attain those means. Arrange them in next level boxes.
Identify tertiary means required to attain each of the secondary means and place them
in a proper order in the next level boxes.
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Continue the process till the group feels that the end of the
line has been reached.
Reach a consensus on the relative importance of the last level means to priorities
action.
Lets take an instance of case of improving health in a village.
Improving Health Standards in Village- Tree Diagram Cascade form (Example)
Improve
Open Clinic
Health
Medical Degree
Medical
College
Pass Entrance
Expert Coaching
Organize Fund
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The beauty of this tool is the way it makes the steps

required to solve a critical problem too simple to understand. It doesnt only facilitate decision
making but also makes it lucid for even subordinates to be familiar with the things to be done
This simple but effective figure very clearly defines the path to be followed to
accomplish the ultimate task of improving health.
Tree diagram can also be used in our project work to come up with a path way to solve
our problem to dispose off Silica. I have attempted to develop a tree diagram after talking to
various people of various departments which is shown in later section of the report.
Chapter - 4
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Methodology
This is the most crucial part of the project work which defines the approach and gave
me opportunity to understand the end to end functioning from production process to
supply chain. To have an integrated and holistic view to generate a feasible solution,
proper understanding was quite necessary which was achieved by step to step process as
described below:
4.1 Understanding
Before jumping into developing the supply chain of the product, it is very important to
have an in depth knowledge of what we are producing. This plant is fully integrated and
one of its kind in country which produces high performing optical fibers. It is very
important to understand that fibers are nothing but glass but of varying refractive index as
per requirement. The notable point here is that fibers are very sophisticated product and
needs extremely pure glass (99.9999%).
The principle in which it works is Total Internal Reflection. This phenomenon takes
place inside the core of the fiber. This fact makes it very crucial for the core to be virtually
out of any impurity. The clad which covers the fiber is not as critical and little less pure
glass may be employed but not less than 99.99 %(approx.) pure.
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Glass is nothing but silica(SiO2) but GeO2 is added with it

to increase the refractive index of the core to facilitate the process of TIR while the clad is
pure silica. The thing to be highlighted here is that clad is made from silica made in-house
which comes from reaction of SiCl4 with oxygen and hydrogen. But, core must be highly
pure which requires specially imported raw material.
The process goes like the Silica is allowed to deposit on the rod and then transformed
to glass thermally. The problem lies on the fact that not every silica is deposited on it and
some amount gets escaped which is collected in jumbo bags after made to pass through
scrubber. We get that bye product silica in the form of white powder.
We need to understand that our input as well as bye product is silica only. Its just the
undiposited silica which needs to be disposed off. But, problem lies on the fact that it
doesnt remain as pure as input silica. The first obvious direction to search for the
sustainable solution was to look for the scope of reusing this silica in our main or some
alternate product. So, I discussed with the research people to sort out the problem if
feasible. It should be mentioned here that Sterlite, Aurangabad has a state of art research
facility.
4.2 Research & Development

I got to know that the most common type of fiber made here and demanded universally is
G.652 D. Some special kinds are also made if required. They are G652DE, G.655 (DOF) ,
G.657 A1 , G.657 A2, G.657 B3 and few more. On discussing about the scope of reusing
the undeposited silica, the opportunity seems to be absurd. The reason being the
requirement of any kind of fiber goes as high as 99.9999 % and we have barely 99.65 %
( approx.) Pure silica completely ruling out the possibility of reusing the bye product in
our own plant.
Even the outer cladding cannot be made using impure silica. Moreover, there is no
possibility of using it in near future. This was the clear indication that I would have to find
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some other alternative to dispose it in a profitable and

sustainable way.
4.3 Production
In my quest to understand more about our bye product, I visited the Production
department where the mixture of bye products i.e. Silica and HCL is passed through a
scrubber which removes the acid and silica is stored in jumbo bags. On examining, I
found it to be snow white powder in appearance.
Had discussion with few people working there and got informed about some burning
issues regarding the bye-product silica
We dont have full specification, only few sample tests are available
There is no way to control quality
Test reports are not latest
On further query, understood the possibility of hindrance in our main product, if we
try to control the quality of bye product. This along with above three issues made it
even difficult to convince a third party to use it as input in their plants. The possibility
of after processing is discussed later after understanding the scope of improvement in
quality. Nevertheless, I got the test reports from them, two of them are shown below:
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Page 28
This test report is pertaining to Jan, 2013 and the result is reasonably good with
99.65% silica and minimal quantity of other impurities.
But, if we look into the latest report of this year and critically analyze it, it is readily
visible that the Iron content has significantly increased up to more than 0.5% as shown in
second report in next page:
Fe2O3 = 0.50524%
This actually is an issue which reduces its applicability in industries.
Following are the points which I found while talking about my concern to production
people
The Iron content is more due to corroded pipelines

Pipelines get corroded frequently due to acidic nature of bye product
I proposed the possibility of getting pipelines painted
Got informed about the hindrance it will product on normal working of plant
After this, only the possibility of after processing was left. It is obvious to employ
magnetic separator for the purpose. Before that, I again visited the R&D center for further
insight and also searched online. The common conclusion was that if magnetic impurities
are relatively bigger then this method works else not.
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Page 30
4.4 Earlier Attempt

Actually, an attempt was already made to remove the iron particles but with not great success.
By employing that method following results were found
Iron content 900 ppm

Reduced to 600 ppm
Industry requirement 200 ppm
P.S. values are approximate not exact.
And, setting up new machinery would also incur extra cost. So, I decided to study the
specification of the requirements of different industries and mapped it with our product.
There are so many applications of silica in different industries as shown below:
Dental Silica Silica is used in formulation of toothpaste as thickening agent. It is

responsible to impart desirable aesthetic to the product. The optical property like
transparency and opaqueness can be control as per requirement by playing with the
amount of silica. Toothpaste industry is vast in India with a number of big and small
players. I focused on the supplier of these players who may further process our
product if required to make it suitable for toothpaste industry. Huber engineered
material is one of those suppliers which has shown positive response.

Anti-Caking and free flow agent Moisture, Pressure and Temperature are three
factors which adversely affect powders and granules. In moisture, caking of particles
is a big problem. Silica not only prevents this but also acts as a free flow agent. It is
widely used in food industry because of the above properties. Followings are its uses
as mentioned in Hubers website
o Prevent caking
o Improve flow and increase packaging rates
Page 31
o Reduce or eliminate build up in spray drying operations
o Decrease Dusting
o Eliminate lumps
o Efficiently absorb liquids, fats, and oils for powdered food applications
o Decrease clogging and bridging during production
Silica Paints - It is one another sector which widely uses silica. It is used as
thickener and provides opacity to paint. Titanium dioxide is being used recently but
silica compound proves to be apt to extent TiO2 in white paint. Untreated precipitated
silica reduces the gloss of coatings. In solvent-based coatings, it also increases
viscosity for settling resistance. In clear coatings such as lacquer or varnish, it offers
exceptionally high clarity and transparency.
Animal feeding - Silica and silicates are used in animal health and nutrition
formulations as anti-caking and free-flow agents and as carriers for liquid to powder
conversions. Caking and lumping are few common problems which are generally
encountered during production, processing and storage of animal food. The affinity of
silica towards moisture makes it suitable to be used to as agent to convert liquid to
semi-solid.
Pesticide This is one of the most important uses of silica which shows high
promise and scope in future. The industry of pesticide is ever increasing and
demanding. India being an agricultural economy is the high consumer of pesticides. It
is the high time to conserve our environment. And that is the reason , non-toxic
pesticides are being promoted worldwide. Silica has emerged as very good alternative
to toxic and harmful pesticides and insecticides due to its inert nature. It kills insect
not chemically but physically. It makes the surface rough for insect and hurt them to
Page 32
death. Another mechanism is it absorbs water and dry it by

destroying
the outer protective layer of insect leading it to its death. Moreover, Silica is very inert
and doesnt react very easily with its surrounding which makes it safe for the
environment. Recently, the use of silica as insecticide has been promoted as
environmental friendly. This is actually the most important industry which we may
focus on. I have done a case study on this which is in the later part of the report.
Silica is also used as a passive and carrying agent in pesticide formation. For
improvement in the suspension power and as a carrier for the active ingredients,
especially malathion, acephate and isoproton based formulations.
Rubber Silica is used as additive in rubber industry. It is used in making of rubber

sleeper, conveyor and transmission belt , PVC sheet , railway pads, silicon tube ,
rubber hoses , rubber and solid tyres. In short , silica is present in every big and small
things which we come across in our daily life. Its usage varies from small rubber
bands to bigger rubber parts.
Paper Silica is used as a thickening and suspending agent, to prevent set off and
picking, to heighten brilliance.
Above mentioned were few most important uses of silica but surely not limited to
them. We may think in direction of product development to make our product suitable
for above mention uses. Every industry has its own requirement with different crucial
parameters. But, one major flaw which pops up every now and then is the amount of
iron in the form of Fe2O3 in our silica. If we have a look at the specification of silica
which is produced by our new customer MLA group , same thing comes as outcome.
Page 33
They supply silica to different industries like paper, food, adhesives, paints etc. But,
their silica has not more than 0.3% iron while ours has about 0.5%.
This clearly indicates that we need to search for the most apt industry to focus for our
product. So, I have done a small case study with a sole view to search a market for our
product.
Page 34
4.5 Case Study: Industry to focus

4.5.1 Few Facts:
Agrochemical Industry size in estimated to be US$ 3.8 billion in year 2012
Expected to grow at 12-13% per annum to reach 7.0 billion
Domestic demand growth rate = 8-9% and export demand at 15-16%
Maharashtra is among top Insecticide users
Page 35
Silica product is used as insecticide which constitutes the major

portion of agro-chemical consumption.
4.5.2 Research Paper

A research paper by LAING M D, GATARAYIHA M C and ADANDONON A on
SILICON USE FOR PEST CONTROL IN AGRICULTURE has the following abstract which
signifies the importance of silica in agriculture:
Silicon (Si) deficiency in crops has been recognized since the 1970s, and a
substantial body of research, particularly on rice and sugarcane, now shows that silicon is a
functional plant nutrient. In particular, silicon application can significantly enhance insect
pest and disease resistance in plants, with consequent yield increases. Responses to silicon
application in reducing pest populations and plant damage are usually more obvious in
susceptible than resistant varieties. Silicon depositions in monocots may provide a mechanical
barrier against insect pests. However, this passive role of silicon is now being contested, and
an active role of silicon has been shown in the physiological resistance of crops to diseases.
Silicon is now considered to have a catalytic role in the expression of physiological

resistance through the production of, among other chemicals, tannic and phenol compounds.
The application of silicon in crops provides a viable component of integrated management of
insect pests and diseases because it leaves no pesticide residues in food or the environment,
and it can be easily integrated with other pest management practices, including biological
control.
4.5.3 Silica Applications:

Page 36
Inert carrier in dry concentrates

Dry pesticides
An anti-caking agent
Soil conditioner and turf
Soil supplement
P.S. As per ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, OFFICE OF PESTICIDE
PROGRAMS, WASHINGTON, D.C.
4.5.4 Maharashtra Limitless Possibilities:

Maharashtra produces ample opportunity for pesticide usage for its famous fruit zones shown
under-
Page 37
Table 3 Fruit Zones of Maharashtra
4.5.5TWO WAYS TO APPROACH:

1) Directly partnering with fruit growers Selling our silica to small players, wholesaler
or farmers.
2) Partnering with major pesticide players Supplying silica as vendor to major players.
List of major players
UPL
Bayer Crop Science
Syngenta
Rallis India
BASF
Few things to note:

There are 30-40 large players and 400 formulators
Silica is renowned as non-toxic pesticide
Silica Pesticide is extensively used in arid/dry region
Opportunity
Threat
Expansion of
contract farming
Existing Players
Growing Farmer
Awareness
Page 38
I found something very interesting

A UK based company Pest Control Direct has a product Agrodust which seems to have
mainly silica.
Below is the snapshot of the same, directly showing silica in bracket.
On enquiring them about the composition of this product so that we can sort out
whether any processing is required to use our silica as pesticide or not, the reply which I got is
quoted below:
Agrodust contains silicon dioxide, a mined product, with no added ingredients (any
impurities are from natural ground minerals). It is labeled as a powder, with a crystalline/
Page 39
granular nature of appearance, similar to salt or sugar. It is an inert

product and kills insects by physical means (rather than chemical/ biochemical).
They also sent me MSDS which shows the composition of Silica as 60 to 100 %.Our
product comes well in this range of purity. It is shown below:
4.5.6 Conclusion:
Pesticide industry promises a great market for our Silica.
Page 40
Chapter - 5
Data Collection and Execution
Identified the industries where silica is used
Ceremics
Glass
Cement
Pesticides
Pharma
Porcelain
Adhesive
Chemical
Paint
Marble
Solar Cell
After studying the above industries, I prepared the list of companies and contacts of
the responsible personnel of each. An excel file is prepared with approx. 350 companys
Page 41
contact under different industries. Three modes of communication

were used to put the proposal to the executives of the companies E-mail, On-line Form and
phone. Specification of our product was sent to them. Few of them showed interest but due to
no requirement or unmatched requirement, business talks could not be continued with them.
But, as a result of constant and vigorous effort, three major breakthrough came to our way
when we got three parties with similar requirement and positive business talk were realized
with them.
5.1 New Customers

5.1.1 MLA Group of Industry It is a chemical company which mostly deals in B2B business
and acts as supplier of important chemicals to industries like rubber / other polymers, paints &
coatings, insecticides / pesticides, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, feedstuff and numerous other
industries. Their product range consists of various precipitated chemicals and functional
fillers, both synthetic and naturally occurring processed minerals including Precipitated Silica,
Hydrated Calcium Silicate, Aluminium Silicate, Zinc Stearate, Calcium Stearate, Calcium
Sulphate, Zinc-oxide active/transparent, Levigated / Surface treated China Clays, Micronized
Calcite, Dolomite, Talc etc.
They have clients like Unilever, Asian Paints , Berger Paints , Nicco Cables are few to
name. The thing to be noted here is that they had also shown concerns about the black iron
particles in our silica and still found it suitable for certain uses.
They have already sent the foc Purchase order of 200 kg.
5.1.2 Huber Engineered Materials (HEM) They manufacture and supply inorganic
materials designed to enhance the performance, appeal and processing of a broad range of
products used in industrial, paper and consumer-based applications. They have specialty in
chemicals like precipitated silica and silicates, alumina trihydrate, magnesium hydroxide,
molybdates, processed nutritional ingredients, barium sulfate and industrial, food grade and
Page 42
USP calcium carbonate. They are also a chemical company which

serves other businesses.
They were showing very positive response after judging our test report and asked for a large
amount of sample of 3 kg so that they can evaluate it for various applications.
5.1.3 Supersil Chemicals - Supersil Chemicals (I) Pvt. Ltd is one of the largest producer of
precipitated silica in India. Their product is used in various industrial applications. They
specialize in various grades of silica used in rubber and non-rubber industries. A half kilogram
sample has been sent to them.
5.2 Observation
It is very interesting to see that above companies share same profile as manufacturer and
supplier of chemicals involved in B2B business. This signifies that the probability of
converting these types of customer is higher rather than directly approaching to silica using
firms.
5.3 Integrating the Supply chain

We have 6 existing and 3 perspective new customers for our bye product Silica. Getting the
customers and optimizing the supply chain to maximize the gain are two different things. I
studied the whole disposal system and used some managerial tools to analyze the present
process and ways to improve it. Followings are the tools used:
5.3.1 Pareto Analysis This is done to get the major source of revenue as far as customers are
concerned. We presently have 6 customers. I have generated the template with assumed data
due to confidential required data. Revenue, net profit or any other criteria can be feed into
template for analysis as require in future. Space is also provided to accommodate new
potential customers as a result of this project.
The analysis is shown in next page.
Page 43
Figure 4 Pareto Chart
The cut-off line of 0.8 shows the range of 80-20 rule as per customers.
5.3.2 AHP (Analytic hierarchy process) This tool is used for customer assessment and to
rank them as per their net value. Revenue and proximity have been considered as criteria. And
respective rating of all the 6 existing customers has been done. The tree diagram is shown
below:
Page 44
Customer Assessment
0.5
0.5
Revenue
Proximity
Finding the weight age of customers in term of proximity:

Pair wise matrix
1
0.33
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.33
0.33
0.33
0.11
0.11
0.11
0.11
0.11
Figure 5 Pairwise Matrix

where 1 to 6 are the existing customer. The rating has been given on the basis of distance and
on the scale of 1 to 9 - 1 being least and 9 being most superior. Detailed analysis has been
shown in excel.
Customers
Weight
0.07
Page 45
0.12
0.26
0.02
0.26
0.26
Similarly, we can get the rating on the basis of revenue with actual data. Our tree diagram
looks like this:
:
Figure 6 Tree diagram of Customer Assessment
Thereafter, a simple matrix multiplication will give the ranking of our customers on the basis
of proximity and revenue as shown:
Page 46
It must be noted that cost of serving the customers has not been considered. According
to literature, first benefit is determined and then ratio of it with cost is taken to come up with
Benefit/Cost ratio.
We will need to normalize the cost to get the weight age as shown in demo below:
Page 47
Table 7 Normalized cost
Now, the benefit-cost ratio can be calculated to come up with final weight age.
5.3.3 Relation Diagram It is one of the new 7 QC qualitative tools which has been used to
depict the interrelated causes pertaining to the problem of unsold Silica.
No Quality Control
No After-processing
Rusted Pipelines
Fe2O3>0.5%
Page 48
Inferior QualityNo Standard Specification
Unsold Silica
Figure 6 Relation Diagram

Inference- Inferior quality seems to be the root problem pertaining to unsold silica.
5.3.4 Tree Diagram This new quality tool gives a systematic approach to solve a defined
problem. The causes as shown in the relation diagram above need to be solved strategically
following the well-defined path. An attempt has been made by me, based on my
understanding in last two month to come up with the steps to solve this silica problem. It is
shown in next page:
After-Processing
Page 49
Install Machine
Iron Removing
Improve Quality
Sell Silica
Integrated Approach
Cross-Functional Team
Higher Management
Approval
Figure 8 - Tree Chart
Chapter - 6
Conclusion and Scope for Future Work
6.1 Conclusion
Page 50
3 new customers found

Sustainable net profit achieved
Root cause of the problem understood
Relative value of the customers analyzed
Tree Diagram prepared to explore means to achieve the objective of disposing
complete Silica.
6.2 Future Scope

Further research on alternative ways to improve quality of Silica
Possibility of using advanced magnetic separator to lower Iron content
Developing a standard specification and quality control measures
Academic Contribution
Applied AHP and Pareto analysis
Usage of new 7 Quality Control tools like Relation and Tree Diagram
Excel models with numerous formulae were developed for assessment of the
customers
Professional Contribution
Initiated business talk with perspective customers
Coordinated and acted as SPOC between company and outside parties
Page 51
References
Research Paper:
Proc S Afr Sug Technol Ass (2006), SILICON USE FOR PEST CONTROL IN
AGRICULTURE LAING M D, GATARAYIHA M C and ADANDONON A , 278-279
Links:
http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/factsheets/4081fact.pdf
http://www.hubermaterials.com/products/silica-and-silicates.aspx
http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/degen.html
http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/agriculture/20131118267585.htm
http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/inerts.html
http://www.gardenguides.com/89104-organic-controls-fruit-tree-diseases.html
http://www.pestcontroldirect.co.uk/acatalog/Agrodust__1kg__silica___one_free_mask
.html
http://www.crystallinesilica.eu/content/what-respirable-crystalline-silica-rcs
Page 52
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_01.htm
last accessed 11-10-2011
http://chandoo.org/wp/2009/09/02/pareto-charts/
http://www.productivity.in/knowledgebase/TQM/c.%20Tools%20and
%20Techniques/3.3%207%20New%20QC%20Tools/7%20New%20QC%20Tools.pdf
http://qualitytale.blogspot.in/2009/07/new-7-qc-tools-of-quality-tree-diagram.html
http://www.hubermaterials.com/products/silica-and-silicates.aspx
http://www.precipitatedsilica.net/applications.html
http://www.ficci.com/events/20563/add_docs/sectorbrief.pdf
http://news.agropages.com/News/NewsDetail---10649.htm
Appendices
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Summer Project Report

Research and Development

Sterlite Technologies Limited

Mrs. Swati Goyal

AGM Supply Chain

Sterlite Technologies Ltd.

National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai-400087

6.2 Future Scope

Summer Project, NITIE Mumbai

Certificate of Project Completion

and integrate it with existing supply chain at Sterlite

Mrs. Swati Goyal

AGM, Supply Chain

Sterlite Technologies Limited

Technologies Ltd., Optical Fiber Division, Waluj, Aurangabad

prestigious company. I am very thankful to this esteemed

Summer Project, NITIE Mumbai

making operation of disposing the excess amount in environmental

Summer Project, NITIE Mumbai

2.2 Need of the project

Summer Project, NITIE Mumbai

practices are required. Sterlite understands it and has already

2.3 Project overview

Summer Project, NITIE Mumbai

This project is done in Aurangabad plant of Sterlite

2) Statutory Compliance way - It includes all the legal

To dispose the excess Silica in a profitable way

production of Optical fibers in Sterlite, Aurangabad. Following

Figure 3 Silica & Types

Various uses of Silica

Either in bulk or traces, silica is being used in these industries.

Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is a

Summer Project, NITIE Mumbai

Summer Project, NITIE Mumbai

Simple AHP hierarchy with associated default priorities

Summer Project, NITIE Mumbai

Relation Diagram The purpose of relations diagram is to

Summer Project, NITIE Mumbai

Priority of corrective actions to eliminate the causes should

Summer Project, NITIE Mumbai

The beauty of this tool is the way it makes the steps

Summer Project, NITIE Mumbai

Glass is nothing but silica(SiO2) but GeO2 is added with it

4.2 Research & Development

some other alternative to dispose it in a profitable and

Summer Project, NITIE Mumbai

Summer Project, NITIE Mumbai

The Iron content is more due to corroded pipelines

Summer Project, NITIE Mumbai

Summer Project, NITIE Mumbai

4.4 Earlier Attempt

Iron content 900 ppm

Dental Silica Silica is used in formulation of toothpaste as thickening agent. It is

material is one of those suppliers which has shown positive response.

Summer Project, NITIE Mumbai

o Reduce or eliminate build up in spray drying operations

Summer Project, NITIE Mumbai

death. Another mechanism is it absorbs water and dry it by

Rubber Silica is used as additive in rubber industry. It is used in making of rubber

Summer Project, NITIE Mumbai

4.5 Case Study: Industry to focus

Agrochemical Industry size in estimated to be US$ 3.8 billion in year 2012