Question : ORDNANCE FACTORIES

(a) the number of Ordnance Factories manu- facturing defence equipment in the country along with the estimated actual capacity of production, State / UT-wise;

(b) whether the said factories have conform to the laid down specifications and quality stan- dards during manufacturing / production of defence equipment;

(c) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;

(d) whether the Government has returned a number of defective defence equipment to some of the said Ordnance Factories during each of the last three years, if so, the details thereof, Factory-wise and the reasons therefor along with the worth of such returned equipment;

(e) whether the Government has conducted any enquiry in this regard, if so, the outcome of such enquiry and if not, the reasons therefor; and

(f) the other steps taken / being taken by the Gove- rnment for strict compliance of quality standards by the Ordnance Factories during manufacturing / produ- cing defence equipment?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE (RAO INDERJIT SINGH)

(a) There are 39 Ordnance Factories manufacturing Defence equipments. In addition, 2 factories are at project stage (one at Korwa, UP and another at Nalanda, Bihar).

Ordnance Factories manufacture a range of products and the manufacturing capacity created in different Ordnance Factories is interchangeable for similar kind of products to cater for the variable demand projected by the indenters in different years. Accordingly the manufacturing capacity for a specific product cannot be expressed as a fixed quantity. It may also not be prudent to divulge the information on production capacity in Ordnance Factories from a national security point of view. The List of Ordnance Factories, State/UT wise, along with their major products is enclosed as Annexure –I.

(b) Yes, Madam.

(c) Ordnance Factories have ISO 9000 certified Quality Management System (QMS) as well as Nati- onal Accreditation Board for Laboratories (NABL) accredited Labs. Items manufactured in Ordnance Factories are inspected by Quality Control wing of concerned Ordnance Factory during manufactu- ring process; besides there is surveillance audit and Final Acceptance Inspection (FAI) by Direc- torate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA) as second party Quality Assurance agency. Only the products conforming to laid down specifications are issued to the User.

(d) There is no return of defective defence equi- pment to Ordnance Factories from the User during the last three years.

(e) Does not arise in view of reply to (d) ab above.

(f) Government has taken various steps for further improving upon the quality systems in Ordnance Factories. Some of the major steps are:-

(i) Exclusive Quality Control set up: Each Ordnance Factory has got exclusive Quality Control Department dedicated to look after all the Quality functions of the factory.

(ii) Audit of manufacturing process: At factory level, to check any deviation from the standards, process audits are carried out on a regular basis by factory, Quality Audit Group (QAG) of Ordnance Factories and surveillance audit by DGQA.

(iii) Quality Review Meetings: Quality Review Meetings are being organized every month in all the Ordnance Factories along with the representatives of DGQA to review in process deviation, analyse the defects and improvements.

(iv) Introduction of NQDBMS (Networked Quality Data base Management System): For better communication & transparency, NQDBMS has been implemented in all Ord- nance Factories. Matters related to NQDBMS are revie- wed every month with local unit of DGQA at factory level.

(v) Customer feedback: Representatives from Factories visit the field units as well as users of all ranks from field units are also invited to visit the Fac- tories for feedbacks on the products supplied by OFB.