Maruti to set up 400 skill training centres to give global quality standard

Maruti Suzuki India on Thursday said it will set up 400 skill training and enhancement centres in partnership with its vendors by 2020 with an aim to bring global quality standards at its suppliers.

The facilities, christened DOJO centres, are training grounds for fresh workmen and re-skilling for existing workforce. Over 90 such centres are operational at the facilities of the company's partners, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) said in a statement.

"To meet the ever evolving customer expectations, ensuring quality at vendor-end is critical. To help achieve this, Maruti Suzuki has institutionalised the concept of DOJO centre to be set up at our partners' facilities," MSIL Executive Director (Corporate Planning) A K Tomer said.

MSIL said while DOJO is a place to train in martial arts, in manufacturing parlance, a DOJO centre serves as a workshop that helps in skilling, re-skilling and right skilling workers.

These centres help to acclimatise professionals and thoroughly preparing them, especially new workforce before they join work on the shop floor at manufacturing plants, it added.

"By 2020, our over 400 tier-I partners will have DOJO centres. These state-of-the-art centres develop skills in areas of quality, safety and productivity," Tomer said.

This effort is to bring global quality standards and complement the Make in India initiative, he added.

The company will help with the concept, while its vendor partners make the investment towards setting up of the skill training and enhancement facility.

A new worker is trained for up to 2-weeks before joining the shop floor. An assessment test is conducted at the end of the training, and only qualified workers are sent to the shop floor, it said.

Moreover, re-skilling of existing workforce is also undertaken at DOJO centres to refresh manufacturing concepts and educate them about technological advancements, the company said.