The process of production requires continuous innovation, by introducing such tools and machines that would not only increase the productivity and efficiency per worker as well as overall, but also make the work less tiresome, safer and more entertaining. The introduction of roller skates in textile mills is one such machine.
The use of rolling skates, rather than foot, by textile factory workers, has completely revolutionized the definition of rolling production lines. The speed of work has progressed and the productivity has increased many times. Before this, the workers got exhausted by the end of the day due to the continuous movement throughout the length of 150 feet loom or spinning frame. However, now, the workers glide around without much effort. Thus, they don’t get fatigued by the end of the shift and even find the work a fun.
With roller skate, one worker can operate a 120 feet to 150 feet spinning frame with 1,000 needles, a work that required normally 2 workers on the foot, for weaving cotton fibers into yarn. Thus, the productivity per worker has increased and this has resulted in the overall increase in the productivity.
Keeping all the benefits of roller skates in mind, around 2000 factory workers at KPR Mill, Coimbatore, have been given training on using roller skates at work and this is now increasingly becoming an industry standard.
What started as a novel trial some years back has now spread quickly, as more and more number of factories are introducing skates for improving the speed of work as well as making the work a fun.
As this low tech gear is without stopper brakes, women workers at Precott Mills are strapped around the waist and attached by ropes to pulleys with wheels on them that run across the ceiling. This ensures safety of workers at workplace from accidents. This is a welcome step to avoid the factory from being labeled as ‘hazarodous’.
The training of women to skate has become a cottage industry for Pavis Parmananthan, who operates ‘Pavis Skating Training Centre at Coimbatore’. Thus, this has resulted in the growth of more avenues of employment and enterprise.
The biggest challenge according to Mr. Parmananthan is to train rural women who are shy and hesitate a lot initially to learn skating. However, with a proper counseling their initial hesitation can be overcome.
Annam Sankaralingam, one of the workers at KPR Mills at Coimbatore, feels working with roller skates as half playing and half working. The energy level of the employees is boosted by the movement and an otherwise monotonous work becomes an entertainment with roller skates. Thus, the employees feel motivated as they are able to give more output without getting tired.
Thus, this is a revolution, as the output and efficiency have increased of each worker and this has resulted in the overall increase of output and efficiency. Apart from this, the workers are not required to put a lot of physical efforts and get tired. Above all, the machine has provisions to prevent against accidents.
In short, roller skates have completely changed the operations in textile factories in terms of production, efficiency, involvement and safety of workers for betterment.
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