Suprabha’s Contribution to “Make In India”

Our Prime Minister, Shri. Narendra Modi launched the “Make In India” campaign on 25th September 2014 in a function at the Vigyan Bhavan. He took this concept to the International Community when India partnered with Germany in hosting the Hannover Messe Fair in April 2015, where he presented the ‘Make in India’ Lion Logo at a grand inaugural function.

The statue of the Roaring Lion exhibited in the Indian Pavilion at this fair was fabricated and assembled by BHEL, Hyderabad. This statue is an aluminium structure, comprising over 400 aluminium components and weighs around 25 tons.

The assignment given to Suprabha was:

• To design a suitable Sea Worthy Packaging System to ship the Lion, in open deck, from BHEL, Hyderabad works, to Hannover, Germany via JNPT, Mumbai.
• To reach the Lion to its destination, in its full glory, without losing its luster. No white rust or black marks were to appear on the Lion. Totally dry packing was required i.e. no Rust Preventive Oil was to be applied.

The challenges faced by Suprabha:

• Travel time was about 45 days both on road and sea.
• B.H.E.L. officials suggested vacuum packing system by using aluminium foil.
• The task of the packing activity was entrusted to Suprabha at very short notice and was to be completed in just two days time.

Suprabha has been working very closely with BHEL, Hyderabad, as B.H.E.L. has contracted their entire packaging activities of various products like Rotors, Turbines, Spare Parts, Pumps, Panels, etc. It is a matter of pride for Suprabha that B.H.E.L. selected us to do this very important packing, which would reflect our national pride.

Team Suprabha, working at B.H.E.L., rose to this occasion. The first hurdle was arranging the aluminium foil required, at such short notice. To get aluminium foil of required quantity and fabricate a cover of the size required to pack the Lion, was impossible. Hence Team Suprabha had to first design the packing system to take care of the stringent requirements, considering the product/metal composition involved and organize the packing with the material available at the B.H.E.L. site.

Suprabha has already carried out similar kind of Open Deck Transportation for power plant equipment, involving land and sea shipment and we have received both National and International recognition for our “Seaworthy Packaging System for Open Deck Transportation” in 2008 and for Long-Term Preservation and Transportation in 2015.

With our expertise and vast knowledge of Seaworthy Packing combined with Long-Term Preservation and Open Deck Transportation, our Team worked continuously for over 24 hours, with the available resources, under the watchful eyes of the top officials of B.H.E.L. It is to their credit that B.H.E.L. top officials including the Executive Director were personally present in the packing area throughout the packing activity. This gave encouragement and boosted the morale of Team Suprabha. We were able to hand over the Lion, fully packed and secured in the Seaworthy Packaging System to B.H.E.L. officials well within the stipulated time, thus enabling timely dispatch from the plant.

The much-awaited D day arrived and the proud moment came, when the Executive Director of B.H.E.L. personally called and appreciated the Seaworthy Packing done by Team Suprabha, and informed that the Lion packed by Suprabha had reached Hannover in all its majesty, with its original luster intact and without any patches of white rust or black marks. In fact, the Spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry had tweeted and congratulated B.H.E.L. on this accomplishment. Indeed it was a thrilling experience to see the lion roaring and majestically walking across the podium, as we watched the inaugural session on our T.V. screens.

This is Suprabha’s ‘behind-the-scenes’ contribution to the Government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, in a big way. Suprabha is proud to be associated with this endeavor that has kept the national tricolor flying high.