On the 28thof February, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow organised an Industrial Tour to Yash Papers located in Faizabad for the vibrant community of its young managers. The manufacturing plant, which opened its doors in 1981, is owned by Mr. K.K Jhunjhunwala. The plant specializes in manufacturing packaging papers. The company works towards the organizational objective of replacing plastic bags and making a more eco-friendly product that can help improve the health of the environment.

The students were extremely excited about the trip, because they knew that it was an opportunity to see the day-to-day operations of a large business. “‘Time is money” is not only an adage, today it’s the crux of making a business economically viable”, explained Sama Mehdi. “Therefore, businesses prefer to employ students who can quickly bridge the gap between academics and industry”. She thought that the practical experience gave them a good understanding of how the business functions.

Yash Papers is headed by Mr. Ved Krishna, Managing Director. Mr. Krishna runs the paper mill with a focus on a B2B business model. The company supplies packaging paper to almost every food packaging giant in the market, including Pizza Hut, McDonalds, CCD, and even soap packaging industries. The raw materials used are the leftovers of sugarcane and wheat husk. The plant is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and it uses QCS (quality control system) to make sure the paper they manufacture has quality texture and meets the expectations of their buyers. Specialized in making poster papers and craft papers, this mill recycles allwaste that can be utilized. The motto of Yash Papers is “Work more with ideas and make the world more eco-friendly”.

Mr. Krishna believes these industry visits are important for students as they gain an understanding of the hard work involved in businesses: “The more the institutes integrate with the industry, the more the students get to know about the reality and importance of hard work.” Training freshers is a time-consuming task, and this is something that Mr. Sumant Pai, H.R. Head, Yash Papers know well: “It takes time for a new-joiner to adapt. Training and targets are given to the freshers to get acquainted with the system”. Prof. Ankit Mehrotra, Chairperson, PGDM, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow adds that such visits not only give the student an exposure to the business world, but they also add valuable experience to a student’s resume. Linking theory to practical work is often not possible in the classroom, and, according to Dean, Mr.Dheeraj Mishra, these visits fill that gap, At the same time, Prof. R.K. Ojha feels that these visits trigger new thought processes for students :“students get an opportunity to relate their learning with practical operations in the industry. They generate new queries in the classroom and seek solutions for the same.”

The students were thrilled to have the opportunity to learn outside of the classroom and they reiterated the views of their faculty and the industry professionals. “It was an important experience for me”, said Harsh Pandey. “I learned about how a successful company works in synergy, and I learned about the sense of responsibility that all employees have”. Jaipuria continues to train its students in the most industry-relevant manner, creating management professionals who are ready to shoulder any responsibility.