Historically, a lot of manufacturing at Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd. used to happen at the Vikhroli campus in Mumbai. When Godrej Appliances shifted its refrigerator lines from the Vikhroli campus to Shirwal (Satara District) in 1996, it was quite a challenge.
Well, it was happening for the first time in the Group that two complete production lines were being shifted. So there was no past experience to rely on. Secondly, Shirwal is located about 50 km from Pune city and the land parcel itself was quite difficult. In fact, it was a barren land with rocky terrain on which the Godrej Appliances factory was created.
The Machinist recently visited this facility and also caught up with Hussain Shariyarr, Senior Vice President - Operations, Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd., Appliance Division, to understand this plant's journey. Shariyarr, who started his professionally journey with Godrej as a Graduate Engineer Trainee about 21 years back, has grown through the ranks.
Not only has he worked at various functions across different locations but also has had good international exposure. Currently, he is the manufacturing head for three plants, one in Shirwal and two in Mohali. Of course, the Shirwal plant is closer to his heart; he was the Plant Head here from 2008 to 2011.
"Well, it is only in the last two to three years that our factory has been talked about," he tells us. "But we are quite proud of this journey which includes remarkable milestones like becoming the first Green Co. "Platinum" rated factory in India. In achieving these milestones, we have realised that ‘Green makes good business sense," he says.
To start off, since it is located quite far from both Pune and Satara, the Shirwal plant has to be self sufficient even in terms of emergencies like water shortages, power cut offs and even labour issues. However, in preparedness to address these and similar such issues, the Plant has actually evolved into a fantastic manufacturing eco-system that is doing quite well on every front.
And it operates in a very competitive industry where on one hand you have new players entering the fray regularly while on the other hand the customers are both demanding as well as price sensitive. In fact, as Shariyarr points out, ‘Godrej Appliances is probably the only surviving ‘Indian' brand in this business'.
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Plant Data Company: Godrej & Boyce Mfg Co. Ltd, Appliances Division Location: Shirwal, Satara (Maharashtra) Area: Total - 2,20,000 sq m (55 acres); Built up - 43670 sq m (11 acres) Staff strength: Management staff - 119; Blue collared - 523 nos. Products manufactured: Refrigerators (Direct cool and Frost free), Washing machines, Split air conditioners and Chotukool Raw materials used: Steel, Plastics (PP+ABS+SAN), Isocynate, Isopentane, Iso-Butane and Propane Gas as refrigerant Manufacturing principle: Mass Production - Single piece flow manufacturing following Toyota production system (Lean and Green principle). Operational since: Shirwal plant started in 1996 with production of Washing machines. Expansion plans: Addition of vaccine refrigerator production line, doubling the current AC manufacturing capacity, one lakh sq ft central warehouse in the factory premises. Key supply chain partners Reliance, all major steel companies (Uttam Galva, Bhushan steel, POSCO, JSW), Supreme Petrochemicals, UGC Supply chain solution, Expanded Polymers, China - Hongri Electric Appliances, Xiamen Hualian Electronics, Panasonic Industrial solution - Thailand, DCM corporation - Korea, Mitsui & Co. Ltd - Japan Key markets Domestic: All segments Exports: Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Mauritius, Qatar, Bahrain and Afghanistan. |
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