Jan 12, 08 – BioSync Tour
I went to work with Michael today and decided to stay since they have internet access. His company is in the specialized economic zone which the government created as a tax free import/ export zone. It's a massive gated zone that is so nice and clean and there are no people in the streets (a nice change!). It was a 30 min. ride there and our bums got wet from the car seats! (Michael had complained that the car smelled like diesel so I guess they must’ve washed it).
Abhishek is the production manager and hooked me up with a private tour of the company. I got to see every single step of how their heart stents are made – from the raw piece of metal to the inflated final product. In each department, there was a spokesperson who told me in great detail what their job is. Most of them were chemical engineers and were really smart guys. The 3 women in the building were me, the secretary and one technician. I think they employ 100 people…
During the tour, I think they thought I was a chemist or something and that I knew what they were talking about! One guy actually broke into a sweat explaining how they laser cut the stents into their shape. They used the chemical names and the technical terms for everything which made it tough to understand but I got the gyst of it. It was strange that they allowed me to take so many photos - I’m not even allowed near the clean rooms in the company in Canada. I have some crazy shots of the technicians in the clean rooms doing various stages of the production. There are so many steps that I never realized need to happen. Even the packaging is done at this facility. The marketing folks are out in Mumbai, but in the future the company will house both groups in a new building. I met the president of the company and the man had this huge diamond ring on his right hand (nobody here really wears jewlery). I guess that business has been good…
Some subtle things happened during the tour that I must mention. When we entered the facility, we had to change our shoes and wear slippers (white). When I was starting my tour, I walked into a room and someone told me to take off the slippers I was wearing and put on another (blue) pair. I was told much later by Michael that the blue slippers were for the administrators, engineers and guests and white ones were for everybody else. There are servants in the company. They served us water, tea and lunch. The lunch was buffet style, but when I stood up to get some rice I was told to sit and that the servant guy would get it for me.
I spent the whole day sitting in their conference room using the internet. It’s strange, but they didn’t mind me sitting in there at all and went ahead with their everyday business. I sat in on 3 job interviews. They asked the applicants lots of questions. One guy was being offered a job position as a new engineer. His starting wage was Rs. 5000 ($125)/ month and he would move up to 8,000- 10,000 based on his performance. I was thinking “don’t do it man!” but of course…he took the job. Remember that they work 8-12 hrs day - 6 days a week…. They had all sorts of meetings all day, but didn’t bat an eye that I was sitting at the table with them using my laptop.
Our ride home was nuts. There were mobs of people walking home from work. Imagine the crowds for the symphony of fire, in the pitch black darkness, with all sorts of motorcycles, rickshaws and cars pushing past them.
I went to work with Michael today and decided to stay since they have internet access. His company is in the specialized economic zone which the government created as a tax free import/ export zone. It's a massive gated zone that is so nice and clean and there are no people in the streets (a nice change!). It was a 30 min. ride there and our bums got wet from the car seats! (Michael had complained that the car smelled like diesel so I guess they must’ve washed it).
Abhishek is the production manager and hooked me up with a private tour of the company. I got to see every single step of how their heart stents are made – from the raw piece of metal to the inflated final product. In each department, there was a spokesperson who told me in great detail what their job is. Most of them were chemical engineers and were really smart guys. The 3 women in the building were me, the secretary and one technician. I think they employ 100 people…
During the tour, I think they thought I was a chemist or something and that I knew what they were talking about! One guy actually broke into a sweat explaining how they laser cut the stents into their shape. They used the chemical names and the technical terms for everything which made it tough to understand but I got the gyst of it. It was strange that they allowed me to take so many photos - I’m not even allowed near the clean rooms in the company in Canada. I have some crazy shots of the technicians in the clean rooms doing various stages of the production. There are so many steps that I never realized need to happen. Even the packaging is done at this facility. The marketing folks are out in Mumbai, but in the future the company will house both groups in a new building. I met the president of the company and the man had this huge diamond ring on his right hand (nobody here really wears jewlery). I guess that business has been good…
Some subtle things happened during the tour that I must mention. When we entered the facility, we had to change our shoes and wear slippers (white). When I was starting my tour, I walked into a room and someone told me to take off the slippers I was wearing and put on another (blue) pair. I was told much later by Michael that the blue slippers were for the administrators, engineers and guests and white ones were for everybody else. There are servants in the company. They served us water, tea and lunch. The lunch was buffet style, but when I stood up to get some rice I was told to sit and that the servant guy would get it for me.
I spent the whole day sitting in their conference room using the internet. It’s strange, but they didn’t mind me sitting in there at all and went ahead with their everyday business. I sat in on 3 job interviews. They asked the applicants lots of questions. One guy was being offered a job position as a new engineer. His starting wage was Rs. 5000 ($125)/ month and he would move up to 8,000- 10,000 based on his performance. I was thinking “don’t do it man!” but of course…he took the job. Remember that they work 8-12 hrs day - 6 days a week…. They had all sorts of meetings all day, but didn’t bat an eye that I was sitting at the table with them using my laptop.
Our ride home was nuts. There were mobs of people walking home from work. Imagine the crowds for the symphony of fire, in the pitch black darkness, with all sorts of motorcycles, rickshaws and cars pushing past them.
No comments:
Post a Comment