- A young Prarthana was the only female employee in NH Engineering when she introduced a synchronised communication system to organise the factory unit
- Being a novice, Prarthana was not deterred by the gush of challenges she initially met with
- Prarthana was stern in her leadership and executed extensive research and studies to find her voice in the male-dominated factory unit
When Prarthana Patel joined the manufacturing sector as a 21year-old student of Economics, she was a curious, young novice exploring the various industry concepts. Under the guidance of the sole woman employee working at NH Engineering owned by Prarthana’s father, she tried to fight her way through the industry maze. Prarthana was later trained by her uncle and given the first major shot in manufacturing.
Decided to stick to the manufacturing sector without quitting
Prarthana was the only woman working in the heavy machine industry which nonetheless never dulled her spirit of learning in detail. From jotting down notes to learning about the mainstream products, she mastered it all in no time. NH Engineering manufactures iron and steel fabricated products and Prarthana was motivated to grasp the entire manufacturing process with sincere dedication.
Prarthana’s workplace, teaming with male peers, was a far cry from being accepting and tolerant of her learned supervision. The senior staff members were not very comfortable working in collaboration with her. “They used to take orders from my father and uncle and still took me as a child so it was an awkward situation”.Now I have come way past it, but I feel communication is a significant factor that determines the growth of a woman in the manufacturing sector.
Reorganization of the factory and streamlining processes
Prarthana was confronted with many difficult scenarios finding entire work setups in utter shambles and heavily disorganized. She quickly realized that a systematic intervention has to be implemented to streamline work. This led her to introduce to the members, including her father and uncle, the world of Dropbox for day-to-day communication and data exchange. She taught them how to go paperless and transformed the core functioning of her factory like never before.
Initially, Prarthana had to deal with many stumbling blocks while communicating with the male workers of the factory. “It is still a mindset issue and men cannot deal with the fact that a young woman is working in the midst of heavy machines”, Prarthana sighs looking back at the earlier days of her involvement with the factory.
Upgrading oneself in the manufacturing sector
Prarthana believes that staying firm and confident has helped her face the challenges and guide NH Engineering to reach new heights.” You have to do your own research if you are completely new to the sector. It is possible for women to upgrade themselves and fit right into the sector like men. I would not mind recruiting female workers in my unit, and I believe women are capable of thorough organization and focus.”
Prarthana’s journey testifies the fact that men find it revolting to work under women and such claims of blatant sexism at workplaces are not myths. The perception, however, is changing slowly and the senior male staff members stewarding the entire departments in various organizations are adapting to the fact that women are indeed capable of leading a company and adding value to its development. Prarthana believes in a total ecosystem transformation to bridge gender disparities prevalent in manufacturing sectors.
Machine Maker celebrating Woman in Indian Manufacturing is coming out with incredible stories of #Womanufactuirng. If you would like to recommend anyone among you to be featured write to us at info@themachinemaker.com
