Finnpartnership helped mine and tunnel vehicle manufacturer Normet develop a training model for the company’s new employees in India. Competent personnel are a key to a growing business.

Although India has a population of one billion people, finding skilled employees can be difficult for companies. One of the companies facing this challenge is Normet, a technology company from Iisalmi specialising in the assembly, remanufacture, modernisation and maintenance of mine and tunnel vehicles in India.

The challenge of finding skilled labour became timely in 2021, when Normet decided to establish a new production plant in Jaipur in eastern India. To train the personnel of its new unit, Centre of Excellence, opened in January 2023, Normet applied for Finnpartnership’s Business Partnership Support.

“Finnpartnership’s support allowed us to send professionals to Jaipur for 1–3 weeks to work as training instructors. This group of professionals included employees from our production, design, quality control, procurement and sales departments,” says Petteri Malin, Director at Normet.

Malin is posted in Jaipur, and he is responsible for the company’s global production development, product transfers and localisation.

Vocational college’s contribution to the training model

Normet’s training project in India included the development of a training model for production workers. For this, Normet cooperated with the Ylä-Savo Vocational College YSAO.

“YSAO is Normet’s long-standing training partner in Iisalmi, so it was only natural to continue the cooperation also in India. Together, we prepared a training model and a basic training package consisting of several modules for assembly workers,” Malin explains.

Miika Vaarasuo, Machine and Production Mechanics Teacher at YSAO, participated in building the plant a training centre, in which new employees are required to complete learning exercises before they start actual induction training under the instruction of expert colleagues.

“We use tools such as miniature mine vehicles and VR headsets in the training. These tools illustrate the modules and parts used to build a machine,” Vaarasuo explains.

In addition to producing training material, YSAO trained three Normet employees from India in Iisalmi. During the training, the designer, electrician, and mechanic learned the basics of electric motor mechanics, for example.

Finnpartnership granted YSAO support for the project. Educational institutes can apply for support directly for support activities related to a company’s business partnership projects.

“We spent the support on, for example, project preparation, travel expenses, compensation for working hours during the training, and translating the training material,” Vaarasuo lists the benefits of Finnpartnership’s support.

Occupational safety is a priority

Employees complete the training on the job at Normet’s plant and the training period lasts a few weeks. The training includes theory and exams. Competence tests are conducted to ensure that the employee has learned the skills needed for their job and that they can apply these skills in practice.

“We go over the basics before the work begins. Occupational safety is our priority”, Petteri Malin emphasises.

Mine and tunnel vehicles typically consist of around 2,000 parts. New employees go over the machine structure, mechanical drawings, and other technical documentation. Electricians are given a more thorough introduction to the machine’s electric systems.

“Our employees are also taught to load heavy vehicles correctly to ensure the products are delivered safely in containers and trailers,” Malin adds.

Competent personnel boosts growth

So far, 75 employees have been trained using the new training model. Petteri Malin says that this has helped the company achieve its objectives in India.

“We reached the set production goal in the new plant’s first year of operation. Now, we can manufacture ten machines within the time it used to take us to manufacture only one. The training model will also benefit us in the future, as we expand our portfolio and our workers are trained to build new products.”

Normet aims to grow its business substantially in India in the coming years. To achieve this target, the company must continue to hire new employees.

According to Malin, recruiting supervisors and clerical employees can also be laborious in India. Normet’s situation is made more difficult by the fact that Jaipur is not as large a technological and economic centre as Bangalore or Pune in the south.

Normet recruits employees through LinkedIn, Naukri, social media, consultants and job-seeking portals. Skilled employees have also been found through the grapevine, for example, among employees’ acquaintances. In order to fill in a specific position, Normet has used recruitment companies.

“At the moment, we are running a “welcome back” campaign that aims to persuade top professionals who have left Normet to return to us.”

Normet’s new plant currently employs 231 people. The company’s total number of personnel in India is close to one thousand. Normet’s operations cover several locations, including plants, servicing points, offices, and the Indian headquarters in Noida.

In addition to production and maintenance activities, Normet supplies building chemicals. Besides the mining industry, Normet’s customer base includes tunnel builders and contractors.

Training for subcontractors

Normet does not manufacture mine vehicle components itself in India. Instead, they are supplied by local subcontractors. The company is only responsible for the critical surface treatment of components to ensure their visual quality and resistance to corrosion.

Building a partner network in such a specialised field requires a lot of work.

“The manufacturing volume of mine vehicles tends to be small, and it varies according to the order. In addition, the machines often have special components that must be manufactured by a subcontractor that meets the quality standards,” Malin says.

According to Malin, finding such subcontractors is relatively easy in Finland but challenging in India. Training subcontractors is one way to tackle this problem.

“For example, this year, we have focused on improving the quality of welding through training.”