Field Trip: A Class outside the Classroom
The Journey Begins….
Introduction
We were given a hearty welcome by Dasrathbhai, Director of the sugar factory and were briefed about the factory. We learnt some fascinating details about this 50+ years old plant and its glorious journey towards becoming a leading sugar producer in Asia.
Real life insight into the production of sugar
Thereafter, the students were distributed in different groups and each group was taken separately and explained the functioning of the plant. We had learnt in class about how the manufacturing units focus on Total Productivity, Total Quality, Zero Defect, etc… and this was our first-hand experience on how a manufacturing plant works. We were taken through a complete channel of stations and were explained by the supervisors the complete process of producing sugar. There was a highly interactive conversation between the students and the workers about the different steps in the process. The exposure to highly efficient automated systems which performed these complex tasks in few seconds helped us understand the present level of automation and testing in industrial scenario. To students’ pleasure, at the end of this plant visit everyone was served with a glass of fresh sugarcane juice which they all enjoyed.
Dyeing Industry
We proceeded further to visit a cloth dyeing unit. The well-coordinated processes of the plant snatched away our afternoon sleep as we remained stunned seeing the innovative technology that was used. We watched a great combination of science and colours, learned how the cloth was coloured and how designs were printed on plain cloth with the latest technology.
Textile Industry
Moving further, we were delighted seeing the process of how threads were combined to form the cloths. Manufacturing of cloth is a complex process and it involves many skilled workers, each performing a particular critical step in the overall process. We got to know that the many complex steps can be divided into three general categories – Preparation, Spinning, and Weaving.
The Journey ends…
We started our return journey from the textile factory and reached the school at 6.00 PM, a bit tired, but well informed. On the whole, this industrial visit turned out to be highly fruitful. It helped to gain a better understanding of the industrial processes and also an appreciation of the effort and dedication involved in the successful working of the entire team.