Suffering a stroke

Saddled with outdated technology, Kinetic Engineering has fallen far behind. To keep pace, the company needs more drive

 
Published: Friday 30 November 2001

Suffering a stroke

-- An experience spanning over 30 years had done little to contribute to this two-wheeler company's reputation. On the contrary, it has made it complacent, reluctant to revamp its image in a scenario of growing environmental concerns. The company belonging to the Firodia Group is today considered the least ecofriendly. There is no transparent disclosure system giving any information on the polluting aspects of its vehicles or the importance of servicing and maintenance to reduce the emissions. It has neither taken up any activity to use its dealer network to increase consumer awareness nor any organised effort to promote proper disposal of hazardous material from service stations.

Though the company fares well in fuel performance, producing only petrol-fuelled vehicles, it loses out as all the two-wheelers rolled out are two-stroke. When the entire automobile industry is shifting towards four-stroke two-wheeler vehicles, there is some hesitancy on Kinetic's part in moving towards better engine or alternate fuel technology, although it churns out as many as 11,000 two-wheelers per month at its production plant in Ahmednagar.

The poor performance is also due to complete absence of any environmental governance at its unit. The company has neither a coherent policy nor a specific department to address the green concerns. Worse still, there is no inclination for ems certification and though it has set targets for better resource utilisation, there is no evidence to support its claims. Even where selection of vendors or suppliers is concerned, there is no formal guideline, making the process of outsourcing extremely unreliable. Nevertheless, its efforts for undertaking most of its polluting processes in-house, are noteworthy.

Kinetic Engineering has shown a keen sense of economy, cutting down on energy and water consumption. However, the fact that its sourcing pattern is not ecofriendly as it meets its entire energy needs from non-clean fuels such as diesel, and its water requirements from groundwater has taken some sheen off its efforts. Similarly its consumption of primer is more per unit.

In areas relating to actual pollution control and prevention, the company's performance is predictably below average. There is only a marginal improvement in the characteristic of the wastewater over the years and no pollution control equipment is attached to any of the sources generating air emissions. Even the product performance in vehicle and engine design is just about average with scant regard to any mechanism for its disposal after use. Nor for that matter, is there any information on the recyclability level of its vehicle.

How green is my tally?
Without an ecofriendly vision, the companies have
failed to set and specific targets

Parameter Company Score
(percentage)
Ranking
Corporate environment policy and management system
Majestic Auto Ltd 5.52 26
Kinetic Engineering Ltd 12.27 25
Hero Puch 13.54 24
Corporate leadership and
proactive environmental initiatives
Kinetic Engineering Ltd 4.38 26
Majestic Auto Ltd 6.40 25
Hero Puch 6.46 24
Procurement policy and
supply chain management
Kinetic Engineering Ltd 15.38 19
Hero Puch 9.74 23
Majestic Auto Ltd 21.32 15
Process and consumption efficiency
Kinetic Engineering Ltd 28.61 13
Hero Puch 0.00 24
Majestic Auto Ltd 13.13 20
Pollution, pollution control
and prevention
Kinetic Engineering Ltd 16.99 21
Hero Puch 20.87 18
Majestic Auto Ltd
5.20 24
Product use
Kinetic Engineering Ltd 17.81 26
Hero Puch 28.85 20
Majestic Auto Ltd 30.04 16
Product disposal
Kinetic Engineering Ltd 0.00 20
Hero Puch 0.00 20
Majestic Auto Ltd 0.44 19
Overall performance
Kinetic Engineering Ltd 15.82 26
Hero Puch 20.3 25
Majestic Auto Ltd 20.5 24

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