Before leaving to see any of the factory buildings, we had to get suited up! This consisted of white coats, hard hats, face masks, and safety glasses. We then hopped into a big golf cart to visit the many large workshops in the complex.

We first visited the die shop, where they make all the dies necessary for their products. There were rows upon rows of large mills (though I can happily report none as big as LCOs). The amazing thing is that each die only lasts for a day, or a half. This means they make roughly 400 dies every day, where each is easily at least a couple of tons. In order to make each die, they CNC (Computer Numerical Controlled -- a program runs the machine) mill the part, and then finish it. Our guess was that each die lasted for so little time, because it was in near-constant contact with molten steel in high pressure, so sharp details were lost quickly. In the die shop, because the work was so automated, the workers (called "process owners") usually just watched to make sure that nothing went wrong.

I should roughly describe the forging process. The steel for the part is made molten, so that it can be pressed and formed more easily. It is then rolled, so that it is shaped to fit in the die, and to distribute the material appropriately, to minimize excess. The prepared steel is then placed in a press, and molded. Often, this happens numerous times, in different dies, each time moving closer to the final part. At the end, there is a bit of excess material squished out around the edges (called flash), which in another step is trimmed off. The piece is then cooled, and finished, which includes machining, smoothing edges, drilling holes, etc. (see following video). Finally, parts of the piece are heat hardened, by spinning them by very hot tools, and then cooling them.

Once we saw how the dies were made, we headed to the engineering center, where people worked on optimizing processes, and designing the necessary dies and steel parts. People use software to determine the exact amount and shape of steel to be used in the dies for it to fill in all of the gaps, but not have too much excess. They used a very neat tool that simulated the steel pressing, marked on the piece where the flash was, and then reversed the process, to see where the flash material was on the original piece.

After seeing the software center, we went went to the workshop where they rolled and pressed the steel. Huge machines (at least 30 feet tall) were chugging away, which 10-foot gears turning, and molten steel pieces in every direction. When we stood near the machines, we could feel the heat rolling off. All of the processes were mainly automated, with people spraying coolant, and sometimes moving a piece between machines. In this workshop, they were making crankshafts, from the heating to pressing stages, as in this picture of a model of the shop (unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures in this building).

We then went to another workshop, where they were working with even bigger pieces of steel! This huge cylindrical piece was turned and maneuvered by one robot, while a press came up and down, pressing it. Then, the press pushed in a large rod, which made a shaft hole part of the way through. There were final parts lying around, about 20 feet long, and 2-3 feet in diameter! As we left this building, they opened "the gates of hell" to the huge furnace where the steel was preheated.

The last shop was where they did the final machining on the pieces, post-forging. This included a lot more automated mill work, and then heat hardening, which was achieved by a large machine that had a heated tool to harden specific parts of the final piece. All of final products are then shipped all around the world to different car manufacturers, and then finally to a vehicle that you have driven!

A group of us visited a local steel pressings plant. We were first welcomed by a long row of huge machines each about 30 feet tall, and the deafening noise of every one coming down with extreme force to blank, form, draw, pierce and trim steel, which they appeared to do with ease. Men loaded each machine with flat sheet metal, or a partially-made part, and, appearing like magic, a huge piece of the machine fell and rose, leaving an entirely different piece. The new parts were immediately removed from the machine, and the workers reloaded each in seconds. Man and machine worked like one, in fluid motion. Pieces moved down the row of machines, each making it's own mark until there were tall piles of completed stampings with beautiful finishes.

We asked about worker turnover, and were interested to learn that most of the factory employees only work there for about 6 months. The reason is that this is the length of their initial contract. Once their contracts come up for renewal, most workers expect a raise, which the company is hesitant to offer, unless their work is of the highest quality, because they know there are plenty of new people they can hire. (Another company, which I'll write about later, has a very different approach to hiring)

After pressings, the pieces -- car door panels, hoods, etc. -- moved to the welding area, which was again done by hand. Here in India, labor is easy to find and inexpensive, so it is used extensively in manufacturing. The factory had rack upon rack of completed car side panels, which are for cars by Indian, Italian, and U.S. car companies.

There was also a very neat robot that bent the hood sheet over a structural piece. With perfect automation, it ran over the edges of the seam multiple times, each at a different angle, until there was a perfect fold. The clamps holding the entire piece down also lifted in time for the robot arm to work under each, which led to a rippling wave effect.

In response, the city has in many ways shut down. All colleges and universities are closed for a week, as are every theater and shopping center. Throughout the city, there are now eerily dark and uninhabited large buildings and stores.

Some level of fear has also certainly swept the population. Nearly everyone now wears face masks when they go out, or at least wrap their scarves or saris over their nose and mouths. From the young boy at the grocery store with his bandana slipping down from the crest of his nose, to the woman on the back of a motorcycle with her scarf wrapped multiple times around her mouth, everyone has joined masked crowd.

Now, as we go out, instead of people soliciting wooden tiki vases and toys, they sell face masks, and Indian flags, as August 15th is Indian Independence Day.

Hopefully the disease will soon pass, and the population of 3 million will be able to go back to their day-to-day lives without living in constant fear of contracting swine flu.

I got very excited, and we crossed the busy street to get closer to the elephant, and ask if we could take a ride on it. The man riding the elephant and his companions obliged, for a fee, and we climbed up the elephant after it bent its back two legs. This required stepping in its looped tail, like a ladder rung. The elephant’s hairs were extremely coarse, which made most of it’s body surprisingly prickly.

Once we were up, there was a seat on the back of the elephant. As we took a brief ride down the street, the elephant moved slowly and methodically, as we swayed side-to-side with each step it took. It was so tall that we had to duck under trees and electrical lines (which are often hung from tree branches). The from-above view of the street was interesting, and certainly a new perspective, after driving through it so many times.

The elephant-driver said the elephant, named Rani, was forty years old, and that she weighed 5000kg. After a couple of city blocks, we got back down, and we and the elephant parted ways.

In the morning, I got my first real glimpse of India, since the ride the night before only showed dark buildings and empty streets. The air was immediately filled with the sounds of music, voices, birds, and trucks. The image above was the view out of the 3rd story window. A girl went out on a porch a floor down, and broke up bread in a puddle--a flock of birds immediately came to feast. Women hung clothes up to dry, while on the other side of the house, workers constructed a new building.

The first adventure was going to find somewhere to eat, since all of our clocks were messed up. A group had previously gone scouting, and found a nice place that was clearly clean. Given the potential stomach-ache-risk of eating dirty food, or some with bacteria we aren’t used to, we decided to start out more cautiously, before jumping into street food. Our first “real” Indian food experience wasn’t complete until we all finished a feast eating only with our right hands (no utensils or left hands!), and ordering tons of naan and kulcha (types of bread). 

We learned the trick to the new “right hand rule”: create a scoop out of a small piece of bread, and then use it to spoon a small amount of the main dish. To eat rice, you pour the main dish onto rice, and use your right hand to mush it together, so that the rice has absorbed some of the sauce. Then, you make a small ball that you hold with your fingers minus thumb. The thumb goes behind the ball, and then pops the rice into the mouth. The meal comes to a conclusion as each person is given a bowl of warm water with a slice of lemon or lime with which to clean the now-greasy right fingers. Needless to say, it took a bit of time to get used to (by now we all have it down pat, and never bring utensils to the table, even when we cook for ourselves)!

Over the next few days, we met with the design firm we are working with in Bangalore, got used to living in a new country, and explored the city. Among other things, we took our first rickshaw rides (though I’ll save that for another post), saw cows in the streets (eating coconuts), learned the tricks to getting a hot shower, realized the need to purchase toilet paper, watched lizards on our walls, saw people carrying huge loads on their heads, survived crossing crazy streets, drank chai, watched cricket, walked over open sewer systems in the sidewalks, and learned to bargain for everything (and that Bangalore rickshaw drivers either won’t use the meter, or if do, have modified it to charge more). We also saw the city at dusk and night from rooftops, learned it is illegal to dance in Bangalore (!!!), drank coconut milk straight from green coconuts opened on the streets, saw stray dogs everywhere, ate fresh mangos from the street, and walked to lunch through a brief but heavy rainstorm, arriving completely soaked.

After about three days in Bangalore, those of us based in Pune flew there. Just getting to the gate was a challenge. When we arrived at the terminal and tried to enter the door, we were stopped and asked for our airport tax receipt. I went and paid the airport tax for the group, and we then tried again. This time, we needed our tickets to enter, but we didn’t have them in hand, as we had electronic reservations. After a couple of backs and forths between us, the airport security, and the airline, we were finally let in to the terminal. But only after finding out our hour-long flight was delayed by more than four hours! This led to plentiful time spent at Cafe Coffee Day (the Starbucks of India) and a restaurant near the gate for masala dosa (plate-sized bread with some filling) and paper masala dosa (a HUGE, 3 foot diameter, thin, crispy, cracker made into a roll with an aloo/potato or paneer/cheese mixture inside). The flight itself was smooth, and we were all surprised when they served a complete meal on an one hour flight (unlike what would happen now with U.S. airlines). Finally, we arrived in Pune!

Before I jump into our adventures so far in India, here is a brief run-through of the first week of the trip.

The entire VDS group going to India met at MIT for the week before we left for India, to prepare for the trip through software trainings, and meetings. Just as importantly (if not more so), we had fun with the whole group, which was great in order to feel like we weren’t going to a foreign country with strangers. One such opportunity was going indoor skydiving!








Of course, afterward, we had to recreate our indoor skydiving outdoors!

The next adventure was heading off to New Jersey, on our way to New York, from where the flight to Bangalore via Paris departed. There was barely room for three of us in a 12-person van, given everything else in it -- luggage, items moving between storage locations, “the man” (roughly 10’x7’ carved wood board from Bioneers), a guitar, “big blue” (a huge storage box), and three stools. Getting in and out of my second row seat required squeezing out from behind “the man,” climbing over a stool onto the front passenger seat, and hopping out the door. Somehow we ended up in Manhattan, bought flip-flop rice krispie treats, and finally made it to Hopewell around midnight! A hot fire-burning pizza oven awaited us, which resulted in the most excellent customized pizzas.

It wasn’t over until we toasted NYC-gas-station-obtained Milano cookies in the pizza oven, and took photos with Kube, the family dog. For the next couple of days we rested up, and made excellent dinners.

  

One day, we saw an orange Tesla in the grocery store parking lot, which was super cool! We had a meeting in NYC one morning.

The next day our flight was to leave from JFK in the evening, so we fit in another meeting in NJ in the morning, took time to celebrate my 18th birthday, and then rushed to the airport.

My last view of the US was NYC backlit by a beautiful sunset. Total flight time between NYC and Bangalore, India was about 17 hours, plus a layover in Paris. The window offered beautiful views of the French countryside, Eiffel Towers, and lakes and mountains in the Middle East.

Expect more stories soon!