Women who assemble one pump every 20 seconds @ Kirloskar Plant:

6 Apr, 2013

By Sangeetha Kandavel & Mitul

Thakkar, ET Bureau

RV Raj Kuumar, head of the award-

winning Kirloskar pump factory in

Coimbatore where all manufacturing is

done by women, has many irons in the

fire. But these days, he devotes most of

his energy replacing the few men at the

plant with those from the opposite sex.

Including himself.

"I am trying to find a replacement for

myself," said Kuumar, 44, whose designation is 'divisional head-manufacturing'. He is among

the 20 men employed by Kirloskar at the plant—the others include two drivers, persons doing

the loading and unloading of stock, and some office staff.

Set up in 2011 by Kirloskar

Brothers

"Very soon you will see 100% women here,"

he said. "We are looking for women drivers

and conductors to ply our buses. We will be

putting out advertisements soon." He said

there are plans to buy fork lifts and other

similar contrivances for the loading and

unloading—they will be operated by women.

The men will be given jobs at other facilities.

The plant was set up in 2011 by the 125-

year-old Kirloskar Brothers as an "experiment" on a 4-acre plot at a cost of Rs 11 crore. It

now employs about 70 women who assemble one pump every 20 seconds.

Makes 20,000-25,000 pumps a month

Sanjay Kirloskar, chairman and MD of Kirloskar Brothers, said the plant makes 20,000-

25,000 pumps a month, and the quality of output is of such high standard that customers are

now specifically asking for pumps manufactured at the Coimbatore plant. Pumps made here

are exported to Nepal and South Africa.

"Even at home, it is the woman who decides

which pump to buy. They want a pump that

does not fail and is reliable," he said. "We know

if the pump fails, some lady in the house has to

go and fetch water. We told our ladies that if

you make anything that fails, someone like you

will have a problem."

Rejection rate is a miniscule 0.1%

The rejection rate at the Coimbatore plant, which

makes about 11 variants of domestic pumps and

five kinds of irrigation pumps priced from Rs

1,800 to Rs 5,000 each, is a miniscule 0.1%.

Kirloskar said in the past 20 months, only eight

pumps have had quality problems, helping the

plant win many awards, including the eighth

Kaizen Competition award from the Quality Circle

Forum of India. "Having women employees has

helped increase in productivity and also churned out good quality products. I am not saying

men don't do it, but women are always extra cautious," said Kuumar.

Most of the women are school dropouts

About 25 lakh mini-pumps are sold in India every year, of which 65% are made by

established players and the rest by the unorganised sector. The market leaders currently are

Kirloskar Brothers and Crompton Greaves.

Most of the women employed at the

Coimbatore plant are school dropouts and

aged between 18 and 24 years.

"While recruiting, the company asked us

whether we want to do study further. They

even insisted that we go and study," said L

Bhuvana, a supervisor. "But we wanted to

work." A Antoine Baskar, associate manager

of human resources, said recruits are sent for

a twomonth training to an Industrial Training Institute free of cost.

The plant has its own problems

"After that, we give them on-the-job training." M Shanthi, 23, said working at the plant has

improved her standing in society. "My landlord had some problem with the pump at our

house and I managed to set it right. He now

respects me much more after that." But the

plant has its own problems. The attrition

rate is about 15-20%, especially with the

earlier batches, and absenteeism is high.

"Women have to stay back at home if their

husbands or kids are not well," said

Kuumar, who pointed out that the rate of

attrition is falling and there is enough talent

coming in to replace those leaving. "In case

they get married they have to move to

other places. When you have women employees these things are unavoidable."