mba documents in production

1. A STUDY ON JUST IN TIME LOGISTICS IN ERF INDUSTRY AT
MADURAI
CHAPTER – I
INTRODUCTION
DEFINITION:
Today in this new era, the basis of competition between the
industries is time-based. This means that the focus is on reducing lead time by
responding more quickly to customer demand for existing products. JIT II concept
- a supplier's representative works full-time in a customer firm while being paid by
the supplier. JIT II is based on customer-supplier concept and introduced by ERF
industry. The project is to study the effectiveness of JIT II in the purchasing,
logistics, concurrent engineering, inter-organizational relationships and other
business processes through case studies.
INTRODUCTION
Just-in-time (JIT) is easy to grasp conceptually, everything happens just-in-
time. For example consider my journey to work this morning, I could have left my
house, just-in-time to catch a bus to the train station, just-in-time to catch the
train, just-in-time to arrive at my office, just-in-time to pick up my lecture
notes, just-in-time to walk into this lecture theatre to start the lecture. Conceptually

2. there is no problem about this; however achieving it in practice is likely to be
difficult!
So too in a manufacturing operation component parts could conceptually
arrive just-in-time to be picked up by a worker and used. So we would at a stroke
eliminate any inventory of parts, they would simply arrive just-in-time! Similarly
we could produce finished goods just-in-time to be handed to a customer who
wants them. So, at a conceptual extreme, JIT has no need for inventory or stock,
either of raw materials or work in progress or finished goods.
Obviously any sensible person will appreciate that achieving the conceptual
extreme outlined above might well be difficult, or impossible, or extremely
expensive, in real-life. However that extreme does illustrate that, perhaps, we could
move an existing system towards a system with more of a JIT element than it
currently contains. For example, consider a manufacturing process - whilst we
might not be able to have a JIT process in terms of handing finished goods to
customers, so we would still need some inventory of finished goods, perhaps it
might be possible to arrange raw material deliveries so that, for example, materials
needed for one day's production arrive at the start of the day and are consumed
during the day - effectively reducing/eliminating raw material inventory.
Adopting a JIT system is also sometimes referred to as adopting a lean production
system.
JIT (also known as lean production or stockless production) should improve profits
and return on investment by reducing inventory levels (increasing the inventory
turnover rate), reducing variability, improving product quality, reducing production
and delivery lead times, and reducing other costs (such as those associated with
machine setup and equipment breakdown). In a JIT system, underutilized (excess)

3. capacity is used instead of buffer inventories to hedge against problems that may
arise.
JIT applies primarily to repetitive manufacturing processes in which the same
products and components are produced over and over again. The general idea is to
establish flow processes (even when the facility uses a jobbing or batch process
layout) by linking work centers so that there is an even, balanced flow of materials
throughout the entire production process, similar to that found in an assembly line.
To accomplish this, an attempt is made to reach the goals of driving all inventory
buffers toward zero and achieving the ideal lot size of one unit.
Just-in-Time originally encapsulated the logistics aspects of the Toyota Production
System. Our current view of what it should encapsulate incorporates some of the
principles of "leanness" because by itself and specifically detached from Kanban
and continuous improvement it begins to lose its meaning. Also to implement these
techniques without flexible, reliable processes and appropriate organization is
impossible. However at this point it begins to blur with agile manufacturing
principles. This section should therefore be read in conjunction with these others
and as a minimum JIT should include:
Strategic Capacity Management for example the use of multiple small
machines (rather than "efficient" expensive machines that have to be kept busy).
Group Technology (Also commonly called "Cellular" manufacturing). This is
based on the principle that segmented (possibly product focused) manufacture is
much simpler, with less interference of material flows, than factories where similar
processes are grouped together, such as heat treatment. This principle has also been
applied to other processes where natural groups are formed to perform a complete
process aligned to customer needs in manufacturing and other industries, and

4. "category management" in procurement. However we have shown in some
circumstances that the benefits of cellular manufacturing can be gained by creating
virtual cells (without moving the plant). (See Business Process Reengineering /
Organisational Redesign)
Production smoothing, avoids the problems associated with poor demand tracking
(See Demand Management) and unnecessary interference of the production
schedule. In a recent consultancy assignment we established that whilst customer
orders were highly volatile, the underlying demand was extremely stable. The
volatility downstream in the supply chain was in fact being artificially induced by
poor customer planning, resulting in late changes to the order schedule, to bring the
orders back in line with the very stable underlying demand! However many
companies experience cyclic or seasonal demand, where it is beneficial, and in
some cases vital, to flex or move resources to respond to fluctuating demand, the
alternative being to pre-build stock to a forecast to afford some production
smoothness, at some risk and tying up of capital. A refinement of this process is, in
addition, to use "Takt" times (See Previous Technique of the Week T021: "Takt
Time, Measuring Throughput Time") to set rates of production. I.e. the hourly rate
of demand from customers (as opposed to coarser units of time and uncorrupted by
planning parameters).
Leveled schedules, bring more stability and regular patterns of production (See
Previous Best Practice of the Week 005: Level Scheduling).
Labour balancing when used in conjunction with Takt time (Previous Best Practice
of the Week 046: "Using Takt Time to Manage Your Business") highlights process
/ line imbalance from the cycle time of one operation to the next and indicates the
need to balance the manning for each operation (and the opportunity to improve
the slowest to achieve balance). There are some dangers here in achieving balance.

5. (See the question at the end of this article.) This is the guiding principle of lean
manufacturing where the problem would be permanently solved as opposed to the
traditional approach of buffering the uncertainty with stock.
Set-up reduction, which is based on the principle that small is beautiful as far as
batch sizes are concerned and that what is required, is made that day without
inflating batch sizes. (In the article Previous Technique of the Week T019:
Avoiding Set Ups and Reducing Changeover Times (SMED) (and thereby
reducing batch sizes)) we show that there is in fact much more to this than the set-
up reduction techniques proposed by Shingo. But there are a number of techniques
available to do this stated by Shingo. His SMED techniques give rise to the
opportunity to reduce batch sizes by up to a factor of 50. It should be remembered
however that this should be applied to the bottleneck first and maybe even stop
there.
STANDARD WORKING.
Defined by the operator, not the industrial engineer, it is a prescribed sequence of
production steps done by one operatorand balanced to the required rate of demand.
It becomes the basis of understanding the job and therefore what can be improved.
VISUAL CONTROLS.
Characteristic of JIT factories are simple visible controls, held locally where they
are used to monitor key performance indicators and used as a spur to improvement.
This is a deliberate attempt to give eyeball control rather than the over-
sophistication provided by remote computer systems. Examples include:
Standard container sizes replacing irregular sizes such that stockholding is a simple
question of counting containers rather than the parts within them. The reorder point

6. in this case is a chalk mark on the wall rather than it being hidden in a computer
system and appearing on a reorder report the following morning.
The graphs of quality, productivity, safety and delivery performance updated daily
and discussed at the daily stand-up meeting.
A small segregation area for quality defects kept deliberately small to ensure that
problems are solved quickly and rejects are not allowed to accumulate.
The flip chart to write down today’s problems while they are still fresh.
Minimizing inventory, Minimizing Work in Process, and synchronizing production
by the use of replenishment systems such as Kanban. The principle of Kanban
operation is extremely simple but there are number detailed considerations to make
in design and implementation which are not trivial including:
 Positioning of buffers
 Buffer sizing
 Signaling mechanisms
 Prioritization of signal
OVERVIEW:
JIT is not a new concept. It has been part and parcel of the ERF rubber industry at
adopted approach for quite some time. It requires that equipment, resources and
labor are made available only in the amount required and at the time required to do
the job. It is based on producing only the necessary units in the necessary
quantities at the necessary time by bringing production rates exactly in line with
market demand. In short, JIT means making what the market wants, when it wants

7. it. JIT has been found to be so effective that it increases productivity, work
performance and product quality, while saving costs.
The corporate commitment to developing the internal structures and the customer
and supplier bases to support JIT manufacturing is the primary requirement for
developing a viable JIT system. To be able to establish a JIT manufacturing
system, every department should have some commitment to align with a common
goal. This goal must also be supported by the company's top management in order
to have resources and time allocated to developing the necessary systems and
procedures.
A significant financial commitment is necessary during the early stages of
development and implementation to change over to a JIT system. This system,
however, needs to be methodically developed on a scale that is within the
employer's means from both a financial and an applications standpoint. Ultimately,
the operation of a JIT system will require the unwavering support and commitment
of the entire company.
INDUSTRYPROFILE
ERF RUBBER INDUSTRY
INTRODUCTION TO THE INDUSTRY:
HISTORY OF RUBBER
Rubber is one of the most important products to come out of the rainforest.
Though indigenous rainforest dwellers of South America have been using rubber
for generations, it was not until 1839 that rubber had its first practical application
in the industrial world. In that year, Charles Goodyear accidentally dropped rubber
and sulfur on a hot stovetop, causing it to char like leather yet remain plastic and

8. elastic. Vulcanization, a refined version of this process, transformed the white sap
from the bark of the Hevea tree into an essential product for the industrial age.
With the invention of the automobile in the late 19th century, the rubber boom
began. As demand for rubber soared, small dumpy river towns like Manaus, Brazil,
were transformed overnight into bustling centers of commerce. Manaus, situated
on the Amazon where it is met by the Rio Negro, became the opulent heart of the
rubber trade. Within a few short years Manaus had Brazil's first telephone system,
16 miles of streetcar tracks, and an electric grid for a city of a million, though it
had a population of only 40,000. Vast fortunes were made by individuals, and
"flaunting wealth became sport. Rubber barons lit cigars with $100 bank notes and
slaked the thirst of their horses with silver buckets of chilled French champagne.
Their wives, disdainful of the muddy waters of the Amazon, sent linens to Portugal
to be laundered...They ate food imported from Europe...[and] in the wake of
opulent dinners, some costing as much as $100,000, men retired to any one of a
dozen elegant bordellos." The citizens of Manaus "were the highest per capita
consumers of diamonds in the world."
Rubber Plantation, Thailand
Rubber Plantation, Thailand

9. Rubber Plantation, Thailand
Rubber tapper Thailand
Rubber TapperThailand

10. Capacity of Rubber Collection
The opulence of the rubber barons could only be exceeded by their brutality.
Wild Hevea trees, like all primary rainforest trees, are widely dispersed, an
adaptation that protects species from the South American leaf blight which easily
spreads through and decimates plantations. Thus, to make a profit, the barons had
to acquire control over huge tracts of land. Most did so by by hiring their own
private armies to defend their claims, acquire new land, and capture native
laborers. Labor was always a problem, so barons got creative. One baron created a
stud farm, enslaving 600 Indian women whom he bred like cattle. Other barons

11. like Julio Cesar Arana simply used terror to acquire and hold on to Indian slaves.
Indians captured usually submitted because resistance only meant more suffering
for the families.
Young girls were sold as whores, while young men were bound, blindfolded,
and had their genitals blasted off. As the Indians died, production soared: in the 12
years that Arana operated on the Putumayo River in Colombia, the native
population fell from over 30,000 to less than 8,000 while he exported over 4,000
tons of rubber earning over $75 million. The only thing that stopped the holocaust
was the downfall of the Brazilian rubber market.
The Brazilian rubber market was crushed by the rapid development of the more
efficient rubber plantations of Southeast Asia. However, the prospects of
developing plantations did not begin on a high note. Rubber seeds, rich with oil
and latex, could not survive the long Atlantic journey from Brazil. Finally, in 1876,
an English planter, Henry Wickham, collected 70,000 seeds and shipped them to
England. This shipment remains "a source of controversy. Brazilians, conveniently
forgetting their entire agricultural economy is based on five imported plants—
African oil palm, coffee from Ethiopia, cacao from Colombia and Ecuador,
soybeans from China, and sugarcane from Southeast Asia—still speak of the
"rubber theft" as a moment of infamy. Wickham himself, in his memoirs, lent a
note of mystery to the deed, no doubt intending to elevate his own profile in the
eyes of his peers. In fact, all evidence suggests that the exportation was a
straightforward affair conducted in the open and actively facilitated by the
Brazilian authorities in Belèm." In either case, 2,800 of the seeds germinated and
were sent to Colombo, Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka). After several false starts,
including one by a planter in northern Borneo who felled his plantation after

12. finding no rubber balls hanging from the branches, the prospects were grim. One
major obstacle was that the success of tea (Ceylon) and coffee (Malaya) gave
planters no reason to try an untested crop.
Finally in 1895, Henry Ridley, head of Singapore's botanical garden, persuaded
two coffee growers to plant two acres (.8 ha) of Hevea trees. Twelve years later
more than 300,000 ha of rubber grew in plantations in Ceylon and Malaya. New
innovations increased efficiency, and production doubled every two years. Rubber
could be produced at only a fraction of the cost of collecting wild rubber in Brazil.
By 1910, Brazilian production had fallen 50 percent.
However the Second World War threatened to shift the rubber wealth. With
Japan occupying prime rubber-producing areas in Southeast Asia, the U.S. feared it
would run out of the vital material. Every tire, hose, seal, valve, and inch of wiring
required rubber. The Rubber Development Corporation, the chief overseer of
rubber acquisition, sought out other sources including establishing a rubber
program that sent intrepid explorers into the Amazon seeking rubber specimens
that would be used to produce high yields, superior products, and the possibility of
resistance against leaf blight. The ultimate goal of the program was to establish
rubber plantations close to home. In addition to searching the Amazon and
establishing experimental plantations in Latin America, the program came up with
some novel plans to produce rubber, including planting dandelions—their milky
sap a small, but useful source of rubber—in 41 states. Extensive work on synthetic
rubber yielded a product that, in time, economists predicted, would replace natural
rubber. By 1964 synthetic rubber made up 75 percent of the market.

13. However, the situation changed drastically with the OPEC oil embargo of 1973,
which doubled the price of synthetic rubber and made oil consumers more
conscious of their gas mileage. The concern over gas mileage brought an
unexpected threat to the synthetic market: the widespread adoption of the radial
tire. The radial tire replaced the simple bias tires (which had made up 90 percent of
the market only five years earlier) and within a few years virtually all cars were
rolling on radials. Synthetic rubber did not have the strength for radials; only
natural rubber could provide the required sturdiness. By 1993 natural rubber had
recaptured 39 percent of the domestic market. Today nearly 50 percent of every
auto tire and 100 percent of all aircraft tires are made of natural rubber. Of this
rubber, 85 percent is imported from Southeast Asia, meaning that the U.S. is highly
susceptible to disruptions caused by an embargo, or worse, the unintentional or
intentional introduction of leaf blight into plantations. None of the trees in
plantations across Southeast Asia has resistance to blight so "a single act of
biological terrorism, the systematic introduction of fungal spores so small as to be
readily concealed in a shoe, could wipe out the plantations, shutting down
production of natural rubber for at least a decade. It is difficult to think of any other
raw material that is as vital and vulnerable."
Pre-Columbian peoples of South and Central America used rubber for balls,
containers, and shoes and for waterproofing fabrics. Mentioned by Spanish and
Portuguese writers in the 16th cent., rubber did not attract the interest of Europeans
until reports about it were made (1736–51) to the French Academy of Sciences by
Charles de la Condamine and François Fresneau. Pioneer research in finding
rubber solvents and in waterproofing fabrics was done before 1800, but rubber was
used only for elastic bands and erasers, and these were made by cutting up pieces

14. imported from Brazil. Joseph Priestley is credited with the discovery c.1770 of its
use as an eraser, thus the name rubber.
The first rubber factory in the world was established near Paris in 1803, the first in
England by Thomas Hancock in 1820. Hancock devised the forerunner of the
masticator (the rollers through which the rubber is passed to partially break the
polymer chains), and in 1835 Edwin Chaffee, an American, patented a mixing mill
and a calender (a press for rolling the rubber into sheets).
In 1823, Charles Macintosh found a practical process for waterproofing fabrics,
and in 1839 Charles Goodyear discovered vulcanization, which revolutionized the
rubber industry. In the latter half of the 19th cent. the demand for rubber insulation
by the electrical industry and the invention of the pneumatic tire extended the
demand for rubber. In the 19th cent. wild rubber was harvested in South and
Central America and in Africa; most of it came from the Pará rubber tree of the
Amazon basin.
Despite Brazil's legal restrictions, seeds of the tree were smuggled to
England in 1876. The resultant seedlings were sent to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and later
to many tropical regions, especially the Malay area and Java and Sumatra,
beginning the enormous East Asian rubber industry. Here the plantations were so
carefully cultivated and managed that the relative importance of Amazon rubber
diminished. American rubber companies, as a step toward diminishing foreign
control of the supply, enlarged their plantation holdings in Liberia and in South
and Central America.
During World War I, Germany made a synthetic rubber, but it was too
expensive for peacetime use. In 1927 a less costly variety was invented, and in
1931 neoprene was made, both in the United States. German scientists developed
Buna rubber just prior to World War II. When importation of natural rubber from

15. the East Indies was cut off during World War II, the United States began large-
scale manufacture of synthetic rubber, concentrating on Buna S. Today synthetic
rubber accounts for about 60% of the world's rubber production.
Sources
The major commercial source of natural latex used to create rubber is the
Para rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis (Euphorbiaceae). This is largely because it

16. responds to wounding by producing more latex. In 1876, Henry Wickham gathered
thousands of seeds of this plant from Brazil, and they were germinated in Kew
Gardens, England. The seedlings were then sent to Colombo, Indonesia, Singapore,
and British Malaya. Malaya later became the biggest producer of rubber.
Other plants containing latex include figs (Ficus elastica), euphorbias, and the
common dandelion. Although these have not been major sources of
rubber, Germany attempted to use such sources during World War II when it was
cut off from rubber supplies. These attempts were later supplanted by the
development of synthetic rubber. Its density is about 920 kilograms/meter3.
Collection of rubber
A woman in Sri Lanka(Ceylon) in the process of harvesting rubber
In places like Kerala, where coconuts grow in abundance, half of a coconut shell is
used as a container to collect the latex. The shells are attached to the tree by a
short, sharp stick, and the latex drips down into it overnight. This usually produces
latex up to a level of half to three quarters of the shell. The latex from multiple

17. trees is then poured into flat pans, and this is mixed with formic acid, which serves
as a coagulant. After a few hours, the very wet sheets of rubber are wrung out by
putting them through a press, then sent to factories where vulcanization and further
processing is done.
Current sources of rubber
Today, Asia is the main source of natural rubber. Over half of the rubber
used today is synthetic, but several million tons of natural rubber are still produced
annually, and is still essential for some industries, including automotive and
military.
Hypoallergenic rubber can be made from guayule.
Natural rubber is often vulcanized, a process by which the rubber is heated
and sulfur, peroxide or bisphenol are added to improve resilience and elasticity,
and to prevent it from deteriorating. Vulcanization greatly improved the durability
and utility of rubber from the 1830s on. The successful development of
vulcanization is most closely associated with Charles Goodyear. Carbon black is
often used as an additive to rubber to improve its strength, especially in vehicle
tires.

19. HISTORY OF THE INDUSTRY:
In its native regions of Central America and South America, rubber has been
collected for a long time. The Mesoamerican civilizationsused rubber mostly from
the plant species known as Castilla elastica. The Ancient Mesoamericans had a
ball game using rubber balls, and a few Pre-Columbian rubber balls have been
found (always in sites that were flooded under fresh water), the earliest dating to
about 1600 B.C.E. According to Bernal Díaz del Castillo,
the Spanish conquistadores were so astounded by the vigorous bouncing of the
rubber balls of the Aztecs that they wondered if the balls were enchanted by evil
spirits. The Maya also made a type of temporary rubber shoe by dipping their feet
into a latex mixture.
Rubber was used in various other contexts as well, such as for strips to hold stone
and metal tools to wooden handles, and padding for the tool handles. While the
ancient Mesoamericans did not know about vulcanization, they developed organic
methods of processing the rubber with similar results, mixing the raw latex with
various saps and juices of other vines, particularly Ipomoea alba, a species of
morning glory. In Brazil, the natives understood the use of rubber to make water-
resistant cloth. One story says that the first European to return to Portugal from
Brazil with samples of such water-repellant, rubberized cloth so shocked people
that he was brought to court on the charge of witchcraft.
The first reference to rubber in England appears to be in 1770, when Joseph
Priestley observed that a piece of the material was extremely good for rubbing out
pencil marks on paper, hence the name "rubber." Around the same time, Edward

20. Nairne began selling cubes of natural rubber from his shop at 20 Cornhill
in London. The cubes, meant to be erasers, sold for the astonishingly high price of
three shillings per half-inch cube.
The para rubber tree initially grew in South America, where it was the main source
of the limited amount of latex rubber consumed during much of the nineteenth
century. About one hundred years ago, the Congo Free State in Africa was a
significant source of natural rubber latex, mostly gathered by forced labor. The
Congo Free State was forged and ruled as a personal colony by the Belgian King
Leopold II. Millions of Africans died there, as a result of lust for rubber and rubber
profits. After repeated efforts, rubber was successfully cultivated inSoutheast Asia,
where it is now widely grown.
In the mid-nineteenth century rubber was a novelty material, but it did not
find much application in the industrial world. It was used first as erasers, and then
as medical devices for connecting tubes and for inhaling medicinal gases. With the
discovery that rubber was soluble in ether, it found applications in waterproof
coatings, notably for shoes and soon after this, the rubberized Mackintosh coat
became very popular.
Nevertheless, most of these applications were in small volumes and the
material did not last long. The reason for this lack of serious applications was the
fact that the material was not durable, was sticky and often rotted and smelled bad
because it remained in its uncured state.
Chemical and physical properties
Rubber exhibits unique physical and chemical properties.
Aside from a few natural product impurities, natural rubber is essentially a
polymer of isoprene units, a hydrocarbon diene monomer. Synthetic rubber can be

21. made as a polymer of isoprene or various other monomers. Rubber is believed to
have been named by Joseph Priestley, who discovered in 1770 that dried latex
rubbed out pencil marks. The material properties of natural rubber make it
anelastomer and a thermoplastic.
Rubber's stress-strain behavior exhibits the Mullins effect, the Payne effect and is
often modeled as hyperelastic.
Why does rubber have elasticity?
In most elastic materials, such as metals used in springs, the elastic behavior
is caused by bond distortions. When stress is applied, bond lengths deviate from
the (minimum energy) equilibrium and strain energy is stored electrostatically.
Rubber is often assumed to behave in the same way, but it turns out this is a poor
description. Rubber is a curious material because, unlike metals, strain energy is
stored thermally, as well as electrostatically.
In its relaxed state rubber consists of long, coiled-up polymer chains that are
interlinked at a few points. Between a pair of links each monomer can rotate freely
about its neighbor. This gives each section of chain leeway to assume a large
number of geometries, like a very loose rope attached to a pair of fixed points. At
room temperature rubber stores enough kinetic energy so that each section of chain
oscillates chaotically, like the above piece of rope being shaken violently.
When rubber is stretched the "loose pieces of rope" are taut and thus no
longer able to oscillate. Their kinetic energy is given off as excess heat. Therefore,
the entropy decreases when going from the relaxed to the stretched state, and it
increases during relaxation. This change in entropy can also be explained by the
fact that a tight section of chain can fold in fewer ways (W) than a loose section of
chain, at a given temperature (nb. entropy is defined as S=k*ln(W)). Relaxation of

22. a stretched rubber band is thus driven by an increase in entropy, and the force
experienced is not electrostatic, rather it is a result of the thermal energy of the
material being converted to kinetic energy. Rubber relaxation is endothermic. The
material undergoes adiabatic cooling during contraction. This property of rubber
can easily be verified by holding a stretched rubber band to your lips and relaxing
it.
Stretching of a rubber band is in some ways equivalent to the compression of an
ideal gas, and relaxation in equivalent to its expansion. Note that a compressed gas
also exhibits "elastic" properties, for instance inside an inflated car tire. The fact
that stretching is equivalent to compression may seem somewhat counter-intuitive,
but it makes sense if rubber is viewed as a one-dimensional gas. Stretching reduces
the "space" available to each section of chain.
Vulcanization of rubber creates more disulfide bonds between chains so it
makes each free section of chain shorter. The result is that the chains tighten more
quickly for a given length of strain. This increases the elastic force constant and
makes rubber harder and less extendable.
When cooled below the glass transition temperature, the quasi-fluid chain
segments "freeze" into fixed geometries and the rubber abruptly loses its elastic
properties, though the process is reversible. This is a property it shares with most
elastomers. At very cold temperatures rubber is actually rather brittle; it will break
into shards when struck. This critical temperature is the reason that winter tires use
a softer version of rubber than normal tires. The failing rubber seals that
contributed to the cause of the space shuttle Challengerdisaster were thought to
have cooled below their critical temperature. The disaster happened on an
unusually cold day.

23. Synthetic rubber
Synthetic rubber is made through the polymerization of a variety of
monomers to produce polymers. These form part of a broad study covered by
polymer science and rubber technology. Its scientific name is polyisoprene.
Synthetic rubber is any type of artificially made polymeric material that acts
as an elastomer. An elastomer is a material with the mechanical (or material)
property that it can undergo much more elastic deformation under stress than most
materials and still return to its previous size without permanent deformation.
Synthetic rubber serves as a substitute for natural rubber in many cases, especially
when improved material properties are needed.
Natural rubber coming from latex is mostly polymerized isoprene with a
small percentage of impurities in it. This will limit the range of properties available
to it. Also, there are limitations on the proportions of cis and trans double bonds
resulting from methods of polymerizing natural latex. This also limits the range of
properties available to natural rubber, although addition of sulfur and vulcanization
are used to improve the properties.
However, synthetic rubber can be made from the polymerization of a variety
of monomers including isoprene (2-methyl-1,3-butadiene), 1,3-butadiene,
chloroprene (2-chloro-1,3-butadiene), and isobutylene (methylpropene) with a
small percentage of isoprene for cross-linking. Furthermore, these and other
monomers can be mixed in various desirable proportions to be copolymerized for a
wide range of physical, mechanical, and chemical properties. The monomers can
be produced pure and addition of impurities or additives can be controlled by
design to give optimal properties. Polymerization of pure monomers can be better
controlled to give a desired proportion ofcis and trans double bonds.

24. An urgent need for synthetic rubber that is derived from widely distributed
feedstocks grew out of the expanded use of motor vehicles, and particularly motor
vehicle tires, starting in the 1890s. Political problems that resulted from great
fluctuations in the cost of natural rubber led to enactment of the Stevenson Act in
1921. This act essentially created a cartel which supported rubber prices by
regulating production (see OPEC). By 1925 the price of natural rubber had
increased to the point that companies such as DuPont were exploring methods of
producing synthetic rubber to compete with natural rubber. In the case of Dupont
the effort lead to the discovery of Neoprene which is a synthetic rubber that is too
expensive to be used in tires, but has some very desirable properties that make it
possible to use rubber in applications that would be unsuitable for natural rubber.
Vulcanization
Vulcanization, or curing of rubber, is a chemical process in which
individual polymer molecules are linked to other polymer molecules by atomic
bridges. The end result is that the springy rubber molecules become cross-linked to
a greater or lesser extent. This makes the bulk material harder, much more durable
and also more resistant to chemical attack. It also makes the surface of the material
smoother and prevents it from sticking to metal or plastic chemical catalysts. This
heavily cross-linked polymer has strong covalent bonds, with strong forces
between the chains, and is therefore an insoluble and infusible, thermosetting
polymer or thermoset. The process is named after Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.
Reason for vulcanizing
Uncured natural rubber will begin to deteriorate within a few days, gradually
breaking down into a wet crumbly mess. The process of perishing partly consists
of proteins being broken down (much as milk proteins do) and also of the large

25. rubber molecules breaking up as they oxidize in the air due to oxygen molecules
attacking the double bonds.
Rubber that has been inadequately vulcanized also may perish, but more
slowly. The process of perishing is encouraged by long exposure to sunlight, and
especially to ultraviolet radiation.
Description
Vulcanization is generally considered to be an irreversible process (see
below), similar to other thermosets and must be contrasted strongly with
thermoplastic processes (the melt-freeze process) which characterize the behavior
of most modern polymers. This irreversible cure reaction defines cured rubber
compounds as thermoset materials, which do not melt on heating, and places them
outside the class of thermoplastic materials (like polyethylene and polypropylene).
This is a fundamental difference between rubbers and thermoplastics, and sets the
conditions for their applications in the real world, their costs, and the economics of
their supply and demand.
Usually, the actual chemical cross-linking is done with sulfur, but there are
other technologies, including peroxide-based systems. The combined cure package
in a typical rubber compound comprises the cure agent itself, (sulfur or peroxide),
together with accelerators and retarding agents.
Along the rubber molecule, there are a number of sites which are attractive
to sulfur atoms. These are called cure sites. During vulcanization the eight-
membered ring of sulfur breaks down in smaller parts with varying numbers
of sulfur atoms. These parts are quite reactive. At each cure site on the rubber
molecule, one or more sulfur atoms can attach, and from there a sulfur chain can
grow until it eventually reaches a cure site on another rubber molecule. These

26. sulfur bridges are typically between two and ten atoms long. Contrast this with
typical polymer molecules in which the carbon backbone is many thousands of
atomic units in length. The number of sulfur atoms in a sulfur crosslink has a
strong influence on the physical properties of the final rubber article. Short sulfur
crosslinks, with just one or two sulfur atoms in the crosslink, give the rubber a very
good heat resistance. Crosslinks with higher number of sulfur atoms, up to six or
seven, give the rubber very good dynamic properties but with lesser heat
resistance. Dynamic properties are important for flexing movements of the rubber
article, e.g., the movement of a side-wall of a running tire. Without good flexing
properties these movements will rapidly lead to formation of cracks and,
ultimately, to failure of the rubber article. It is very flexible and water resistant.
NATURAL RUBBER
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, as initially produced,
consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of
other organic compounds plus water. Malaysia is one of the a leading producers of
rubber. Forms of polyisoprene that are used as natural rubbers are classified
as elastomers. Natural rubber is used by many manufacturing companies for the
production of rubber products. Currently, rubber is harvested mainly in the form of
the latex from the para rubber tree or others. The latex is a sticky,
milky colloiddrawn off by making incisions into the bark and collecting the fluid in
vessels in a process called "tapping". The latex then is refined into rubber ready for
commercial processing. Natural rubber is used extensively in many applications

27. and products, either alone or in combination with other materials. In major areas
latex is allowed to coagulate in the collection cup. The coagulated lumps are
collected and processed in to dry forms for marketing. In most of its useful forms,
it has a large stretch ratio and high resilience, and is extremely waterproof.
Natural Rubber is produced from the crop harvested from rubber plantations both
in the latex form as well as in the field coagulam form. Latex is a milky white
dispersion of rubber in water and field coagulam is the auto coagulated latex on the
tapping panel (tree lace) and the collection cups (shell scrap and cuplumps). Both
the latex and field coagulam harvested from rubber plantations being highly
susceptible to degradation by contamination on keeping, have to be processed into
marketable forms that will allow safe storage and marketing. The most important
forms in which natural rubber is processed and marketed are Sheets (RSS1 to

28. RSS5), Crepes (Pale Latex Crepes; Estae Brown Crepes; Thin Brown Crepes;
Thick Blanket Crepes; Flat Bark Crepes; Pure Smoked Blanket SaTistics Indian
Rubber Industry Natural Rubber crepe), Block rubber, Technically specified
(SMR, SIR, STR, ISNR), Preserved latex concentrates. Among these forms/types,
the first three are in the dry form and almost 90% of the total natural rubber
produced in the world is at present marketed in these 3 forms. Sheet rubber and
block rubber are the dominant types of dry natural rubber available in the world
market and this dominance reduced the number of grades used in any volume to
the 10-15 within these types. In 1909, a team headed by Fritz Hofmann, working at
the Bayer laboratory in Elberfeld, Germany, succeeded in polymerizing methyl
isoprene, thereby creating the first synthetic rubber. The first rubber polymer
synthesized from butadiene was created by Sergei Vasiljevich Lebedev in 1910.. In
1935, German chemists synthesized the first of a series of synthetic rubbers known
as Buna rubbers. These were copolymers, meaning the polymers were made up
from two monomers in alternating sequence. One such Buna rubber, known as
GRS (Government Rubber Styrene), is a copolymer of butadiene and styrene, was
the basis for U.S.
Use
Compared to vulcanized rubber, uncured rubber has relatively few uses. It is
used for cements; for adhesive, insulating, and friction tapes; and for crepe rubber
used in insulating blankets and footwear. Vulcanized rubber, on the other hand, has
numerous applications. Resistance to abrasion makes softer kinds of rubber
valuable for the treads of vehicle tires and conveyor belts, and makes hard rubber
valuable for pump housings and piping used in the handling of abrasive sludge.
The flexibility of rubber is often used in hoses, tires, and rollers for a wide
variety of devices ranging from domestic clothes wringers to printing presses; its

29. elasticity makes it suitable for various kinds of shock absorbers and for specialized
machinery mountings designed to reduce vibration. Being relatively impermeable
to gases, rubber is useful in the manufacture of articles such as air hoses, balloons,
balls, and cushions. The resistance of rubber to water and to the action of most
fluid chemicals has led to its use in rainwear, diving gear, and chemical and
medicinal tubing, and as a lining for storage tanks, processing equipment, and
railroad tank cars. Because of their electrical resistance, soft rubber goods are used
as insulation and for protective gloves, shoes, and blankets; hard rubber is used for
articles such as telephone housings, parts for radio sets, meters, and other electrical
instruments. The coefficient of friction of rubber, which is high on dry surfaces and
low on wet surfaces, leads to the use of rubber both for power-transmission belting
and for water-lubricated bearings in deep-well pumps.
Problems in Natural Rubber
In recent years, natural rubber production in India is facing sharp decline.
Currently, India is world’s fifth largest natural rubber producer and fourth largest
consumer behind China, the US and Japan. In 2012, however, India was on 4th
rank after Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. Before that India ranked third on the
production table after Thailand and Indonesia. The major reason for fall in
production includes:
A serious fall in the productivity per hectare of rubber
Constant fall in prices of natural rubber, coupled with high labour cost has forced
many of the growers (75 per cent small and marginal farmers) to keep away from
tapping
Further, this industry is marred by several problems such as:

30. Conflict of interests of Rubber Growers and Tyre Companies. The unrestricted
massive imports by larger tyre companies pushed down domestic demand;
however at the same time; MSME and other small industries which depend on
domestic supply of natural rubber demand for urgent measures.
Other reasons including high input costs; bizarre duty structure, cheap imports and
signing of Free Trade Agreements with countries from which import of finished
rubber products to India is encouraged.
The trees will drip latex for about four hours, stopping as latex coagulates naturally
on the tapping cut, thus blocking the latex tubes in the bark. Tappers usually rest
and have a meal after finishing their tapping work, then start collecting the liquid
"field latex" at about midday. Some trees will continue to drip after the collection
and this leads to a small amount of "cup lump" which is collected at the next
tapping. The latex that coagulates on the cut is also collected as "tree lace". Tree
lace and cup lump together account for 10–20% of the dry rubber produced. Latex
that drips onto the ground, "earth scrap", is also collected periodically for
processing of low-grade product.
Field coagula
Mixed field coagula.

31. Smallholder's lump at a remilling factory
There are four types of field coagula, "cuplump", "treelace", "smallholders’ lump"
and "earth scrap". Each has significantly different properties.[18]
Cup lump is the coagulated material found in the collection cup when the
tapper next visits the tree to tap it again. It arises from latex clinging to the walls of
the cup after the latex was last poured into the bucket, and from late-dripping latex
exuded before the latex-carrying vessels of the tree become blocked. It is of higher
purity and of greater value than the other three types.
Tree lace is the coagulum strip that the tapper peels off the previous cut
before making a new cut. It usually has higher copper and manganese contents
than cup lump. Both copper and manganese are pro-oxidants and can lower the
physical properties of the dry rubber.
Smallholders’ lump is produced by smallholders who collect rubber from
trees far away from the nearest factory. Many Indonesian smallholders, who farm
paddies in remote areas, tap dispersed trees on their way to work in the paddy
fields and collect the latex (or the coagulated latex) on their way home. As it is
often impossible to preserve the latex sufficiently to get it to a factory that
processes latex in time for it to be used to make high quality products, and as the
latex would anyway have coagulated by the time it reached the factory, the
smallholder will coagulate it by any means available, in any container available.

32. Some smallholders use small containers, buckets etc., but often the latex is
coagulated in holes in the ground, which are usually lined with plastic sheeting.
Acidic materials and fermented fruit juices are used to coagulate the latex — a
form of assisted biological coagulation. Little care is taken to exclude twigs,
leaves, and even bark from the lumps that are formed, which may also include tree
lace collected by the smallholder.
Earth scrap is the material that gathers around the base of the tree. It arises
from latex overflowing from the cut and running down the bark of the tree, from
rain flooding a collection cup containing latex, and from spillage from tappers’
buckets during collection. It contains soil and other contaminants, and has variable
rubber content, depending on the amount of contaminants mixed with it. Earth
scrap is collected by the field workers two or three times a year and may be
cleaned in a scrap-washer to recover the rubber, or sold off to a contractor who will
clean it and recover the rubber. It is of very low quality and under no
circumstances should it be included in block rubber or brown crepe.
Processing
Removing coagulum from coagulating troughs.
The latex will coagulate in the cups if kept for long. The latex has to be
collected before coagulation. The collected latex, "field latex", is transferred into
coagulation tanks for the preparation of dry rubber or transferred into air-tight

33. containers with sieving for ammoniation. Ammoniation is necessary to preserve
the latex in a colloidal state for longer periods of time.
Latex is generally processed into either latex concentrate for manufacture of
dipped goods or it can be coagulated under controlled, clean conditions using
formic acid. The coagulated latex can then be processed into the higher-grade,
technically specified block rubbers suchas SVR 3L or SVR CV or used to produce
Ribbed Smoke Sheet grades.
Naturally coagulated rubber (cup lump) is used in the manufacture of TSR10 and
TSR20 grade rubbers. The processing of the rubber for these grades is a size
reduction and cleaning process to remove contamination and prepare the material
for the final stage of drying.
The dried material is then baled and palletized for storage and shipment in various
methods of transportation.
Transportation
Natural rubber latex is shipped from factories in south-west Asia, South
America, and North Africa to destinations around the world. As the cost of natural
rubber has risen significantly, the shipping methods which offer the lowest cost per
unit of weight are preferred. Depending on the destination, warehouse availability,
and transportation conditions, some methods are more suitable to certain buyers
than others. In international trade, latex rubber is mostly shipped in 20-foot ocean
containers. Inside the ocean container, various types of smaller containers are used
by factories to store latex rubber.
Terms of Reference
Consolidation of list of companies in the states of Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil
Nadu and Punjab with regard to tyre and non-tyre including specific sub-sectors:

34.  To analyse the entire sector and its characteristics in terms of available sub
sectors, contribution to the industry, demand and supply factors in terms of
employment.
 Manpower availability in the sector: Skills available Vs. Skills required
 The number of resources existing vs. required across all job roles in the
company across the selected states sub sector wise.
 Identifying gaps with regard to present quality of manpower across all job
roles in the companies across the selected states.
 Demographic trends of employment – employment concentration city wise
across the states.
 To understand the sub-sector wise current employment records both direct
and indirect jobs.
 To understand the interdependency and level of commonness in sub sectors
profiles and availability of cross functional workforce requirement in sub
sectors.
ii. Training capacity available in the selected states
 Number of students being trained by the available institutes and
infrastructure available with them.
 Gap analysis with respect to quality of manpower being trained and skills
required by the industry.
Overview:
The production of rubber and rubber products is a large and diverse industry.
Natural rubber, obtained from plantations in Africa and Asia, accounts for only
about 25% of the rubber used in industry. Synthetic alternatives, developed during
World War II, are the primary sources of raw materials today. Health hazards in
synthetic rubber production are primary related to exposure to monomers. An

35. excess incidence of leukemia has been observed in styrene/butadiene rubber
production, attributed to exposure to 1,3-butadiene. Excesses of cancer and
respiratory disease have been reported, although specific causative agents are
rarely identified. Exposures have varied greatly over the years, based on changes in
materials used, work practices, and ventilation. In modern industry, exposures to
noise, skin and respiratory irritants, and ergonomic stressors remain important. The
tire industry, in particular, has been studied extensively over the past 50 years.
Rubber industry is more than 100 years old. Industrial rubber industry is
dominated by one major product tires. Tires are used in large numbers on
bicycles, trucks, aircrafts, and automobiles. Automobile tires, inflatable rafts,
conveyor belts, rain coats and waterproof cloth tents are produced by
impregnating fabrics with rubber, using calendaring process. Molding is another
important process in the tire production. Tires are the principal product of
industrial rubber industry. It accounts for approximately three-fourth of total
rubber tonnage.
Production of rubber goods comprises of two stages- first stage is the
production of rubber, either by the natural rubber (which is an agricultural crop)
or from the petroleum products. Second stage is processing of the rubber so
produced into the finished goods form. Processing of rubber into the finished
goods like tires and other products is usually designated as rubber industry.
Synthetic rubbers are produced from petrochemicals by polymerization method.
Rapidly growing automotive sector in developing economies and increased
demand for high-performance tires, sealing products, and tire adhesive are
expected to contribute to the growth of the global industrial rubber market. As on
date, Asia Pacific is the largest producer and consumer of industrial rubber, with
its tire sector exhibiting promising growth rate. Manufacturers have shifted their

36. production facilities to emerging economies, due to the low labor and operating
costs.
In the industrial rubber industry, construction market is estimated to post the
strongest gain during the forecast period. Other construction-related products like
rubber roofing are projected to register the healthy growth. Mechanical goods is
expected to account for the largest share of total demand. Suppliers of hose and
belts will gain benefits from increased consumer demand of the durable goods,
particularly machinery and equipment.
Industrial Rubber Market: Drivers & Restraints
Growing automotive industry, rising construction output and manufacturing
activities are some of the key factors driving the growth of the industrial rubber
market.
Volatility of the oil prices, environmental concerns and associated government
regulations, limited number of suppliers and increasing threat from the substitutes
are probable factors negatively impacting the growth of the industrial rubber
market.
Industrial Rubber Market: Segmentation
The global industrial rubber market is broadly classified on the basis of
product type, market and geographies.
Based on product type, the global industrial rubber market is segmented into:
 Gaskets
 Hoses
 Conveyor belts
 Sealing products
 Footwear
Based on market, the global industrial rubber market is segmented into:
 Construction

37.  Manufacturing
 Aerospace
 Automotive
Industrial Rubber Market: Overview
With rising automotive sales, growing population, increasing disposable income
and rising urbanization the need for industrial rubber products are increasing. The
global industrial rubber market is expected to expand at a promising CAGR during
the forecast period (2015-2025).
Industrial Rubber Market: Region-wise Outlook
The global industrial rubber market is expected to register a double-digit CAGR
for the forecast period. Depending on geographic regions, global industrial rubber
market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America,
Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa.
As of 2015, North America dominated the global industrial rubber market in terms
of market revenue followed by Europe. Asia Pacific & Japan are projected to
expand at a substantial growth and will contribute to the global industrial rubber
market value exhibiting a robust CAGR during the forecast period 2015.
Industrial Rubber Market: Key Players
Some of the key market participants in global industrial rubber market are
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, Greenville Industrial Rubber & Gasket Co,
Industrial Rubber & Gasket Inc, Continental AG, Bridgestone Corp, Yokohama
Rubber Company Ltd, Toyo Tire and Rubber Co. Ltd.
The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and
contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and
industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of
assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and

38. information according to categories such as market segments, geographies, types
and applications.
The report covers exhaustive analysis on:
 Market Segments
 Market Dynamics
 Market Size
 Supply & Demand
 Current Trends/Issues/Challenges
 Competition & Companies involved
 Technology
 Value Chain
Regional analysis includes
 North America (U.S., Canada)
 Latin America (Mexico. Brazil)
 Western Europe (Germany, Italy, France, U.K, Spain, Nordic countries,
Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg)
 Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia)
 Asia Pacific (China, India, ASEAN, Australia & New Zealand)
 Japan
 Middle East and Africa (GCC, S. Africa, N. Africa)
The report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative
assessment by industry analysts, inputs from industry experts and industry
participants across the value chain. The report provides in-depth analysis of parent
market trends, macro-economic indicators and governing factors along with
market attractiveness as per segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact
of various market factors on market segments and geographies.
Report Highlights:

39.  Detailed overview of parent market
 Changing market dynamics in the industry
 In-depth market segmentation
 Historical, current and projected market size in terms of volume and value
 Recent industry trends and developments
 Competitive landscape
 Strategies of key players and products offered
 Potential and niche segments, geographical regions exhibiting promising growth
 A neutral perspective on market performance
 Must-have information for market players to sustain and enhance their market
footprint.
COMPANY PROFILE:
Company Profile of Emirates Rubber Factory- Founder of R.
Elayaperumal and CEO - E. Flora Emirates Rubber Factory. The company
Establishment in 2001.This is an unique and specialized factory to fight against
nation threat about enormous heterogeneous waste of tyres. Billions of used tyres
now reside in landfills and illegal dumps causing pollution from release of toxic
chemical which is hazardous to human beings. ERF is recycling used tyres, which
have become a huge, accumulated waste and we help the Government and the
environment by converting this enormous waste into reusable material. Our raw
material and out put is only tyres and we shred these used whole tyres into tire
granulate and crumb rubber (Powder).
Our company is now ready to become a major force for friendly
environment in the global rubber industry. We are the authorized contractor of
RAK Municipality for their dump yard of tyres. Hopefully, our company will be

40. accredited as GREEN INDUSTRY BY UAE Government as our goal is to reduce
the pollution of the environment. ERF is equipped with the State of art machinery
to shred and produce rubber crumb of 7000 MT per annum.
Welcome to ERF Rubber, a market leader in manufacturing world-class rubber
products and moulded rubber components. For more than four decades, we have
served a large number of reputed clients from automotive, engineering, chemical,
healthcare and other industrial segments and gained in valuable experience. We
remain dedicated to our long-standing mission of delivering high-quality products
on time and at a competitive price.
The company makes use of leading-edge technology to manufacture a wide
range of products such as O-rings, hydraulic & pneumatic seals, gaskets,
grommets, bushes, bellows, flat washers, s olid tyres, b oots, d iaphragms, aprons,
cots etc. in Nitrile, Polyurethane, Viton, Silicon, Neoprene, EPDM and other
polymers as required by our clients. We also manufacture rubber products and
components as per client specifications.
ERF Rubber Industries became functional under the able leadership of Mr.
K.L. Jain. Production started in a small, rented place with a workforce of only five
people. A period of rapid growth followed and within a short span, the company
expanded manifold in all aspects. At present, a team of more than 30 highly-skilled
professionals work dedicatedly to meet the stringent norms set by the company in
accordance with the requirements of our valued clients.
The high-precision, international-quality rubber products and efficacious
services of ERF have helped us build an impressive client base across the country.
We have carved a niche in the global market as well, working in tandem with

41. reputed export houses and catering to the quality-conscious markets of Europe and
the USA. The company is also exploring new markets worldwide in order to
expand its business prospects further.
VISION AND MISSION:
VISION
• To work as a team and provide a encouraging working environment.
• To provide high quality products that combine performance with value
pricing, while establishing a successful relationship with our customers and
our suppliers.
MISSION
• To stay ahead of the competition by continuous improvement in our services.
• Super Springs values its employees, suppliers and its customers and is
committed to cultivate an environment of mutual trust and respect and to
provide necessary resources to achieve its goals

42. ERF LIMITED PROFILE:
Corporate Identification Number : U17111TZ2001PTC013446
Company Name: ERF Rubber Industry
Company Status: Active
ROC: ROC- madurai
Registration Number: 13446
Company Category: Company limited by Shares
Company Sub Category: Non-govt company
Class of Company: Private
Date of Incorporation: 01 September 2005
Age of Company: 13 years, 8 month
Activity: Rubber manufacturing
Company Founder R. Elayaperumal
Managing Director E.Flora
Total Employees 750
HR Manager D.Elayaraj

43. FUNCTIONAL DEPARTMENT:
1. Production Department
2. HR Department
3. Finance Department
4. Marketing Department
5. Sales Department
6. Purchasing Department
ORGANIZATIONAL CHART:
Board of directors
Managing
directors
General manager
Chief
production
manager
Purchase
Officer
Assistant
purchase
officer
Account
Officer
Management
represent
Store Keeper Time Officer
Accountclerk

44. PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT
Rubber is traditionally grown in India in the hinterlands of the South West
Coast comprising of the state of Kerala and adjoining Kanyakumari District of
Tamil Nadu (TN). Kerala is the single largest rubber producing state in India
accounting for 91 per cent of total NR production. Kerala and TN are considered to
be the traditional rubber growing regions in the country. In recent years, among
non-traditional region, Tripura and Assam have witnessed growing production of
NR.
The tract is now reaching a level of saturation for rubber cultivation and the scope
of further expansion of the crop is very much limited. Considering this fact, the
expansion of rubber cultivation, which is of prime importance for setting up rubber
production, has to take place mainly in non-traditional areas. Non-traditional areas
so far identified as almost fully or marginally suitable for rubber cultivation are
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, and lower reaches of hills of Meghalaya,
Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura excluding the other state of India.
Selectionin
charge QC
Selectionin
charge
furniture
Selectionin
charge saw
mill
Maintain
manager
Sales&
shipping
manager
Supervisors
Assistant
sales and
shipping
manager
Supervisors Supervisors
Workers Workers Workers

45. Although the North Eastern Region lies far outside the traditional rubber growing
zone, the agro-climatic conditions obtained here are unique in as much as near
tropical features are experienced in most parts owing to low elevations, exposure to
monsoons and other moderating influences. The positive results obtained from trial
plantations undertaken in early 1960s in the then undivided Assam and Tripura,
commercial scale plantations were raised by Government Forest and Soil
Conservation Departments. Public Sector Corporations set up later joined rubber
planting endeavours on extensive scales. Thus while in Assam and Tripura, Public
Sector Corporations are leading in the rubber plantation sector, in Meghalaya,
Manipur, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh the role has played by the State Forest
and Soil.
Production capacity:
The production capacity of rubber product is different in the different company.
Five major companies hold 50.4 % portion of total production and rest is held by
smaller companies.

46. Product innovation:
Rubber products is homogeneous product and there are only few uses of it. So
product innovation is not seen in it. Yet companies are trying to differentiate their
products with the rivals and for it they always trying for innovation.

47. Exposure Data
In the context of this Monograph, the rubber industry is restricted to the rubber-
manufacturing industry, including the production of tyres and general rubber goods
and the process of re-treading. The production of synthetic polymers in chemical
plants is not discussed.
1.1 Manufacturing process

48. Rubber manufacturing generally comprises the following operations: raw
materials handling, weighing and mixing; milling; extruding and calendering;
component assembly and building; ‘curing’ or vulcanizing; inspection and
finishing; storage and dispatch. A detailed description of these steps in the
production process can be found in IARC (1982). Although the stages described
below are applicable to the majority of rubber goods manufactured from solid
polymer, a substantial proportion of rubber production involves the use of liquid
latex. This applies to the manufacture of dipped rubber goods (such as rubber
gloves and some footwear), foam-latex products (such as mattresses, cushions,
etc.), and extruded thread products (such as elasticated fabrics and surgical hose).
1.1.1 Raw materials handling, weighing and mixing

49. All the materials required for the manufacture of the finished product are
assembled. The raw polymer, either natural or synthetic is brought together at this
stage with a variety of compounding chemical additives before being introduced
into a mixer. The extensive range of chemicals required and the volume of raw
material handled can give rise to substantial quantities of airborne dust.
1.1.2 Milling
From the mixer, the uncured rubber compound usually passes to one or more
milling machines, where it is thoroughly blended to ensure an even dispersion of
its chemical constituents. At this stage, considerable heat is generated, and,
although many technical improvements have been introduced in recent years, the
job of mill operator still involves a considerable degree of physical exertion and
exposure to fumes arising from the heated compound.

50. 1.1.3 Extruding and calendaring
The extruders force the rubber compound through a die into various forms, which
are then cut to appropriate lengths. Strips of softened rubber compound are fed into
multiple-roll milling machines (calenders) to form rubber sheeting, or to apply the
rubber directly onto woven textile fabric, which can then be wound off onto a roll.
During such manufacturing operations, fumes are often generated.

51. 1.1.4 Component assembly and building
At this stage, solvents are frequently used, with the possibility of inhalation of
solvent vapours or of direct effects of the solvent on the skin of the operator.
1.1.5 Curing or vulcanizing
Heat is applied to the product, usually by use of steam, in a curing mould, press, or
autoclave. Operators working in the area are exposed both to heat from the presses
and to fumes from the heated rubber products. Chemical reactions take place
throughout the manufacturing process, and may give rise to new, more volatile
chemicals.
1.1.6 Inspection and finishing
This involves the handling of cured rubber products, often while still hot. It
usually involves direct and extensive skin-contact with the surface of the finished
article (during inspection) and may also involve exposure to vulcanizing fumes.
Grinding, trimming, repair, painting and cleaning may also entail exposure to
rubber dust, fumes and solvents.

52. 1.1.7 Storage and dispatch
Large quantities of stored rubber goods may release considerable amounts of toxic
substances, either as vapours or as constituents of the ‘bloom’ on the surface of
finished goods.
1.2 Chemicals used in the rubber production process
A wide variety of natural or synthetic elastomers, fillers (e.g. carbon black,
precipitated silica or silicates) and additives are used in compounding to create the
necessary properties of the final rubber product. The actual chemicals used in this
process have changed over time and vary extensively depending on the

53. manufacturing sector (e.g. tyres, general rubber goods, re-treading), and on the
specific plant. Compounding ingredients are classified as vulcanising agents (e.g.
elemental sulfur, sulfur donors such as organic disulphides and higher sulphides,
peroxides, urethane crosslinking agents); vulcanization accelerators (e.g.
sulphenamides, thiazoles, guanidines, thiurams, dithiocarbamates,
dithiophosphates, and miscellaneous accelerators such as zinc isopropyl xanthate
and ethylene thiourea); vulcanization activators (e.g. zinc oxide, magnesium oxide,
lead oxide); retarders and inhibitors of vulcanization (e.g. benzoic acid, salicylic
acid, phthalic anhydride, N-nitrosodiphenylamine (NDPA), N-
(cyclohexylthio)phthalimide); antidegradants; antioxidants (e.g. phenolics,
phosphites, thioesters, amines, bound antioxidants such as quinone-diimines,
miscellaneous antioxidants such as zinc and nickel salts of dithiocarbamates);
antiozonants (e.g. para-phenylenediamines, triazine derivatives, waxes); anti-
reversion agents (e.g. zinc carboxylates, thiophosphoryl derivatives, silane
coupling agents, sulphenimide accelerator, hexamethylene-1,6-bis thiosulphate
disodium dehydrate, and 1,3-bis(citranimidomethyl) benzene); plasticisers and
softeners (e.g. petroleum products such as petroleum waxes and mineral oils, coal-
tar products such as coumarone resin, pine products, synthetic softeners, and other
products such as vegetable oils and fats); and miscellaneous ingredients (such as
peptising agents, blowing agents, bonding agents, and pigments)

54. The important development schemes and activities undertaken through the
Department are the following:
1. Rubber Plantation Development Scheme.
2. Production and distribution of improved planting materials.
3. Advisory and extension services to growers.
4. Demonstration of scientific planting and production.
5. Supplies of equipment and materials requiring popularisation.
6. Identification of non-traditional areas suitable for rubber and planning and
undertaking activities for its promotion in such areas.
Schemes for productivity enhancement in small holdings
7. Schemes for improvement of quality of small holder rubber.
Schemes for extra income generation form rubber plantations -
Apiculture

55. 8. Block planting, group planting etc. for promotion of rubber among
scheduled caste/scheduled tribe members.
9. Promotion of activities of voluntary associations (Rubber Producers'
Societies) and self help groups among small growers.
10.Training of tappers.

56. HR Department
A study on Human Resources Management was made in small and medium
industries located in Ambattur industrial estate in Madurai city, India. The outcome
of the study indicates that the majority of the units do not have any human resource
policy in place. However they pursue same human resources practices like
recruitment, selection, training, performance appraisal, compensation, grievance
redressal and so on in a haphazard and arbitrary fashion. This paper suggests
professional approach to various dimensions of human resource management in the
light of various constraints the small and medium units encounter.
ERF is one of the most exciting integrated Rubber Industry to work with in this
part of the world. The HR policies at ERF revolve around the basic tenet of
creating a highly motivated, vibrant & self-driven team. The Company cares for
each & every employee and has in-built systems to recognize and reward them
periodically.

57. Our work philosophy recognizes and encourages performance and we constantly
strive to maintain a climate that nurtures ability and provides all round
development of our employees - one in which they can grow and flourish.
The consolidated human resource policy focuses on selecting candidates with the
right talent, capabilities and aptitudes from all sources - through campus placement
programs and off-campus initiatives throughout the year at various locations. We
also recruit experienced professionals from the industry at various mid-level and
senior positions
We focus on induction, structured on the job training, developing and utilizing the
full potential of recruits, clarifying expectations through job descriptions,
education and development efforts. The skills and key competencies required for
all positions of responsibility have been defined and these form the basis for
advancement to higher positions.
Managers and supervisors constantly strive to achieve the highest standards of
professional excellence and integrity. They encourage and motivate employees.
Periodic employee satisfaction surveys are carried out on the basis of which, areas
of strength are reinforced and those of concern, are addressed.
HML also has the tremendous advantage of support from the RPG Group's HR
department. Catering as it does to the needs of several thousand employees across
several diverse industries, the RPG Group HR department encourages learning and
development through:
1. Leadership Development Program designed in association with some of the
best

58. Management institutes in the world Like IIM (Banglore),IIM (Calicut),IIM
(Ahmedabad)
2. Development Centers that map competencies and identify development
needs
3. Freedom to identify your own training and development needs
4. Development Action Plans for Managers to bring cutting edge proficiency
levels in managerial competencies
5. Rigorous cross-functional task force assignments to crack business
challenges
The company believes in the overall development of the individual. ERF has
always attracted young talent and advanced the best performers. The fact that most
of the leaders of this industry in this part of the country been groomed and nurtured
by the company stands testimony to this.
We’re proud of the way we inspire people — to do more, to be more and to pursue
professional fulfillment. There are countless opportunities to steer your career in
the direction that suits your lifestyle, whether that’s moving into a different
department, growing into a leadership role or finding your calling.
Endless challenges and rewards. Opportunities on six continents. A team of
colleagues fueled by collaboration. All this, and a company deeply committed to
integrity and responsibility.
At ERF, our team members never stop learning and growing. We encourage
professional and personal development so much that we've created an entire
working culture around it. Team members at ERF can expect a vast array of

59. programs to increase skills in their current role and develop leadership skills that
can make a significant impact on their career.
Structure of HR department
MD
GM
APO
TIME OFFICER
COMPUTER
PROGRAMMER
STENO

60. MARKETING DEPARTMENT:
Marketing is the human activity directed at satisfying the need and wants through
an exchange process. In ERF the entire range of products is marketed by ERF sales
international limited. The RSIL formulates market strategies for both domestic and
international markets. The marketing department is headed by marketing manager.
He is assisted by junior sales officer in kerala and by area sales manager in outside
kerala. The RSIL follows full cost pricing strategy to the product that is marked by
them.
FUNCTIONS OF MARKETING DEPARTMENT
JUNIOR CLERK
HEAD GUARD
SECURITY GUARD
RECEPTIONIST
DRIVER
ATTENDER
TYPIST

61.  Formulation of effective advertising strategies for winning the market.
 Conducting seminar/ exhibition For the purpose of launching new products
to the market and also make the people aware of their existing products
 Conducting retailers meet for the purpose of maintaining cordial
relationship between management and distributors.
 Conducting consumer survey for the purpose of collecting information
from customers for the further product development and evaluation of
existing position of product in the market.
 Formulations of sales strategies in order to achieve the target turn over.
 Orientation is given to dealer and distributors to make aware them about
the quality of products.
CHANNELS OF DISTRIBUTION
A channel of distribution is the path through which products move from
the place of production to the place of ultimate consumption. The company
distributes its products through dealers. The company has around 150 dealers
throughout India .
 ERF factory
 Dealers

62.  Customers
MARKET SEGMENTATION
A market consists of large number of buyers and they are widely
scattered. They are different in their wants, purchasing power, buying
attitude, buying practices etc…..therefore it is desirable to group the buyers
on the basis of location, income , education, age, sex etc….so as to enhance
the satisfaction of the customer and profit to the market.
This grouping of buyers is called market segmentation. ERF haut Rubber
follows geographical segmentation .it is divided in it two.
PROMOTIONAL TOOLS
Once the product is manufactured, price fixed and distribution channels
are selected, the next task is informing the prospective customer. The
customers of ERF are informed through the following tools:
 Advertising
 Dealers meet
 Carpenters meets
 Discounts, offers, gift packs during festival season.
 Sales man gift scheme.
ADVERTISMENT AND PUBLICITY

63. The major purpose of advertisement and publicity is to promote product
effectively through providing information to customers.
The advertisement methods followed by ERF are:
 Sales promotion
 Press media
 Visual/ electronic media
 Hoarding
 Exhibition
 Laminated boards
BRANDING OF PRODUCTS
Branding gives a name, sign, symbol, design or combination of so as all to
distinguish the products from other similar product. The products produced in
the company are sold under the brand name “ERF furniture” and “Rub wood
EGP board and beams ERF home series”
TRANSPORTATION
This is the physical movement of goods from one place to another.
Transportation function of ERF is undertaken by sales and shipping division.
The company usually uses the modes like train, road, and ship for the purpose
of transportation.
PRICING POLICY

64. Pricing policy provides the guidelines within which pricing strategy is
formulated and implemented. ERF follows cost based pricing policy. The
price of the product is computed by adding certain percentage of profit to the
cost of the product per unit.
DISCOUNTS
The company provides 2% trade discount on colonial furniture and panel
bards. If the per purchase value exceeds Rs 8 lakh then 10% discount is given.
MARKETING RESEARCH
Marketing research is concerned with obtaining information regarding
market.it is study of market its self. The marketing research is conducted by
the company regarding changes in price, quality, design, and customer
satisfaction level and after sales service etc
PACKING AND DISPATCHING

65. ERF haut only chairs are assembled and packed for selling, and items such as
tables and cots etc are just finished and packed. The products are named with
company name, brand name, brand mark and model number.
Dispatching is done according to the order. The goods are covered with p
form sheets and bubbles sheets and put it into card box for protection. The
company mainly exports products to UK, USA, JAPAN and GULF
COUNTRIES.
Market Promotion Department (MPD)
MPD is the designated authority to issue Registration cum Membership
Certificate (RCMC) for Natural Rubber. The functional arrangement of this
Department constitutes Market Intelligence Cell, Export Promotion Cell and
Domestic Promotion Cell. Collection, Compilation and dissemination of natural
rubber prices, undertaking promotional activities of NR by participating in
domestic and international trade fairs, providing financial assistance for
participation in trade fairs, promotion of Indian Natural Rubber logo, monitoring
export and import of NR etc. are the main functions of this Department. Detailed
functions and activities of this Department are given in this site (link - About us –
Market Promotion Department). This Department functions under the Dy. Director
(Marketing).
FINANCE AND ACCOUNTS (F&A) DEPARTMENT

66. The F&A Department headed by the Director (Finance) has eight divisions
viz; Finance and Accounts Division (Administration), Finance and Accounts
Division (Research), Finance and Accounts Division (P&PD), Finance and
Accounts Division (Rubber Production), Central Finance and Accounts Division,
Cost Accounts Division, Electronic Data Processing Division, and Internal Audit
Division. In addition, there are Accounts units that are functionally coordinated by
the Director (Finance) in the Rubber Promotion Division, Pilot Crumb Rubber
Factory, Excise Duty Division, Training Dept. and the Regional Offices. The
Department manages the Board's funds, budget and budgetary control,
maintenance of accounts of the Board, preparation of consolidated annual accounts
of the Board, co-ordination of audit by the Accountant General of Kerala, study of
financial aspects and preparation of financial statements for project reports,
updating of cost studies on rubber, operation of electronic data processing system
in different functional areas, tax matters of the Board.
FINANCIAL DEPARTMENT
Financial management, also referred to as corporate finance or managerial
finance, emerged as a distinct field of study at the turn of 20 th century. Finance
theory; in general, rest on the premise that the goal of financial management
should be to maximize the wealth of the share holders.
Finance refers to the application of skill or care in the manipulation in the
use and control of the money .The finance in the modern business world is the life
blood of business economy. We cannot image a business without finance because
it is a central point of all business activities.
FINANCIAL FUNCTIONS

67.  Passing and settlement of all miscellaneous advances.
 Perform all works connected with insurance coverage of fixed
financial asset.
 Keeping personnel files of employees relating salary computation
annual increment.
 Prepare profitability, trend, reports, and wages analysis.
 Quarterly and yearly financial report preparation.
 Making blank statements
 Preparation, assisting and coordinating of all works connected with
finalization of accounts.
 Assisting statutory/ vigilance/ auditors from head quarters in connect
with audit of accounts of ERF rubber wood division.
 Make internal and external purchases.
RESPONSIBILITIESOF FINANCIAL MANAGER
 Financial planning
 Rising of necessary funds.
 Controlling the use of funds
 Deposition of profit
 Accounts finalization
 Tax planning
 Book keeping and accounting
 Internal audit &Profit planning

68. CAPITAL BUDGETING
Capital budgeting is done at the beginning of the year itself. The
requirements of capital will be specified clearly for the approval. During the
budgeted year, if there is any further requirement of capital is faced then the
proper justification has to be made. If the requirement is seen as important on
then approve of the capital is sanctioned the requirement of additional capital
may arise due to change in price of raw materials, packing materials,
transportation cost etc
CASH MANAGEMENT
Cash management system is one of the key areas in any business, apart
from the fact it is the most liquid current asset can be reduced. Cash is the
common denominator to which all current assets can be reduced because that the
other major liquid asset receivable and inventory get eventually get converted in
to cash.
CREDIT CONTROL FUNCTION
A trade credit arises when the company sells its products or services on
credit and does not receive cash immediately. it is an essential marketing tool,
acting as bridge of movements of goods, or services through production and
distribution stagers to customers. A company grants credit to protect its sales
from the competitor and to attract the potential customers also. ERF rubber
industry furniture division does not give any credit to customers. The sales are
making through advance payment or spot payment.

69. PLANNING OF FUNDS
Planning of funds is a careful estimate made by the manager about the
total funds required, which includes both fixed and working capital
requirements. This estimation is done by the observation over the physical
activities of the company.
ALLOCATION OF FUNDS
Providing the funds to properplace at proper time is also an important task
to be done by financial manager studies the cash requirements of each
department and funds are distributed.
RECORDINGOF TRANSACTIONS
Each and every transactions of the company are recorded first in journal
and posted to ledgers.
WORKING CAPITAL
Working capital refers to the amount required to meet the day to day
operations of the business the working capital of the company is 80 lakh per
month complete rise working capital in the following ways
 Cash
 Inventories
 Accounts receivable.
FIXED ASSET

70. It is the major part of working of a company. Depreciation of fixed asset
is charged on the diminishing balanced method.
 Vehicle
 Plant and machinery
 Generator
 Building
COST CONTROL
The costs are controlled in raw material and reduction to expense there is
limitation of utilization of funds. The company will all ways have the
comparison of budget actual.
AUDITING
The accounts of the company should be compulsorily audited. The
auditing work is done by m/s Varma & Varma, kannur. There is an internal
auditing system which is done by the internal auditor.
TAX STRUCTURE
Company pays sales tax, income tax and excise duty ( 14%) VAT 12.5%
to the kerala Govt.in accordanceto change in state budget.
STATISTICS DEPARTMENT
Statistics plays an important role in the planned development of any
industry. Considering its importance, collection of statistics is mentioned in the
Rubber Act as one of the basic functions of the Rubber Board, vide section 8(2)(e).
According to section 8(3), it is also the duty of the Board to advise the Central
Government on all matters relating to the development of the rubber industries,

71. including import and export of rubber. It is only with adequate, up-to-date and
accurate statistics that we can plan our programmes for the development of the
Natural Rubber Industry.
The Finance & Accounts Department is headed by the Director (Finance).
The Finance & Accounts Department is concerned with designing and
operating the Accounting system, preparing budget, financial statements and
reports, exercising budgetary control, effective Funds Management, establishment
and maintaining systems and procedures, overseeing internal audit and arranging
for Statutory audit, advising on financial propriety and regularity of transactions,
supervising computer applications, overseeing cost control, evaluation of
projects/schemes, handling tax matters etc. The Department has to look after the
following activities.
1. Preparation of Annual Budget, Performance Budget, Foreign Travel Budget etc.
2. Review and Revision of budget under Zero Based Budgeting and exercising
budgetary control.
3. Maintenance of the accounts of the Board, preparation of Annual Accounts and
Balance Sheet, presentatio n of the accounts for audit to the Principal Accountant
General, (Audit) Kerala and the audited accounts to the Rubber
Board/Ministry/Parliament.
4. Placing demands for grants from Government from time to time, receiving funds
from
Government and ensuring its optimum utilization.
5. Advising on financial propriety and regularity of transactions and regulating
payments.

72. 6. Assisting the Cost Accounts Branch of the Ministry of Finance in ascertaining
the cost of production and in fixing price of Natural Rubber.
7. Preparation of financial statements for project reports and schemes.
8. Dealing with tax matters relating to the activities of the Board, such as Rubber
Cess, Central Income Tax, Agricultural Income Tax and Sales Tax/ VAT, Service
Tax, Customs dutyetc.29

73. and RPSs.
10. Computerized Data Processing in the field of financial accounting, pay roll etc.
11. Drawal and disbursement of salary and other entitlements of the employees of
the
Board based on the orders issued by Government of India from time to time.
12. Management of Rubber Board Pension Fund, Contributory Pension Fund,
Defined Contribution Pension Scheme, General Provident Fund, Group Insurance
Fund etc and regulating disbursements there from.
13. Implementation of the Scheme of Computerization and Networking of all
departments of the Board.
The Cost Accounts division of the Finance & Accounts department collects, and
analyze and update cost data.
The Internal Audit Division is under the charge of a Dy Director Finance and
functions under the Finance & Accounts department. The main functions of the
Internal Audit Division include inspection/internal audit of various
offices/establishments of the Board etc.

74. SALES DEPARTMENT:
ERF sales international Ltd is the sales and marketing outfit of entire ERF
group of companies. The company is run by eminent professionals with the active
support from the management. The company has already well established dealer/
distributor net work and it is expanding its horizon throughout the world.
ERF haut Pvt Ltd has one sales and shipping officer. He controls the sales
activities in the company. Shipping an activity taken by central exercise, they
check all products in the company itself to avoid damages incurring in loading.
Loading of goods in the container at shipyard is called shipping. Shipping of
product is done from Cochin shipyard.
FUNCTIONS OF SALES DEPARTMENT
 Receiving data from dealers and arranging for the dispatching of
products.
 Preparation of invoices and other related document for dispatch
 Maintaining of sales register and filling of sales tax returns and other
statutory records with the sales tax department
 Maintaining and submission of statutory documents pertain to central
excise department
 Preparation of quotations as per the requirement from the parties in
consultation with the production department and accounts officer.
FUNCTIONS OF SHIPPING DEPARTMENT
 Preparations of pro necessary shipping documents and forward the
documents to clearing and forwarding agents.
 Coordination with CHA for placement of containers
 Issue of staff and transportation at lowest cost

75. Post shipment documentation
 Preparation of post shipment documentation and forward same to the
bankers.
 Preparation of bank realization of certificate
 To coordinate/ follow up with the bank to ensure that the payment has
been received in time
 Maintenance of register of export for each unit.
FUNCTIONS OF EXPORT SECTION
 Finalization of export contract.
 Coordination between departments and matters connected with export
 Issue of packing instructions for export to concerned department
 Make arrangement for inspection of goods.
EXPORT PROCEDURE
 Locating the potential buyer by searching through various portal, trade
journals, foreign visit export promotion councils and also by responding
enquiries.
 Contract thus by mail, telephone and intimating the company
intention.
 Negotiating prices terms of payment and delivery terms.
 Sending sample brochure and other requests

76.  If price and terms are approved, awaiting their purchase order/
contracts.
 Filling shipments documents through the(custom home agent).
 Providing necessary advice to buyer
 Follow up the cargo till it reaches the destination.
 Effort for the order.
 Obtain buyer feedback and product quality.
There are economic as well as social benefits which are expected to get from the
ERF. Members of ERF would get fair price for their products. It would create co-
operative spirit and communal harmony as member would be from different castes
and culture. The members would get quality services at subsidised prices as they
are making bulk orders. They get Professional and expert services in marketing and
sales of their products. Selected ERF are supported financially as well as
technically to transform them into model ones which act as demonstration centres
for other ERF. Support is given for capacity building and to develop infrastructural
facilities for scientific community processing. Provision has also been given for
treatment of the effluent generated while sheet processing for biogas generation.
These model ERF s function as technology dissemination. There are also
processing companies and trading companies in the rubber growing areas in
Kerala. Most of them are private companies jointly owned by Board and RPS in
the concerned areas.
Sales Reporting:
The sales reporting includes the key performance indicators of the sales
force.

77. The Key Performance Indicators indicate whether or not the sales process is
being operated effectively and achieves the results as set forth in sales planning. It
should enable the sales managers to take timely corrective action deviate from
projected values. It also allows senior management to evaluate the sales
manager.More "results related" than "process related" are information regarding
the sales funnel and the hit rate.Sales reporting can provide metrics for sales
management compensation. Rewarding the best managers without accurate and
reliable sales reports is not objective.
Also, sales reports are made for internal use for top management. If other
divisions’ compensation plan depends on final results, it is needed to present
results of sales department’s work to other departments.
Finally, sales reports are required for investors, partners and government, so
the sales management system should have advanced reporting capabilities to
satisfy the needs of different stakeholders.
Sales operations is a set of business activities and processes that help a sales
organization run effectively, efficiently and in support of business strategies and
objectives. Sales operations may also be referred to as sales, sales support
or business operations.
The set of sales operations activities vary from company[1] to company but often
include these five categories:[2]
Sales Force Enablement
 Sales Process Development
 Sales Process Adoption and Compliance
 Sales Development
 Sales Training

78.  Sales Force Communications Management
Business Analytics
 Sales Metrics
 Sales Forecasting
Sales Administration
 Proposal/Contract Development
 Vendor Selection and Management
 Planning Process Stewardship
Attainment Planning
 Incentive Sales Compensation Plan Design
 GTM Strategy Alignment with Roles and Components
 Territory Analysis and Definition
 Goal Setting
Sales Operations Mandate and Design
 Chief of Staff to the Sales Organization
 Stewardship of Sales Force Capacity
 Initiative Change Management
 Sales Operations Team Design
 Sales Operations Talent Management

79. The sales operations team members are often liaisons for sales to other parts of the
organisation such as finance, marketing, legal and IT departments. They will
represent the needs of sales in meetings and cross-functional projects.
Sales Policy
ERF Rubber Industry is following the marketing strategy approved by the
Government vide G.O.Ms.No.749 Forests & Fisheries Department.
Sale of concentrated latex 60% DRC (Cenex) is effected on first come first served
basis at the rates recommended by the Marketing Sub Committee.
All other grades such as RSS, EBC, Skim crepe, etc. are sold on long term
agreement basis by fixing premium/discount over the base price ie. The Kottayam
market rate of RSS 4 as published in the Malayala Manorama daily.
Premium/discount was fixed by conducting tender cum auction and if required by
conducting negotiations with the prospective buyers.
Interested buyers can directly approach with a copy of valid Rubber Board
licence, CST No. and full advance payment for the quantity of cenex required
under advance intimation. Corporation collects 4% CST and 1% Cess for

80. interstate sale with 'C' form or 10% with 'C' form. The delivery will be made on
the prevailing price at the time of effecting sales. We review the price as and when
necessity arises depending on the market trend, demand, supply, etc.
PURCHASE DEPARTMENT
The purchasing department plays a very important role in organization
because purchasing has effects on every vital factor concerning the manufacture,
quality, cost, efficiency, and prompt delivery of goods to customers. The
purchasing department is responsible for the efficient purchase of all goods of
proper quality required for the different department. Purchasing is the most
important function of material management as the moment an order is placed for
the purchase of materials; a substantial part of the company finance is committed
which effects the cash flow position of the company. The head of the department is
usually known as purchase manager.
FUNCTIONS OF PURCHASE DEPARTMENT

81.  To establish purchase policies, procedure and practices.
 To identify and choose the best source of supply materials
 To receive purchase requisition from all departments.
 To place purchases order with supplier and maintain records
 To check the quality and quantity of materials received.
 To verify and approve the invoice for payment
Functions of purchase department in ERF
The company mainly requires two types of materials- direct material and
indirect material. The direct materials for rubber wood furniture product are
the round log rubber wood and indirect material includes hardware item used
for production. The amount of raw material purchased by ERF is around 30
lakh per month which comprises item including rubber wood and hard ware
item like screws, bolt, nail etc
 consumables like machine belt, lubricant oil, engine oil, break oil etc
 chemicals like boric acid and borax
 finger glue
 Lacquer items, thinner, Steiner, sanding belt paper etc.
As a substantial portion of the company’s finance is used for
purchasing the rubber wood, the purchase department should keep in mind the
following specifications at the time of purchasing rubber wood
 The logs must have a minimum of 24 inch diameter

82.  It must have minimum of 4 feet to 8 feet length
 There must be no tapping mark, bending, nails etc
 Logs having excess fiber should be rejected
At present suppliers of rubber wood are from;
Kerala : Perumbavoor, Taliparanba, Kasargod, Iritty
Karnataka : Sullys, Manglore
PURCHASE PROCEDURE
ERF is following a purchase procedure which is very systematic and
scientific. The main objective of this purchase procedure is to ensure all
material to confirm to the specific requirements. The following are the
various purchase procedure which are followed by ERF Rubber Industry.
Receipt of purchase requisition

83. The purchasing function of ERF Rubber Industry starts from receiving
purchase requisition. A purchase requisition is a form is used as a formal
request to the purchasing department to purchase materials. This form is
prepared by the departmental heads for special materials not stocked as
regular items. It contain the details with ordering number and specification if
any, quantity of item and required date etc.
Inviting quotations
The company calls tender for purchase of materials from approves and
provisional vendor. In responds to this tender the company gets the quotation
from various suppliers that they are ready to supply goods by specifying the
quality and price.
Preparation of comparative statement.
On receipt of quotations from the suppliers, the purchase officer prepares a
comparative statement on analysis of the quality of raw material at low rat.
Selections of suppliers
After the preparation of comparative statement, this comparative statement
is forwarded to purchase committee. The purchase committee select the most