Crain News Service report
GURGAON, India (May 17, 2013) — Apollo Tyres Ltd.'s Chennai, India, plant has won the platinum (first) prize in the large-size category of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry's (FICCI) annual quality systems awards.
Satish Agarwal, chief of corporate manufacturing at Apollo, said that "while planning this manufacturing facility, we questioned existing practices [and] studied benchmarked systems—within Apollo and outside—with a desire to create an iconic manufacturing facility. Recognition...strengthens our resolve towards further improving our quality systems across manufacturing locations."
The $384 million Chennai plant, which sits on 128 acres, has the capacity to produce 16,000 passenger car radials and 6,000 truck-bus tires per day.
The award was presented to Apollo by Saurabh Chandra, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India.
Apart from tire manufacturing, industrial sectors represented among the 79 companies entering the awards competition included automotive, cement, chemicals, electronics, engineering, FMCG, food, paper, refining, steel and textiles.
This report appeared in European Rubber Journal, a UK-based sister publication of Tire Business.