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K‐Chips
Final Report
December 7, 2011
David Choy Brandon Comella
Grace Li Vinod Varghese Mathew
Avin Varghese Mariya Vasileva
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Summary
Plantain chips are an important snack food in Kerala. However, due to the popularity of the
chips, the demand in the market outpaces the speed at which the bakeries can produce bags of the
snack. Our product aims to increase the productivity of these bakeries so that they will be able to meet
the demand of the customers. While increasing the productivity, we will attempt to also increase the
safety of the process to all the workers involved.
Our solution is a spinning table with blades. A shield with tubes in it is placed above the blades
to aid in the orientation of the plantains as they are placed on the blades as well as provide a buffer
between the blades and body parts. The plantains are placed in the tubes, where weights are then
placed on top of them to push the plantains down the tubes. At the other end of the tube and enclosed
in the shield lies the rotary table =. Blades that are raised off the table will cut slices off the end of the
plantains, which will then fall through a hole in the table out of the product. Below will either be oil to
fry the slices or a bowl to catch the falling pieces. Once the slices are made, production can continue as
it currently does to finish cooking the chips as well as packaging them for consumption.
When selling the product to bakeries, the business will uphold high ethical standards. The large
number of current bakeries provides a sizeable market for the business and keeps it sustainable.
Additionally, the use of cheaper materials that do not sacrifice quality will keep the bill of materials low
and maintain a large profit margin. The business behind this product is thus an extremely sustainable
one and one that will help the bakeries of Kerala increase their productivity and safety. In the end, all of
the Kerala residents will benefit from the increased supply of plantain chips that this product can
achieve.
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TableofContents Mission .......................................................................................................................................................... 4
Problem Statement ....................................................................................................................................... 4
Solution ......................................................................................................................................................... 6
Customer Interaction .................................................................................................................................... 8
Places visited ............................................................................................................................................. 8
Method of inquiry ..................................................................................................................................... 8
Reaction to design .................................................................................................................................... 8
Design Approach ........................................................................................................................................... 9
Suitability for the Marketplace ................................................................................................................. 9
Cultural Sensitivity .................................................................................................................................... 9
Low Cost Design ...................................................................................................................................... 10
Human Factors ........................................................................................................................................ 10
Manufacturing ........................................................................................................................................ 11
Distribution and Marketing ..................................................................................................................... 11
Economic Sustainability .......................................................................................................................... 11
Environmental Sustainability .................................................................................................................. 12
Ethics ........................................................................................................................................................... 13
Major Challenges ........................................................................................................................................ 14
Future Plans ................................................................................................................................................ 15
References .................................................................................................................................................. 16
Team Analysis ............................................................................................................................................. 17
Appendix A .................................................................................................................................................. 18
Brainstorm Evaluation ............................................................................................................................ 18
Appendix B .................................................................................................................................................. 21
Code of Ethics ......................................................................................................................................... 21
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Mission
This product aims to facilitate the production of banana chips and allow bakeries to increase
productivity by at least 50% without compromising human labor, while at the same time being
economically sustainable, environmentally friendly, and culturally and ethically sensitive.
ProblemStatement
The state of Kerala experiences a large demand for plantain chips. This demand is not being met
by the mostly small scale bakeries and shops. On a typical day, a shop is only able to fulfill approximately
two‐thirds of the demand. This leaves room for at least 50% growth in current revenue. There are
several factors that suppress the bakeries’ ability to fulfill demand. The biggest obstacle is that plantain
chip making is a very labor intensive and physically demanding process. The plantains must be removed
from their peels, which because of the various sizes and shapes of the fruit, is too cost prohibitive to do
with machinery. Each plantain must be peeled individually and by hand, which requires at least one
worker to constantly do. Peeling a plantain is much more difficult than peeling the yellow banana that is
more common in the United States. Plantains have a large amount of sap, which causes the skin to
adhere to the fruit inside. For an inexperienced worker this means that it will take a long time (about
ninety seconds) to remove the peel, and they may also break or damage the fruit in the process.
Experienced workers can peel a plantain in about five seconds, by first making a slit and wedging the
knife between the fruit and the peel to dislodge it. The sap not only impedes the process of removing
the plantain but also stains the workers hand a dark black color.
After the plantains are peeled, they must be sliced into discs to fry into chips. Typically a worker
will hold up to eight plantains in one hand and rapidly slice them using a wooden mandolin. Because of
the rapid pace at which they slice plantains and the lack of gloves wore by the workers, accidents are a
very real possibility. This presents a health hazard to both the worker, who may develop infections from
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their injuries, and customers who may consume an unsanitary product. This motion is very
uncomfortable and taxing on the workers. They must hold the mandolin over the fryer so the plantains
will fall in, which causes splashing of the boiling hot oil that occasionally hits and injures the worker.
Kerala is one of the most educated and highly literate places in India. Because of this, there is an
aversion to manual labor among the youth, who prefer white collar jobs. Each of the workers in the
bakery is highly skilled and trained in multiple parts of the cooking and preparation process. This
requires workers to undergo extensive training in order to develop these skills. The barriers of entry can
be lowered to allow young people to earn a competitive salary.
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Solution
Because slicing is the most problematic step in the production process, the product is designed
to address this stage of production. With the current method, workers are quick at slicing the plantains,
but are also likely to cut themselves on the sharp exposed blade. The solution must therefore not only
be as quick as the current manual method, but also much safer.
The solution is a spinning table with blades. As the plantains fall and hit the table, the table spins
around so that blades contact the plantain. The forward momentum of the table will slice the plantain.
The height of the blade off of the table will help to determine the final thickness of the plantain. This
means that the potential for adjustment is there if the final product is manufactured correctly. The
consistency of the slices is maintained by the static blade relative to the table and can also be assured by
keeping the plantains in the same orientation as the blade passes by. Multiple blades are also employed
so that plantains can be cut simultaneously. Combined with the higher rate of slicing, the overall rate at
which the chips can be produced will be greatly increased.
The use of a shield above the table not only provides added safety, but with the addition of
tubes in the shield, will help to stabilize the plantains as they fall down to the table. The tubes will also
help with the alignment of the plantains over the holes and blades so that they are in the right position
to be sliced perfectly every time. The tube is important because it helps to maintain the same cut each
and every time. However, the tube itself does not keep the plantains falling down to the table. For that,
weights are needed to push the plantain down and ensure that it does not be pushed up by the table
and miss the blade as it passes by. These weights will be heavy enough to push the plantain but not so
heavy that it crushes them. Once the plantain is cut by one blade, the weight continues pushing down so
that the plantain is always in contact with the table and ready to be cut by the next spinning blade.
The table is powered by a type of drive chain. The current setup employs bicycle parts to use a
handle that is manually spun. A set of gears and bike chain, including a possible gear reduction, will
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complete the drive system and transfer the power to the table. Because of the widespread use of
bicycles, such power systems are well‐known and understood by many. As such, replacing the handle
with a motor to allow for semi‐automatic use would be quick simple by any skilled and knowledgeable
worker.
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CustomerInteraction
Placesvisited
Several towns were chosen at which to conduct interviews. These places included
Chenganacherry, Kottayam, and Idukki. Bakeries in each of these locations were interviewed. One
consideration with these interviews is that the price in Idukki is currently higher than average due to
Sabarimala season, which runs from September until March. This time is typically a period of increased
consumption of plantain chips.
Methodofinquiry
When visiting the bakeries, direct interviews were conducted with the shop owners. Using
information from the previous visit before the class began along with our new script of questions; we
were able to ask pointed questions to obtain the necessary information. We found that the owners
wanted a machine that gave good results (i.e. sped up production). In addition, many workers
continually hurt their fingers while slicing on the mandolin. The proximity of the blade to their fingers
and the repetitive slicing motion led to frequent injuries.
Reactiontodesign
Because the product that was shown to the customer was able to produce the chips in a higher
quantity than is currently produced, it received an initial positive reaction. The plantain only had to be
fed into the tubes at the top and gravity would aid the transport of the plantain to the blades. The
bakeries were extremely receptive to this part of the design.
However, the bakery owners expressed some concern as to the price of the machine. Compared
to the current cost of equipment, which is only a mandolin, the product is quite expensive. Despite the
fact that labor costs would be lessened due to the increased productivity offered by the machine, many
bakeries were anxious about the selling price of the product.
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DesignApproach
SuitabilityfortheMarketplace
Because the current chip producing process is insufficient for meeting demand, the product is
ready to enter the marketplace. Small bakeries have already expressed interest in purchasing the
product for up to a month’s worth of wages. Since the estimated production costs are approximately
$150‐$200, there is still margin with which to play with, should costs exceed estimates.
To withstand the high humidity in Kerala, the product will either employ stainless steel or a
polycarbonate compound to prevent rusting. Also, since the current method is very simple to learn, the
product will have an easy learning curve so that every current worker can efficiently switch to the new
machinery. As electricity is expensive in Kerala, the product will be made to use biogas or be hand
powered. Using biogas is less expensive and helps support the state’s industry, while a hand powered
machine cuts all power costs (though rate of chip production will decrease). A design that can efficiently
swap a motor for a hand crank to choose between the two alternatives was chosen.
Lastly, the system was designed to use easily replaceable parts. This means that parts that
would normally wear quickly with age can be extracted using simple hand tools and then replaced at low
cost. Most bakeries have a simple tool set readily available, including objects like a screwdriver, wrench,
and the like. An example of such a part is the slicing blade, which is very cheap to produce and replace.
The bakeries could purchase multiple replacement blades and have them on hand.
CulturalSensitivity
Because of the differences in culture between the United States and India, the product and all of
its manufacturing processes must take care not to run into cultural issues in India, the final target
market. One example of this is to observe all country‐specific holidays. This should not be an issue as the
product is slated to be manufactured in India, but it is a concern nonetheless.
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The product will also increase productivity. Because of this, the design process must be careful
to consider any potential job losses that the product would create. While workers typically slice the
plantains by hand currently, the machine will reduce the amount of human interaction needed.
Hopefully this will not reduce the number of available jobs since with a constant labor amount plus the
increased productivity from the machine, the total market demand for plantain chips could be met.
Should jobs be lost, the labor amount would decrease and the market would still not be saturated to
meet demand.
LowCostDesign
To keep costs low we will manufacture the machine in India, preferably as locally as possible.
We have made the parts most essential to the machine out of metal in order to promote structural
stability and prolong the life of the machine. For parts that serve a more cosmetic purpose we will use
more affordable materials such as plastic. We chose to make the shield out of aluminum with stainless
steel foil because the aluminum/stainless steel mix is cheaper than making the entire part out of steel.
The tubes and plungers can be made out of PVC or a similarly inexpensive material in order to cut down
on costs.
HumanFactors
Customers need a solution that would be able to process the raw plantains quickly, efficiently,
while still maintaining a high quality final product. This also had to be accomplished while ensuring
worker safety. The current product design provides a large safety margin and improved quality. With the
feature of a shield, there will be no accidental contact with the blades. Additionally, the gravity‐aided
transport of the plantains means that when placing plantains into the machine, the workers’ fingers do
not need to be near the blades at all.
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The handheld size of the device and the convenient circular shape allow for ease of operation
and transportation, if necessary. The design was intentionally simplified to provide a low learning curve
and high maintainability in accordance with an unskilled laborer’s abilities.
Manufacturing
The product will be manufactured in India due to the lower cost of transportation once the
product is actually manufactured. Within India, the product would most likely be manufactured in
Coimbatore. There are several manufacturing companies in Tamilnadu, Coimbatore. These companies
include Papanaikan Palyam, Sowripalayam, and Velandipalayam. Since there are several companies that
can produce the product, raw material costs will be reduced because of this competition.
DistributionandMarketing
First, it is important to make the bakeries aware that the product exists. Letter posts placed in
newspapers will be the best way to initially spread word out about the product. Once the product gains
traction in the market, word of mouth will also aid the spread of the product.
One way to ensure that the bakeries are not put off by the higher price of the product is to offer
financing. In this method, the product could be paid off over multiple payments and diffuse the cost of
entry to a relatively low one, one even possibly on the same scale as their current cost.
In terms of distribution, direct distribution from the manufacturers is possible. If the
manufacturing process is spread across the various locations, no bakery should be extremely far from a
manufacturing plant. Then the product can be directly delivered to the bakery by truck.
EconomicSustainability
As mentioned earlier, talks with the customers showed that they are willing to pay the amount
of a full month’s profit to buy a product that speeds up their chip manufacturing. This amount is quite
high and allows for the use of quality parts in the product being built. Even so, the final bill of materials
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will be quite low compared to the final selling cost. In addition, the overall product is quite simple and so
labor costs to build and assemble such a product will not be very expensive. Therefore, any product that
will be shipped to the market will carry a decent profit margin. There are also many hundreds of
bakeries just in the one state of Kerala alone. This means that there are at least hundreds, if not
thousands or more of potential customers that would buy such a product. There are other uses such as
high‐scale vegetable cutting that could be used to market to outside sectors. All of this means that the
product is very economically sustainable for any manufacturer.
EnvironmentalSustainability
In terms of being environmentally sustainable, the use of high quality plastics and metals will
give the product a long lifetime and make sure that it stays out of landfills, where it can pollute the earth.
A modular architecture also means that broken parts can be easily swapped out for new ones without
having to replace everything, including pieces that still work. And finally, with the manual bicycle handle,
the machine is totally off‐the‐grid once it is manufactured and will have no carbon footprint after that.
The product only has a one‐time environmental hit when it is produced and after that, is completely
environmentally friendly and sustainable.
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Ethics
The core values of the company can be summarized as follows. First, there must be compliance
with laws and regulatory orders. Each employee is charged with the responsibility of acquiring sufficient
knowledge related to their duties in order to recognize potential dangers and know how to seek legal
advice. Employees may not, directly or indirectly, offer or provide any special treatment or favor in
return for anything of economic value, or the promise of future gain.
Employees must put safety of customers above all else, making all reasonable efforts to prevent
any harm caused by the device. Employees must report any illegal or unethical behavior immediately to
the next available supervisor. Employees should strive to create a product they are proud of and
represents their best work. Employees should respect the customer, the environment, and each other.
All effort should be made to reduce the footprint and disturbance caused by company activities.
Managers are responsible for the behavior of their workers. Finally, when at work, employees should
remember that they represent not just themselves, but the companies as well. Knowing this, they
should behave accordingly.
See Appendix B for the company’s Code of Ethics
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MajorChallenges
The first challenge that was overcome was to decide the part of the chip making process that
the product would focus on improving. Since designing a large all‐encompassing peeler, slicer, and fryer
would take up considerable space and be less cost efficient, the process steps need to be broken apart
and narrowed down to figure out the area that required most improvement. Quick analyses and testing
with plantains showed that boiling the plantains in water before peeling could increase speed by a
factor of four. This does not require a product solely for boiling. The bottleneck in the product was the
slicing and this is what the product was designed to address. For example, the workers manually slicing
with a mandolin can slice with a high initial speed; however, as time progresses and they tire out, the
rate of production decreases exponentially. Also, manual slicing, though implemented by almost all of
the bakeries, is a very dangerous task with possibility for hurting oneself.
Another challenge that was overcome was deciding how to make low‐cost alternatives to meet
the budget of the bakeries and also produce enough profit to make the project desirable. Due to the
high humidity of Kerala, the slicing machine needed to be rust‐resistant. Normally, this would require
stainless steel, but the price of stainless steel is high. To remedy this, a solution that takes aluminum and
encases it with a stainless steel foil covering to provide the same effect was derived.
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FuturePlans
Future plans must include improving the final prototype. Due to the shortened time frame in
which the design was done, the final design did not mature fully. Therefore, through continued research
and market feedback, the design can be iterated over and finalized.
Once a product that enough of the market finds acceptable is produced, it should be marketed
before it goes into full production. This way, some capital can be produced and orders can be taken to
gain enough for a trial production run. This method will also help to get the word out about the product.
This will increase the market traction and market share right from the start.
Once manufacturing starts, economies of scale will kick in and the cost of the product should
drop significantly. However, this is not to say that cost analyses should not be done in the meantime.
These analyses can be done to find places in which the costs can be lowered even more, just due to
design tweaks and not as a product of the manufacturing process.
Once the customers are established, portability and assembly will become issues. Therefore,
before the final design is produced, factors such as assembly and portability need to be considered more
thoroughly. With only a first prototype made, there are surely more places in which the assembly can be
made easier and the entire product more portable.
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References
1. HowStuffWorks Videos “How It's Made: Plantain Chips.” Discovery Channel. 2011.
<http://videos.howstuffworks.com/science‐channel/37460‐how‐its‐made‐plantain‐chips‐
video.htm>
2. More branded snack companies enter banana chips’ market ‐ Economic Times. The Economic
Times. 2011. <http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011‐01‐
13/news/28423577_1_chips‐banana‐unorganised‐sector>
3. Banana Chips ‐ Banana Chips Manufacturers,Banana Chips Suppliers & Exporters. IndiaMART.
2011. <http://dir.indiamart.com/impcat/banana‐chips.html>
4. How its made‐potato chips ‐ YouTube. Google. 2011.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkqBbr7Ewsw>
5. Potato Chips Making Machine,Chips Making Machine,Chips Making Machine Manufacturer.
Blaze Machinery. 2011. <http://www.potatochipsmakingmachine.com/>
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TeamAnalysis
As a team, we began well with weekly meetings and quick communication. However, as the
term continued, several teammates did not respond to any emails. This made communication
impossible and several homework assignments were done on the part of only half the team. Additionally,
the second half of term saw very little response from India and as such, any design choices were done
with only preliminary feedback from Kerala bakeries. This proved to be a major challenge because there
was little feedback in the design process, only initial comments on what concerns the bakery owners
had on what the final product would be.
If the project were done a second time, there would definitely be more progress checks along
the way. If a person did not respond or contribute to the team in any way within the week, they should
have been reprimanded or dropped from the project. Alternatively, punishments for not meeting
deadlines set should have been set to create an incentive to get work in on time and reduce the amount
of freeloading that occurred. In addition, meetings should have been held more often to make sure that
people were all on the same page. Requiring all the team members to come to the meetings would
ensure that everyone got all of the same information and any misinterpretations would be cleared up
before meetings ended.
In the end, most of the changes lie within the realm of faster and better communication. The
ability to drop dead‐weight from the group would have been useful in order to create a more nimble
group that could innovate faster. But with better communication and openness within the group, things
could have flowed much more smoothly and that is the area of the majority of changes.
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AppendixA
BrainstormEvaluation Cost/
Benefit Ratio
Safety Speed Quality/ Consistency
Adoptability Total Comments
Weights 5 1 4 4 2
Peeling
Boil plantains then use wood stick
5 4 4 2 4 61 Very similar to existing methods, hence low cost and high adoptability as workers are already used to the technique; high speed of process for both skilled and unskilled labor as only slitting is performed and not entire peeling; consistency and quality rated low because of high random and systematic error in the process.
Use dual tool that cuts and then peels off skin
4 1 4 3 3 55 Compared to previous method, cost is higher due to increased complexity and tool takes more time to adopt; consistency of method slightly improved but very low safety.
Tube with blades inside 3 5 2 3 4 48 Not as efficient because skin still needs to be peeled; process slower since imperfect peeling inside the tube will require additional manual effort; method safer than above since process takes place in closed space.
Machine that will clamp on skin and pull off
2 4 2 3 1 36 High learning curve; difficult to accomplish due to time constraints on design and local market limitations; high cost; speed would not be improved significantly since skin is hard to separate.
Cut the banana into two halves and pass through a circular blade so that it can be equally cut
3 1 1 3 3 38 Low speed as banana needs to be sliced in halves; method potentially dangerous since two slitting steps are involved.
Spin the plantain and have blades that close in on fruit (similar to apple peeler)
1 3 2 1 3 26 Bananas not uniform, hence do not spin easily; as a result method inconsistent, slices not identical, quality compromised; complexity of design and motion of the blades due to the specific banana shape requires high cost of device and results in low speed of the process.
Slit, then boil and see if skin falls off in process, use metal knife
5 4 5 2 4 65 Faster than current method since only a vertical slit is performed initially; boiling makes peel softer and easier to come off; more
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efficient than proposed method 1 since metal knife is used and slitting before boiling the banana aids the peeling process.
Cut into pieces and boil to see if skin falls off
5 4 2 1 4 49 See above ‐ slower since raw plantains need to be uniformly sliced beforehand when peel is still hard; difficult to remove peel without ruining plantain slices: quality and uniformity of chips is compromised.
Machine to pull off the skin after cutting a small portion of the banana
2 4 1 3 1 32 Similar to above alternative but higher cost as design is more complex; slower since banana needs to be first cut in portions, and then peeled and sliced.
Have a fixed blade or knife on a table. Cut off the ends of banana and using hand, guide the banana over the knife and send for the next processing.
3 1 1 1 5 34 Process slower since manual labor is involved in initial steps; extremely low safety due to open blades and hand assistance of the process; high adoptability as required task is simple to perform.
Slicing
Rotary spinning slicing 3 3 5 5 4 66 High cost, but can generate many slices at once and of uniform quality.
Knife 5 1 1 1 5 44 Unsafe, potential injury; slow since done manually and output one slice at a time; slices non‐uniform.
Electric mandolin 3 3 4 5 4 62 Alternative not cost‐friendly since reliant on electricity.
Horizontal slicer 3 2 3 2 2 41
Preformed slicer to push over plantain (cuts entire thing at once)
5 5 1 2 4 50 Limit on the number of slices generated at a time; quality compromised since thickness and shape is predetermined and non‐uniform.
Bread slicer‐use plantains instead
5 5 1 2 4 50 See above.
Use a mandolin with multiple blades‐multiple slices in each pass
4 2 4 5 5 68 Adding glove would protect user's hands.
Textured mandolin‐ridges/ruffles distinguish it from competition
2 2 3 5 5 54 Not as fast as multiple blades, but should be same as current method; only advantage is diversifying product. Could be combined with above alternative to make process faster and improve quality. Safety issues need to be resolved.
A technique to continuously cut down equal sized bananas (use a ratchet for timing)
2 3 1 2 3 31
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Packaging
Blowtorch to seal 4 1 4 2 3 51
Scale that tips once it hits specific weight
5 5 4 5 4 74
Heated metal clamp 4 1 2 2 2 41
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AppendixB
CodeofEthics Our Vision: Here at K‐Chips, we make no distinction between ethical normal behavior and ethical
business behavior. We strive to conduct practices in a commendable and beneficial manner.
Our Commitment: To satisfy both our internal and external members through continuously improving
our work processes.
Our Values: We implement American foreign trade practices in our daily interactions; namely, we
vehemently oppose the following practices:
1. Giving of any items of value to incentivize certain actions of any persons
2. Influencing the decision of any parties through improper advantage
Furthermore, we strive to uphold the following. Each employee is responsible for taking the initiative of
all of the following:
● Acquiring sufficient knowledge related to their duties in order to recognize potential dangers
and seeking legal advice when necessary
● Putting safety of customers above all else and making all reasonable efforts to prevent any harm
caused by the device
● Reporting any and all illegal or unethical behavior immediately to the next available supervisor.
If the supervisor is suspected of being unethical, they must report to the next higher up and not
desist in revealing the unethical act
● Respecting the customer, the environment, and each other
● Optimizing company activities to reduce environmental disturbances
● Managing those who report to them
● Representing the company and its core values in all actions
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To summarize, good ethical behavior is a core value of the company. Though exact guidelines may not
be listed, each individual is strongly advised to conduct themselves in a manner that is beneficial to both
the company and the people of Kerala. The general rule of thumb is that any decision, large or small,
should be made with the intention that, should the action be published, there would be no retribution
for the parties involved.