[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by vikrantj

This is one of the reason why now MSIL will directly get the engines from FIAT ranjangaon factory.

It could be simply outsourcing some of the engines, but there may be another reason. Maruti did an outright one-off deal. Now they find that they / Papa Suzuki San are unable to develop the engine to the next level and so are going back to FIAT (with their tail between their legs?). Also, this may be a way of undoing the previous mistake of a one-off deal.

[StarrySky]

Forgive me for playing the devil's advocate, but:

I think MS has achieved what it wanted with the release of this news - public's ire is directed at the workers, there is less resentment against the company and hence those who have booked the car are less likely to cancel his/her booking.

Fact is that we don't know actually why the worker's are striking, have they tried other means to resolve their disputes and how the company has approached their demands so far.

I think all the "sabotage" by workers is simply to delay the shipping of cars and hence the quality issues are "simple" enough to be detected by the QC department. I don't think any of the workers actually want unsafe cars to hit the showrooms.

Disclaimer: I'm not related to MS or any of the striking employees.

[vikrantj]

Originally Posted by StarrySky

Forgive me for playing the devil's advocate, but:

I think MS has achieved what it wanted with the release of this news - public's ire is directed at the workers, there is less resentment against the company and hence those who have booked the car are less likely to cancel his/her booking.

Fact is that we don't know actually why the worker's are striking, have they tried other means to resolve their disputes and how the company has approached their demands so far.

I think all the "sabotage" by workers is simply to delay the shipping of cars and hence the quality issues are "simple" enough to be detected by the QC department. I don't think any of the workers actually want unsafe cars to hit the showrooms.

Disclaimer: I'm not related to MS or any of the striking employees.

Whatever maybe the case. Simply put I do not want to hear from sales rep "Well Sir, workers have deliberately created quality issues in the car, but QC dept has done it's best isolating such car. What you will get will be 95% defect free"

[fiat_tarun]

This is not a good way to strike and Maruti should sort out the whole thing this time. If they don't come to an agreement the workers are not going to be happy and these issues will happen again.

Well, all you people who have booked your new Swifts, the wait just got longer.

Originally Posted by vikrantj

This is one of the reason why now MSIL will directly get the engines from FIAT ranjangaon factory. See the link below

Fiat to make diesel engines for Maruti Suzuki at its Ranjangaon plant - Yahoo!

Originally Posted by sgiitk

It could be simply outsourcing some of the engines, but there may be another reason. Maruti did an outright one-off deal. Now they find that they / Papa Suzuki San are unable to develop the engine to the next level and so are going back to FIAT (with their tail between their legs?). Also, this may be a way of undoing the previous mistake of a one-off deal.

This strike at Maruti has nothing to do with Maruti sourcing engines directly from Fiat. This is actually a clever move by Fiat who is trying to maximise utilisation at Ranjangaon. Suzuki had requested Fiat for permission to expand their diesel engine plant in India, to which Fiat is suppossed to have said they will supply the engines from Ranjangaon. The engine is the same and there are going to be no changes.

[VeluM]

To be perfectly honest, strikes are not the best way to protest. If the workers want to make themselves heard, then they should have a forum. It is Maruti's responsibility to allow the grievances of the workers to be redressed - or at least heard.

However, sabotage is something Maruti should Not tolerate. Immediate dismissal of all saboteurs should be the penalty, with no benefits. This is a criminal offence, and Maruti can file criminal cases against all involved. Completely unacceptable. This is what Unions and Union Leaders (likely allowed to flourish during the Government control of Maruti) brings. Inefficiency cannot be punished, while the efficient will be made to conform with the rest - or else!

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by fiat_tarun

This strike at Maruti has nothing to do with Maruti sourcing engines directly from Fiat. This is actually a clever move by Fiat who is trying to maximise utilisation at Ranjangaon. Suzuki had requested Fiat for permission to expand their diesel engine plant in India, to which Fiat is supposed to have said they will supply the engines from Ranjangaon. The engine is the same and there are going to be no changes.

The engines may be the same now, but when EV comes in then! Obviously, if I have spare capacity then I will rather use that than allow another plant or expansion.

[fiat_tarun]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

The engines may be the same now, but when EV comes in then! Obviously, if I have spare capacity then I will rather use that than allow another plant or expansion.

Maruti is already manufacturing Euro 5 engines that are being exported to Hungary (which is now being reduced to cater to domestic demand). The timeline for India to move onto E 5 is still not defined, so that is still some time away.

[raju2512]

Originally Posted by StarrySky

Forgive me for playing the devil's advocate, but:

I think MS has achieved what it wanted with the release of this news - public's ire is directed at the workers, there is less resentment against the company and hence those who have booked the car are less likely to cancel his/her booking.

Fact is that we don't know actually why the worker's are striking, have they tried other means to resolve their disputes and how the company has approached their demands so far.

I think all the "sabotage" by workers is simply to delay the shipping of cars and hence the quality issues are "simple" enough to be detected by the QC department. I don't think any of the workers actually want unsafe cars to hit the showrooms.

Disclaimer: I'm not related to MS or any of the striking employees.

I fully agree with you. These companies have more than 70% of the workmen in the contract category. They have no benefits like ESI/EPF and working conditions are quite bad. The salary levels low , compared to market rates.

Let's not start blaming workmen without knowing the merits for their cause.

I too feel that quality issues reported are cosmetic in nature, wrong trims etc., It is not possible assemble a car with serious defects since there are quite a few fool proofing techniques (poka yoke) and such issues will be detected in the next stage

[harishpr]

What i see is only one part of the story (management's viewpoint)... We don't know the other side of the story (Worker's viewpoint). It's quite a shame to start blaming and venting without knowing both sides of the story.
MS has grown by leaps and bounds in the last 2 decades. They are struggling to meet the demand.
History says that several successful-Large firms are consumed by their own success due to lack of handling such huge/Large scale operations.

I hope things get sorted out soon with Win-Win for both parties.

[swiftnfurious]

As a consumer, should I really bother about the work conditions of the Maruti employees? NO

As a consumer, should I bother about the quality of Maruti cars? YES

As a consumer, do I want to see the waiting periods of the Maruti cars go up? NO

As a consumer, should I listen to the sales rep saying the waiting period is high due to MSIL / workers problem and wait endlessly for a product? NO

The last part is subjective; a group of people will choose to wait and a group will look for options. I for one WILL look for another option as we have more competitive products in the market; this was not the case 3 years back and people were mostly forced to hang on to Swift D because there was not a good all round competitive product (Getz CRDi or old Indica Ds were the options) then.

Disclaimer:: The post is made with Swift P & D cars in mind since these are manufactured in Manesar plants.

[Sutripta]

Strange that a company which gets so many things right so consistently (am I sounding like a fanboy?) gets into a mess with its own labour relations.

There are no disgruntled employees amongst the QC inspectors?

Regards
Sutripta

[sdp1975]

Here is a report on the MSIL strike :

Stir in Manesar

and a previous strike at HMIL in Tamil Nadu:

Advantage union

[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by raju2512

I fully agree with you. These companies have more than 70% of the workmen in the contract category. They have no benefits like ESI/EPF and working conditions are quite bad. The salary levels low , compared to market rates.

Even the contract/casual workmen are covered under the ESI and EPF and are mandatory. Each worker has Regn No and is a pre-requirement even for the issue of gate entry pass. So, I don't think this as a probable reason for the issue. Maruti has to come out openly.

[Chewbacca]

Originally Posted by fuel_addict

At the end of the day, the news maybe pure sensationalism but how can a buyer be sure?

Originally Posted by StarrySky

Forgive me for playing the devil's advocate, but:

I think MS has achieved what it wanted with the release of this news - public's ire is directed at the workers, there is less resentment against the company

Originally Posted by raju2512

These companies have more than 70% of the workmen in the contract category. ... The salary levels low , compared to market rates.

MSIL has been around for a while now and had been "having the cake and eating it too". But with the mighty Toyota and others on the horizon they need to cut costs further and retain their market share. MSIL now has high levels of automation with streamlined processes that are monitored and logged remotely. Automation is the key to increase productivity whilst reducing the need for skilled workers, minimizing human errors and to get the best ROI.

All this labor-displacing technology minimizes the need for skilled workmen, their attrition, their absenteeism, their retraining, their benefits and a host of other overheads. They are already scouting and hiring ITI freshers who can do the same job at a lower package.

Just look at the history of Detroit where automation in the automotive industry started eliminating vast numbers of skilled workers (the outsourcing part came later)

Disclaimer: This is just my personal opinion and I could be entirely wrong.

[drsnt]

News from indiandrive email

Factory premises sealed at Maruti’s Manesar Plant
Posted: 29 Aug 2011 10:34 PM PDT
Maruti is facing a crisis at its Manesar Plant in Haryana. Unhappy workers have found out a new way to disrupt ongoing work at the plant by creating serious defects in quality of the cars, so they would fail the compulsory vehicle inspection (VI) quality test. The vehicles are instead pushed to the holdup unit in the factory premises and not being shipped to dealers.

In the previous weeks, workers aged 27 to 28 years are up to some crazy stuff. They are cutting off wire harnesses from fresh cars which are in the assembly line, loosening or removing door hinges making the entire door fall off at the time of quality checks.

There are instances like deliberately trying to sabotage by employing methods like denting a new car. This would hold the car from reaching the dealer for an extended time as these cars would need fresh repairs. There are also instances like fitting parts from one model to another.

On a specific day of the previous week, reports indicated that only ninety six cars came out of the assembly line after vehicle inspection and quality checks whereas there were about 1200 cars rolling out daily from production.

Considering the depth of the issue to be seriously affecting the quality of their products, Maruti Suzuki, this Monday morning, sealed the facility temporarily.

Production stoppage like these in Manesar plant have happened thrice before where they produce cars like A-Star, SX4 and Swift models.

Insiders belonging to Maruti Suzuki told that the staff had been undertaking the ‘go-slow’ policy for many weeks currently and production was obviously down in the plant, but Maruti Suzuki only sealed the premises on Monday, which was a slight delay.

On the other side, production at Gurgaon, the company’s 2nd facility, had to be cut down this month because of a slowdown in demand.

considering the cars which have failed to pass quality check,will they be shipped with repair job?

Should a customer completely avoid cars manufactured in August?

what happens to such cars which fail quality check? specially if their no. is so large