| TARA BrickMek Technology
Increasing small scale enterprise development
The TARA BrickMek technology addresses the pain-point of skilled labour shortage in green brick moulding that currently confronts the brick making industry in India. Innovated by Development Alternatives (DA), this technology uses local manpower to produce quality products with energy saving measures, thus offering a complete solution for quality brick moulding, particularly for the small scale entrepreneurs. Presently, the brick making technology in India is archaic; majority of the units in the industry still employ manual methods such as age-old hand-moulding, sun-drying and clamp and moving or fixed chimney kiln-firing methods. These methods are not able to meet the increasing demands for quality bricks from the construction sector, thus putting added pressure on the traditional brick-moulder community called Patheras, which traditionally engages in moulding green bricks. The Pathera community is available for a limited period, which further restricts the period of operations in the brick industry. The TARA BrickMek machine plays an important role in lowering the industrys dependence on seasonal labourers, as it is user friendly and can be operated even by local workers with some initial training. Engaging of local workers generates employment in the area; it mitigates the rate of migration of the traditional communities to far away places in search of jobs and the subsequent dislocation of their families. The involvement of local workers also helps in increasing the period of brick-making operations from 120 days to 200 days per year. The BrickMek machine produces 8,000 bricks in a shift of eight hours, equivalent to the output of eight traditional families. The machine requires 12 operators, uses industrial waste and a unique mixing technique for producing quality bricks. The machine moulding leads to smooth, sharp, better shaped and better strength bricks, which further reduce the consumption of mortar during construction. This technology increases small scale enterprise development, enhances productivity and leads to creation of green jobs.
The TARA BrickMek machine is a custom-designed machine for producing uniform high quality clay bricks, engineered for optimum performance. The technology constitutes a high efficiency engineered system that integrates multiple functions such as mixing, pugging, soft moulding and transfer operations through a single drive mechanism. The system is portable, easy to operate and maintain; the wear parts are easy to replace. The robust design makes it ideal for operations at open brick sites with manpower trained on the TARA BrickMek machine itself. The machine is ideally suited for the production of unfired bricks with industrial wastes, which act as internal fuel and reduce the consumption of external coal. It is easy to use and local labourers can be readily trained to operate the machine. Bricks produced using this technology are uniform in size and look and command a premium of 20 per cent in sellers price, equivalent to INR 300 to 500 per thousand (US$5.6 8.9). It is driven by 6.3kw, 8.5Hp 3-phase electricity and can be operated by 10-12 operators. The incubation and scaling up of all clean technology solution is undertaken by Society for the Technology and Action for Rural Advancement (TARA), a social enterprise of the Development Alternatives Group. The technology is marketed by TARA Machines and Tech Services Private Limited with green business solutions to a global network of micro, small and medium enterprises owned by individuals, self-help groups or promoted by companies, NGOs and financing institutions. The benefits of the technology accrue to the local workers in terms of higher remuneration, skilled jobs and longer work season. The entrepreneurs benefit from reduced breakages and higher profits. The machine is eco friendly as it is resource efficient, using industrial wastes that act like internal fuel and reduce the consumption of external coal. The uniform and strong bricks (finished product) need less mortar during construction. TARA Machines (www.taramachines.com) is a specialist company in Green Building Technology, Eco-Kiln Technology and Fly Ash Technology. It tests materials like soil and industrial wastes for technical suitability; thereby minimising risks for entrepreneurs. The equipment and accessories are supplied according to the customised needs of the buyer. After the delivery of the equipments, TARA Machines provides services for installation, commissioning and training of workers to operate the equipments properly. The training for routine cleaning, check-ups and general maintenance is also provided by TARA Machines. TARA Machines is contemplating community enterprises, which could own the TARA BrickMek and offer moulding services to a number of brick enterprises.
The TARA BrickMek is worthy of recognition as :
It is a new technology idea that integrates multiple functions in a single machine with demonstrated capability to produce uniform high quality clay bricks.
The finished bricks with higher strength, consistent size and sharp corners lead to 30 per cent reduction in the consumption of mortar in construction.
Provides avenues for creation of more green jobs. Approximately 600 new jobs have been created so far and the number is increasing rapidly. Women operators are also easily trained to operate the machine.
Enables small brick entrepreneurs to increase their profits with a premium product.
The technology in conjunction with TARA EcoKiln produces eco-bricks and reduces carbon emissions (approximately 15,000 tonnes of carbon reduction per annum from 30 machines)
It surpasses the current solutions as it offers a viable solution for greening the brick industry by enhancing the quality of the brick and reducing carbon emissions. It can be easily used by diverse, small scale rural entrepreneurs, who can set up a small unit at an affordable cost of US$10,000 and earn considerable profits from the first year of operations. The training provided to the local labour builds their skills and capacity and helps in restricting migration and dislocation of their families. The TARA BrickMek in conjunction with the TARA EcoKiln ensures reduction in coal consumption for firing of the bricks by 25-30 per cent. In use with traditional firing methods, the reduction in coal consumption is 12-15 per cent. TARA Machines provides proper know how of the technology and process and also build the capacity of local workers by providing on job training to the community to operate the machines.
The Tara BrickMek technology has many-fold benefits:
The evidence to support this is that TARA BrickMek-moulded bricks command a good premium, from US$5.6 8.9 per 1000 bricks.
The finished bricks with higher strength, consistent size and sharp corners reduces the consumption of mortar in construction activities by 30 per cent
TARA BrickMek machines operation expands the brick season from 120 days to 200 days for entrepreneurs as brick production continues into the rainy season
The machine enables the local workers to contribute to the small scale industry with reduced drudgery. The machine operation is easily managed by training local manpower more than 600 to date.
Internal fuel like sponge iron waste, boiler ash from thermal power plants, rice husk, fired rice husk and other carbon bearing industrial wastes are easily mixed with soil by the TARA BrickMek machine. The usage of internal fuel reduces the consumption of external coal by approximately 15,000 tonnes per annum.
The long term goal of this technology in conjunction with TARA EcoKiln is to accelerate greening of the Indian brick industry by promoting clean technology businesses that are profitable. The measure of success of the technology is the growing number of TARA BrickMek machines deployed for brick making. The model of technology dissemination by TARA Machines provides technology, training and post-sales support. The regional offices of TARA Machines have a reporting protocol with all EcoKiln enterprises and are able to track the utilisation of the machines, production of bricks and hence the environmental impact created. The reporting of the performance is done to the Board of Directors of TARA; who effectively monitor the growth of enterprises; the social benefits generated and the environmental impacts in terms of waste utilisation and carbon emission reduction.
The long term negative outcome may be on account of over extraction of soil for increased production of clay bricks, necessary for meeting the growing demand in India. The DA Group recognises this aspect and is already working on the production of hollow bricks (bricks with holes, using the same BrickMek machine). This has the potential to reduce soil and energy consumption further by 25 per cent.
The application of this technology has great potential in the developing economies in Asia and Africa, seeking to grow the national economy with minimal negative environmental impact. This technology has been introduced in Bangladesh and we are seeking entry into Sri Lanka, Thailand and Cameroon, during the coming year.
The TARA BrickMek machine is a custom-designed soft moulding machine for producing uniform high quality clay bricks by mixing and moulding soil, suited to the needs of small scale brick makers. It is an integrated machine operated with a small 7.5 HP (5 KW) motor, moulding up to 8000 bricks in an eight-hour shift, engaging 12-15 workers.
The TARA BrickMek initiative has been widely supported by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, India Canada Environmental Facility and the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India and the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
The funds can be utilised for:
An amount of $37000 for promotion through Tara Machines and Tech Services Private Limited.
Machine on wheels for demonstration in high potential brick clusters
Joint promotion among enterprises in collaboration with Department of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME)
Training of brick workers community B: An amount of $13000 for Customer-based improvements in technology through Development Alternatives
Associated loading of materials with conveyor device
Automatic sprayer of dry sand
Variable speed drive system q Aparna Krishna
akrishna@devalt.org
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