ACKNOWLEDGEMENT At the successful completion of our interview and report we would like to extend our gratitude to all those

without whose valuable guidance and support it would have not been possible. First of all, we would like to thanks our instructor, Mr. Ameer Abdul Basit for giving us this opportunity to work on this exciting project. We express our sincere thanks to Mr. Naeem Asif Mughal (CEO Asif Ceramics) for letting us to visit his factory. We are deeply indebted to Mr. Ali Asif (Managing Director) and Ghulaam Muhammad (General Manager) having given us an opportunity and guidance, invaluable help and cooperation to successfully complete the project. We are very thankful to the management and staff of Asif Ceramics for their friendly attitude and invaluable cooperation during our visit.

Name

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Ceramics....3 Introduction.10 Overview of the industry...10 Organization Structure...14 Marketing Strategy.16 SWOT Analysis.....................................................................................20 Major Competitors and Success and failure21 Major HR policies22 Functions and operations25 Duties and Accomplishments29 New Knowledge acquired....................................................................30 Problems and impact on career..31 Conclusion and Recommendation..32 References.33

CERAMICS

Ceramics is any various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing a non-metallic, such as clay, at a high temperature. Examples are bathtubs, washbowls, sinks, electrical insulating devices, water and sewerage pipes, bricks, hollow tile, glazed building tile, floor and wall tile, earthenware, porcelain enamel and glass. Variety of products is directly proportional to variety in clays being used in their manufacturing.

CERAMICS UNITS:

The regions where ceramics production is engaged are: y y y y Gujranwala Kamoke Nowshera Virkan Wazirabad

CERAMIC SANITARY WARE:

In Gujranwala sanitary fitting was always a famous industry which has a continuous demand for Ceramics Sanitary ware. Presently there are more or less 100 units, Which are producing ceramics products in the following areas:

i. Sanitary ware ii. Pottery iii. Tiles iv. Refractories?Firebricks

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Among these product lines, sanitary ware is the major player. All these segments have approximately same raw material needs and in fact their suppliers are similar. Ceramics sanitary ware has great potential in local as well as in export market, therefore a large number of pottery units have shifted towards this industry.

Currently the Ceramic sanitary ware industry in Gujranwala is manufacturing the following products in various designs, sizes and specifications:

        

Bathtub incl. legs Shower tray Washbasin Wash stand Toilet combination Wall toilet Bidet Urinal One piece toilet

RAW MATERIAL SUPPLIERS

Supply chain is crucial to this field and without proper raw material supply these units cannot keep up with the production. There are about 4 to 5 companies supplying raw material to ceramics industry in Gujranwala. The prominent names as ceramics raw material suppliers are M/S Star Ceramics Material, M/S JR Corporation (Importer & Wholesaler), Kareem Corporation (Local material supplier) and Chief Pottery. These suppliers procure clay from mine owners and import barium carbonate and china clay from china and zirconium from England, USA, Italy, and Malaysia for fulfilling the raw material requirement of Ceramics Sanitary ware industry. However raw material supply is irregular and manufacturers have to face late delivery of raw material or shortage of raw material.
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MACHINERY SUPPLIERS

Spray booth, Glaze Containers, drums and kilns are the machinery used for ceramics sanitary ware factory. Kilns are designed by ceramics engineers and manufactured by the kiln makers. There are about 12 kiln makers which are experts and fulfilling the need of industry. Glaze containers, spray both and drums are prepared by the engineering sector of the Gujranwala.

RAW MATERIAL Raw materials for body include Quarts, Feldspar, China clays and Ball clay, Mianwali clay, K.D. 7 Stone, and K.D. 10 Stone. Raw materials for glaze include Quartz, Feldspar, Limestone, Zinc oxide, Barium oxide, Zirconium and ceramic colors. Plaster of the Paris is the material that is used for modeling and molding of the Ceramics sanitary ware.

CERAMIC PROCESSING

Ceramic undergoes through certain processes which are:       certain processes which are: Slip Preparation & Glaze Making Casting & Drying Glazing Firing Inspection, Repairing, Re-firing & Packing

Slip Preparation and Glaze Making

For the slip preparation the raw materials are mixed with water as per the requirement. Proper composition along with the sufficient amount of water then gets loaded to the ball mills for grinding. Glaze is a glasslike, multi-ingredient, silicate thin layer, which adheres to the surface of ceramic body. It is usually sprayed upon dry body by manual or automatic spraying method, which after firing produces smooth, glossy, and surface with beautiful color and luster. So properties of glaze have large influence on quality of products. Generally ball milling is used to prepare glaze.

Casting and Drying

Slip is cast into plaster moulds. Due to the absorption and water character of porous moulds, an even thin layer gets formed on the surface which becomes thicker with time. When a desired thickness is arrived, surplus slip is poured out. Finally the layer continues to retract by dewatering resulting in the gross body. Before next process, all products need to be dried to a low water content to increase the strength of body, which is called drying.

Glazing

There are many glazing methods such as spraying glaze, dipping glaze, pouring glaze, brushing glaze etc. Sanitary wares are mostly adopted spraying glaze method because large volume complicated shape, low strength of body. Spraying glaze may be manual glazing or automatic glazing. Manual glazing is done in a booth with sufficient de-dust installation, and automatic glaze spraying is done on the conveying belt.

Firing

These sprayed clay wares are then taken to the kiln for firing. As a result the bodies will take place a series of physical and chemical reactions, and will take a fixed shape.
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The bodies are put in the entrance of tunnel and the products are pushed out from the exit. Fuel is burnt in the resisting firewall on both sides of tunnel. The tunnel kiln is consisting of three zones.    Preheating zone Heating zone Cooling zone

The heating zone has burners on the both sides, in the third section the product cools down by exhausting. The temperature of every section is strictly controlled by automatic ventilation equipment and the temperature-controlling facilities called thermo couples to ensure to fire every product evenly. Continuous kilns are classified as roller kilns and tunnel kilns, the roller kilns support and convey Products by high temperature resistance ceramic rolling stick. In the tunnel Kiln, kiln cars are used that are made from steel frame wheels on which low mass refractories, silicon carbide board etc. are built to support products. These cars are pushed by hydraulic Pusher.

Inspection, Repairing, Re-firing and Packing:

This is the last process of production. Finished products are determined According to stipulated standards to select passed products and un-passed parts by repairing and re-firing. Passed products are carefully packed and then send to Customers.

OVERVIEW OF THE ORGANISATION BRIEF HISTORY Asif Ceramics started in 1975 with the help of Bashir Ahmed and a clear focus on quality, on time delivery of products and non - stop expansion of the Ceramics operations. The company emerged as one of the Pakistans largest Sanitary Ware manufacturers in its region.

NATURE OF ORGANISATION Skillful and hardworking staff producing quality products shows the achievement of IS0 9002 Certificate which proves the high quality of its products. Asif Ceramics has kept in view the choice of its customer, market demands and has produced its products in beautiful and attractive designs according to international level. All its products are easily available in all Sanitary Warehouses.

Giving affordable price, durability, attractive designs and lifetime guarantee, the products of Asif Ceramics have become the first choice of customers. Not only in market, but also in Government, Semi Government and in private construction plans their products are getting popularity day by day. Actually the confidence of their customers is their first preference and goal (Company Website).

BUSINESS VOLUME Success of Asif Ceramics was due to installation of two most advanced electronic ceramic kilns in its production facility, having regional heads in all the major cities of Pakistan. They are capable enough to supply their Sanitary Ware all over the Pakistan. Asif Ceramics also export its Sanitary Ware to many countries of the world.

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES The numbers of employees working in Asif Ceramics are more than 200. Some are permanent employess and some are part time working on per piece rate.

PRODUCT LINES Asif Ceramics provide wide variety of products which are as follows: Light Colors: Ivory, Off White, Beige, Light Blue, Gray, Pink, Baby Pink, Siege Green. Special Colors: Peacock Green, Crystal Brown, Peach Brown, Purple, Black, Dark Blue. Item Names: 1. Prime Counter 2. Korean Counter 3. Supper Korean Counter 4. Italian Basin 5. Italian Pedestal 6. Almas Basin 7. Almas Pedestal 8. Consol Basin 9. Consol Pedestal 10. Basin Nova
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11. Pedestal Nova 12. Medium Aqua basin 13. Basin Medium Round 16*22 14. Basin Balghari Medium 15. Basin Small 16. Pedestal 17. Corner Basin 18. Non Couple Commode 19. Non Couple Tank 20. Orissa Full Size 21. Orissa Medium/Flat 22. Urinal 23. Euro Pedestal 24. Laboratory Sink Large 25. Laboratory Sink Small 26. P- Traip 4 27. Upper Counter A-1, A-2, A-3, A-4

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ORGANISATION STRUCTURE Departmentalization Production Department Sales Department Accounts Department STRUCTURE There is no organized structure in Asif Ceramics. All people in organization are controlled by certain person under whom all workers do work.

CEO

Manager

Sales Manager

Production Manager

Accountant

General Manager

Employees

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Production Department: Functions of the production department in Asif Ceramics are:      Producing quality products as per quality norms Deciding on how much to produce Inventory management Maintenance of machineries, equipments, etc Production planning and control

Accounts Department: Finance is said to be the life blood of any business for proper allocation and management of the funds organization requires a finance department. Functions of the finance department in Asif Ceramics are:

    

Maintaining proper books of accounts Reporting to the management issues relating to finance Obtaining of funds from various sources and using it efficiently. Tax planning Controlling (regular assessment of financial activities)

Sales department: Functions of the sales department in Asif Ceramics are:

    

Executing the orders To meet the customer demand Manages sale discount i.e. discount is given up to 35 to 50 % Analyze the demands of markets Study market fluctuations

5. MARKETING STRATEGY
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5.1. CURRENT SITUATION Although ASIF CERAMICS is producing high quality products but still there is no awareness of them in local market and rarely people know this brand. Industries are getting surrounded with economic conditions including this industry as well. In short, ASIF CERAMICS is striving to maintain a grasp on the customer satisfaction and loyalty of progressive generations. 5.2. PROBLEM STATEMENT Since the beginning, ASIF CERAMICS has never been giving attention to its Marketing Department. So they are having problem in deciding whether to do Marketing or not because it is very essential for their company in order to have satisfied customers and create brand loyalty. Their production and distribution depends largely on Marketing and for that they have to take a quick action. 5.3. RESEARCH QUESTION Our main research question is that;

5.4. HYPOTHESES

1. To do Marketing by Advertising through media; Using billboards, magazine ads, catalogs, television advertising, website and newspaper ads etc are such mediums through which they can create brand awareness.

2. To do Sales Promotion; this will help them giving a boost in their sales by providing discounts and free offers.

3. Through Exhibitions; because major industries of Gujranwala advertise and sell their products on exhibitions.

5.5. BENEFICIARY OF THE RESEARCH

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y y y y y y

Benefits to the Industry Benefits to Society Benefits to the Researchers Personal benefits Career benefits Company forecasting

5.6. LIMITATIONS

There are some limitations which we may possibly face while working on our research analysis. Firstly, we may face financial problems.

Time constraint is another limitation which can affect our research because we have less time and span of our research is very broad.

Reliability of data is another constraint. May be the data we have collected is not accurate. And when efforts are made to check the data, it will cost us more while conducting research.

Lack of technology is also a limitation. This is the big challenge especially for Pakistani Industries. Technology is improving day by day and Pakistan is far away from all the
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technologies which other foreign countries are actually practicing in their organizations. Government regulations may also be one of the limitations in our research work. y Lack of Expertise can lead to inadequate market information.

5.7. RESEARCH DESIGN In our working both the primary and secondary data will be useful for us. We collected the primary and secondary data from different sources to get the benefit from it. 5.8. PRIMARY DATA According to Fisher (2007 second edition, pg 61) whenever you are going to do a project, you should be aware of the research methods and which specific is helpful for us. In depth interview is the most useful method in primary data collection. In this way the interview with some of the company high officials will be useful. We had a meeting with the company CEO Mr. NAEEM ASIF. He told us about the problems he is facing and has faced. He highlighted a lot of points which are beneficiary for our research. He also promised to help us at regular intervals. We also visited the other officials of the company and remained in contact with them through personal visits and emails. In collection of data, we also visited the other companies of the same field. Information is collected from the customers as well about ASIF CERAMICS products. This will help us in exploration of our problem. There are a lot of retailers of company all over the country but we will visit some of them to collect data about the customers. They may prove to be as a useful source to know what the
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ASIF CERAMICS status is in customers mind. Retailers are a good source of information to check the demand of our product in market 5.9. SECONDARY DATA We will collect the secondary data from the companys website and the database of the ASIF CERAMICS. The company database has all the information about the designs, customers, services and the plans etc. We will also use the articles from news papers for our data collection. Text Books in library also helped us in collection of secondary data.

6. SWOT ANYLYSIS Any organization will be having its own strengths and weakness due to various internal factors, along with this it will have opportunities and threats that are the results of external environment and which are not in the hand s of the organization. The following is the SWOT analysis of Asif Ceramics: 6.1. STRENGHTHS: y y y y Committed work force Strong technology Professional management Brand name

6.2. WEAKNESS: y y Lack of marketing and image Gap in demand and supply

6.3. OPPORTUNITIES: y y y Growth in Ceramic industry Revival of production of ceramic tiles More showrooms for wide reach
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6.4. THREATS: y y y Small and medium size industries emerging in various parts of the Country Dumping of cheaper sanitary ware from foreign Companies. Frequent increase in cost of power, Gas and fuel.

7. MAJOR COMPETITORS OF THE ORGANIZATION The major competitors of Asif ceramics are: 3 star ceramics Dars Ceramics Master Ceramics Sunny Ceramics General Asia Ceramics At the initial stage there were no as such competitors of Asif Ceramics because it started in 1970 and only few industries were there. With the passage of time many ceramics came in Gujranwala and its surroundings. All these local industries didnt affect Asif Ceramics because of large market that Asif Ceramics had captured. The Musharraf government allowed open trade, due to which China products came in market very quickly and impacted all local industries heavily. China products were better in quality. 8. SUCCESS AND FAILURE OF DIFFERENT PRODUCTS OF THE ORGANIZATION IN THE MARKET ALONG WITH REASONS Asif Ceramics became Successful due to its variety in products and colours. Others industries make regular most selling products but Asif Ceramics give its customers vast variety of products range and colours according to their needs. Other reason is that Asif Ceramics had Great relationship with its retailers, provide them high discounts on every purchase. Major failure is in new products because they dont market them effectively and as already china Products are prevailing in markets so new products are not accepted easily.
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9. MAJOR HR POLICIES AND PRACTICES There is no as such HR department but still all employees are controlled affectively. CEO himself sees all the employees matters and solves them. In every department there is supervisor to check workers behavior and performance regarding work. Every year they organize performance based distribution ceremony. In which they reward those workers who performs best whole year. This motivates them to work hard and effectively.

10. FUTURE PROSPECTS OF THE ORGANIZATION The future of Asif Ceramics will only be bright if they pay attention to Marketing to increase their sales and image. Otherwise they will to bear loses due to government shortfall regarding gas and electricity.

11. NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES WORKING IN THE DEPARTMENT Mainly we worked in Production and Office department. In Production there were are further sections, starting from initial which was: Sections Designing Section: Molding Section: Casting and Finishing Section: Checking Section: No of Employees 5 12 80 10
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Glazing section: Kiln Section: Grading and Packing: Office

25 10 30 6

Manufacturing Process Flow for Sanitaryware

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12.

FUNCTIONS AND OPERATIONS 12.1. DESIGNING SECTION: In this section the design of the new products is made, different kinds of tools and equipments are used to design a new product.
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12.2. MOLDING SECTION: In this section the molds of that new model design is made from the mother mold of new design.

12.3. CASTING AND FINISHING SECTION: In this section the molds are filled with the Slip and are dried for 2 days under heaters. After drying it is being finalized by special tools.

12.4. CHECKING SECTION: The finished products are then sent to checking department to check whether they have any crack or defect.

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12.5. GLAZING SECTION: After that the product is sent to glazing department where it is glazed by different kinds of Colour.

12.6. KILN SECTION: Finally the product is placed in the kiln where it is heated under the required temperature around 1000 C and after 36 hours it comes out as a finished product.

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12.7. GRADING AND PACKING SECTION: The finished product quality is checked whether it is A, B, C categories. And then A category products are being packed. B products are repaired to come in A category and C category are being sold separately or being destroy. 12.8. OFFICE: In office there are accounts, sales department.

14. SHORT-FALLS/WEAKNESSES y y y y Supplier not fulfilling the requirement of raw materials. Absentees of labor. Sometimes finished product is not checked properly. Breakage of products.
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Miscalculations of accounts.

15. CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE MANAGEMENT PATTERNS, WEAK AREAS THAT NEED TO BE IMPROVED. y y y Most of the labor is unskilled; they need to be properly trained to work effectively. Office staff is slow decision makers; they must take decision on time. To reduce breakage of products, advance machinery must be used in order to check any cracks in under process products.

16. DUTIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS y Learned the initial step of creating models of sanitary ware products. Created model by self, using different kinds of tools and equipment. y y y y y Made mother mold from model that we created. Created mold from mother mold by filling it with plastic of paris. Filled the molds with slip(clay) and took out unfinished product, so that they get dry Did finishing of dried products with different kinds of tools and equipment. Did Glazing of dried products with different colors like baby pink, beige, ivory, burgundy etc. y Spent whole day in the checking department of unfinished products.
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y y y

Learned the process of Kiln(Production Plant) Checked the quality of finished product and organized them in A and B categories. Spent time in the packing department, learned how products are being sent to retailers and wholesalers.

y y y y

Started learning office work, they thought us all the work involved in factory office. Did entries of all customers transactions in computer. Learned how sales are being handled in markets. Calculated the sales tax and deducted the input tax on electricity, gas and phone bills that company paid.

Started survey on markets, went Lahore and evaluated the prices our retailers were offering to its customers.

y y

Based on our survey in markets, we did competitors analysis. Learned about pricing strategies and Pakistan industrial environment from Asif Ceramic Head Manager.

y y y

Made a list of all workers salaries and distributed them accordingly. Learned how emerging china products have affected Pakistan industries. Checked and observed the profit and loss account of Asif Ceramics

16. NEW KNOWLEDGE ACQUIRED Throughout our internship we acquired many different kind of knowledge. We came to know how companies survive in competitive situations. Their relationship with all stake holders (government officials, banks, suppliers, retailers, etc), affect them. Related ceramics we came to know how it is made from initial step to final step. In which we learned all about the raw materials names and places from which they come. Learned the formula of making Slip (clay) and making Glaze. We learned how to make the models, Mather molds, molds, casting, finishing, and glazing. In production plant we came to know what certain range of temperature is required for firing the products in kiln.

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In office we learned how tax is paid after deducting the tax of inputs from outputs. We learned how customers transactions are recorded and saved in computers. Gain the knowledge regarding markets and emerging china products.

17. PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED As an intern we didnt face as such problems, but still it was very tough job to work in a production area and we worked hard to face all the difficult situations. We observed how workers work under hot temperature and difficulties they face. One of the major problems that we observed was the shortage of Gas, as gas is the major component for any ceramics industries but here in Pakistan, they were sending notices regarding the shortage of gas and to stop using gas for a while. It causes a lot of loss and slows down the production. 18. HOW INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE IMPACTS YOU CAREER. I personally experienced how local industries are surviving in such a competitive market. It enhanced my knowledge regarding Ceramics related products and offered me such task that I was not aware of. In future, if I will come in this field then I will be able to all about it and will handle all the situation easily.

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19. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION The internship study conducted at Asif Ceramics was a pleasant experience for me as it gave me the opportunity to know the various aspects of management, the basic structure of an organization and more than anything much needed corporate exposure. In conclusion of my study, I came to know the following: GOOD INTER DEPARTMENTAL RELATION: There is a good inter departmental relation in Asif Ceramics i.e. all functional departments of the firm work towards the mission of the company. All the departments have their functional specification and work as per the standards.

HEALTHY FINALCIAL POSITION: Asif Ceramics is very successful in managing its finance, It has managed all its financial resources to the optimum level and has achieved some good results.

AND RECOMMEND THEM: TO HAVE PROPER MARKETING DEPARTMENT: As we did our marketing research on Asif Ceramics. Although they are doing well with their products but we found that they were having no marketing department in the company. We
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proposed that they may raise their sales & revenues by launching marketing department.

MORE CONCENTRATION TOWARDS LOCAL MARKET: Asif Ceramics has not been able to explore the different markets of Pakistan even though it is a very successful brand. It is suggested that Asif Ceramics should spend more resources towards these untapped markets.

INTERNATIONAL MARKET: Majority people prefer to purchase the international ceramic products. So, Asif Ceramics should take advantage of this factor and make its worth in market and set its brand name in customers mind.

19. REFERENCES Naeem Asif Mughal, CEO Tahir, Production manager Ghulaam Muhammad, General Manager Ijaaz Ahmed, Accountant Saeed Shah, Sales Manager

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