INDUSTRIAL VISIT REPORT

ON
Kurl-on Limited.
GWALIOR, MADHYA PRADESH

SUBMITTED TO:
Prestige Institute of Management and Research, Gwalior

For the partial fulfillment of the award of Bachelor of Business Administration.

2020-2023

SUBMITTED BY:
Ayushmaan Tyagi
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this industrial visit report on Kurl-on Ltd., Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, submitted by
me to Prestige Institute of Management and Research, Gwalior in order to fulfill the requirement for the
award of Bachelor of Business Administration is a piece of my original work carried out by me under the
guidance of

I, further declare that the work reported in this report has not been submitted, and will not be submitted,
either in part or in full, for the award of any other degree or diploma of this university or to any other
institute or university.

Date: 21 June, 2022

Place: Gwalior

Signature of the candidate

Ayushmaan Tyagi
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Ayushmaan Tyagi, a student of BBA IV semester of Prestige Institute of
Management and Research Gwalior has successfully completed their Industrial Visit Report. She has

prepared this report entitled “Industrial Visit Report on Kurl-on Ltd.” under my guidance.

Dr. Praveen Aronkar

Faculty Coordinator
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I Ayushmaan Tyagi, express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Praveen Aronkar for giving us the opportunity

to work under his guidance on the report entitled “ Industrial Visit Report On Kurl-on Ltd.”

We are grateful to the director of the institute, Dr. Swarup Mohanty, for his valuable suggestions in the
execution of report preparation.

We are also thankful to other staff members that guided and helped us very kindly at each and every step
whenever we required.

We also acknowledge & convey thanks to the library staff members, and the computer department of
PIMRG for their kind and valuable support.

Name :
Ayushmaan Tyagi
 VISIT OVERVIEW

• Name of the Organization visited: kurl-on limited

• Sector: mattress manufacturer
• Scale : Large Scale Industry
• Date of Visit: 21/06/2022
• Location: malanpur Industrial Area, malanpur M.P. (477117)

• Number of students Visited: 15 students visited the industry and got an opportunity to learn
from this visit

• Name of Faculty co-ordinator: Asst. Prof. Praveen Aaronkar

• Organized by: Training & Placement Department
 Chapter:01

1.1 History of the Organization & Objectives of the Organization:

History of the Organization:

Introduction: Established in 1962,kurl-on is the one of the oldest mattress companies in India. Kurl-on’s
journey is a fine lesson of entrepreneurship. During a visit to Germany, Mr. Ramesh Pai discovered that
high-end motor car seats were made of rubberized coconut-coir fibre manufactured from Sri Lankan base
material. Mr. Pai knew that India was one of the largest producer of coconut in the world and so, Mr. Pai
discovered there was a new business to be pioneered. Charged with this thought, he returned home to start
his journey of discovering how best he could take advantage of the coir husk produced by India. Mr. Pai
found that coconut coir was being used only by the cottage industry to manufacture retted fabric, from
here Mr. Pai's idea took shape and became Karnataka Consumer Products Limited which was further
known as Kurl-on.

Mr. Pai brought in Austrian technology to extract fibre from the husk and curl it into ropes. Rather than
restricting himself to mattresses he also developed an ancillary range of products such as cushions and
mats. In 2004, it ventured beyond providing just a better sleep experience and extended its product range
into the home comfort segment.

The company has evolved and now manufactures mattresses in 126 different configurations. Pan-India,
they have partnered with a network comprising more than 10000 dealers, 72 branch and stock points, and
9 strategically located manufacturing facilities across Karnataka, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttaranchal,
and Gujarat. With state-of-the-art technology, these factors continue to improve the standards in the
mattress industry and serve the growing Indian population.

NATURE OF BUSINESS CARRIED

Kurlon is into the business of pure comfort. A head start in the business in 1962 by Late. Shri. Tonse
Ramesh Upendra Pai, it is now looking into an extensive brand extension and a complete makeover from
sleep comfort, to home comfort. To give its expanding activities a definite direction and wider dimension,
Kurlon Limited is reposting itself as a major player in the comfort industry rather than a leader in just the
mattress business. Thus operating on a larger canvas, the company will have more room to grow, and will
manufacture a whole wide range of trusted quality products for its customers.
Objectives of the organization: Following are the objectives of the organization:

 Profit maximization from mattress manufacturing.

 To implement employee training and development programs that provide personal growth for all
the employees and enable them to make a meaningful contribution to the company.
 Create an environment that respects, integrates and balances the needs of
 our employees resulting in creative excitement, heartfelt commitments and cheerful
cooperation.
 Increase rural employment opportunities through entrepreneurship.
 Sustainable development of the sector.
 Technology transfer through effective extension activities.
 Innovation, research and development for cost effective production.
 To provide the customers with products and service those are recognized as the best.

Vision:

 Committed to supplying high quality products and superior service to the customers
 Believe in the individual, and that shared values and common purpose provide the basis of
teamwork
 Value the Dealers and share with the principles the objectives of enhancing the image and success
of the products
 Believe in conducting the business activities with integrity.
 Believe in optimizing the profitability in a manner consistent with the values.

Quality policies:-

 Customer Satisfaction: Pursue excellence in everything we do as a company and achieve it

through continual improvements in all areas leading to internal and external customer satisfaction.
 Employment development: Develop and support a motivated team of employees through continual
training at all levels, to instill a sustained sense of involvement, growth and achievement.
 Continuous Improvement: Improve quality systems, upgrade technologies and manufacturing
capabilities, to meet the changing needs of time. Produce quality at source, "Do it right, the first
time". Identify band eliminate waste.
 Performance monitoring: Monitor our performance and strive to achieve higher goals.
 Quality Assurance: Guide and support Suppliers to ensure the requisite quality of purchased
materials.
 Measurement: Measure the achievement of objectives against the well-defined goals charted out
in Business Plan.
Marketing Structure

The marketing function in the organization was headed by Mr Vipin Vasudev who was the Vice
President (Marketing). He had been with the company for the last seven years and had about 20
years of experience in the marketing of consumer durables. He reported to the President who, in
turn, reported to the MD. There were four DGMs in each of the four zones of the country who
reported to the Vice President. Each DGM had Area Sales Managers, Sales Managers, and Sales
Executives at different levels under him/her. In addition, there were four Zonal Managers who
reported to the DGM and coordinated the entire sales activity of the zone. The Area Sales
Managers directly reported to the Zonal Manager. There were 42 area sales offices/branches
located in most of the towns in the country. These were headed by the Area Sales Managers
under whom were 1-2 sales managers/executives. The company had about 3,500 direct dealers
and 5,500 sub-dealers all over the country.

The DGM (Marketing and Information System) —

Mr Pradeep Menon — who was based in the marketing office in Bangalore reported to the Vice
President and coordinated the various marketing activities with the DGMs of all the zones. His
function included decision-making regarding:

 product design and modification

 price fixation and changes
 national promotion campaigns
 marketing research
 competitor analysis.

Two years back, the company had recruited a Product Executive — Binoy Alex — who works
under Pradeep. Binoy, a management graduate from a reputed management institute, assists
Pradeep in carrying out all the marketing tasks.

1.2 Organizational Structure:

Manufacturing Process

The basic raw materials used for the manufacture of Kurlon’s rubberized coir mattresses were coir
obtained from coconut husk, liquid rubber/latex, and foam. The husk which was obtained after removing
the coconut from the shell was passed through rollers and crushed so that cracks would be formed in the
husk. The cracked husk was soaked in water for the fibre to become soft.

The husk was then passed through spiked rollers which tore the fibre loose. The loose fibers were then
made into ropes and kept in a curled form for two or three months. This stage of processing was done
outside the factory at various other sites. In the factory, the ropes were unwound so that each fibre was in
the form of a spring. This coir spring had resilience and formed the basic structure of the mattress. The
coir was pushed into a conveyor and sprayed with liquid rubber known as latex (obtained from the rubber
tree by tapping). Latex was mixed with chemicals like stabilizers, accelerators, etc., before spraying on
the coir. The rubber sprayed on the fibre helped in binding the coir fibre together resulting in continuous
sheets of rubberized coir which were cut to the required size. A rubberized coir pad was formed by
laminating five to six fleeces of coir and latex together which was put in a hydraulic press and pressed to
the required thickness. This rubberized coir pad was then vulcanized to form the mattress. It was the
hydraulic pressing and vulcanization stage in manufacturing which gave the required density and
thickness to the mattress. The vulcanized pad was then trimmed to the correct size. Kurlon added two
thinner layers of PU foam on the two sides of the rubberized coir blocks for creating softness. This was
then covered with cloth to form a mattress.

coir mattress produced by kurlon consists of RC pad, foam (made in-house),covering cloth and the
fabrication is done inhouse.

RC PAD MANUFACTURING: It is made by combining coconut fibre and latex with aratio of 3:2.Coir
fibers are kept in rope form for 80 days further carried out byuntwisting, sheeting, sheet cutting,
pressing,vulcanising ,cooling & pad cutting.

Problem in the supply chain is the fluctuation in the coir production owing to seasonality in coconut husk
supply and fluctuation of the latex price as the price changes by around 12% in 1 m onth.

UNTWISTING: This is done when the moisture content of rope is less than 15% with 8twisting
machine and the average yield rate in operations being 85%.
 Chapter:02

2.1 Personnel: Recruitment Process, Personnel Policies, Training & Development &
Welfare Activities
2.2 Productions/Operations: Products/Services offered, lay out of the facility, quality
& control, materials planning & control future plans
2.3 Marketing: Areas of Operation, Competition, Market Share, Advertising & Sales
Promotion

Marketing: Kurlon is into the business of pure comfort. A head start in the business in 1962 by Late.
Shri. Tonse Ramesh Upendra Pai, it is now looking into an extensive brand extension and a complete
makeover from sleep comfort, to home comfort. To give its expanding activities a definite direction and
wider dimension, Kurlon Limited is repositioning itself as a major player in the comfort industry rather
than a leader in just the mattress business. Thus operating on a larger canvas, the company will have
more room to grow, and will manufacture a whole wide range of trusted quality products for its
customers

PRODUCT PROFILE
Mattress:
 Foam
 Rubberized Coir
 Therapeutic
 Spring
Furnishing:
 Bedsheets
 Bolsters
 Cushions
 Pillows
 Sheets
Furniture
 Bedroom
 Cot
 Side tables
  Wardrobe
 Dresser
 Drawer
 Dining room
 Dining room with 6 chairs
 Dining room with 8 chairs
 Living room
 Wall units
 T V units
 Computer tables
 Office tables
 Coffee tables
 Study table
 Book shelf
 Shoe rack
 Sofa
Product Varieties

Though Kurlon manufactured rubberized coir mattresses only, the mattresses available in the market
could be classified under the following four categories based on the raw materials used:

 Natural: rubberized coir, cotton

 Synthetic: Full PU foam
 Spring mattress: Foam and steel springs
 Latex rubber mattress

The most popular varieties of mattresses in India are that of cotton, rubberized coir, and foam which
differ in density, freshness, comfort, strength, and shape retention. Cotton mattresses, widely used in
rural India, have a market share of about 70 per cent. In many foreign countries, mattresses are
reinforced with springs in the centre to support the extra weight of a man’s body.

Comparison of Product Categories

Mattress Type Advantages Disadvantages

PU foam Soft, very light, foldable Hot, expensive, tendency to sag
Latex rubber Not as soft as foam, comfortable Expensive
Spring mattress No sagging, long life, supports Very expensive, could get noisy
the back as the mattress ages
Rubberized coir Firm, reasonably priced Tendency to sag, not foldable
Cotton mattress Cheap, foldable, any size Forms lumps and hence not
possible uniform

Sales promotion -Kurlon had sales promotion schemes for customers such as gifts with coupons, season
discounts, exchange schemes, slogan writing contests, etc. For the trade, the company offered schemes
like gifts, higher commissions on achieving targets, awards, etc. The company emphasized more on
promotions to customers than to trade.
Promotion - Kurlon advertised through newspapers, magazines, television, outdoor publicity, and
brochures. Most of the national dailies in addition to popular regional newspapers were used for
advertising its products. kurl-on also promote their products through social media.

Chapter:03
Strengths and Weakness of the Organization
Strengths: The major strength of the company are that it is has been the largest manufacturer of
mattress with a leading.

 It has good reputation in market or brand name.

 It provides good quality products at a reasonable rate.
 The promotional strategies of kurl-on is good which gives maximum attention to the company.
 Vast pool of highly trained and qualified manpower available to the industry.
 Country's vast natural resources offer immense potential for growth and development of mattress.

Weakness:

 Dealers are not much motivated.

 Too many sub-brand which creates confusion.
 It doesn't provides any discount to its customers.
 The margin of the dealers is very low so they are not much motivated.
 The sales promotion is also low as compared to its competitors.

·
·

Some additional points and feedback:

• The organization should do proper sales promotion.

• The organization should increase the margin of dealers.
• The kurl-on should provide complaint box at the parlor, if the customers have any problem
about the products quality, services, price and satisfaction than written complaint drop in to the
complaint box at the parlor.
• The kurl-on should be kept in the mind the main motive is customer satisfaction.
• The marketing strategy is more effective and flexible. company should give focus on home
delivery also.
 CONCLUSION
Kurlon Limited is an unlisted public company incorporated on 09 February, 1962. It is classified as a
public limited company and is located in Bangalore, Karnataka. It's authorized share capital is INR
35.00 cr and the total paid-up capital is INR 14.88 cr. Kurlon Ltd. is a public limited company promoted
by one of the highly successful entrepreneurs in South India. It is managed by a group of well-qualified
professional managers. Over the years, it has become a leader in the Indian comfort mattress industry.

Kurlon produced PU foam (which occupies 10-20% of the volume of rubberized coir mattress) which
was used for packing the two sides of the coir blocks inside the mattress. The company produces home
furnishing and decor products. The products of company are mattresses of Pu foam, spring etc.
Furniture like sofa, tables etc.

Company manufactures mainly using raw material such as coconut husk,rubber,latex etc. In India, the
coir industry has developed very well, mostly in Kerala where they produce „Retted Fiber‟. Green
husks of coconut are immersed in the salty backwards for 10 to 12 months and the retted husk is
supplied to various homes to make Mats and Matting rolls after producing the yam from this fiber. This
has created employment to many women in the state.

Today, Kurlon has created direct employment to over 1000 people and indirect employment to lakhs of
coir workers across the sub-continent . Kurlon‟s success is built on a solid infrastructure and its
powerful marketing strength. The Company has 44 sales offices, which are profit centers, strategically
located all over the country. All the centers are working on trade terms. The Company products are
exported to West Asia viz; U.A.E., Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, UK, Europe, South and East of Africa,
Indian Ocean rim, SAARC, South East and Far East Countries.

Kurlon is into the business of pure comfort. A head start in the business in 1962 by Late. Shri. Tonse
Ramesh Upendra Pai, it is now looking into an extensive brand extension and a complete makeover
from sleep comfort, to home comfort. Kurlon Ltd. is the brand leader in the industry and has acquired
major market share in the branded mattresses segment.