New Delhi | Yokohama India has announced that the Yokohama group has achieved the milestone of 1000 plus women working on the shop floors in its factories in India.

The company says this achievement marks a significant step forward in its commitment to gender diversity and inclusivity within its workforce. Yokohama Group has four factories in India – one dedicated to Passenger Car Tires and three manufacturing Off-highway tires.

Speaking on this achievement, Anil Gupta, Vice-Chairman, Yokohama India, said, “As we celebrate this momentous occasion, the company remains steadfast in its commitment to fostering a culture of diversity, inclusion, and opportunity for all employees. With 1000 women standing strong on the factory shop floors, we hope they inspire others like them to tread the unbeaten path.”

“Our first women recruitment drive was for the commercial Truck Bus Radial (TBR) Unit at our Dahej plant in 2018. We were the pioneers in having a TBR Unit run exclusively by women. From operating machinery to quality control, these skilled women have demonstrated their expertise, resilience, and dedication to excellence. Adherence to safety protocol, zero loss-time injuries and active participation in continuous improvement projects have encouraged us to hire more women on the shop floor,” added Anil Gupta.

Contrary to common perception that it’s the women from metro cities who try their hands at off-beat professions, the 1000+ women force in the factories come from small towns of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab etc. Their roles span across various functions, from production to quality control and logistics; excelling as machine operators, team leaders, technicians, and supervisors, among other positions.

Yokohama India is a 100% subsidiary of The Yokohama Rubber Company, Japan (YRC). YRC, established in 1917, supplies products to over 120 countries. YIN started manufacturing tyres in India from November 2014 and supplies products like Geolandar A/T, Earth-1 and BluEarth-GT from the manufacturing plant located in Bahadurgarh, Haryana.