The following four stories from Indonesia are extracts from the booklet 'Women in the Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Industry."
NINIEK DYAH ASTRIAN
I am currently one of the active female members of the RAC sector. My name is Niniek Dyah Astriani. I am a civil servant, and more precisely, a vocational instructor in refrigeration techniques at BLK Tanjung, the Tanjung vocational training centre, situated in the northernmost part of south Kalimantan, Indonesia. Before that, I was a vocational instructor in electrical techniques at the same place, from 2012.
The year 2014 represented the height of my involvement with RAC. At the time, I had been shortlisted for vocational skill upgrading in refrigeration techniques at BBPLKLN Cevest Bekasi. This was one of the routine vocational skill upgrades held by INTALA KEMNAKER (Ministry of Manpower of The Republic of Indonesia-Vocational Instructor Directorate). Then, in 2015, I attended AC Training at Panasonic, Jakarta, and got a competency certificate of expertise in refrigeration techniques. Having participated in upgrade and training courses, I am now actively teaching vocational refrigeration, particularly split system AC, at BLK Tanjung.
My teaching and learning activities at the vocational training centre are quite successful – they started in 2015 and continue to this day. Every year, vocational refrigeration, and especially split system AC, consists in around two to four training packages, each totalling 16 participants, financed through both State budget (APBN) and regional budget (APBD) funds.
There is a corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme set up by companies in the area. My students, whether male or female, are job seekers with backgrounds in senior high school or vocational high school. I provide and equip them with knowledge about AC based on my learning and understanding. All the scientific and material knowledge that I give them can be applied directly, in the form of best practices, both in and outside the classroom.
- "A'lthough I am a woman, I can compete with men in my field of work, namely, RAC.”
The main challenge that I often face in teaching and learning is the scarcity of practical support equipment. The equipment owned by our vocational university is very minimal, so I have tried to add to it little by little, even though I sometimes have to use my personal funds. I ensure that every practice carried out by students continues, even with limited equipment. Up until now, assistance from the central and regional governments with the infrastructure of vocational refrigeration facilities has not received enough attention. However, the existence of these problems has not discouraged me from continuing to provide knowledge to students. I teach the basic theory of AC, AC electricity, AC piping, AC installation, AC commissioning, AC troubleshooting and AC maintenance.
Thankfully, most of my alumni already have jobs, whether they work in industry, the government or are self employed.
There was one source of pride for me along this RAC path: when I attended the RAC instructor competition in 2017. In the regional Kalimantan competition held at BLK Samarinda, the Samarinda vocational training centre, I managed to win the first prize (the only woman among ten competitors. I then represented the Kalimantan region as I advanced to the national instructor competition held at BLKI Semarang, the Semarang industrial vocational training centre (once again, the only woman among 12 competitors). My pride was not diminished by the fact I had to settle for seventh place at the national competition. This was extraordinary and unforgettable for me. Although I am a woman, I can compete with men in my field of work, namely, RAC.
Currently, I am active as an assessor in vocational refrigeration, especially split system AC, at LSP Bekasi, and I am also involved in an RAC Technician Association (Apitu Indonesia DPDKalsel). Being part of the association enriched my experience, knowledge and skill. It also helped me build a network of RAC technicians in Indonesia.
YUNIHARTI PERMANA
I am a woman interested in a technical weld that mostly draws men. I studied mechanics in the RAC department of a polytechnic college in Indonesia. There were only three women in my class: all the other students were men.
I am currently working at PT. Fata Sarana Makmur, an AC manufacturer, as the head of the purchasing department. My job description is mostly ordering spare parts, from both local and international companies. There are some interesting parts in my job: using my knowledge, as well as gaining more knowledge, gaining experience by meeting with many different people, and also being responsible for making hard decisions. Another interesting thing is that I, a woman, am the head of a department, and I have three subordinate members of staff, who are all men. I am really proud of that.
- “I am so proud of our achievements in support of the government programme and its implementation.”
Let me share my amazing experience with you. There is a programme in my country to change the use of R-22 to R-407 or R-410. The only reason is that R-22 is potentially damaging to the ozone layer, while R-407 and R-410 are much more environmentally friendly. Because of this issue, all the machines that use this refrigerant have to be replaced. However, that will be funded by the government. And finally, here I am. I am the person who is responsible for changing the machines. I ordered many machines from China, including computer numerically controlled (CNC) punching machines, end forming machines, CNC tube benders and manual expanders. The difficult part is not the ordering process, but how I deal with the handling and import procedure. At the moment, all the machines in the factory are new and working well. I am so proud of our achievements in support of the government programme and its implementation.
VRISKA SINAGA
I have been working in RAC since 2011. At the beginning of my journey, I worked in different areas such as a vehicle insurance company in Jakarta and then the launch of my own cargo business. Unfortunately, those did not go well. Finally, I was inspired by my neighbour, who is an AC technician. I heard that many people were asking him about AC servicing and repairing. In a short discussion, we agreed to cooperate. I was thinking about advertising their services, as I had experience in that area. I published some advertisements on the Internet and set up a dedicated website. After that, many clients started calling to use our services. In order to develop this business, I asked my colleagues to participate.
My entrepreneurial instinct pushed me to do more. After about six months, I changed the model to that of a small company with some paid employees. It started out as a small company with a small rented office and four employees. I thought that I had to help my employees, so I provided them with a small living accommodation. However, it was not running as smoothly as I expected. Many things disappointed me such as the technicians cheating me. Then again, the situation made me realize that I could not stop there. I had to find a better model for my company.
I had the idea of joining the technicians asking clients for direct feedback. That gave me many ideas about how to establish a good model for my company. By doing so and learning many things, I successfully developed my company. In 2013, I had 24 employees, with whom I continue to struggle to provide AC services, until the time came that DAIKIN Compressor Indonesia appointed us a DAIKIN Compressor Corporate Authorized Service.
- “I kept developing my company by becoming a member of RAC APITU Indonesia. We have received many benefits from that decision, both for the company and for the technicians, since they can join many training programmes held by APITU Indonesia.”
I realize that this is not the end: my great journey has just begun. Under PT. Padimas Sejahtera, I kept developing my company by becoming a member of RAC APITU Indonesia (RAC Association in Indonesia). We have received many benefits from that decision, both for the company and for the technicians, since they can join many training programmes held by APITU Indonesia.
RINDA PERTIWI WIRAADINATA
I started my studies at Politeknik Negeri Bandung in 2005, majoring in RAC and earning Certificate III in that field. I graduated in 2008.
After I graduated, I worked as a project estimator for a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) contractor in Jakarta. My previous job was calculating the cooling load and designing duct and piping systems for AC units, as well as producing bills of materials and quotes for customers. In 2009, I decided to move from Jakarta due to family issues - my parents were worried about me living alone in a big city. I now live in Cikarang, Bekasi Regency, and work at PT. Fata Sarana Makmur. The company is run by an HVAC equipment manufacturer, and I have been working as a sales engineer. My duties are producing estimates and setting prices for evaporators and different types of RAC units such as condensing, air handling (AHU), ducted split-system and rooftop units.
At the beginning, I faced difficulties designing HVAC equipment such as how to choose and determine the proper size of evaporator and condenser coils for which I could not find the information in the catalogue and so on. I thus needed to design components by myself and I had no knowledge in designing HVAC equipment. This may have happened because the curriculum for my diploma was slightly different and mostly taught me about cooling load and duct design, not, unfortunately, the design of HVAC-R equipment. I gained more knowledge about HVAC-R equipment through a catalogue featuring coil evaporators, coil condensers and thermal expansion valves (TXV). My duties are as follows:
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designing and customizing HVAC equipment for customers. The Engineering Department and I are in charge of choosing components and designing HVAC equipment (drawing equipment and producing bills of materials), then the Purchasing Department and I determine a reasonable price for each material or component.
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drawing up quotes for customers and negotiating.
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receiving purchase orders from customers.
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conveying sales orders to the Production Planning and Inventory Control (PPIC) and Production Departments.
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informing customers of the availability of the product when it is ready.
