Partnership begins production
A Waikato firm’s international business partnership with India has moved into production.
The ELAN hand dryer, which is 40 per cent made from parts produced by Cambridge firm SPL, was officially launched in Chennai, India.
SPL’s technical director, John Stares, recently returned from the launch, and said the first 250 hand dryer units were being made.
‘‘They’re going to be the first hand-made, hand dryers in India, everything else is imported,’’ he said.
The hand dryer parts supplied by SPL were being assembled in India, and would be installed in public toilets along with other sanitary resources in a push to lift the country’s hygiene levels.
To qualify under the Make in India programme, there needs to be a certain per cent of Indian product and labour.
The business partnership is between SPL and Mrinalini Industries, which is recognised for production of components in car and kitchen appliance industries, but the hand dryer is being released under the brand ELAN.
Studies carried out at the University of Auckland showed the number of disease causing germs picked up and passed on by touch depends on how wet hands were.
Wet hands transfer up to 70,000 germs to skin, food, utensils and door handles during brief contact, but this number is reduced when hands have been dried.
The factory where the hand dryers were made in Chennai had been established, and two of the workers would travel to New Zealand in November.
‘‘They will be working with us so they can see the construction of the hand dryers,’’ said Stares.
Mrinalini Industries managing partner R Elansudar said the Indian government has proposed to construct 11 more toilets to improve hygiene in the country.
‘‘As a country we are moving towards total sanitary hygiene under the Swachh Bharat Abiyan programme, whose objective is to achieve a clean India by 2019, coinciding with the year that India will celebrate Mahatma Ghandhi’s 150th birthday,’’ he said.
The two businesses began exploring the idea of working together about 15 months ago.
Stares said it was a big step for India as well as SPL.
‘‘There is a big education process that needs to happen so people understand how to wash and dry their hands.’’