CHENNAI: The scrap materials in the automotive industry often make way to the garbage yards, adding to the mountains of waste. A prominent manufacturer, Hyundai Motors, however, proved that scrap is productive, as their employees sculpted the wires, nuts and screws into beautiful artefacts.
The exhibition at the Inko Centre by Hyundai Motors displays the unseen talent of the Men in Blue, as their employees are called within the factory. A multi colour butterfly sculpted with the bolts, metal rods, wheel nuts and big gears, a Rooster made with an array of electronic items and a thirsty crow sculpture are among the total of 15 artefacts displayed at the exhibition. Few art pieces conceptually speak about the development of the Hyundai.
Their making style could be difficult, but the underlined message is the same, that waste is not useless, but a productive item. It also sensitises people about the ways of environmental conservation, besides displaying the teamwork of the employees at the automotive major.
It was a learning process for the employees of various designations. C. V. P. Saravana Priyan, a technician at the Hyundai Motors, said: "Never did we think that scrap would turn out to be majestic art pieces. Creating a sculpture was something, which was completely different from our work profile. We could pull it off so easily, as the idea was appealing. My team had a smith, who taught us to reshape and mould the scrap."
Employees were given a month's time to create any artefact out of scrap. The output of the effort is not just the birth of the artefacts, but also the positive bond between the employees. S. James Prabhu, a senior engineer, said, "We shared a good bonding as we exchanged ideas and learnt about the sculptures." James's team had created a fighter Airjet.
After the exhibition that ends on September 3, the decorative items would be displayed on the Hyundai Motors campus to instil a deep sense of commitment to the employees, said J. Stephen Sudhakar, senior vice president, administration.
