EXCELLENCE IS NOT A SKILL, IT’S AN ATTITUDE!

February 28, 2018

As the bus came to a stop, outside the large iron gates, a sense of awe came over the 40 odd students, as they stared through them, at the sprawling grey buildings of the IFB plant in Verna, Goa. The students of Mushtifund Aryaan Higher Secondary School, along with the Director of the Institute, Mr Vyankatesh Prabhudesai and a staff member, Ms. Hetal Gangani, had been invited for a tour of the home-appliance giant’s factory, including an exclusive peek into the R&D departments that day.

After departing from the vehicle, they were ushered into the grand glass-and-steel administration building. The Director, and the students were warmly greeted and welcomed to the very fascinating campus building of IFB, by the hosts for the field trip Mrs. Filu Monteiro and Mrs.Rupa Prabhudessai along with the CEO himself, Mr. Rajashankar Ray, for a short briefing, after which the group was split, and, what turned out to be a remarkably educational tour, began.

First, the students were taken to the washing machine assembly line, where all of IFB’s machines are built from scratch, drums to circuit boards, metal work to paint jobs. IFB tries to use every bit of material, with minimum wastage. The noise of metal hitting metal filled the air, the clanging sometimes deafening, as the tour guide, a loyal employee explained every process in utmost detail to the eager students, while automated machines bustled about their business. Automation has become a big part of the process, in recent times, from soldering to managing inventory, increasing the efficiency of the production process, she explained, but most of the jobs the robots do had been done by people in earlier years. Overhead hangs a large screen displaying the day’s goals, and how close they are to being met.

Next came a visit to IFB’s current product line, and she explained the process of how the company intuitively arranges switches and knobs to enhance the user experience. After this, they bustled into the vast testing labs, where IFB simulates the road condition during transportation, damages due to rain water damage, how the machines acts under various temperatures, and even levels of sound tests, to ensure that the customer has the quietest possible product. They say that business is all about the customer: what the customer wants and what they get. Generally, every customer wants a product or service that solves their problem, it is worth their money and is delivered with amazing customer service… and IFB is just about doing that!

Finally came the part that everyone had been looking forward to, a visit to the R&D department. They were shown everything from a giant 3D printer, down to the various designs for buttons, model IFB Point showrooms, and even a kitchen where food was prepared to be tested in IFB microwaves. The students caught glimpses of undergoing business meetings, saw people at work in the call centre and HR departments, got to visit the “Innovation Centre”, and even saw the design labs.

IFB topped off the visit with a complimentary sumptuous lunch in their exclusive canteen, and everyone went home happy, with their tummies full of gulab jamuun, and their minds flooding with ideas!

– Prepared by Noah Martins, Students of STD XI, M.A.H.S.S.