We are in mass production phase, says India Director

Nokia India has started exporting mobile handsets from its plant at Sriperumbudur, about 50 km west of Chennai. The company now produces 10 different models at the plant and has started exports of some to Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

In the next phase, it plans to export handsets to West Asia and Africa, according to Mr Jukka Lehtela, Director - India Operations, Nokia India Pvt Ltd.

Exports account for about 20 per cent of total production, he said without giving actual numbers of either the export volume or the production.

Nokia's plant was inaugurated in March with trial production starting in January. The plant now produces low-end and mid-category handsets, according to Mr Lehtela.

Nokia India employs about 2,700 people, 80 per cent of them involved in production. At the end of 2006, the plant is likely to employ more than 3,000, at least one-third more than what Nokia had originally planned for, he said. "Now we are in mass production phase and our manufacturing volumes are reasonable," said Mr Lehtela.

The company was continuously ramping up production and was quite satisfied with the key performance indicators - quality, cost, manufacturing and delivery schedule. "If the market is as we planned, next year we may reach maximum capacity," he added.

The Chennai plant, Mr Lehtela said, was close to becoming on par with any other Nokia facility in other parts of the world, in terms of key performance indicators.

Quality recruitment


He attributed this to the quality of people that the company had recruited. How has the company found the quality of its recruits? "Surprising well," answered Mr Lehtela and added that the recruitment was done by an agency to which Nokia India specifies its requirements. When other companies complain of quality problems in assembly line workers, how is it that Nokia has no problems? "May be they do something different," was all that Mr Lehtela would say.

Foxconn unit


Foxconn, a Taiwanese electronics contract manufacturer, is expected to set up a plant in the Nokia Park. It will be the fourth component maker for Nokia to establish a base inside the Nokia Park, which has been designated a product-specific special economic zone.

Talks are on with some suppliers. Perlos, which makes handset mechanics; Aspocomp Group, which is into printed circuit boards; and Salcomp, which produces mobile phone chargers, are the other suppliers that will set up plants in the Nokia Park.