Materials have been put in their place and oil or grease stains are hard to find and even the machines wear a well-scrubbed look.

This is not a swanky corporate office but a five-year-old small scale unit on a small plot in Pirangut, 20 kms from Pune.

Housekeeping is not the only thing that is taken seriously here. This quality consciousness is reflected in all aspects of this company's functioning especially in manufacturing quality products and human resources.

Rapid has become a ship-to-use vendor of Cummins India Ltd. This means Cummins is confident about the product delivered by Rapid and does not carry out the routine inspection of the ordered components. Instead, the company opted to complete an exhaustive process for obtaining the ship-to-use certification underCummins' Supplier quality Improvement Programme.

Cummins is a Rs 743 crore-company manufacturing a range of engines in India. Rapid supplies 100 per cent of its products to Cumnmins. Cummins has more than 300 vendors of which only 25 vendors have this certification.

Promoted by Sagar Jog, Mihir Gogte and Prakash Gogte, Rapid manufctures Cam Follower Rollers, a vital component for multi-cylinder high HP engines. Earlier, before Rapid entered the scene, Cummins had to import this high-precision item.

"The technology was developed in-house working closely with Cummins and costs 40 to 50 per cent less then the imported one," says Mihir Gogte, the man who runs the show at Rapid. The initial capacity was to manufacture 8,000 rollers per month. At present the production is around two lakh rollers per annum with a turnover of Rs 93 lakh.

Now Rapid makes rollers for all the varieties of engines produced by Cummins including their export range. "Offering reliable quality and giving deliveries in time is thekey," says Mihir.

Rapid took two years to complete the certification process. The process involves defining a quality system, writing a manual and following procedures. This is done through benchmarking, assuring equipment availability and capability, elimination of waste and achieving synchronous flow and short lead times. The unit also has to set up improvement goals and follow the quality manual faithfully.

Once systems were in place, productivity improved by bringing down inventory from six months to three months. Delivery schedule was streamlined. From six times a month Rapid now makes deliveries only twice a month. The standard rejection rate permitted is three per cent but Rapid has less than 2.5 per cent rejection and efforts are being made to reduce this further.

Mihir has not just put systems in place but ensured that these have permeated to all levels in the organisation. He has taken care to carry his team of 20 with him so quality is not only his business but the responsibility of the wholeteam.

Says he, "The company's quality policy and systems are not just aimed at products but also the people who create the products."

Take, for instance, training which is provided to workers on a regular basis. Those who have left education mid-way are encouraged to study further. Even though the unit does not come under various government regulations for staff facilities such as PF and accident insurance, these are extended to workers at the company's cost.

"All this adds to my work but helps create a clean and healthy environment and better work culture. As it is job insecurity makes them work poorly," says Mihir.

With these kind of policies Rapid is now exploring avenues to expand product range. It recently entered a technical collaboration with M/s Fibro BmbH of Germany to manufacture piercing punches used in proess tolls and a tie-up with M/s Hommel and Keller GmbH & Co to manufacture knurling tools.