320. A K Kaderkutty

Founder and Visionary
 The Western India Plywoods Ltd

Mr. A.K. Kaderkutty, the founder of the Company passed away on the 14 th February, 2001. He was the Managing Director of the Company from its inception upto January 1993 and afterwards he continued as Director and Technical Advisor to the Company upto the time of his demise in February, 2001. Mr. A.K. Kaderkutty was considered to be the doyen of the wood working industry in the country. Not only he built up a wood based panel product empire in the remote part of Kerala, which became a model for the industry within this country, and also outside, he was also instrumental in transferring the latest technology in wood working industry into reality. He was a member of the International Academy of Wood Science. He was very closely associated with the Federation of Indian Plywood and Panel Industry (FIPPI), The Indian Plywood Industries Research and Training Institute (IPIRTI) and South Indian Plywood Manufacturers Association (SIPMA). He was closely associated with the Bureau of Indian Standards and was the Chairman of the sub committee (BDC: 20) dealing with wood based panel products. The Government of India recognized him and nominated him to the National Credit Council and other Committees of the Central Government on different occasions. In the State of Kerala, he had served on the State Planning Board, State Advisory Committee on Technical Education, Kerala State Industrial Development Corpn., and Kerala State Electronic Development Corporation. He also served on the Board of Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi and the Kerala Govt. sponsored Institute of Management. He was the first Dean of the Faculty of Wood Technology of Calicut University.

He pioneered a lot of research programmes in wood working industry and one area to be highlighted is the application of Radio Isotopes for upgrading the quality of ordinary timber, for which he set up a pilot plant at Baliapatam. He was recognised by N A A R I in 1984 for the pioneering efforts in this connection.

Among the various awards he received include Kerala Management Association Award for outstanding excellence, Management Science Award and Vyvasaya Sree Award in 1993. He was basically instrumental in placing the wood working industry in India on the international map with his pioneering efforts.

He served on the board of various industries within and outside the state, besides being on the governing body of of IIT – Chennai, Regional Engineering College – Calicut and Regional Engineering College – Suratkal.

ORIGIN

Established in 1945 the company started manufacture of sawn timber and plywood on a modest scale with a few indigenous and lent-leased machinery. Due to the progressive outlook and relentless efforts of WIP’s founder Managing Director Shri. A.K. Kaderkutty, a doyen of the wood based panel industry in India, the company made steady progress over the years and business expanded to its present stature and is today one of the biggest wood based industrial integrated complexes in the country and also in South-East Asia with an employee strength of 1200.

GROWTH

From the humble beginnings in 1942 as a sawmill and a tea chest manufacturing facility, W.I.P grew steadily adding the latest in machinery and incorporating new manufacturing techniques. Products ranged from Plywoods, Block boards, Flush door, Shuttering and Marine Plywood, Aircraft Plywood etc. The Company planned and executed the hardboard plant between the years 1956 and 1958 with an initial installed capacity of 12.5 tonnes of hardboard per day. The Company also installed its own synthetic resin unit in 1959 with a capacity of 200 tonnes per annum, which gradually increased to 2400 tonnes per annum, by 1975. Manufacture of densified Wood was commenced on a small scale initially as a part of the plywood plant. An Industrial Licence was obtained in 1974 for manufacture of Densified Wood with a capacity of 2000 M.T. per annum. Since then, the Company has been producing components of densified wood required mainly by the electrical, textile and chemical industries, Railways, etc. In 1974 a plant for manufacture of furniture was added.

WIP'S LIST OF FIRSTS

*	First to make Irradiated Wood.
*	First to make Aircraft Plywood.
*	First to make Fire Retardant Plywood conforming to BS:476 specification.
*	First to make high pressure industrial laminates.
*	First to develop Weather proof, Marine and Fire Retardant Hardboards.
*	First to make Metal Faced Plywoods.
*	First to make Pre-finished Plywoods and Hardboards using UV-cured surface finishing technology.
*	First to obtain ISO 9002 Certification for Hardboards and Pre-finished boards.
*	First to manufacture DAP Resin in the country with indigenously developed knowhow. PATENTS TO OUR CREDIT 1. Radiation induced polymerization of DAP, MMA & PE 2. Radiation induced polymerization of DAP & MMA 3. A process for manufacture of wood polymer composites by gamma irradiation 4. Manufacture of ABS plastics 5. Manufacture of SAN plastics Source : http://www.wipltd.in/founder.html