Introduction:
Modern Coach Factory (MCF) is a state of art Coach manufacturing unit under Ministry of Railways located at Lalganj, Raebareli. We all are well aware that reliable and effective supply chain is a key to achieve goals set for any manufacturing unit. There is a saying that in today’s world it’s not the organisations that are competing, its supply chains that are competing.
At MCF, materials management setup is led by PCMM, assisted by 5 CMMs, 8 Dy.CMMs and a team of dedicated workforce of 160 staff.
Brief about History:
Initially, Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli arranged the procurement of certain Coach Furnishing items, Hardware items & General items against the requirement for the year 2011-12 and remaining items were arranged from Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala.
Gradually, more items were procured and arranged by Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli independently against the production requirement for the year 2013-14.
From the year 2014-15, Purchase office of MCF Raebareli, started entire procurement (except imported bogie items) of about 1360 items of various categories on its own.
From the year 2015-16, Purchase office of MCF Raebareli, started doing complete procurement (including imported bogie items) of more than 1700 items of various categories on its own, independently.
All the purchase right from the inception of Purchase office has been made through e-Procurement System which was a step ahead towards transparency and ease of doing business. Various Modules including Purchase Module of MMIS (Material Management Information System) have been implemented in Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli.
Year-wise purchase progress in terms of no. of Coaches and Value of Purchase is as brought out below:

Depot setup:
Cost effective, swift and safe handling/storage/transportation of material is part of any efficient supply chain management. A modern, automated and well planned depot has been constructed at MCF which is having 38,000 sq. m. of covered area, and has 8 Sheds with modern storage facilities for stocking of about 2000 types of items. In addition to this, 27,000 sq. m. of designated Scrap Yard is meant for receipt and disposal of scrap.

Shell Depot
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General Depot
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For smooth loading and unloading of material at depot, MCF has two outdoor platforms each installed with EOT cranes of capacity 2 MTs each. Depot also has 8 Fork lift trucks, 4 Trucks, 02 Road Mobile Cranes and 02 Electronic Weigh Bridges.
MCF Raebareli has been keen on bringing in automation in every field of working. To achieve automation in the field of material storage, ASRSs have been installed in stores depots. Total 04 Automatic Storage and Retrieval Systems have been installed in Stores Depots. 10152 specially designed pallets for general items and 420 specialised pallets for handling of steel sheets/plates are used for handling stores material.

ASRS in General depot
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ASRS in Steel depot
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Entire Depot area is secured with 15 Nos. PTZ and CCTV Cameras and provided with Hydrant Lines for fire fighting in case of any mishap.

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Scrap Yard
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PTZ Camera
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Hydrant Line
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To keep the environment clean and green, mass plantation has been done and regular cleanliness drives are conducted.

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View of Depot Office
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View of Purchase Office
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Initiatives:
“Planning is everything, Plan is nothing” believing in this jargon, Materials Management department at MCF has been continuously working on planning of cost effective, end-user friendly, time reducing, safe, quality sustained, free from multi-handling and transparent procurement of material required for production. Some such instances are as under:
· Kit Formation:
Materials management department at MCF Raebareli has started Kit formation of 09 types of RMB items, 7 types of Dampers, 18 types of Pipe fittings for ease in purchase, handling and application. It will reduce time consumed in accountal, transportation, multi-handling, application at end user and will also reduce number of stock items.
Some major assemblies and sub assemblies like Under frames, Side walls, Shell, Bogie frame etc are also being covered under kit formation.
· Supply & Apply contracts:
MCF Raebareli has also started placing supply and apply contracts for painting of coaches which has enabled us to reduce the cost and cycle time of painting of coaches.
· Turn-Key contracts:
Complete furnishing activities including supply of material for Humsafar, Deendayalu and Antodaya type of coaches is being ensured through turn-key contracts. This has increased productivity manifold and as a result, our production has been increased significantly.
· Make in India:
Indigenous sources have been developed for Springs, RMB items, Dampers etc. to promote Make in India policy.
· Vendor Meets:
Vendors are integral part of supply chain. Regular vendor meets are organised for development of sources of supply and to enhance the vendor base. MCF also participates in vendor meet organized by State Govts., Ministry of MSME, Industry Associations etc. It helps in development of local vendors around MCF.
Road Ahead:
MCF aims to augment coach production capacity to 2000 and upto 5000 per year along with its foray into coach manufacturing of Smart LHB, Metro, MEMU, Aluminium, Bullet/high speed coaches; an efficient, effective and vibrant materials management system is key to its success. Materials Management department in MCF is always ahead in meeting with all new challenges including Industry 4.0.
It is not the end, we take the challenges.