Blood bags manufacturer Terumo Penpol’s facility here became the first medtech company chosen to participate in the Japan-India Institute of Manufacturing (JIM) programme.

Overseen by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, JIM was borne out of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s request to his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe for support to scale up industrial work skills among Indian youth.

MANUFACTURING EXCELLENCE

The programme targets young students and equip them with ‘monozukuri’ (Japanese for manufacturing excellence) skills through a one-year internship and improve employability.

“The training is intended to create a pool of 30,000 skilled engineering manpower for Indian manufacturing industry by 2026,” said Japanese Ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu, who visited the Terumo Penpol facility here.

JIM seeks to train workers in advanced Japanese manufacturing techniques through internship at India-based Japanese companies. Terumo Penpol was selected due to its integral connection with Terumo Corporation of Japan.

Terumo is in the company of leading manufacturers participating in JIM including Suzuki and Toyota, a company spokesperson said. Their participation contributes to the ‘Make in India and ‘Skill India’ initiatives.

COMPETITIVE PROCESS

Trainees are selected through a competitive application process including, interviews, academic transcripts, and recommendations.

The 50 trainees at Terumo Penpol will participate in two semesters of technical training focused on advancing Japanese manufacturing skills and disciplines including logistics, problem-solving and personal career development.

Working on the company’s manufacturing floor, the JIM trainees will learn how to work successfully in a manufacturing environment for a multinational company.

The Japanese Ambassador also spoke about the interest of the Japanese government to support the Indian healthcare sector by actively getting involved in the Ayushman Bharat initiative.

Among those who were present included Hisashi Kanda, General Manager, Association for Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Partnerships; C Padmakumar,Chairman and Managing Director, Terumo Penpol; and Probir Das, Executive Officer, Terumo Corporation,and Managing Director,Terumo India.

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