"Base for the achievement was made through 53 major process improvements in the assembly and rigorous training for our associates," says the Plant Head. The Coimbatore Plant has designed a dedicated skill matrix training program for its associates for internal skill development and for fulfilling the required competency.

It follows an on job skill development programme to develop the skill levels of the associates. "Also, we have trained our associates under the Skill Development Initiative (SDI) developed by Ministry of Labour & Employment under the MES framework."

Besides Skill, another S that is given immense importance at the KBL Coimbatore plant is Safety. "At KBL, safety is always at the top of every process. As an EHS certified company we follow the all three elements not only in the process but also till the completion of the final end product. It is noteworthy that, in the project Mahila Mission 20, we brought down the Risk level by RL6 to RL2 in six types of safety hazards."

With increasingly intense competition, quality plays a key role in differentiating manufacturers and their products in the market. While metrics like productivity and efficiency play a key role within a manufacturing organisation, what the customer values most is quality. But many times quality is sacrificed to cut costs or to ensure productivity. In this light, what is the KBL Coimbatore plant doing to build quality management within the manufacturing system?

"We strongly believe that productivity improvement can only be part of quality; in the sense that quality is inbuilt in man (woman in our case!) machine, material and method. At the same time, a customer focused approach driven by the top level is required to meet the basic needs in every aspect," Dr Raj Kuumar says.

According to Dr Raj Kuumar, to be successful in today's world, a plant head must focus on team building and training. "A plant head must motivate his team, delegate responsibilities and empower his associates. While there has to be monitoring and review of the work done on the shopfloor, the associates must be supported through out and they must see the plant head's involvement in all activities," he explains.

And how does he perceive the role of supply chain partners?" The supply chain has also played vital role behind the success of the project. We collaborate with them through regular meetings and training." 

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