A 25-member team at Cabot Sanmar was oriented to the Gemba Kaizen philosophy in a five-day workshop conducted at Mettur in February 2004. The Gemba Kaizen (Gemba - real place or work place) workshop is a rapid-change process, providing the skills for continuous and long-term improvement. It creates a culture where waste is constantly attacked and eliminated by everybody, everyday.
The workshop kicked off with an overview of the Kaizen fundamentals. The focus was on creating an orderly work place through the 5 S method aimed at elimination of Muda (waste) and Mura (inconsistencies) by standardising work processes and team. Based on the diagnostic study undertaken in January 2004, five cross-functional teams were formed to work on live projects.
The final review of the projects and presentations was made on the concluding day of the workshop to a senior team, with conclusive actions specified for further improvement.
Raj Ahuja visits Cabot, Mettur
Raj Ahuja, FMO Operations Director, Cabot Corporation, USA, visited the fumed silica manufacturing facility at Mettur on March 19, 2004. He also visited the Siltet production facility and the newly added treated grade plant. Expressing satisfaction over the standards of safety and maintenance at the plant, he appreciated the milestones achieved. The visiting director planted a pungai sapling as a memory of his maiden visit.
Retiring employee felicitated
S Venkatraman, Joint Manager-Stores, Cabot Sanmar Limited, retired from service on April 30, 2004, after completing 32 years of service.
Raj Ahuja, FMO Operations, Director, Cabot Corporation, USA, planting a sapling at Cabot Sanmar, Mettur. Standing next to him is A Janakiraman, Chief Executive - Chlorochemicals.
Dr Hariharaputhran, AGM-Operations, Cabot Sanmar Limited, is seen garlanding S Venkatraman who retired after 32 years of service.
The Sanmar Group’s HR portal SPARSH was launched on June 21, 2004. The portal will enable employees to carry out many personnel related tasks online, precluding the need for paperwork in areas like leave, personal records, nominations for PF etc., applying for house lease/ car schemes, read the in-house magazine Matrix, the knowledge newsletter Osmosis, take part in quiz programmes and so on.
In time it is planned that Sparsh will become a comprehensive HR portal, making the whole range of HR activities truly paperless.The HR team led by Sarada Jagan and “Sparsh captains” N Ramesh and Shilpa Senthil Kumar,other members of the HR
team, the Systems team at Chennai and Wipro’s software personnel have to be commended for the thorough attention to detail and user-friendliness of the portal, which went online as per schedule.
Chemplast Sanmar, Karaikal, took part in the World Environment Day celebrations held at Pondicherry on 26-27 June, 2004 under the auspices of the Pondicherry Pollution Control Committee (PPCC).
A highlight of the celebrations was the Chemplast Sanmar pavilion in which panels were displayed demonstrating the company’s concern for the environment. Seen in the photograph are (l to r) R Sagaya Alfred, Scientist, PPCC, S Venkatesan, General Manager, Chemplast Sanmar, and P Devaraj, Director-Science, Technology & Environment and Member Secretary, PPCC.