The Hindu Business Line : KSPC calls for automation in industries

Given the growing competition following the opening up of the market, the Kerala State Productivity Council (KSPC) has advised the industries to adopt automation so as to improve productivity and quality.

With globalisation already taken place, the quality of products have become more relevant. Manually manufactured products might not have the fine finishing of that produced using modern sophisticated machines.

As a result, it has become inevitable to ensure quality in the present highly competitive market, otherwise the former will not be able to survive, Mr N. Sreekumar, Chairman, Kerala Productivity Council, told Business Line.

But, the number of workers in the industrial units in Kerala is more and as such the number of mandays per tonne is also more.

However, compared to foreign countries, per employee cost is comparatively low here. Therefore, the cost of production may not be higher.

In fact, productivity level is improving year by year. To improve quality, however, automation/ mechanisation is essential and hence at certain levels at least it has to be introduced so as to be competitive in the present market, Mr Sreekumar, who is also the Head, Kerala Operations of the Apollo Tyres, pointed out.

Striking balance

Mechanisation on the other hand will involve huge investment. Cost of capital here is very high at around 10 per cent where as in the developed countries it ranges from two to four per cent. Given this scenario, mechanisation will raise the investment.

Hence, the only solution is to partially introduce automation at certain levels so as to keep a balance, as such a step should not result in retrenchment of the workers, he said. He said that KSPC was working on finding a formula for determining the manpower strength scientifically, he said.

Energy Audit

Another area, where the Council is concentrating now is the energy audit as energy conservation is very important because of the high cost. Units have been advised to reduce energy consumption by adopting modern technology, sophisticated equipment and machines, he said.

KSPC, which is accredited by the State Government and the Petroleum Conservation Research Association as Energy Auditor, has so far conducted over 125 energy audits in various types of organisations, he said.

It organises various types of training programmes in management, behavioural science and technical topics for the benefit of managers, supervisors and workmen, both in-house and general. In fact, KSPC topped in the country amongst local productivity councils (LPC) by conducting 193 training programmes last year with 4,651 participants.

Besides, it provides consultancy in the areas of work-study, incentives, job evaluation, promotion policy, performance appraisal, materials management, market survey, revival of sick industries and organisation restructuring etc. Last year it completed 36 consultancy projects, Mr Sreekumar said.

The Council, which is celebrating its Golden Jubilee, will be constructing an auditorium to commemorate this event this year, he added.

Of late, KSPC has been retained as the agency to select personnel for all levels of management, technical professionals and skilled workers for various industries in the state. It conducts written test, group discussion and interview for selecting candidates for various organisations.

The KSPC was established in 1959 as an autonomous tripartite organisation with representation from government, management and labour. It is affiliated to the National Productivity Council, New Delhi and Asian Productivity Organisation, Tokyo. Its objectives are to increase productivity in all fields of human endeavour, to stimulate and promote productivity consciousness in the minds of the people, to encourage and assist in implementation of programmes relating to the objective in increasing productivity, to seek and to promote the establishment of cordial relationship between employees and to provide advisory services for industries to facilitate introduction of productivity techniques.

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