In the realm of manufacturing, where raw materials undergo transformation into useful products, lies a captivating world of creation and production. For Manish Kothari, this world became an enchanting reality at the tender age of 18 when he stepped into Hindustan Gas & Industries, Baska, Halol, in 1986. What began as an opportunity to participate in a mould-handling automation project soon turned into a lifelong passion for manufacturing. As Manish reminisces on his remarkable 37-year journey, he shares his profound appreciation for the art of manufacturing and reflects on the essence of creation.
My first physical engagement in the manufacturing industry was way back in 1986, at the age of 18, I walked into a foundry premise Hindustan Gas & Industries, Baska, Halol. I had completed my 12th board exam; college was to start after six months, but it was delayed by agitations and riots related to the reservation of seats in education. My father, Shri R C Kothari, was presented with an opportunity to participate in the commissioning of a mould-handling automation project.
The physical vastness of manufacturing – iron being melted in a furnace, moulds being made, metal poured and cast into a shape, going through heat treatment, sand being recycled, cores being produced…so many things coming together to produce an insulator cap casting.
Though the environment was dark, dusty and dirty when I reflect today, it did not matter to me at that time, and I got a lot to learn. I could recognize an innate ability to think logically, decipher an electrical drawing and be able to participate in & contribute in troubleshooting.
I was able to touch and feel innovative thinking & ideas, implementation of a busbar system, a new knock-out system, control logic for automation of transfer cars and pushers – incremental improvements and even an additional five moulds produced in one hour was something to celebrate, it was there it was visible.
When I reflect back now in 2023, it’s been 37 years since I first stepped into manufacturing, and perhaps it was love at first sight (touch & feel).
Before I delve into what attracted me to and continues to attract me to manufacturing and why I think it is something I have aspired to be in, it would be essential to look at the definition of manufacturing itself.
“Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation.” – Wikipedia
The key words are creation or production, wherein one or more elements of nature are brought together to create another.
Manufacturing could be connected to any field, from making castings to coding software to treating a patient to cooking food to writing a book to creating an art, creation can exist in anything. Thus brings the question, how do I choose which “manufacturing” activity to get into? Perhaps before reaching into this question, it may be important to understand what is “creation” or “production”. To understand the same, perhaps it may be necessary to experience the same.
True experience may come from immersion into any activity without judging whether it may work for me or not. A half-interest immersion may lead to a “confused” state of mind, leaving oneself even more indecisive than one before.
When I took to immersing myself in the experience of the foundry industry in 1986, I can now look back and reflect; I could see that several possibilities in manufacturing existed at that time. I could have taken to accounting, to production, to trading, to be a people’s leader, to an electrical engineer, to a metallurgy engineer, to a core-making specialist, to an operator of the ladle, to a storekeeper…………. I had the opportunity to get access to all kinds of possible opportunities and experiences. All this I could get as my father had an opportunity available, my mother did not discourage, rather encouraged me to explore; there was freedom given to experience and explore.
I could call it today a self-discovery that I had got into, I chose to continue into the foundry profession, took mechanical engineering subject, immersed in each opportunity of learning I found, and took up CAME (Computer applications in mechanical engineering) as an elective, again an opportunity provided by Late Prof P B Desai, which opened up the window to PLC, automation, robotics, data acquisition techniques in 1989-91. I found perhaps what connected to my heart, and though I did not know what I wanted to be.
In 2018, when I started on a philosophical journey of discovering why I did what I did – Atma-bodha, assisted by the framework offered by Empretec Program by UNCTAD, I realised a few of the decisions which I took and then immersed myself.
Today, a bit wiser, with quite a few white/grey hair and missing hair, I reflect back on why Manufacturing is Aspirational to me.
- I am able to create something
- I am able to contribute to the society
- I am able to manifest together what I have received and pass it forward
- I am able to do SEVA – Social Economic Value Addition
- I am able to do justice to my existence which I have received
- I am able to experience spirituality in normal living through creations which perform SEVA
We as humans have the power to be Creators are Producers, but let us also be aware of it’s relevance to the world. Let us not embark on creating things which can manifest into a Hiroshima or a Covid-19 disaster, let us aspire to do manufacturing with awareness and consciousness.
As on today, I have found convergence of all the possibilities into my manufacturing journey – finance, machine making, design creation, education, software, hardware, leadership,…… All it took was to be able to immerse into each activity, and ASPIRE to be a good MANUFACTURER.