Iipm Bangalore Students Industry Visit - Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited

Coca-Cola states that "Every person who drinks a Coca-Cola enjoys a moment of refreshment and shares an experience that millions of others have savored." It might sound a little debatable following all the pesticide controversies that have hit the Indian Soft Drink Markets but, there is no denial of fact that all of these individual experiences combined have created a worldwide phenomenon – a truly global brand. And indeed, it was this global brand, that a group of 40 students from Spring Summer 2008/10 Batch had an opportunity to get up close with, when they got a chance to visit the  company-owned Bottling arm of the Indian Operations, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited at Bidadi. This plant is responsible for the manufacture, sale and distribution of beverages across the country although focusing mainly on the southern markets; and that explains the enormity and size of the production facility available at the plant. Coca-Cola, as we all know, serves in India some of the most recalled brands across the world including names such as Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite, Fanta, Thums Up, Limca, Maaza and Kinley (packaged drinking water), with the Minute Maid Pulpy Orange being the latest brand flaunted by the company.

The industrial visit to Coke plant at Bidadi was an enriching experience for students who got to understand the entire process of bottling and how a Mega-plant works to maintain its large outputs of tens of thousands of bottles a day. On reaching the plant at 10:30AM, students were accompanied by Ms. Sowdhamini, the HR executive to the training room. The Quality in-charge at the plant gave a brief presentation about the history of Coca-Cola and the manufacturing process. Following the presentation, Ms. Sowdhamini interacted with the students and answered their queries regarding Soft Drink industry on the whole and some regarding branding of Coke and its products. The students were then taken to the processing unit where all the stages from cleaning to the final crowning (of glass bottles) and from blow moulding to capping (of PET bottles). Students were amazed at the speed at which the process occurred and how the automated systems could be set according to requirements, as majority of human intervention was only required during loading of the bottles and while conducting the random quality checks. On a whole, it was an exemplary learning experience that the students will savor for a long time to come.