Global Rubber Industries Pvt. Ltd. (GRI) graduated its first class of 30 employees from its Pragathi Academy, a program to improve employees’ manufacturing excellence, the company says.

The Pragathi Program, established in 2015, has helped workers increase efficiency in manufacturing systems with a productivity increase of 10%. The company also measured an increase in quality assurance by 6.4% and a 0.9% decrease in rejected output. The program also helped develop GRI employees’ communication skills to better grow in the company.

The Pragathi Academy was created from the Pragathi Program with the goal of training and developing GRI’s future leaders to improve operational performance and the practicality of the manufacturing facilities. GRI says the program indirectly helps the output process of the factory and distinguishes its employees.

During the program ‘Manufacturing Excellence’ course, GRI employees learn the importance of using the company’s best practices in their day-to-day operations and effective, fact-based problem-solving approaches. Employees are also assessed on productivity and performance through on-the-floor practices to better analyze their skills on all machines on the floor area. GRI says employees are expected to detect any machine deficiencies and highlight problems for the maintenance team to reduce downtime on all machines and ensure the safety of all employees.

All graduates are accredited with a certification from GRI, highlighting their performance and the successful completion of the course on Manufacturing Excellence.