Episode
Varadarajan Balaraman: From Startup Chaos to a Well-Oiled Machine
- Published
- Sep 24, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2406
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Summary
What does it take to build a manufacturing operation from the ground up while also building the maintenance systems that keep it running? In this episode of Maintenance Manufacturing Insights, Martin Engster talks with Varadarajan “V” Balaraman, a site plant manager helping build a startup manufacturing operation within an established company. V shares why starting with new equipment does not mean maintenance can wait. New machines may have fewer breakdowns, but that can also mean the team has fewer chances to learn how the equipment will fail. His approach starts with vendor-recommended preventive maintenance, spare parts, and inspection routines. Then, as real-world failures happen, the team turns those problems into lessons. Martin and V discuss root cause analysis and the importance of looking beyond the immediate machine failure. V explains his approach using five areas: man, machine, method, material, and environment. Instead of simply fixing what broke, the goal is to understand why it happened and use that knowledge to improve the maintenance program. V also shares a real example involving a prop shaft balancing machine. A worn chuck was creating vibration that made good parts appear bad, resulting in scrap and repeated correction attempts. By digging into the measurement system and developing a monthly calibration process, the team was able to identify problems before they created larger production losses. Another example comes from V’s current plant, where glue repeatedly clogged a robotic spray system. After exploring the technical solutions available, V realized technology alone could not eliminate the problem. The answer was a better operating process, including flushing the system before production and whenever the line stopped. The lesson is simple: firs…