Chandigarh BDS Cluster

Profile of a BDS Provider: Sam’s Techno School

Sam’s Techno School is a BDS provider identified by the TERI–SIDBI project for conducting capacity building programs for industrial workers as well as unemployed youth, in order to equip them with diverse skills such as operation of computer numerical control (CNC) machines, CNC programming, operation of conventional lathe machines, autoCAD etc. The School is playing an instrumental role in addressing the need for skilled manpower among the local industry.  So far, it has trained over 60 personnel (20 workers and 40 unemployed youth) under the project. These personnel have successfully been placed in various engineering industries located in Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula. The School’s courses are also helping its trainees in finding employment overseas.

Sam’s Techno School was conceived by professionals with vast experience in industry, who saw the need for a training institute that would help address the growing need for industrial workers equipped with modern technical skills. It was set up three years ago to impart vocational training in the area of Advanced Manufacturing Systems. The School is approved by City & Guilds, U.K. It has experienced faculty from industry who provide trainees with the required skills and confidence in operating CNC machines through hands-on training.

Sam’s Techno School is a unique example of a machine tools supplier becoming a trainer. Mr. Arun Malhotra, the brain behind the School, first came up with the idea of setting up a technical training institute while attending a training program on CNC programming; he was then working for a machine tools company. Initially, he established a firm named SAM Technologies for marketing CNC machines along with two partners:  Mr H S Saggu, a known name in the machine tools industry in Punjab, and Mr N S Aulakh, an industrialist and exporter of engineering components. During their interactions with industrial clientele, the partners realized the need to train personnel to operate the CNC machines, as these machines demand skilled manpower for their efficient and productive operation. This led the partners to establish Sam’s Techno School, thereby adding value to their machine tool sales.

According to Mr Malhotra, the mission  of the School is to impart vocational skills training to youth so as to enhance their skill-sets and employability in today’s fast-changing and competitive industrial scenario, and thereby help contribute to sustainable socio-economic growth in the long term. Specifically, Mr Malhotra wants to generate a pool of skilled and innovative workers in the fields of CNC machine operation and CAD/CAM.  The target trainees are 10^th class & 10+2 school dropouts; Industrial Training Institute (ITI) and other Diploma holders; and experienced workers of the manufacturing sector. The School’s vision is to make Punjab the ‘skills capital of the world’.

The School imparts training in two phases. The first phase comprises classroom sessions spread over 4–5 days, during which trainees are provided theoretical inputs. In the second phase, trainees are given hands-on training on the CNC lathe machines. Training is also imparted on techniques such as tool offset, wear offset, jaw boring, etc. These techniques have helped the units reduce rejections, increase output in terms of number of pieces per shift, and thereby improve productivity. As far as the trainees are concerned, the training programs conducted under the project have strengthened their skills, made them more confident, and also increased their earnings as they receive enhanced wages due to improved productivity

Considering the immense demand for skilled manpower in the state, the promoters have recently established a similar training institute in the industrial township of Ludhiana. The latest machines have been installed in the Ludhiana centre to upgrade skills of the trainees. Mr Malhotra is enthused by the response at Ludhiana which he describes as ‘overwhelming’. According to him, over 70 candidates have been trained at the Ludhiana centre in the last six months,

Through its capacity building programs, Sam’s Techno School has established very close rapport with the engineering industry of Punjab. Both its centres have state-of-the-art facilities including well-equipped CAD/CAM labs, LCD projector-enabled class rooms, and CNC machines for hands-on training. Proper layout of the centres has been ensured to accommodate a counseling area and a library. The centres have trained more than 450 persons so far, and all of them have been placed with various industries in the region. The centres also impart courses on retailing skills, refrigeration and A.C repair. The School proposes to expand its spectrum of programs to include training of electrician and welders in the near future. A unique feature of the School—one that has contributed a great deal to its success—is that it offers confirmed placement of trainees after they successfully complete its capacity building programs.

The TERI–SIDBI project has supported the School in its campaigns to generate wider awareness among local youth on its capacity building programs. In order to mobilize the local youth, printed banners describing the School’s various training programs were put up in public places like the village bus stops around Chandigarh and at busy crossroads in industrial areas. Visits were made to surroundings villages like Banur and Landran in order to meet village panchayat members and seek their support in mobilizing unemployed youth from their respective villages. As a result of these campaigns, the School now has a steady inflow of 10–12 trainees every month. Mr Malhotra feels that with this momentum of inflow, there is a potential to train and place at least 200 more students by March 2011.

Being a machine tool supplier, the School’s management team is constantly in touch with the local industries which also happen to be potential employers of the School’s trainees. Hence, the School is able to attune its programs to keep pace with and meet the needs of the local industry. All in all, Sam’s Techno School is on a path that promises to help achieve its twin goals in a self-sustaining manner: to meet the needs of local industry through creating and supporting a trained workforce, and to provide unemployed youth as well as existing industrial workers with skill-sets that would increase their income.