Summer Internship with SKF – Ankur Chawla from Symbiosis Institute of Operations Management
Ankur Chawla, who interned with SKF this summer, shares the experience of internship and his travelling across different cities in western India. Ankur is an MBA student at Symbiosis Institute of Operations Management.
Last summers, away from the scorching heat of my hometown, Delhi, I was enjoying, 1840 ft. above sea level in the lap of Deccan Queen, Pune. Pune had always attracted me for obvious reasons but this time it wasn’t one of my usual trips to meet love of my life, this time I was there to stay and stay for long.
I got an internship offer through my college to work for SKF India Ltd, market leaders in bearings manufacturing. A Swedish brand, truly blended with a mix of Indian culture, SKF exposed me to deep understanding of Operations which was a key for me, being a budding Ops Manager.
7th May, 2014, 10:00 am sharp, I was at the gate of my recruiters. They say first impression is the last impression and I always wanted mine to be the best one. I called my HR and informed her about my arrival, and after getting done with the necessary security checks, I was allowed to enter in the production facility–so big and huge that I literally had to walk for 20 minutes before I met her, but trust me that walk was worth a one to take.
Our meeting went for around 30 minutes in which she told me about various HR policies and the code of conduct at SKF, impressed by their employee first approach I was mesmerized by their act of employee care in which, god forbid if an employee meets with a serious accident, all his medical expenses are borne by the fellow mates at the factory. The act of compassion and brotherhood was truly personified. After our meeting I was escorted by her to meet my project guide and the regional head (a Swedish, who made my fellow lady intern swoon over his dark grey eyes). We discussed about the project and the deadlines, and I could see a wonderful path filled with great learning opportunities to be traversed.
My first lunch at SKF was no less than dining at some 5-star hotel in Delhi, mess hall so big that it can simultaneously accommodate at least 500 people with 4 different food counters, one for healthy diet food, and one less spicy veg, one for non-veg and then my favorite one, spicy Veg counter for spicy gluttons like me. Food was so tasty, I even started going at 8:00 am for my early breakfasts in the campus.
SKF practically exposed me to almost all the theoretical concepts of Operations and Supply Chain Management that I had learnt in my first year of management. Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, Just-in-time, Demand Planning, Packaging, Warehousing, Domestic & International logistics, Green Supply Chain, you name it and they implement them all. What could be better for an avid traveler than getting an opportunity to explore different cities of western India that I never even dreamt of going– Land of magnificent temples, Kolhapur; City of banyan trees, Vadodara; Sorath, Junagadh and our own City of Dreams, Mumbai. Yes, I covered these all, though, in a short stint but lured me enough to make a visit again.
Work hard and Party harder is a simple funda of my life. Loaded with work on week days, I used to party like crazy on weekends, places like F.C. road, Koregaon park, Aundh are the places you will find an awesome crowd to hangout. Food joints like Polka Dots, Café Oz, Peters Den and Amanora mall, are favorite hangout joints for youth. Shaniwar Wada, Aga Khan Palace, Darshan museum and the Pataleshwar caves are a must visit for those who are interested in history and architecture. Culture that I witnessed during my interns is the best a company can adopt to. On my final day, I remember there was an all day summit where zonal head of various divisions were invited. Each member was supposed to speak on the improvement actions they have taken during the course of last one year, level of discussion and the topics discussed showed depth of insights and knowledge you can gain working in those teams.
All in all, tremendous learning bundled with exorbitant fun is what I witnessed during May-June 2014.
FYI! You can view the latest Internships in Pune here.
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