KJS has initiated a new project for imparting cement usage education by sending their civil engineers with cement bags and construction equipment, writes Pawan Ahluwalia.

After having set up the most advanced technology cement plant of 2.5 million tonnes capacity in Maihar, we at KJS have never looked back. There is a cut-throat competition in the cement industry and barring a few who took over old plants, the rest prefer to have and use international technology.

Capacity expansion is continuous as every group want growth. KJS also is in an advanced stage of setting up another 2.5MT capacity cement project in Maihar, along with a 30MW captive power plant.

Capacity expansion is taken up keeping in mind the improved per capita consumption of cement in the future and infrastructure development of the government in the next financial year.

Increased production calls for quality and after sales service, besides a larger territory coverage for selling the product. To proceed further, KJS has initiated a new project for imparting cement usage education by sending their civil engineers with cement bags and construction equipment. This project will not only educate consumers and builders but will add quality impact to our product.

Given our approach of optimum utilisation of resources, we have initiated conscious efforts to run our kiln to its full capacity and have successfully achieved by producing 6000MT per day.

Maintenance cost

To reduce the cost of maintenance and for continuous operation, effective preventive maintenance planning is another successful practice of ours. This ensures uninterrupted plant operation and monthly sales targets being met.

Energy conservation

Energy consumption is a high-cost component of cement production. Conserving energy is essential to minimising the cost of production. International standard of energy consumption per tonne of cement varies but in the Indian industry, it is as low as 76 unit per tonne of cement. To achieve this target, KJS has constituted an energy audit team which monitors energy consumption on a day to day basis and we are pretty sure, we shall achieve the target very shortly though this new unit.

Efficiency improvement

To improve efficiency, we use imported coal which gives us the advantage of reducing the ultimate cement manufacturing cost. Sustainability is equally important and KJS continues to strive hard to sustain our production and sales with close coordination and proactive decisions on dispatch planning.

Railway terminal

Our internal railway terminal is in a final stage and very shortly we shall have our own railway yard for rake dispatches. To continue efforts to minimise the raw material cost which in fact is a constraint for us, we have to purchase quite a substantial quantity of raw material i.e, limestone from outside as a sufficient lease area has not yet been allotted to us by the government. Government support for raw material availability i.e, limestone mines lease, coal linkage and taxation benefits are all required.

Publicity

Being in the initial stage of the cement business, all controls are applied on publicity; however required assistance is extended to the marketing department for reaching consumers.

Motivation of employees

KJS is very concerned about the welfare of employees and to ensure they are motivated to put in their cent percentage, quite a large number of welfare activities have been extended. I personally meet employees once a month and solve their problems. Since quality is of paramount requirement, we never compromise on the quality of the people we engage.

Professionalism

An allover professional approach in our cement and production systems has yielded the results and work discipline that can be seen in the work culture of the organisation. A scientific manpower planning system is in place to avoid a situation of redundant manpower.