IIF launches in-plant training programme to skill foundrymen

This initiative by the key Industry association that promotes education, research, training and development for Indian foundry men, will support various allied sectors.

The Institute of Indian Foundrymen’, has launched a unique in-plant training program, aptly named ‘Yogyata Vikas’, to enhance foundry skills amongst the workforce. This initiative by the key Industry association that promotes education, research, training and development for Indian foundry men, will support various allied sectors.

Foundry, largely considered to be the ‘feeder industry’ to manufacturing, finds wide application in growing sectors like auto & auto ancillaries, capital goods, earth moving, railways, power and defence besides most others. Foundry practices, constitute the fundamentals of engineering, and a skill development program will help improve productivity and sharpen the competitive edge of foundry men, which will in turn hugely impact Government run programs like ‘Make in India’.

While on one had the Government is tweaking policies to create a conducive business environment for various sectors, like the passing of the GST bill, on the other hand the industry will have to throw-up a skill-ready workforce to take the country to its rightful position as a manufacturing hub of the world.

The auto sector in the country is expected to grow to US$ 300 billion in the next 10 years from the current figure of US$ 80 billion, while the capital goods sector may see a 3-fold growth in the next decade. A catalyst to this enormous growth would be the availability of skilled manpower both in terms of quality and numbers.

As per estimates, the foundry sector in India, employs close to 2 million people directly or indirectly, with productivity of 20-25 million tons per person, per year, with average rejection rates in the region of 5-10 percent per person. It is expected that with up-skilling, the kind IIF is planning to rollout, the performance of workmen will improve by over 25-30 percent, and at the same time bringing down rejection rates per person dramatically.

The training program will raise the benchmark, in terms of aligning the availability of skilled foundry men with the overall industry vision. In a unique ‘first’, IIF would be imparting specialized training to the shop-floor workers at the veritable doorstep of their foundries by skilled trainers. The 10 training modules would also be available in regional languages, with each module of eight hours, customized to requirements of a particular foundry.

The program has been exclusively designed to impart technical knowledge with practical orientation, scheduled as per the convenience of the foundries being trained. The trainer would also pay a visit to the foundry, a day prior to the actual program to acquaint himself with processes and machineries available, so that the training would be that much more effective.

Talking of the initiative, K. Samaraj, Past President, Institute of Indian Foundrymen said, “This unique and exclusive training program is a real opportunity to work together to shape a new era of Indian foundry industry. We are committed to ensure remaining in a strong position to deliver to its fullest potential in a constantly evolving industry landscape.

Over the coming months and years, IIF will undertake inplant training at various foundry units across various foundry clusters redefining a different approach to training. IIF would be closely looking at the certification requirements, considering the future of IIF training course seeking to improve the experience for all involved.”