Piaggio Vehicles Pvt Ltd (PVPL), a 100 % subsidiary of the Italian Piaggio Group (European leader of the 2Wheeler sector), created a benchmark in the Indian automobile industry by introducing an all-women workforce on its assembly line making its Apé Electrik range of products.
Being the industry leader in promoting women empowerment, Piaggio has inducted these female workforce from various technical institutes located in and around Baramati. These women were trained on the safety procedures, usage of tools, electric vehicles and the latest technology related to BMS, motor, E-box before being introduced to the assembly line.
Piaggio has redesigned the workplace to make it more ergonomically suited for women. Piaggio believes that understanding the technology and acquiring the right skillsets are the criteria to bring employees on board and not their gender.
This initiative has created employment for women in Baramati which clearly fights the stereotype of women working in manufacturing plants. Women working here are responsible for quality control checks, fitting, assembly, electrical, and overall material management. The revolutionary path will break the barrier that had kept women away from the Shopfloor.
Speaking about the industry first initiative, Diego Graffi, Chairman and Managing Director, Piaggio Vehicles Pvt. Ltd said, “In line with our group philosophy, we have created the EV assembly line that is fully operated by a female workforce. I want to remark that this is only the starting point, & we have a long way to go. We will have inclusion of more women at the assembly line, plant premises, and offices. This is not just to empower women but also to bring workforce equality in the auto sector which was long due.”
Pooja Bansal, Head HR at Piaggio Vehicles Pvt. Ltd added that, “Diversity at the workplace is very important as it fosters innovation and growth. The strategy at Piaggio is to provide all women employees economic independence, parity of opportunities which includes career development, and most important- escalating them to managerial and leadership positions. We intended not only to have women employees and train them only for manufacturing and the shop floor but hire and train women employees across the business value chain.”
The female workforce at Piaggio’s Baramati plant assembles all its electric models – Apé E-City & Apé E-Xtra which comes in both fixed & Swappable battery solutions. Piaggio is currently the market leader in L5N Electric 3-Wheeler Cargo segment for the period H1 FY 2021-22.