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

1. Women who assemble one pump every 20 seconds @ Kirloskar Plant:
6 Apr, 2013
By Sangeetha Kandavel & Mitul
Thakkar, ET Bureau
RV Raj Kuumar, head of the award-
winning Kirloskar pump factory in
Coimbatore where all manufacturing is
done by women, has many irons in the
fire. But these days, he devotes most of
his energy replacing the few men at the
plant with those from the opposite sex.
Including himself.
"I am trying to find a replacement for
myself," said Kuumar, 44, whose designation is 'divisional head-manufacturing'. He is among
the 20 men employed by Kirloskar at the plant—the others include two drivers, persons doing
the loading and unloading of stock, and some office staff.
Set up in 2011 by Kirloskar
Brothers
"Very soon you will see 100% women here,"
he said. "We are looking for women drivers
and conductors to ply our buses. We will be
putting out advertisements soon." He said
there are plans to buy fork lifts and other
similar contrivances for the loading and
unloading—they will be operated by women.
The men will be given jobs at other facilities.
The plant was set up in 2011 by the 125-
year-old Kirloskar Brothers as an "experiment" on a 4-acre plot at a cost of Rs 11 crore. It
now employs about 70 women who assemble one pump every 20 seconds.
Makes 20,000-25,000 pumps a month
Sanjay Kirloskar, chairman and MD of Kirloskar Brothers, said the plant makes 20,000-
25,000 pumps a month, and the quality of output is of such high standard that customers are
now specifically asking for pumps manufactured at the Coimbatore plant. Pumps made here
are exported to Nepal and South Africa.

2. "Even at home, it is the woman who decides
which pump to buy. They want a pump that
does not fail and is reliable," he said. "We know
if the pump fails, some lady in the house has to
go and fetch water. We told our ladies that if
you make anything that fails, someone like you
will have a problem."
Rejection rate is a miniscule 0.1%
The rejection rate at the Coimbatore plant, which
makes about 11 variants of domestic pumps and
five kinds of irrigation pumps priced from Rs
1,800 to Rs 5,000 each, is a miniscule 0.1%.
Kirloskar said in the past 20 months, only eight
pumps have had quality problems, helping the
plant win many awards, including the eighth
Kaizen Competition award from the Quality Circle
Forum of India. "Having women employees has
helped increase in productivity and also churned out good quality products. I am not saying
men don't do it, but women are always extra cautious," said Kuumar.
Most of the women are school dropouts
About 25 lakh mini-pumps are sold in India every year, of which 65% are made by
established players and the rest by the unorganised sector. The market leaders currently are
Kirloskar Brothers and Crompton Greaves.
Most of the women employed at the
Coimbatore plant are school dropouts and
aged between 18 and 24 years.
"While recruiting, the company asked us
whether we want to do study further. They
even insisted that we go and study," said L
Bhuvana, a supervisor. "But we wanted to
work." A Antoine Baskar, associate manager
of human resources, said recruits are sent for
a twomonth training to an Industrial Training Institute free of cost.

3. The plant has its own problems
"After that, we give them on-the-job training." M Shanthi, 23, said working at the plant has
improved her standing in society. "My landlord had some problem with the pump at our
house and I managed to set it right. He now
respects me much more after that." But the
plant has its own problems. The attrition
rate is about 15-20%, especially with the
earlier batches, and absenteeism is high.
"Women have to stay back at home if their
husbands or kids are not well," said
Kuumar, who pointed out that the rate of
attrition is falling and there is enough talent
coming in to replace those leaving. "In case
they get married they have to move to
other places. When you have women employees these things are unavoidable."