Following Maria Montessori’s vision
Painting globes for kids. Pix by Amila Gamage
GALPOTTA ESTATE – At a well lit table at the Nienhuis factory floor at Panadura in southern Sri Lanka, two women – one with tresses (long hair) – are painstakingly hand painting scores of small globes. The paint lines are fine and so precise that there is no tell tale evidence of brush strokes.
Quality and product safety (as these are used by kids) are the key to the success of Nienhuis’ range of Montessori learning products for children. An effort to outsource this hand-paint job failed and the fate of a “quality hand painted globe” is now in the expert hands of Imesha Kariyawasam and Mayuri Subashini, explains Hasith Suriyapperuma, Operations Manager as he takes a team of Business Times (BT) reporters across various production units at the airy complex which manufactures an astounding product range of 1000 items for children (at different times) for Montessori’s across the world.
Nienhuis Asia Pvt Ltd is a BOI approved manufacturing company owned by Dutch-based Heutink International, producing AMI (Association of Montessori International) approved Montessori teaching material “as per the blue prints made by Dr. Maria Montessori”, the company says.
On Thursday, the Colombo factory celebrated its 20th anniversary with a simple ceremony graced by special guests including the owner/CEO of Heutink Henk Fokke, Netherlands Ambassador Ms. Mevrouw Joanne Doornewaard and Rev. Sister Stanislaus Vas from the Good Shepherd Maria Montessori Training Centre, among others,
Bright colours of products are evident across the factory floor as workers put, as one guest called it, “life into products” and even more at the new Experience Centre which was opened to coincide with the 20th anniversary.
Beads
Tiny chairs
At the new, nicely designed lounge, a row of tiny chairs of different sizes catches one’s eye. The five chairs meant for children from two years to four years is for export and stands there reminiscent of the delightful fairy tale “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” and the “a Little Bear, Middle-sized Bear, and a Great, Huge Bear” and their possessions varying in size.
The new centre will open its doors to children accompanied by teachers and adults who can experience and enjoy the breadth of learning material while the company also gets feedback on the products.Two products on display that captured the attention of guests was a range of tiny bicycle bells which produced different notes and a small piano-like toy.
Conversing with Ms Kariyawasam, with 19 years experience at the factory joining a year after it began, one gets a feeling that workers have a sense of pride in building blocks and products for children. She has a son and daughter aged 14 and seven years and working on these products constantly reminds her of her children.
Moving across various units in the complex, located 3.5 km off the Panadura-Galle road in quiet surroundings, workers are seen engaged in various jobs in the start-to –end process of wood work, sanding, assembly and paint.Taking the BT team through the guided tour Operations Manager Suriyapperuma, an engineer, explains how he came to the company about a year ago after six years in the US and then joining MAS Holdings. “It’s challenging here because there are so many products to deal with,” he says stopping at the paint shop centre where painter Chaminda Jayanath sprays a square box with red paint in a cubicle. Joining the company even before the buildings came up, Jayalath’s wife is Imesha, who paints the globes.
Premium product
The factory has 105 workers and 19 executives, produces some 300,000 Euro worth of goods per month and 3.2 million Euros annually. The high quality, premium-priced goods are exported to Europe, the US and new customer-China.Nienhuis ships 4-5 containers a month of goods but more interesting is that all its raw material comes from overseas with the products being made up of 20,000 items of imported raw material.
Hasith Suriyapperuma
“Almost everything is imported as quality has to be maintained,” Suriyapperuma says walking through two large warehouses of finished products, packed and labelled and another of raw material. Beechwood is used in the manufacture undergoing special heat treatment and kept for six months overseas before being shipped to Colombo.
Wood safe for kids
The wood is not fumigated to ensure there is no toxic material unsafe for children while quality control includes computer-precision cut blocks and scores of jigsaw puzzles which fit perfectly and equally to ensure kids are not confused – if it comes in different sizes , doesn’t fit and becomes another puzzle! Products are free of germs and micro bacteria to ensure a safe environment even if children accidentally put blocks into their mouth. There are no sharp edges that could cause cuts, part of the strict quality control process.
The peak period for the factory is May to August in the US and Europe when the Montessori season starts. In another section, two workers at a machine slide flat, smoothened pieces of wood through what is called a ‘paint curtain’ which gives a perfect coating. Most of the work is mechanised with technology being upgraded every year even since Nienhuis moved its entire production base to Sri Lanka, some years ago from the Netherlands.
More learning material
“Celebrate the child”
At the Experience Centre, Sister Stanislaus Vas tells invitees to the celebration that while the company must be congratulated on its 20th anniversary it is also important that “we rejoice and celebrate the child since without the child there is no Montessori”.A video shows moving images of workers at the factory accompanied with a song, lilting music and words like – “I can make peace on earth with my two hands//I can make a safer place with my two hands//I can hold you with my two hands//I can cradle you with my two hands”.
Nienhuis Montessori was founded in 1929 by Albert Nienhuis in the Netherlands, who collaborated with Dr. Maria Montessori, an Italian physician, educator, and innovator who started the Montessori school of learning for kids in 2007, to create products which reflected her vision of education. The company says its product range enables children to discover the world independently.