Improve for Good

THE HOUSE MAGAZINE OF GODREJ & BOYCE VOL 14-15 DEC 2016

IMPROVE FOR GOOD FOCUS

10x Improvements

Evolution of the Kaizen Fest

TPM - It works

A Kaizen we hold dear

No part of the magazine can be reproduced in any form without due permission of the editor.

Mail your contributions, suggestions and feedback to: The Editor, Plant 12, 2nd Floor Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd. Pirojshanagar, Vikhroli (W) Mumbai 400079, India or email us at change@godrej.com Published by Indrapal Singh on behalf of Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd. Designed by Design Stack Printed at Silverpoint Press Pvt. Ltd.

THE HOUSE MAGAZINE OF GODREJ & BOYCE VOL 14-15 DEC 2016

Towards betterment It is essential to grow qualitatively, i.e become better at the things that we do to grow quantitatively. We must aim for predictable, profitable and sustainable growth.

Indrapal Singh Editor

In this issue of CHANGE, we have covered the improvements – systemic (the big ones) and local (the small ones), that are being made at G&B. Mr. J N Godrej exhorts us that it is only with quality that we can be in the game today.

One of the better ways to play the game is to pursue relentlessly, Business Excellence.

Godrej Locking Solutions & Systems won the coveted CII-EXIM Bank Business Excellence Award, which is indeed commendable and a matter of pride for all of us; Kartik Modi recounts the journey. Our Interio business has deployed TOC methodology to align its operations for delivering orders on time and in full for having happy customers. Somewhat differently, Godrej Precision Engineering has deployed TPM to enhance its capabilities for executing large and complex orders well and in time.

How existing buildings can be made Green to the highest standards is recounted by Godrej Electricals & Electronics through their work at Plant 13 Annexe.

S M Vaidya of Godrej Aerospace shares his personal experience to tell us that nothing short of 10X improvements are required to become globally competitive. Our Kaizen movement has grown both in quality and size; V S Ramesh and Sujith Nair trace its spread.

India recently joined the elite club of five nations, that have their own positioning system, by launching NAVIC, its own Regional Navigator.

It has significant contributions from Godrej Aerospace. Thank you Dr. Rao and team ISRO for this piece.

In the Design area, we have interesting stories of Godrej Edge-Digi Refrigerator winning the prestigious G Mark of Japan, a Sprint project, Fresh Brew Tea Vending Machine, and the Explosion-Proof Strong Room tested to international standards.

Decluttering at home is essential to ignite a spark of joy in our lives. Do take advantage of ‘tidy up’ by Marie Kando, reviewed by Savitha Nair, and also spend some time watching

TEAM

Animesh Bhartiya

Nalini Kala

Deepak Banota

Nariman Bacha

Chief Communications

Edit Board

Edit Board

Distribution

Officer

related videos on YouTube.

Besides these, we have many engaging pieces of common interest about monsoon ragas, screen time for children, the games that may help you become smarter, and the importance of finding something beyond your work to keep you ticking! We also have a few pieces on art to make us appreciate what is beautiful around us.

I would like to thank our contributors for sharing their thoughts with us, I hope this issue will give you a good view of the work that is going on at G&B. The theme of the next issue is ‘Going Digital’.

Do tell me what you liked in this issue of Change and share your ideas to make it even better.

MESSAGE

Contents

04 Nothing but quality will count

FOCUS

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Evolution of the Kaizen Fest

TPM‌ It works

Championing continuous improvement at Godrej

A smart way of managing productive resources

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Who is the greenest of them all?

10x Improvements

Existing building rethought

The meaning of being globally competitive

SUCCESS STORIES

INSIGHT

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24 What keeps you ticking?

Let her blossom

NAVIC - The Regional Navigator

How to set yourself stretched yet achievable goals

Gender doesn’t have to be a barrier

Truly Made in India

ART & CULTURE

PERSPECTIVE

34 Of the people, by the people, for the people

Back to nature

How the Raj changed India

Insects - Part 1

A report on the tenth Godrej Archives lecture by Dr. Tirthankar Roy

Hidden artists of Pirojshanagar THE GREATER GOOD

Cultivating a richer world view INSIDE G&B

38 46

Spreading wings Glitter & Glory

LAUNCH PAD

BOOKMARK

70 How much screen time is good for children?

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50

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Tidy up!

Boiled or brewed?

Review of Marie Kondo’s book ‘The life-changing magic of tidying up’

The taste of home at work

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Would you like to get smarter?

Gaming apps can help

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The science of brewing better coffee yourself

How to get the most out of your brew

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Sure Chill saves lives, surely Making life matter with science and innovation

RMC & I-Report apps Edge-Digi refrigerator Designed to global standards

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MESSAGE

If you don’t focus on skill development, then no matter which sector you are in, you are bound to face strong barriers to growth.

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Nothing but quality will count J N Godrej

“Making ‘Make in India’ a Reality” was the theme of the CII Manufacturing Summit a couple of years ago. Mr. Jamshyd Godrej had shared his views on manufacturing being an engine for creating jobs and enhancing India’s rate of economic growth.

We bring you edited excerpts of his answers to some of the questions that deserve serious reflection.

Q

What about quality and work ethics? How are you going to tackle these issues when the demands for goods would rise greatly in the context of our Prime Minister Mr. Modi’s big promise and idea?

I think in a competitive marketplace, there is no way today that you can push anything (products of substandard quality) on any consumer and get away with it forever. This is just not happening and will never happen. It is the competition that will ensure this.

I was in Delhi recently where one of the things that was talked about from the perspective of climate change and efficiency was the fact that the US government has started levying damages (which they have never done before) on car manufacturers for mis-stating fuel efficiency in their fact sheets. I think we have enough regulation to act upon, if we choose to do so.

However, I am apprehensive about the quality of our regulations. Yes, of course there will be individual cases where the regulation is flouted but now we have the mechanisms in place to draw the attention of the regulators to such cases. In an open society like India, you cannot muzzle things like these without getting noticed.

Sooner or later, everything is bound to come out in the open. However, at the end of the day, it is the competition and only the competition, which is the answer to such problems, whether it’s India or the US or China or any other economy of the world. The more competitors you have, the more choices the consumers will

have, and the more choices consumers have, the companies will have no option but to do things in the right way.

Q

Your views on the competitiveness of our manufacturing sector vis a vis that of IT? Are there any parallels?

We have in the past extensively studied the issues of competitiveness of our manufacturing companies and the level of competition they face in various sectors of the economy. Often, the manufacturing sector is compared with the IT sector. Essentially, the difference has been that manufacturing being much older, it has been much more regulated. Also, it has been beleaguered with issues arising out of political trade unions as well as the differences between the type of jobs, white collar vs. blue collar, and the like. IT being a newer sector, it has been regulated much less. Also, IT companies are able to do most things within the confines of their own premises. They don’t have to depend on roads, transport and other public infrastructure. If they need power, they can readily generate it.

Therefore, to draw parallels between manufacturing and IT is incorrect.

However, where we can successfully draw a parallel between the two is the issue of skill development. Every company today, whether it’s L&T, Godrej or Infosys, or anyone else, if they don’t develop their own people, they are bound to face shortages of skilled people, which undoubtedly will hamper their competitiveness

and growth. Skilled people are not available off the shelf and we have to train and re-train them on an ongoing basis. If you don’t focus on skill development, then no matter which sector you are in, it is bound to face strong barriers to growth. I think we need to take a closer look at the issue of skill development and the role it could play in the growth of the manufacturing sector in the years ahead.

Q

If you were to give a piece of advice to corporate leaders and the entrepreneurs who lead companies, what would that be?

Is there anything specific that you would want them to spend time on?

Here I am going to make a pitch for the CII. As you know we have this model for Business Excellence in CII which our Institute of Quality has been promoting for about a decade. The advantage of following the roadmap of Business Excellence is that all the issues that we have discussed in various manufacturing summits are addressed by it in one way or the other.

The model covers productivity, quality, environmental issues, and many others. Business Excellence is about excelling in many dimensions. Hence, to excel on a wider canvas, my one line recommendation is, ‘Please adopt the CII Business Excellence model in your company as soon as possible and work at it relentlessly.

You will be delighted by the outcomes’.

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Evolution of the Kaizen Fest Championing continuous improvement at Godrej V S Ramesh and Priyanka Bhosle, Godrej Security Solutions

The Kaizen Fest is an annual celebration of improvements, best practices, creativity and innovation in our businesses. Over the years, the event has grown both in participation and in the quality of entries – a clear indication of widespread adoption of the ‘Kaizen way’ at G&B.

The Kaizen movement really took off after the formation of the mentoring and support structure at the corporate level under the leadership of B K Rajkumar, and the formation of the Kaizen Council and Kaizen Management Structure in all businesses for championing continual improvement.

Before 2012, only the top competing Kaizens were exhibited. However, to promote the movement after 2012 the scope of the exhibition was expanded to also showcase the Kaizens that could be deployed across our businesses for greater gains. This scaled-up and well-promoted event created an atmosphere which had a positive energy and a festive mood amongst its large number of visitors, which led us to name the event the Kaizen Fest.

It was decided at this juncture to have a theme for the annual fest to tie up different dimensions and to make the fest more interesting. Having a theme made the execution of the fest more focused, creative and impactful.

Year 2013 : Saptrang In 2013, the theme was Saptrang (seven colours). Saptrang was based on an analogy with sunlight, which has 7 constituent colours coming together to be a source of energy and wellbeing. Similarly, seamless deployment of best practices across the 7 result areas of Kaizen: Productivity, Quality, Cost, Delivery, Safety, Morale and Education (PQCDSME), is critical to business health and desirable results.

We also made quite a few changes like: - In the competition, the management catego-

ry was divided into Supervisors and Managers, in addition to the workmen category.

- The Kaizens were categorised according to the key result area of PQCDSME to help participants see for themselves the many ways in which a particular area of results could be improved.

- The Kaizen ‘Wall of Fame’ was put up to showcase the best Kaizens of the previous years.

Year 2014 : Sarvatra In 2014 the theme of Sarvatra, meaning ‘omnipresent’ in Sanskrit, Hindi and Marathi, was adopted to convey the value, applicability and the likely opportunities for improvement (Kaizens) anywhere and everywhere. Water, another element of nature, was the inspiration for the theme as it is omnipresent and vital for life, like improvements, which are vital for businesses, and can be made almost anywhere.

“Water is life… Kaizen is a way of life!”

Sarvatra was meant to cover not just manufacturing but other functions of G&B, as well as G&B’s business partners; not just the professional lives of our people but also their personal ones.

The broadening of the theme facilitated the inclusion of Kaizens by corporate functions such as Finance, Procurement, and Human Resources, as well as the Kaizens of our supply partners. Our people also shared the Kaizens created by them at home.

The maturing of the Kaizen movement yielded improved outcomes:

1. In 2014, the quality of the Kaizens was emphasised. As an outcome, the quality of the Kaizens significantly improved with level 1 Kaizens having risen by 31%, Level 2 by 19% and Level 3, the simplest of the Kaizens, having declined by 12%, in alignment with the emphasis.

2. The percentage participation of our people rose to 92% as compared to 80% in the previous year. This was significantly higher than the average participation of around 35% a few years earlier. Seven of our businesses achieved 100% participation, indicating that the Kaizen way was fast becoming a way of life at G&B. 3. Savings to investment rose to 10 as compared to 8 in the previous year, which in financial terms means a saving of Rs 87 Cr against an investment of Rs 8.7 Cr only.

Year 2015 : Symphony The theme of Symphony was selected to convey that the Kaizen movement at G&B was the result of the collaborative efforts of our people at every level and in all our businesses, much like a symphony. A new category of Kaizens, namely, Collaborative Kaizens, were showcased to highlight the harmonious working amongst the businesses and corporate functions. During the year, many refinements were made in different areas; e.g., the award was modified to include the criterion of Horizontal Deployment.

This was expected to yield larger benefits.

To encourage everyone to think of better ways of doing things, it was decided that only the originators of Kaizen ideas should be considered for the awards.

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Kaizen is the practice of continuous improvement.

Today Kaizen is recognised worldwide as an important pillar of an organisation’s long-term competitive strategy.

Other improvements in the format of the fest included extending the fest to 2 days to enable many more of our people to visit it. The PQCD Kaizens were separated from the SME ones so that the SME Kaizens could receive the desired visibility. The larger and improved layout of the exhibition allowed showcasing of more high-quality Kaizens, and made it more useful and interesting.

The emphasis on the quality of Kaizens in addition to giving us improved outcomes enabled our businesses to win many laurels at competitions both regional and national.

Just like the previous years, the 2016 Kaizen Fest will also be a celebration of our commitment to the Kaizen way of life, and the entire team is excited to make the fest a memorable experience.

KAI means Change

ZEN means Good

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FOCUS

TPM… It works A smart way of managing productive resources Sushil Agarkar, Godrej Precision Engineering

A transformative change significantly alters the profile, capabilities, contours and culture of an organization. Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is a well-established way of managing production resources for meeting ever-rising standards of productivity, quality and reliability.

Here is a story of how TPM helped Godrej Precision Engineering (GPE) enhance its capability and capacity. GPE operates in the sectors of defense, nuclear and wind energy which require engineering and manufacturing capability of a very high order. In these sectors, complex, large jobs have to be executed with a great deal of precision in the timelines that are challenging. Also, the competitive scenario demands that the manufacturing resources are highly productive, the output meets high quality standards and the availability of the resources is geared to meet the deadlines.

TPM was embraced by GPE about seven years ago and it has its own very definitive way of guiding the business team in the way of excellence. As the journey unfolds, many deep and beneficial changes begin to emerge - the first being Model Machines of Managers.

Here, the manufacturing managers take a vow to demonstrate the efficacy of the TPM way to everyone. They challenge current practices by engaging themselves and taking ownership of a few machines to show the magnitude of change that could be brought about. The managers not only thoroughly understand the machines but also carry out the required cleaning and maintenance themselves. Everyone is watching now and is sceptical. After a while, as the old machines begin to become reliable, look clean and receive upgrades in the form of smart, visible checks and controls, the scepticism begins to wane. People begin to realise that the methodical approach adopted to remove abnormalities works and a higher output is possible without much investment. The concept of the user owning the machine gets established through this step of the TPM journey.

In GPE, the tradition was to worship the equipment on Vijayadashami or Dussehra. We appealed to our people that practicing TPM was more like daily prayers we do at our homes that count the most. We encouraged our colleagues to follow a few simple practices related to equipment every day to bring prosperity. The logic was accepted by the operators. This practice was supported by check sheets, dialogue and audits so that the journey could be undertaken easily for all of the critical equipment.

GPE kicked off the TPM journey in June 2010, after taking in the success of Manager’s Model Machines. The able guidance of Mr. Srinivasan, a guru from the TPM Club of India, was simply invaluable.

Initially, there was hesitation and reluctance on the part of operators to perform the maintenance work and the work required for eliminating sudden breakdowns. The reluctance was on account of: one, the maintenance work has always been carried out by the Maintenance Department, and second, the operators simply did not have the knowledge and skills for improving the machines. To overcome this challenge, we implemented the ‘Know Your Machine’ step of the TPM and addressed both.

Once the initiative gathered momentum, it became clear that even the shopfloor engineers and supervisors required this training.

TPM began to take hold slowly but steadily and it took us about two years to spread it to all the operators and engineers. Now, one could see cleaner and safer machines, good chip and coolant containment and innovative checks and controls, everywhere. Also, reduction in breakdown hours, operator fatigue and spares cost became visible.

The JH Pillar (Jishu Hosen - Autonomous Maintenance), PM Pillar (Preventive Maintenance) and QM Pillar (Quality Maintenance) were now sustained successfully. It gave us confidence to shift our attention to other pillars such as the KK Pillar (Kobetsu Kaizen), DM Pillar (Development Management) and Office TPM Pillar. An analysis of office and work processes was undertaken for reducing operational costs.

Mainly, we focused on the following areas for significant improvement: »» The culture of ‘I OPERATE, I MAINTAIN’ »» Zero Breakdown on critical equipment »» ‘First time and every time right’ output »» Shorter development time for new products »» De-skilling and multi-skilling in high tech and low volume environments »» Alignment of office functions to support manufacturing »» Safe, Healthy and Green work environment »» Employee involvement

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Impact of TPM:

5S implementation across the plant supported the above. Also, metrics were put in place for the key result areas and periodic meetings were institutionalised for monitoring all TPM activities.

One success after the other and everyone’s involvement in TPM gave us the confidence to opt for TPM health checks given by the experts of the CII and JIPM (Japanese Institute of Plant Management). We put in place the PDCA (Plan, Do, Check and Act) cycle for pursuing excellence.

After about four years on the journey, in 2014, we challenged the coveted TPM excellence award given by the JIPM. To our great pride and joy, we were given a recommendation for the award which we received in January 2015. This was a significant milestone for us.

Going forward, we chose not to rest on our laurels but to test our individual pillar capabilities by participating in the CII-TPM Circle Competitions. Till 2016, GPE has won 5 TPM Pillar competitions out of 6 ever announced by TPM Club of India.

»» Improvement in Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) from 67% to 85%. »» Kaizen implementation - 1000 nos. to 4000 nos. »» Reduction in maintenance cost - 40% »» Upgradation of critical equipment - more than 50% »» Penalties due to delays – Nil Now our customers are looking upon us as ‘Best in Class’ suppliers. Our people too are proud of being winners - nationally and internationally.

Next steps GPE now intends to challenge the TPM consistency award besides being a Zero Defect manufacturer.

So far, the TPM way has paid handsome dividends to us and we firmly believe that once deployed across G&B it is bound to pay dividends in multiples!

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FOCUS

Who is the greenest of them all?

Existing building re-thought Rumi Engineer and Arani Roychoudhury, Godrej Electricals & Electronics

VOL 14-15 DEC 2016

Visit Hubble at Plant 13 Annex for a meal or a meeting and discover what sustainability means to Godrej & Boyce.

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The answer is Plant 13 Annex Building, located at Pirojshanagar East. The idea behind making this existing building Green was to showcase the fact that with a small investment and some smart efforts, it is possible to convert an existing structure into a highly-rated Green building. This possibility ought to be shared widely as there are a lot more existing buildings all over the country, particularly in the metros, which if improved for green efficiencies can make substantial positive environmental impact. For existing buildings, operational efficiency and maintenance issues receive a great deal of attention in the rating system of the IGBC (Indian Green Building Council), where the primary challenge is not the optimal design but the optimal utilisation of existing operating and maintenance systems.

Plant 13A was constructed in 2008 and is a multiuse facility with a great deal of diversity.

The brief given by the management was to improve the performance of various systems in the building, increase the comfort of its occupants, and create a showcase for other Corporates to emulate. The building envelope has an EastWest orientation, recessed windows with plenty of daylight, a terrace garden and good connectivity to the outdoors. Its occupancy varies greatly as it houses different functions such as dining rooms, cooking halls, large kitchen, offices, conference rooms, the Innovation & Design Centre, and the Hubble. These factors create a new set of challenges, which are not easy to overcome. Here, we focus on four major factors that have led to the highest Platinum rating

.

Air conditioning (HVAC)

Energy efficiency

To optimise energy consumption, a thoughtfully-designed system of centralised water-cooled chillers was installed. The system consists of chillers of two different capacities (2 # 250 TR and 2 # 150 TR): two lower capacity chillers and two higher capacity ones. These lower and higher capacity chillers are combined as needed to meet the varying load, depending on the ambient temperature and the occupancy. Also, there is a secondary pumping system to handle the load, which results in lower energy consumption.

The 36% energy savings achieved are among the highest that can be achieved in existing buildings.

The building has been awarded a 5 Star rating

by BEE (Bureau of Energy Efficiency).

As mentioned earlier, the building has ample daylight and good inside-out visibility. The challenge was to manage and reduce energy consumption in the building. By installing highly efficient AC systems, Variable Frequency Drives, a Building Management System, using natural light and overall efficient operational control, we succeeded in managing the energy consumption to 2.1 million kWh, a remarkable reduction of 36% w.r.t ECBC (Energy Conservation Building Code) baseline. To efficiently meet the special requirement of running hot water in the kitchen, a ‘Heat pump’ was installed, which absorbs the ambient heat and transmits it into the water, raising its temperature. This method is highly energy efficient.

Water efficiency 86% savings were achieved by installing low usage fixtures for flushing and low flow fixtures for the faucets. Secondly, municipal water usage has been reduced by 86% w.r.t. the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC), by using non-potable water in larger quantities and treated water obtained from the Sewage Treatment Plant. Water meters were installed at strategic locations to monitor and control water consumption at end use. To monitor water consumption in different areas, sub-metering is used. Irrigation water for landscaping was conserved by planting native and adaptive vegetation that requires minimal water. Rainwater was harvested by channelising the water from the rooftop and surrounding areas into an adjacent open well to recharge the ground water. All these measures collectively have given the highest level of efficiency in the management of water.

Renewable energy The installation of a Solar PV system of rated capacity 120kWp, yields about 500 kWh energy per day, amounting to about 8% of the total energy consumed.

All these measures, combined with the waste and building management systems and a continual focus on improving operating efficiencies, has enabled us to earn the sobriquet of ‘The Greenest Existing Building in the Country’, indeed an achievement to be proud of.

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FOCUS STORIES SUCCESS

10x Improvements: dream or agenda?

An experience that taught me the meaning of being globally competitive S M Vaidya, Godrej Aerospace

In our efforts to offset the uncertainties of business received from Government establishments, we explored opportunities to become a supplier to large global players such as Boeing, USA and Airbus, France.

Airbus had identified four Indian manufacturers for critical machined components for developing a low cost supply chain for their new range of aircrafts A350 and A320 Neo. After carrying out due diligence, Airbus invited all of us to France to discuss the initial prices quoted by us and clarify their specific expectations.

We were invited to the Airbus subsidiary, Aerolia, which is engaged in manufacturing critical parts for Airbus. It is a 70 year-old facility but underwent a transformative change a few years ago. After some preliminaries and a brief classroom session, Airbus officials clarified their expectations. To help us experience the magnitude of change that would be called for, Aerolia experts threw a challenge at us. We were given a component drawing, machined out of Aluminium, similar to a part we manufactured, and were asked to determine its machining cycle time. The exercise was conducted in steps.

In the first step, we were asked to estimate the best possible cycle time on the most sophisticated 5 axis machine that we may have in our organisations. In the second step, we were

asked to find ways to reduce the cycle time arrived at in step one by 30%. In response to the task of step one, we came up with an estimate of the total cycle time of 60 minutes, give or take 5 minutes for some of us. In step two, we could, working together, find ways to reduce the cycle time to around 40 minutes. At this stage, we all had a feeling that we had done a good job of the task given.

The third step, however, was a big surprise for all of us. We were guided to the shopfloor and a component was loaded on to a machine, and we were asked to stand near the machine to observe the machining process. Lo and behold, in just about seven minutes the raw material block was converted into a finished component and was ready for our inspection.

A live demonstration of 10X improvement possibility was at hand. It was indeed an eye opener for us as to how far away we were from the reality of being ‘globally competitive’. It shook our confidence, but it also showed us that if they could do it, so could we. Undoubtedly, the entire process was finely configured and

parameters like cutting speeds, selection of cutting tools, programming, usage of the probes for inspection and the like were carefully determined and fixed with no deviation whatsoever. The deburring time allowed was under a minute!

We were told later that there were a large number of machine shops with 20-25 machining centres, which were run 24x7 with just two or three operators only.

We also learnt that it would be foolish to depend on the labour cost arbitrage and not to go after the goal of high productivity attained by these international players.

On my way back, I thought about the options available to us. I concluded that in a year or two, we must attain the goal of 5x improvement, and by year three onwards, we should adopt the agenda of 10x improvement for every component. If we failed to do so, becoming a supply-chain partner of a global player would remain a distant dream.

VOL 14-15 DEC 2016

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TASTE OF HOME AT WORK

D

N CH PA

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BOI LE D OR B RE W E D ?

The taste of home at work Milind Dukle, Godrej Prima

In offices, most of the people when given an option of coffee or tea usually opt for coffee as the tea from the vending machine is just not as tasty. People who routinely drink tea at home yearn for a cup of tea that they are used to.

Tea from a commonly used vending machine is made from soluble premixed powder containing instant tea, dairy whitener and sugar. Its taste is different from brewed tea and hence unfamiliar.

We realised that if we could make a vending machine that dispense freshly brewed tea, it could help us overcome the lack of preference for premixed tea enabling us to address a much larger market opportunity.

The journey of development had its own challenges. Replicating the process of brewing tea using the tea leaves was not easy. After testing several concepts and with the help from Veromatic International, our Design team succeeded in developing a ‘Fresh Brew Tea Vending Machine’. The machine has been extensively tested for its efficacy and flawless functioning.

At the press of a button, tea leaves are dropped in the tea brewer. The ingenious brewing process sprinkles hot water to soak them for a while. Soaking releases the aroma and enhances the taste. Thereafter, the brewer cleans itself thoroughly by disposing the used tea leaves into the waste bucket. All of this happens in just 30 seconds. The users have the option of adding hot fresh milk to the cup of tea.

Now, freshly brewed tea can be enjoyed at work, just the way it is enjoyed at home.

Godrej Innovation & Design Centre runs the Sprint programme a few times a year. It is meant to help our people realise their ideas, if selected, into working prototypes within 90 days. Giridhar Manipatruni, a Sprint participant, had this insight about the need to have a vending machine, capable of dispensing freshly brewed tea. This insight was selected, converted into a prototype, developed further and is now ready for commercialisation.

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SUCCESS STORIES

The tradition taken forward Trounce modern threats with Godrej Strong Rooms Dara Byramji and Surojit Banerjee, Godrej Security Solutions

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The SS Fort Stikine: a freighter stood tall and silent in Bombay’s Victoria docks.

It was April 14, 1944 and one of those non-descript summer mornings, with the dock work as usual. The freighter was waiting for its very unusual mix of cargo, comprising almost 1400 tonnes of explosives, cotton bales, lubricating oil and gold to be unloaded. It was around mid-afternoon, when the crew on-board was alerted to a fire in one of the cargo holds. Despite the best attempts of the crew and firemen in controlling the fire, it spread, leading to two huge, successive explosions.

Such was the severity of the explosions that they rendered almost 80,000 people living around the docks homeless, completely destroyed 13 ships anchored in the dock, killed about 1300 people and ravaged nearly everything in the vicinity. Among the few things that survived the explosions was a Godrej safe.

It is this heritage of a remarkable product that inspires our current research and development.

Fast-forward to 2016: the domain physical security products remains constantly challenged by multiple threats which could be accidental or intentional. Incidents of physical attack, raids and arson on security installations have become more sophisticated. Financial institutions and businesses around the world are wary of rampant use of explosives, chemicals and thermal tools in planned attacks on their premises.

Europe, South America and Africa have reported the highest use of solid explosives and gas explosions during physical raids by miscreants. IEDs [Improvised Explosive Devices], compressed gases [like oxygen and acetylene], PETN, etc., are being increasingly used to blow up secure storage equipment and strong rooms. The high energy shock waves released after the detonation of an explosive device has the ability to inflict a lethal dose of high tem-

perature and pressure, which is often difficult for most physical security storage equipment to withstand unless they have been designed to do so.

Banks and commercial establishments across the world lose millions every year in such incidents. There is a need for high security strong rooms and secure storage units that are resilient enough to withstand these modern threats. Godrej Security Solutions (GSS) has developed and tested its first Burglary & Explosion Resistant Demountable Strong Rooms at Fraunhofer, Germany, and CNPP, France; as per Grades V – XIII, of the European (EN) 1143-I standards for Burglary, Explosion and Core Drill Resistance.

The Strong Room wall panels and doors were subjected to multiple forms of attack using different types of high-powered impact, percussion, cutting, grinding and thermic lance tools.

The Thermic Lance Attack The thermic lance is a tool that heats and melts steel in the presence of pressurised oxygen to create very high temperatures (around 3500 C) required for cutting. It consists of a long steel tube packed with alloy steel rods where one end of the tube is placed in a holder and

the oxygen is fed through the tube leading to a massive exothermic reaction and heat output.

The Core Drill Attack The Diamond Core Drill Attack test uses a special drilling machine which has a 400mm diameter diamond core drill which is powered by 11000 Watts – a massive amount of power.

The Solid Explosives A 375gm explosive mass of PETN (PentaerythritolTetranitrate) was used on the panels and doors after the initial tool attack test. The charge was specially placed in the weak areas to inflict maximum damage and then detonated.

The successful withstanding of these tests place us amongst the elite club of manufacturers who have the requisite capability to deliver Security products to the highest standards. In our case it is just a beginning as we realise that our continued success will lie in our ability to evolve and adapt to ever-changing security threats.

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INSIGHT

Happy customers, the TOC way Making on-time in-full always, systemically!

Zurvan Marolia, Godrej Interio

Interio’s B2B arm provides solutions for office furniture requirements and has been experiencing intense competition from the local mid-sized and small players, as well as imports.

Recently, office furniture as a category has been getting commoditised, creating a strong need to differentiate itself.

The B2B team concluded after many deliberations that if the business could deliver orders ‘On Time In Full’ (OTIF) always, then it could become a substantial differentiator that the competition might find challenging to emulate.

Customers buy new office furniture when a new office is being set up or the existing office is expanded or modernised. Whatever the case, these customers require desks, chairs, storage equipment, modular structures and Open Plan Office System (OPOS), all at once, so that the office becomes operational quickly. This requirement of tight schedules becomes crucial for customers in urban areas where they begin paying high rents soon after taking possession of the premises. Also, office furniture usually is the last to be ordered as there exists the perception that it is readily available as it is facto-

ry-made. However, supplying a full solution at short notice becomes very demanding for full line suppliers like us. The sheer variety of the items demanded results in phased deliveries, creating an impression of never-ending supplies. Often the delays cause financial loss in the form of penalties.

Putting together the need to deliver on time with procurement practices and the conditions prevailing at the customers’ end made us realise the great deal of sense that the differentiator identified makes.

To bring about a change of this magnitude at the business system level is not only challenging in itself, but also calls for a universal solution that can be implemented across the lines of businesses and supplier partners of Interio.

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Office furniture concluded that if they could deliver orders ‘On Time In Full’ (OTIF) always, then it could become a substantial differentiator that competition might find difficult to match.

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INSIGHT

A uniform single priority system across the production system was deployed to prevent indiscipline in allocation.

The Obstacles As Interio’s B2B items are made at many different locations and to an extent imported, it was difficult to aggregate them for meeting ‘full basket’ requirements.

As the production happens across the supply chain in silos, the task of time phasing supplies, order-wise, was extremely difficult by itself on account of sheer variety, and more so because of the restrictions placed by the existing ERP system.

Lack of discipline in terms of not having a sin-

gle priority list was yet another factor that made the fulfillment of orders in a timely fashion, difficult. It was common to have items meant for customer X supplied to customer Y, creating shortages and delays.

The business was losing many orders on account of the buffers in the delivery times added by the salesmen and dealers. It was difficult to change this behaviour, as their experience was that deliveries were unpredictable and in parts; seldom was a full order delivered on time.

TOC - A systemic solution

Alignment of production to customer orders

Our interaction with various consultants led us to conclude that a situation as complex and varied as ours could only be best tackled with an intervention that was systemic in nature, and our search zeroed in on the Theory Of Constraints (TOC). Our team chose Vector Consulting Group for the assignment. The single line objective of the project was to align the entire supply chain to fulfill the orders received On Time In Full. A challenging one indeed!

The entire journey of implementing the TOCbased system is far too long to describe here, however, there are three important steps that really govern the working of the entire system. .

1

Prior to TOC, production planning was based on optimising capacity utilisation by minimising set-ups and maximising batch sizes. This led to building and ‘cherry picking’, which affected the fulfillment of orders on time. Now each order is fulfilled before taking up the next one. All production is now triggered on the basis of the due dates committed. All plants and vendors are now synchronised to deliver the complete order on time. A uniform single priority system across the production system is now deployed to prevent indiscipline in allocation. The TOC principles are also deployed at our supplier

Many SMEs and customers who are modernising their offices require smaller quantities of furniture in a shorter delivery time of less than two weeks. Relatively longer and uncertain deliveries of Interio had pushed these customers to get their requirements fulfilled elsewhere.

Godrej simply did not have a place in their consideration set. It was felt that we should win back these customers.

partners to have the supplies in shorter lead times.

2

Alignment of logistics and material allocation

A specially-developed software by Vector Consulting was deployed to take production allocation decisions. The priority system for production was extended to the logistics team for improved coordination. Also, all interventions to the inventories were totally prohibited to prevent out-of-turn allocations.

3

Express deliveries

A programme that offered confirmed delivery of Standard Product offerings within seven days

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The express delivery programme led to satisfied customers, resulting in repeat business.

1 2 3

Docket preparation at branches

Design

BOM & order booking

4 5 6

Procurement

Manufacture

Material receipt at site and Installation

A programme that offered confirmed delivery of Standard Product offering within seven days was put in place to win back the business that was lost. to the SMEs and modernisation requirements was put in place to win back the business that was previously lost. A separate system of priority was put in place to ensure OTIF deliveries in seven days.

Outcomes: The three vital steps appear simple at a glance but are rather difficult to put in practice in the form of a system that works in a routine way. The Interio team, with the help of the consultants, succeeded in changing the existing system with the new one. The beneficial results of using the TOC methodology began to surface only after two months of struggle for the deployment of the new system. These are: • OTIF to direct customers and branches in-

creased to 90% from less than 40%.

• Full basket deliveries reduced inventory blockages, reducing working capital deployed by 30%.

• The express delivery programme led to satisfied customers resulting in repeat business.

• The live tracking system gave full visibility of the execution of sales orders entered in the system by our salesmen and dealers. Advance notification of delays, if any, created confidence in the system, eliminating the need for buffers and fire-fighting.

Progressively, as we began to fulfil more and more orders in the OTIF mode, our customers were definitely delighted and are now beginning to view us as a supplier that can be relied upon.

Our dealers and sales force now have more

time at hand to build the business, as they no longer have to placate customers or chase their orders with us.

The shop floors of our plants and of our vendors now have a quiet, efficient buzz, instead of the noisy, unending chaos.

The Way Ahead: To sustain the improvements made, our team has put in place a programme for making ongoing improvements. The teams are striving to create a culture of OTIF at all locations. After all, Interio wants to be the ‘best in class’ supplier, preferred by one and all.

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INSIGHT

What keeps you ticking?

How to set yourself stretched yet achievable goals Debashis Sahu, Godrej Appliances

8.50pm, 9th July 2016, on the outskirts of Chennai. I was about to begin a 21.1km run, the last leg of my half Ironman triathlon.

I had been pushing my body since 3pm that day beginning with a 1.9km open-water swim followed by a 90km cycle ride.

My mind had started shouting out reasons why the remaining bit of the challenge was insurmountable. As I parked my cycle in the transition area, I calmed my mind to visualise the joy I would experience on crossing the finish line and hugging my wife who was my crew, paramedic, cheer leader, all rolled into one.

The road leading up to the event was an arduous one. It was 4 months ago that I decided to take the plunge. I received skeptical stares from my family and friends on revealing my intentions. I am an occasional swimmer, recreational at best, huffing and puffing to complete one lap in a swimming pool. I was audacious and foolhardy enough to even think of competing in a half Ironman event. But somewhere in the deepest recesses of my mind, I knew I could pull this off. Thus began my intense preparation with a special focus on swimming to give myself any chance.

Swimming in open waters for the first time was an unnerving experience. Not being able to see the floor unlike in a swimming pool, swimming along with 200 other participants elbowing and kicking you from all sides and the waves pushing you away from your intended line of direction only strengthened my worst horrors. I could see my dreams being shattered and I struggled desperately to keep it alive. In that struggle, I could hear an inner voice, which calmed me down saying that if I bide some time in the water, everything that I had trained myself in will come back to me. After the initial 10 minutes of utter despair, I started to feel the tension in my muscles ease. From there on, it was an enjoyable swim and cycle ride till I reached the final frontier, the 21.1km half marathon.

Running is my strong area. However, adding to the challenges were the facts that the run-

ning course was completely dark and had to be run carrying a torch light on a course which had a fair share of potholes and undulations. The weather remained hot and extremely humid. I finished the run 2hours and 15mins later, having veered off course only to realise it once wild dogs started chasing me. As I crossed the finish line and saw my wife, saying that I felt ecstatic would be an understatement. Every decision I took compromising the time spent with family and friends in favour of time spent training ran through my mind in a fast flashback. Balancing the training with that of personal and work life was as big a challenge as the event itself. I sank to my knees, kissed the ground and hugged my wife. I had covered a total of 113km or 70.3 miles in 7hr 53 mins and successfully completed the half Ironman officially called Ironman 70.3 within the international cutoff time of 8hr 30mins.

Jim Collins, the famous author and management consultant, coined the term ‘BHAG – Big Hairy Audacious Goal’ in his bestselling book ‘Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies’ He considered BHAG a strategic business statement similar to a vision statement, which is created to help organisations focus on a single, medium to long-term organisational goal, which is audacious, so much so that it is likely to be externally questionable, but internally not regarded as impossible.

I see a lot of merit in this concept and feel its power is such that it can make a meaningful difference to the way we live our lives. In today’s world of hyper activity, stress and noise, it’s important to have few things which you can indulge in to unwind and rejuvenate. Such activities can help you disconnect and reconnect, with a fresh perspective, with the pressing mat-

ters which keep you occupied through the day.

In short, finding activities which will make you tick!

Interestingly, the search for such activities will only yield results if there is a goal. The beauty about setting goals and chasing them down is it stimulates your zone of focus and takes you out of your comfort zone. In more ways than one, it shapes you as a person.

I love setting goals and chasing them until I can tick them off my list because they keep me on my toes, awake and alert in everything that I do.

While Collins suggested the goal should be big and audacious, its nature and audacity is person-specific. What is important is internally you should feel you can do it. The real joy of achieving a goal lies in its chase. It shouldn’t be so small that you reach out and achieve it, and shouldn’t be so audacious that you are internally not convinced of it and hence make no effort towards it. The goals can be as simple as reading 2 new books a month or as challenging as climbing Mount Everest.

While you might have a preference for a certain hobby, you will have to make up your mind towards a goal irrespective of your natural liking or interest in it. If the goal straddles your hobby, nothing like it, but even if it doesn’t, go for it.

You will derive joy and learning which can never be described, only experienced. While trying to achieve your goal, you will be surprised to find the new you, and you would wonder if it ever existed.

I have known a few people who are setting BHAG for themselves and realising them. I take this opportunity to introduce them to you through CHANGE. They have found goals which help them tick; it’s time you find yours!

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Clockwise from top:

Swimming in open waters for the first time was an unnerving experience.

Chetan Pawar of Godrej Tooling chases his love of driving his Royal Enfield by setting BHAGs – has already driven from Mumbai to Leh covering 4700km crossing 5 states on the way.

My wife Upasana has found her goal in running half marathons – She started running in 2014.

Ramakrishnan of Godrej Interio has been setting goals in cycling – he has completed a 300 km endurance event conducted by Audax India Randonneurs.

Lalitesh Mandrekar of Godrej Interiohas achieved his goal of completing a full marathon (42.2Kms) in SCMM 2015.

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INSIGHT

Nurturing counts Striving for the wellbeing of our children Nariman Bacha, Corporate P&A

Nurturing is imperative to children’s development and encourages them to grow physically, mentally, socially and emotionally. It enables parents to express their creative, adoring, and playful sides as they help their children grow and learn. In today’s fast-paced life, providing children with a nurturing environment is more of a challenge than it has ever been, especially in the case of working parents. Many parents are not able to spend quality time with their children and hence are unaware of their children’s needs.

Keeping this objective in mind, and with the guidance received from Ms. Smita Crishna, Pragati Kendra and Godrej Memorial Hospital organised an interactive workshop on ‘Initial upbringing and preparing of a child for his/her first step toward education’ on 19 March 2016, at Pragati Kendra. Dr. Sita Gururaja, Gynaecologist, and Dr. PV Vaidyanathan, Pediatrician from Godrej Memorial Hospital, deliberated on: Prenatal care, i.e., staying healthy and safe diet and care; Post-natal care; and child development and nurturing.

Pregnancy is a time of anticipation, excitement, preparation, which for many new parents is an uncertainty. It was suggested that to-be parents consult doctors as they plan for a child to keep a check on their medical condition and medication if any, to prevent any congenital disease or disability in the newborn. The workshop also gave insights on the required care before, during, and after pregnancy, to keep mother and the child healthy.

The workshop had a detailed Q & A session on the importance of breastfeeding, nutrition and lifestyle for a healthy pregnancy, motherhood and child care, toilet training and other aspects, which were answered well by the faculty doctors. The workshop was attended by around 150 prospective mothers and fathers along with their parents and in-laws including Smitaben, Dr. Suhas Gangurde, COO Godrej Memorial Hospital, and Dr. (Mrs.) M G Bhatia.

Pragati Kendra always strives for the wellbeing of our people.

“The sun illuminates only the eye of man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child” Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Let her blossom Gender doesn’t have to be a barrier Mehul Kaku

“It’s such a male-dominated sport. You are not enrolling for the wrestling coaching class. And consider this as final,” Netra’s father says furiously and turns to go to the office, leaving a daughter in tears. Eleven year old Netra continues to sob at the thin chance of living her dream. “It’s not accepted in India,” mother says, wiping Netra’s tears. “From ages, women have been playing the role of a daughter, sister, wife, mother or granny.”

“You better make her understand, tell her to concentrate on her studies and become a Chartered Accountant like her elder sister. Professional degrees make parents proud,” says father. “No. I do not want to become a finance nerd,” Netra shouts back. “Netra doesn’t want to be an accountant,” mother pleads. “If girls are only meant for getting a degree and getting married then why did you invite your friends to watch a girl fighting for a medal in the Olympics a month ago? Why did you tweet telling everyone that she’s our nation’s pride?” Netra says, screaming in rage. These questions by an innocent child left an uneasy silence in the living room. The mother looks at her introspecting husband and pitches in, “Come on Suhas, let her try. She needs your support. Let her decide her fate.” Suhas nods while stepping out of their home.

MAKING LIFE MATTER

U LA N CH D A P

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S U RE C H I LL S AV ES LI V E S , S U RE LY Making life matter with Science and Innovation Jaishankar N, Godrej Appliances

Every year, over 2,000,000 children under five die in India, and over one million are disabled due to no vaccination or ineffective vaccines. The lack of a robust cold chain infrastructure (temperaturecontrol mechanisms for transport, storage and handling) results in compromised vaccines.

Research estimates 151 million vaccines, worth $750 million, are lost annually from improper refrigeration. Vaccines lose potency on exposure to temperatures above 8°C and below 2°C. This damage is irreversible and harmful. It is crucial that vaccines are always stored in the 2-8°C range.

UNICEF and WHO discourage the use of domestic refrigerators and commercial coolers because they lack precise temperature controls, have a very narrow safe zone, and no holdover time.

Ice-Lined Refrigerators (ILRs) are preferred to domestic refrigerators but have limitations: 1. Different temperatures in the storage chamber could damage vaccines.

2. The chamber’s inner walls go below 2°C and contact leads to freezing, making them unsafe.

3. To prevent freezing, baskets can be used, but this results in wasted storage space.

4. ILRs have low holdover times. With power outages, the temperature inside an ILR drops rapidly. Recovery is slow, which exposes vaccines to higher temperatures.

Sure Chill technology is based on the principle that water is at its heaviest at 4°C, which is also ideal for storing vaccines. Sure Chill creates a constantly chilled environment within the refrigeration unit, whether there is power or not. It is so reliable that it maintains a steady temperature for 10+ days after power interruption. This is achieved through

the movement of dense water at 4°C, generated as the system’s ice bank interacts with warmer water in the unit. Once the ice bank is created, Sure Chill channels naturally-generated 4°C water to the refrigeration compartment without using any more power, and until the ice bank finally melts and needs to be refrozen. Once the ice bank forms, Godrej Sure Chill requires only 2-3 hours of power daily to maintain it at full capacity.

The technology licensing agreement between Godrej and the UK-based Sure Chill gives us nearexclusive global manufacturing rights, and we can market these products in India, SAARC, and the Gulf. Godrej Appliances offers high holdover 50L and 100L ‘On Grid’ (normal power supply) and ‘Off Grid’ (renewable energy, gas, etc.) models.

The holdover period is between 7-13 days based on capacity and power source. We have also launched the Lite series with medium holdover time (3-4 days) in 50L, 75L and 99L. For large Primary Health Centres and pharma stockists, there is a 225L On Grid version with a 3-day holdover.

Sure Chill has been further adapted to enable storing pre-cooled blood. Blood must be stored between 2°C to 6°C for transfusion.

Exposure to temperatures greater than 6°C risks contamination, and below 2°C reduces the blood’s ability to carry oxygen. Godrej offers CE certified blood storage units in 50L, 100L and 225L with 24-hour battery backup.

In the months ahead, we hope to greatly reduce the wastage of vaccines and blood, saving millions of lives.

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SUCCESS STORIES

Excellence – a journey and not the destination How we became the best of the best Kartik Modi, Godrej Locking Solutions & Systems

19th November 2014 was a red-letter day for Godrej Locking Solutions and Systems (GLSS). On the eve of this day, the prestigious CII-EXIM Bank Award for Business Excellence 2014 was conferred upon GLSS for its exceptional excellence.

The award ceremony was held in Bengaluru on the last day of the 22nd CII National Quality Summit, a flagship event on Quality. Over two decades, hundreds of Indian companies have been working relentlessly and aspiring to win this coveted award, but so far only nine companies have won it. GLSS has joined the ‘best of the best’ group of companies in India.

In 1994, the CII and EXIM Bank joined hands to create a platform where the achievements of Indian companies pursuing excellence were celebrated, year after year, particularly in terms of business performance and quality. The platform would not only raise awareness about the Business Excellence (BE) award but also highlight the award’s stringent criteria, which if worked upon would enable the companies to attain higher levels of excellence, progressively.

The BE award also helps companies sharpen their competitive edge in a holistic way by explicitly addressing the concerns of all stakeholders.

GLSS began its journey in Business Excellence about ten years ago, and after navigating the arduous path over the years, GLSS attained the level of excellence that enabled them to win the coveted award in 2014. Challenging the award calls for documentation to be submitted in the form of an application with the position report, which has to be accurate and comprehensive.

The aspects addressed are Leadership, Strategy, People, Processes, Partnership, Resource and Customer Management, Technology (Product,

Process, and Information & Communication) and Results. The level of excellence at GLSS has been assessed by both internal and external assessors, from India. In 2014, GLSS’ excellence was assessed, for the first time in India, by a team of international (external) assessors as well. If this was not challenging enough, GLSS had to work to meet the requirements of progressively more challenging versions of the BE model, namely of 2005, 2008, 2010 and 2013.

The path required to be traversed had become steeper over time. Notwithstanding which, GLSS successfully withstood the scrutiny of three eminent jury members in 2012, 2013 and 2014, and scored 600+ points in all three years, which no other Indian company had done until then.

Finally, in 2014 GLSS surged ahead and won the award!

The evolution of GLSS from a lock manufacturer to locking solutions provider is indeed impressive. This transformation has been achieved through continuous innovation and astute leveraging of business opportunities. In the locks business, Godrej is a pioneering brand, and it has to its credit many industry defining accreditations such as EN rated products, dual access control padlocks, and a mobile experience centre. A unique supplier value enhancement model helps to convert component manufacturers into strategic product suppliers. GLSS has implemented TOC (Theory of Constraints) across the Value Chain. This has significantly

improved the reliability of supplies to B2C and B2B customers. A Decision Support System based on TOC principles with simple measures like Throughput Maximisation, Minimising Throughput Rupee Day Loss, Improving Delta Throughput – lowering Operating Expenses (OE) and Improving Productivity (Throughput/ Operating Expenses) has enabled GLSS to sustain its performance and a rate of growth exceeding that of the industry.

The way forward Having achieved a higher level of Excellence means that the journey ahead is likely to be tougher. To retain its leadership, GLSS needs to put on more efforts to improve its daily work management, customer experience, people management and Big Data management. Many new initiatives will have to be taken to reach the aspirational goals and it is here that the work done for the BE award will provide GLSS a rock-solid foundation for building a strong, future focused business.

In closing, let me congratulate everyone at GLSS and our supplier partners for their superb cooperation over this longish journey. Also, I would like to thank Corporate BE Cell for their 24X7 encouragement and support. And finally, let me express our gratitude to Mr. J. N. Godrej, who has been a source of inspiration all along and Mr. P. D. Lam, who never missed a chance to prod us to win the award.

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This recognition is the result of the last several years of dedicated work of defining and refining business processes and systems and taking them to higher levels for surpassing the expectations of all our stakeholders. Achieving outstanding results is hard enough but sustaining them is even harder. For GLSS, this recognition is testimony of our continued efforts to deliver on excellence and innovation.

Shyam Motwani EVP and Business Head

Let me share a few of the voices of our people - the members of BE teams, our supplier partners and the jury members: GLSS has been… “…always open and transparent to the external world, which is rare indeed.” “…committed to the BE model and has put in place processes that are exceptional.” “…willing to accept feedback of the customers and the assessors for improvement.” “…successful at demonstrating the attributes of trust, commitment and involvement.” “…acting upon areas of improvement, promptly and thoroughly.”

These voices unquestionably point to the fact that the pursuit of Excellence has now become a way of life at GLSS.

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SUCCESS STORIES

NAVIC – The Regional Navigator Truly made in India Dr. M. Nageswara Rao, Project Director, IRNSS, Bengaluru

The successful deployment of NAVIC (Sailor or Navigator in Sanskrit) has helped India join the distinguished league of countries (only 4) that have their own GPS and navigation systems. The need for such a navigation system arose as access to foreign government-controlled global navigation systems was not assured in hostile situations.

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) with the operational name NAVIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) is truly a ‘Made-in-India’ system, for Indians only.

NAVIC provides accurate, real-time positioning and timing services all over India, extending to 1500 km around India.

The System NAVIC consists of 7 satellites in Geo Synchronous Orbit (GSO) approximately 36,000 km above the Earth’s surface. All 7 satellites are configured identically and were launched sequentially using India’s reliable Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Each satellite weighs approximately 1425 kg and their solar panels generate 1,600W. NAVIC provides two services: Standard Positioning Service for civilian use, and Restricted Service (an encrypted one) for authorised users only, including the military.

The Payload IRNSS payload consists of A - Navigation payload, so that users know their positions and to guide them B – Ranging payload, used by the control centre on ground to know the position of the satellites.

At the heart of the navigation payload are the atomic clocks, three in each satellite, having the highest accuracy imaginable for calculating the precise location of the satellite. The expected life of each satellite is around 15 years.

Challenges in development of the satellites The very fact that this concept was being tried out for the first time by ISRO was itself a big challenge, besides which the other challenges were: a. Managing thermal, magnetic and vibration sensitivity of the atomic clocks b. Optimal usage of propellants for maximal life of the satellites c. Realising satellites in quick succession so that the 1st satellite of the constellation is left with significant life by the time the 7th is launched d. Developing the laser ranging system for the first time e. Extensive involvement of partners from industry in the project The management and execution of this massive project also had its own challenges.

The launch of seven satellites sequentially in a span of 33 months is considered a landmark achievement, and the fastest of its kind.

All tasks, from identifying the relevant constellation configuration, to on-orbit operations, were meticulously addressed and executed. Apart from overcoming the technical issues, the constellation development called for close coordination and management skills not only within the satellite development teams and ISRO work centres spread across the country, but also

with several external vendors such as Godrej, HAL, BHEL, Avasarla Technologies, and KINECO, among others, who partnered in this project.

How the system benefits India The system provides an absolute position accuracy of better than 10 metres throughout the Indian land mass, and better than 20 metres in the Indian Ocean, and the region extending 1,500 km around India.

To sum up, the IRNSS constellation development and realisation best exemplifies the “where there is a national will, the way is always found” philosophy, and effectively addresses the navigational and strategic needs of the country.

Godrej Aerospace’s contributions in the IRNSS programme: Satellite • 10N / 22N Thrusters • Injector parts for LAM Engine Thrusters • Mould for Onboard Antenna Reflector Launch Vehicle (Rocket) • Second Stage liquid Engine (Vikas Liquid

Propulsion Engine) • 50N Thrusters for Fourth Stage Reaction

Control system

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Image courtesy – ISRO

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ART & CULTURE

Of the people, by the people, for the people Hidden artists of Pirojshanagar Team CHANGE

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In the 1940s, Pirojsha Godrej dreamt of creating a modern and vibrant industrial garden township. This was realised in a series of worldclass manufacturing units, which crafted hundreds of quality products. For the first time in

India, Godrej offered an environment where the workers who were engaged in building products could also express themselves creatively. Their deep involvement found unique expression in the signage that they themselves designed,

drew or painted. From old cinema-style poster art, to graffiti and slogans, to comic strips, these images are a showcase of and a tribute to their commitment.

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INSIDE G&B 38FOCUS

Spreading wings Showcasing Kaizens at businesses Sujith Nair, Corporate Services

As the Kaizen movement grew in terms of widescale participation of our people, it became a challenge to have a composite, company-wide, Kaizen exhibition.

Some businesses felt that all their good work was not showcased, and as a result, many good Kaizens were simply not available for horizontal deployment in a larger way. Also, many B2B businesses felt that displaying Kaizens that had a direct impact on customer expectations could become a platform for showcasing our ever-improving capabilities. Customers could be invited and the Kaizen teams could be called upon to present the improvements.

Godrej Process Equipment was the first one to have its own Kaizen fest.

As envisaged, it created a new wave of enthusiasm amongst their people, which helped them take the movement to the next level. Having reached a degree of maturity, customer benefits were beginning to emerge clearly, and hence the reluctance to share the Kaizens with customers evaporated. The business had a designated area to exhibit their Kaizens and this now has become ‘a must’ on the itinerary of visiting customers and others. They have so far conducted three exhibitions, the last one being organised on similar lines as the G&B annual Kaizen Fest.

Godrej Process Equipment was followed by Godrej Locking Solutions & Systems, with an exhibition and competition in their Vikhroli factory.

Godrej Electricals & Electronics also had their Kaizen fest where our senior management was invited. Observing the widespread enthusiasm that this exhibition created, Mr. J N Godrej mandated that all our businesses must have similar Kaizen fests.

In January 2016, Godrej Material Handling (GMH) organised their first Kaizen exhibition and invited one of their key suppliers, Mr. Rudragauda from Wolvoil Fluid Power, to judge the top three Kaizens. The winning teams were felicitated in an open house session with the workmen.

As it can be seen, the initiative taken by GPE was enriched in many

ways, progressively. Soon, Godrej Security Solutions organised their fest named Aarambha, where work and safety-related Kaizens were displayed.

Likewise, Interio also had their maiden Kaizen fest cum exhibition with the theme Unnati, which was inaugurated by Mr. Vijay Crishna.

Godrej Tooling (GT) too had an exhibition and had the symbolic Lion – akin to the lion of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, by the Government of India.

It was made of components produced from the toolings manufactured by GT. The Lion became a selfie point for visitors. This was followed by Godrej Prima, and their fest, though small in scale, was widely and well promoted.

Godrej Aerospace (GA) included many positive aspects of the Kaizen fest of other G&B businesses into their fest. They invited an expert, Dr. Asim Tewari (Professor In-Charge, NCAIR- IITB), and Mr. Kishor Jayram (President, Rolls Royce India Ltd.). The fest was a good showcase for various improvements that have been made into stringently controlled manufacturing processes for aerospace components. This impressed the Rolls Royce team, who felt that it was clearly an indicator of the greater potential that GA has to become a significant partner.

Godrej Prima organised their Kaizen fest with the theme ‘Pragati’. This was held in the new experience centre where visitors were able to see new technologies and products, while also viewing their Kaizens. The last exhibition was held by Godrej Construction in Pragati Kendra. The safety app was demonstrated during the exhibition.

Thus, in a span of around two years, ten of our businesses have begun showcasing their improvements and have succeeded in creating a new wave of confidence and enthusiasm amongst our people and customers.

All in the spirit of getting future-ready.

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In a span of two years, ten businesses have begun showcasing their improvements, creating a new wave of confidence and enthusiasm amongst employees and customers alike.

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PERSPECTIVE

Awaiting India Mumbai viewed through its countless works in progress by a commuter on the move Hemmant Jha, Chief Design Officer

Mumbai is quintessentially a hyperactive city: it’s always up to something, day or night. All around, buildings, ideas, lives are being built, dismantled, rebuilt. And to look at the metropolis authentically, one must observe how it works at street level. We follow the city through the lens of a daily commuter, from the front passenger window of a car moving at 15-60kmph. The works in progress that the frames capture communicate something essential about Mumbai’s unique character.

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PERSPECTIVE

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INSIDE G&B

Glitter & Glory Recognitions and awards received from March to December 2016 Godrej & Boyce

At Godrej, each year is a journey of innovation, consolidation and exploration. Every branch of our big family works tirelessly to not just live up to but raise the high standards set the previous year. So when these efforts are recognised by the fraternity, it doubles our enthusiasm and recharges us for the year ahead. We’re humbled and encouraged by the recognition we have received for our work last year. And as always, we’re committed to exceeding expectations and setting new benchmarks.

DEC ’16

NOV ’16

SEP ’16

Godrej Precision Engineering won the 1st prize in the National Championship in Innovation Category at the 6th National TPM conference, organized by the CII Institute of Quality at Chennai.

Godrej Construction received a Platinum rating for their project Godrej Platinum, Vikhroli, with the highest number of points in Maharashtra and second highest in India for a Green Building. The Green ratings are given by the CII - Indian Green Building Council.

Godrej Precision Engineering won the Gold Award at the 11th National Quality Conclave organized by the Quality Council of India for their project case study `First Time Right Development of Torus Shaped Vacuum Vessel’ delivered to the Institute of Plasma Research, Ahmedabad.

Lawkim Motors Group was awarded the Kaizen Award in the Environment Category at the 9th CII National Competitiveness & Cluster Summit 2016, Delhi.

Godrej Precision Engineering won the National Kaizen Champion’s Award in the Innovation Category at the Champion’s Competition 2016, organized by the CII Institute of Quality’s TPM Club of India, Bengaluru.

Godrej Interio’s Shirwal unit won the ‘Excellent Energy Efficient Unit’ award and the Vikhroli unit won the ‘Energy Efficient Unit’ award at the CII Energy Efficiency Summit 2016 organized by the CII – Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre.

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JUL ’16

JUN ’16

APR ’16

Godrej Interio received the Most Innovative Project Award for its Green Supply Chain Initiative. The award was given for their project ‘Resource Intensity reduction in the supply chain through implementation of ZED (Zero Defect Zero Effect) in Vendor Cluster’ at the 2nd edition of GreenCo Best Practices Award 2016, organised by the CII.

Godrej Interio received GreenCo Platinum certificate for its manufacturing plant at Shirwal and GreenCo gold for Plant 13 and Plant 14 at Vikhroli, given by the CII – Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre.

Godrej Interio received the India Design Mark for five products – Enlighten lecture theatre system, Broadway sofa, Unwind range of seating solutions, Pulse chair and Slide n store storage unit. India Design Mark is given by the India Design Council, Govt. Of India.

Godrej Precision Engineering won 2nd Prize at the 12th CII Western Region Safety Health & Environment Excellence Award 2015-16, in the Manufacturing Category, organized by CII. Godrej Interio won the Best Kaizen Award in the Innovation Kaizen category at the 27th Kaizen Conference, organized by the CII at Chennai.

Lawkim Motors Group received the GreenCo Platinum Certificate for its manufacturing plant at Shindewadi, given by the CII – Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre.

MAY ’16 Godrej Precision Engineering won 1st Prize for the Kobetsu Kaizen pillar at the 5th TPM Circle Competition, organized by the CII-TPM Club of India, for their case study on the TPM concept of ‘Overall Equipment Efficiency’.

Plant 13 Annex building at G&B, Pirojshanagar, Vikhroli, got the BEE 5 Star Rating, the highest rating for an energy efficient building, under the office category.

The ratings were given by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Energy, Government of India.

Three businesses of G&B Construction, Electricals & Electronics and Interio, won multiple awards, including two Shreshtha Suraksha puraskars, at the NSCI Safety Awards 2015, organized by the National Safety Council of India.

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RMC APP Now, a hassle-free way to get Ready Mix Concrete Ayush Singh and Vikram Kadam, Godrej Construction

An ingeniously designed RMC app by Godrej Construction, the first of its kind, for their Ready Made Concrete (RMC) business was positively received by users. As pressures mount to decrease costs, improve productivity and satisfy clients, the app has significantly eased challenges. The hassle-free, easy-tonavigate app has opened new avenues to revolutionise the construction industry.

The Challenges The concrete industry has been plagued by constraints and bottlenecks that leave managers onsite helpless and struggling.

Not just ordering the right concrete, but ensuring the receiver has understood it, is only the beginning of the nightmare. Constant follow-ups to track the delivery status of the vehicle that waste precious man-hours only add to woes. Another issue is being able to track payments received and having a ready update on outstanding amounts. Likewise, the client faces the challenge of keeping track of payments made and pending. Often, delays in reconciling these result in delays on site, idling of labour and financial loss.

The RMC App – A Holistic Solution With just an easy login, place an order and make payments in an error and hassle-free way. The RMC app is intuitive and is designed to minimise human error. As the required variables such as grades of concrete, date and time for delivery, details of the payments made and outstanding amounts are readily available, it is easy to place the correct order and track finances.

A GPS system to track the order ensures optimum utilisation of labour onsite. Keeping a check on the financials also ensures peace of mind for the client. And lastly, tracking the actual usage of RMC against the planned amount helps the client plan resources for a smoother and timelier execution of the project.

As the app helps reduce wastage of all kinds, it is now easy to contain cost, work to schedules, and have a clear vision for the execution of the project. A definite advantage to become competitive and work systematically in the chaotic, unorganised and unpredictable industry, where time and cost overruns are rampant.

A development like the RMC app helps pave the way for the future digitisation of the construction industry. The use of digital technology will help the industry become competitive, and create a safe and stress-free work environment to the benefit of all.

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I-REPORT Empowers everyone to improve safety Rishikesh Ahirrao, Godrej Construction

Construction sites are messy and chaotic places with materials, equipment, vehicles, and people all over the place and that too in a state of motion. The intrinsic nature of construction activities gives rise to safety hazards galore. Many activities like civil work, plumbing, electrical installations as well as air conditioning get carried out simultaneously by multiple agencies, and that too under pressure to meet the deadlines, results in a ‘perfect storm’, having a large number of dangerous hazards at its core.

Most of the hazards are generally ignored until something untoward happens, typically, an accident. Even after accidents, corrective actions are taken only in few cases whilst many hazards remain not acted upon, therefore accidents waiting to happen.

By introducing ‘i-Report’ safety app, it is intended that the hazards, however insignificant, are identified, captured and transmitted to the authorities concerned for prompt corrective action, analysis and development of preventive action practices.

This app is a perfect mix of an automated, streamlined, paperless process that makes reporting hazards at sites instantaneous, traceable and easier.

It empowers whoever notices a hazard or an unsafe act being performed to report it using the app. All that i-Report requires is a smartphone , mental alertness and a sense of responsibility to report the hazard. The interface of the app is simple and intuitive and it does not require any training. Supporting the app at the back end is our database where all the reported hazards captured and analysed for initiating corrective measures. i-Report creates a sense of responsibility in everyone onsite for making the site safer and also keeping an eye on the corrective action being taken, it helps promote active participation for encouraging safe and responsible behaviour. The results are there for everyone to see as the number of hazards identified and closed in Q1 of 2015 as compared to Q1 of 2016 has increased from 214 to 1151 respectively.

A super, low-cost solution for enhancing safety.

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ART & CULTURE

Back to nature Insect Series Part 1 Nibha Sikander

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grew up amidst the urban, grey and brown landscape of Mumbai. I was fortunate as I had my own little sanctuary full of trees, flowers, birds, animals and insects, a little away from the city.

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My family had owned for generations homes in Kihim and Janjira along the Konkan coast.

The natural ambience at my getaway homes had a huge impact on my psyche and in shaping my world-view. I always felt a sense of comfort when being in and around nature which in turn gave me a sensitive appreciation of its complexity and beauty.

My current series of work, titled ‘The Insect series - Part 1’ is an ode to the deep love and gratitude I have for nature.

I graduated in Visual Arts from M S University, Vadodara. After graduation and a couple of years after that, my work explored my immediate reaction to growing up in an urban environment like Mumbai. Over that period, it revolved around fashion in relation to the

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perception of the body image. It bothered me the way one perceived or judged others, based mostly on the superficiality of one’s physical appearance. This preoccupied me and I felt I had to react to it. This anger found its way out through my work.

After this I felt I needed to change the subject of my work. I was lost. I needed to re-think, look at myself and understand what made me the person I am. I realised the answer lay in where I came from, my formative memories and experiences, the places I grew up in, mine and my family’s history that has shaped the way I look at the world around me. I realised those days I spent in Kihim and Janjira, surrounded by nature has had a big impact

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on me, more than I had thought initially. My family is full of naturalists who have been deeply involved in protecting and preserving our natural habitat. This has subconsciously rubbed off on me, and led to my next series of work which was based of insects, moths and birds.

I’ve chosen the medium of paper and have been using the ‘paper cut technique’ for the last 15 years, to express myself. Paper fascinates me as it has many qualities - it can be stiff when required and flexible when needed.

I started cutting paper into different shapes and forms, one sheet at a time, which made it look like a stencil. After a while, I tried sticking papers to create layers. These two dimensional creations worked for me for some time but,

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as I yearned to push the envelope farther, I had to do something else. I began to experiment by layering paper, one on top of the other, as I moved ahead. I also experimented with having thick layers of sandwich paper between the cut-outs of two papers. The work now had the body as it became three dimensional, viewable from three different angles. This was indeed a step forward and it put me on to the path of creating new forms of paper cuts which I have been working with ever since.

I feel that more emphasis should be given to nature, in education and in our daily lives.

It is lack of awareness about conserving our environment that has led to the sickening pollution and devastation all around us. By creating these insects, real and sometimes imaginary, I, in my own humble way, am making people see the wonders of nature and the significance of preserving it!

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Would you like to get smarter?

Gaming apps can help Deepak Banota, Corporate Communications

Developed and maintained by neuroscientists, with extensive research in neuroplasticity, Lumosity is a brain training app. Developers say that just one session a day can improve mental skills. It uses games to train your brain by remembering patterns and locations, associating names with faces, recalling sequences of objects and their movements, ignoring distractions, reacting quickly, switching between tasks, reasoning, and so on. It has mini games that increase in difficulty as you improve. Track progress and compare performance with other players, if you have the premium version. I liked Lumosity because it delivers what it promises. I do see myself getting better at the game with time and I am able to clear many mini games with ease.

Android - Free, iOs - Premium features payable

Lumosity

My personal favourite, Duet tests your patience. The gameplay frustrates you, while the background music tries to keep you calm. The occasional background narration gives you hints, but you usually have to ignore it and continue playing. A few levels in and you find yourself interacting with it like a friend and challenging it like a real person. The goal is to manoeuvre two objects in sync, past white blocks by rotating them clockwise or anticlockwise. It may sound easy but it’s not. The background music is really extraordinary - it’s engaging, encouraging and soothing. As you progress, your hand-eye coordination improves and clearing Level 1 becomes effortless. Duet tests your nerves and yet has a calming effect once you clear a level and move ahead.

Android, Windows - Free, iOs - Premium features payable

Duet

If you love quizzes and like challenging domain experts, this multiplayer trivia game is for you. You can compete with friends and/or any of the millions of players from all over the world, in real-time trivia matches!

You will find almost all topics of interest - science, music, history, movies - QuizUp has them all with new ones added every week. The best part is you keep on learning while competing. The leader board keeps you pushing for more and more matches. Be surprised with how much you know when you find yourself on the top of the leader board!

Android, iOs - Free

Quiz Up

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Digital gaming is no longer just a fad; it has become an integral part of our lives. Although most of these games are designed to entertain or pass time, a few of them actually help us stimulate our minds and challenge our mental faculties. Some of these games create a sort of a pressure in the player’s mind to move forward or to win, which in a way brings out the best of the fighting spirit. These games are based on extensive research and some of them are based on the principle of neuroplasticity, which simply means that our brain is like a muscle and its capability can be enhanced by exercising it regularly and progressively like any other muscle.

Blendoku

It is a unique mix of Sudoku and Crosswords, using colours instead of numbers or alphabets. It challenges you to distinguish and arrange colours by blending an array in a given order to clear a level. The game shows world average time and compares it with how long you take to clear a level. Beating the world average motivates you to move as fast as possible.

I personally love the game as it assigns a star on all the levels you clear without making a mistake. As you tackle higher levels, your ability to recognise colours also improves noticeably. You begin to look for newer ways to solve the puzzle for better results, faster.

Android, iOs, Windows - Free

Elevate, like Lumosity, is a brain-training app, designed on the same principles as Lumosity. Lumosity is understated in design while Elevate is loud and colourful. Lumosity focuses on memory and attention, while Elevate seeks to improve your communication skills.

Elevate focuses on reading comprehension, looking or listening for grammatical errors, and improving your vocabulary, to improve your communication skills, and help you process information easily.

Mini games in Elevate rely on either spoken or written text. In some games, you read a sentence or short paragraph and remove errors. In others you’re listening to or reading from informative passages to be tested on key facts. The games are short, challenging and a great deal of fun and they help you improve without your even realising it.

Android , iOs - Premium features payable

Elevate

I’d appeal to you to play these games yourself and share what you think of them. If you have any other game you like, do send me a brief writeup on change@godrej.com: we would like to carry it in the forthcoming issues of CHANGE.

BOOKMARK 58 INSIDE SUCCESS STORIES G&B

Tidy up!

Review of Marie Kondo’s book ‘The life-changing magic of tidying up’ Savitha Nair, Godrej Aerospace

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Having lived under the conditions of scarcity for ages, we tend to accumulate things which we may never need or use. We feel a sense of security by having a plethora of things around us – both at the workplace and at home. Clutter all around leads to a restless mind, making it difficult to focus. Distractions sap productivity and clarity of thought. Many young and mid-aged people suddenly find themselves with a problem of plenty and do not know what to get rid of for peace of mind.

‘The life-changing magic of tidying up’ by Marie Kondo is a global bestseller having sold two million copies, and is an unusual book.

Obviously, what the author has to say has some deep appeal to our basic emotions. The way it can promote good health, mental peace and brighter living is somewhat intriguing on the face of it. And yet, it is perfectly in sync with the spirit of the current times where some kind of

minimalism is gaining wider acceptance.

The cover of the book evokes the spirit of the book’s message and it is quiet but impactful – a watercolour skyscape with red type. A single look creates in the mind of the onlooker dreamlike images of a peaceful existence.

Some of the advice Marie gives is rather commonplace and doesn’t have much novelty to it. But, where the advice makes sense is

in the links Marie has succeeded in forming between the process of tidying up and the way you choose to lead your life. She has succeeded well in linking the simple task of decluttering to creating positive emotions as opposed to stressful ones. Exactly how it happens is something you should experience by reading the book, and taking actions as advised.

Let go of your past To reset your life forward, it is essential to settle your accounts with the past. In life, not every person we meet will become a close friend, and the same is the case with objects; not all the clothes you have are worn threadbare, not all the books that come to you are read for each word. While parting with possessions, always bear in mind that the space we live in should be for the person that we want to become and not for what we were. Just thank the possessions for the role that they have played in your life and let them go for preparing the space for the new you.

Everyone needs a sanctuary Having one’s own space makes one feel happy. If our storage areas are well-spaced and similar types of things are stored together we can experience comfort and find things fresh and lively.

The practice of decluttering has benefitted many

The methodology of decluttering is simple and briefly put, it is:

Communicate It’s a good idea to talk to the things that support us every day. Just like a gentle shake we use to wake someone up, we can stimulate our belongings by physically moving them, exposing them to fresh air, thus letting them know that we look forward to using them. A moment of gratitude brings difference in our attitude. As we begin to live with a sense of gratitude, the tides of disappointment fade away, bringing in positive energies.

Like all of us, Marie too had to struggle to find criteria for ‘keep or throw’, then one day she came up with a question, ‘does this spark joy?’

After asking this question, the decision to keep or throw became easier. It brought a bout of fresh energy and clarity into the effort. She advises, “keep only those things that speak to your heart, then take the plunge and discard all the rest”.

I could go on but would instead suggest you read the book and who knows, one day, like Marie you may want to take the challenge of tidying up everywhere on the planet or a little more closely, the town or city you live in!

When you put your house in order you put your past and your affairs in order too. Just buy the book, begin to declutter and it is bound to ignite a spark of joy in you.

Here are some key takeaways:

Less is more Besides decluttering, we should be constantly thinking about what we really need in our life to be happy. If we have fewer, well-chosen things around us, they will surface clearly, making themselves noticeable and bringing a sense of contentment and happiness.

Fewer things reduce time and effort spent in cleaning and tidying up, releasing time for more meaningful activities.

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Megh Malhar Listen to the falling rain Alleyah Asghar, Creative Consultant

The aural and visual drama that unfolds with the pitter patter of rain under a breathtaking cloud cover replete with silver lining, ends on an unmistakable note of joy and beauty. When it rains, it seems that a magical spell is cast on every thing that is perennial in nature.

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The aroma of rain-soaked and lush green earth gives birth to a heartwarming feeling of serenity and love. No wonder then that ‘Barkha Ritu’ or the rains are universally marked as the season of love and longing. With an emotion as powerful as love it is natural for music to wear love in its notes and create compositions laced with melody that could stir even the most heartless.

In the Indian context, music is driven by seasons and the overriding melody associated with it. Melody, easily explained to the uninitiated, would be the art of stringing sa re ga ma pa dha ni sa or the ‘sargam’ in ornamental fluidity to express emotions that fit into the nav rasa (essence of emotion) tradition of Indian classical form. Megh Malhar, the raga to invoke the Gods of Rain, is one such distinct expression that captures love, abundance, desire and longing.

When we think of Megh Malhar, we cannot fail to mention the renowned Navratna at the court of Mughal Emperor Jalal ud-din Akbar. Possibly the only authentic exponent of this raga, Mian Tansen, a 15th Century Indian classical music composer, musician and vocalist, credited with a large number of compositions, was known to melt clouds into a downpour just by crooning this raga. Such was his influence on this raga too -- much like others that he altered and made additions to -- that it was rechristened Miya Ki Malhar.

Folklore also mentions an incident when Emperor Akbar had asked Tansen to sing Raga Deepak - a raga that had the power to light diyas. The vocalist par excellence, familiar with the singeing effect this raga would have on the surroundings - performed it wholeheartedly. It is said that by the end of the rendition the heat was too unbearable and that he had to follow it up with Raga Malhar to cool the environment down.

Closer to our times, Smt. Kishori Amonkar’s Umar Gumad Garaj Garaj is a stellar performance with evocative lyrics, bringing the magic of rain and thunder alive. This unmatched exponent of the Gwalior Gharana uses Raga Megh Malhar in Dhrut Ektaal (a slower tempo) to wondrous effect.

Another pleasing version of this raga can be enjoyed in a Coke Studio session where the traditional mixes with the contemporary. Miyan Ki Malhaar by Ayesha Omer, Fariha Pervez and Zara Madani, produced by Rohail Hyatt, delights the senses with its melodic power. The tabla and tanpura are replaced by electric guitar, keyboards and drum percussion. But the unmistakable emotion of longing attached to the overcast skies is beautifully expressed in both the lyrics and the composition.

This piece will be incomplete if I were to omit the influence of this raga on Hindi cinema across eras. With love and social messaging as a recurrent theme for Indian story telling, there couldn’t have been a more appropriate raga than Megh Malhar to deliver melodies and compositions that still live on via retro radio. So popular are songs based on this raga that no broadcast network has missed the opportunity to host and air concerts and reality shows with generation Y belting it out with as much flair as the originals were sung.

Retro film music aficionados would remember the distinct vocals of Vani Jayaraman in the song Bole Re Papihara composed for the film Guddi in the early ‘70s and filmed on the petite Jaya Bhaduri. Yet another gem from the Lata Mangeshkar stable of retro film music is Haal e Dil Yun Unhein Sunaya Gaya from the 1964 hit Jahan Ara, composed by the king of melody of the time, Madan Mohan.

With our fondness for lilting ballads, Ghazals cannot be ignored in the context of this raga.

Renowned classical and ghazal singers, who have based their gayaki on the Hindustani Khayal tradition of expression in the classical form, have given us some of the most ornate yet delicate sounding ghazals. Mehdi Hasan, Ghulam Ali, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Ustad Rashid Khan and Hariharan are a few names that I can pick from the top of my mind. Mehdi Hassan’s Ek Bas Tu Hi Nahin, with its dominant Malhar notes (ma pa ni re sa), is a lament that beautifully renders the helplessness of love lost.

For those who love music, Malhar is the sound of love, waiting to drench everyone.

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The science of brewing better coffee yourself How to get the most out of your brew Matt Chitranjan, Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters

One of the great things about brewing coffee at home is that it can be as easy or as complicated as you’d like it to be. For beginners, with nothing more than a simple tea strainer, it is possible to make great tasting coffee that will be far better than any of the instant coffee varieties that are so commonly used. For more advanced brewers, there are near infinite possibilities in varying the equipment, brewing ratios, temperatures and extraction yields. Regardless where you fall on the spectrum, here are some guidelines that will help you get the most out of your brew.

The most important thing that anyone brewing good coffee should do is ensure that their coffee is freshly roasted. All coffee begins to lose flavour around three weeks after roasting.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t consume coffee for months beyond that, but many of the unique flavours and aroma compounds that make coffee so delicious will have dissipated.

Any decent coffee roaster will put the roast date on the package, so make sure you check the date when you buy.

Another point to remember is to match your grind size to your brewing equipment. Each brewing method has its own filtration system and brewing time, which needs to be matched to the grind size. For an espresso, the grind is finer because the brew time is so short, so you have very little time to extract maximum flavour from the coffee. For a French Press (or the tea strainer method), you need a coarse grind so that small particles don’t pass through the filter,

which in turn requires a brewing time of around five minutes. For people looking to take their brewing to the next step, grinding your coffee just before brewing using a burr grinder (readily available online) will make a noticeable difference to the flavour in your cup.

It’s also important to measure your coffee-to-water ratio, and check the water temperature. Most people brew using scoops or spoons. While it is convenient, volume is an inconsistent way to measure coffee since it will vary according to the grind and roast level. If the water is too cold, your coffee will be under-extracted, and if it is too hot, it will get over-extracted, with burnt and bitter notes. We use thermometers when brewing, but we don’t expect most home brewers to do the same. In a country where people like their coffee “piping hot”, we at Blue Tokai, encourage coffee lovers to use water that’s been off the boil for about 45 seconds before having it make contact with the coffee powder. This will help ensure a much smoother cup.

Lastly, storing your coffee properly will ensure you get the maximum flavour for the longest amount of time. Oxygen is the enemy of coffee so you want to store the beans or powder in an airtight container that is in a cool, dry place.

Contrary to popular belief, you should not store your coffee in a fridge or freezer as it can cause problems with moisture and condensation, degrading the quality.

About Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters is India’s leading specialty coffee company. All of our coffee is traceable, having been sourced directly from award-winning farms and roasted fresh on order. Visit us online to learn more about our coffee and brewing or drop in at our roastery + cafe in Mahalaxmi, Mumbai for a cup and to see the process in action.

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The most important thing that anyone brewing good coffee should do is ensure that their coffee is freshly roasted.

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GLOBAL STANDARDS

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ED G E - DI G I REFR IG E RATOR Designed to global standards Suhas Kulkarni, Godrej Appliances

The product design space is littered with insights, often bogus, where products are built to designers’ whims and fancies. Contrarily, India’s first hybrid Auto-defrost Godrej EdgeDigi refrigerator is designed with an in-depth understanding of customer needs, expressed and latent. Listening to the customer’s voice has been the mainstay for the design and evolution of this refrigerator. An in-depth study based on methodology developed by Prof. Shoji Shiba discovered genuine needs, and called for customer interactions a their homes, where needs for space, aesthetics and energy consumption emerged. The team noted the irregular cycle of defrosting, and usage conditions characterised by irregular and unreliable power supply, which yielded suboptimal performance. They also accounted for technological trends in the consumer durable space, especially electronics and Smartphones.

These vital insights informed the design of Godrej Edge-Digi. The design task was in two parts; the first addressing space, aesthetics and energy consumption. The result was the Edge-Pro series launched in 2013. The second part leveraged the newly-acquired electronics expertise for an intelligent defrost mechanism. This series, Edge-Digi was launched in 2015. Both these series enabled Godrej to move from the low-end mass market segment to the premium market segment of single door refrigerators, and Godrej became price leaders. Even today, there is no other product in the market with the unique benefits of Edge-Digi.

The successful launch of insight-based refrigerators encouraged the team to apply for national recognition with ‘India Design Mark’ (IDM) from the India Design Council, promoted by the Government of India.

Edge-Digi received the IDM recognition.

Encouraged, the team challenged the coveted ‘Good Design’ award - G mark, from the Japan Institute for Design Promotion. Selected products were evaluated for impact on humanity, honesty, innovation, aesthetics and ethics, besides energy consumption and the like.

Joyfully, the Godrej Edge-Digi met all criteria and was awarded the globally recognised, prestigious G mark. Here is a little secret - starting the journey to G mark recognition was triggered by a simple, thought-provoking question from Mr. Jamshyd Godrej, after we won the India Design Mark: “What next?” The team is confident that combining the philosophy of What Next with the tools from the Visionary Leadership For Manufacturing (VLFM) programme will enable them to scale greater heights.

I believe that the opportunity to learn as a VLFM faculty is a unique experience, especially to develop the skills to understand customer’s needs. Teaching is the best way to learn; understanding concepts became clearer and deeper with each opportunity to go back as faculty. Prof Shiba emphasises “that knowledge acquisition to mastery is a continuous process of practice. It is sustained practice that creates understanding, then skill and eventually, mastery.”

My colleague Bhaskar P S thinks, “It has been our learning and belief that designs evolve if we keep the customer’s needs in focus all the time. This is the basic recipe for the success of any product”.

The story of Godrej Edge-Digi is published in ‘Journey Towards Global Recognition’ authored by Bhaskar P S and I, available at the Godrej Learning Centre.

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How the Raj changed India: Another view A report on the tenth Godrej Archives Lecture by Dr. Tirthankar Roy Vrunda Pathare, Godrej Archives

A much talked about recent film ‘Court’ besides illustrating the stark reality of Indian judicial system, makes obvious references to the archaic laws that still determine our fates.

Many of these laws are, undoubtedly, a legacy from colonial rule. We, the citizens of independent India, regale ourselves in blaming the establishment for continuing with these laws or academic traditions propagated by Macaulay.

A question therefore arises: were institutions such as these or the deployment of modern technologies by the colonial rulers meant to serve Imperial interests or were they meant to modernise and develop the colonies ruled by them? What were the legacies that the Raj burdened us with? Also, what really happened after the end of the Raj in India? And finally, was colonial rule a predatory one as many of us would like to believe, or it was a beneficial one as some of us would like to argue?

At the lecture, Dr. Tirthankar Roy addressed these questions and many more. Using the lens of economics, he offered fresh assessments of three issues: how the Raj’s policies shaped the

economy of India and their most important economic consequences, what lessons the post colonial state learnt from the Raj, and how far postcolonial India retained or modified these effects.

In his talk, Dr. Roy offered an interesting retrospective on the Raj. He stated that what made the Raj special were the two important policy decisions implemented by them. First, the Raj strengthened the military by centralising it. This was achieved by ruthlessly suppressing and demilitarising the armed groups like jagirdars and zamindars who earlier collected taxes and enjoyed local political and armed power. Unlike most empires of the past, the British chose to control the seas firmly and use their control of the seas to foster maritime trade to secure Britain’s future. Secondly, the Raj also centralised all fiscal and monitory operations for better control. By controlling these systems, the Raj

What were the legacies that the Raj burdened us with? Also, what really happened after the end of the Raj in India? And finally, was colonial rule a predatory one as many of us would like to believe, or it was a beneficial one as some of us would like to argue?

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In India, Industrialisation happened in spite of the absence of textual prerequisites such as the developmental state manipulating tariffs or regulating banks or easy import of technology.

ensured a tightly managed system of financial interconnectedness between the markets of India, the other colonies and Britain.

Dadabhai Naoroji (1825–1917) and Romesh Dutt (1848–1909), through their writings, criticised these very features of the Raj by concluding that poverty in India was the result of the free trade and taxation policies followed by the Raj. Obviously, there was a cost to colonialism but Dr. Roy had a different argument to make. He drew our attention to an interesting phenomenon of Industrialisation that India experienced under the Raj. He stated that in India, Industrialisation happened in spite of the absence of textual prerequisites such as the developmental state manipulating tariffs or regulating banks or easy import of technology and the like. This can be ascertained from the fact that between 1850 and 1947, employment in Indian factories increased from near zero to

two million plus. Further, the real GDP at factor cost rose at the rate of 4%–5% per year between 1900 and 1947.

Dr. Roy attributes the credit for industrialisation to the ‘free trade’ encouraged by the Raj which, in turn, provided Indian players easy access to the world markets for finance, machinery and skills. This led to industry being developed in the three port cities, Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras, which became important centres of commercial activity both during the Raj and even thereafter. As time passed, profits that accumulated in industry and trade began to flow into public domain in the form of services and infrastructure, and at the time of Independence, the port cities had become homes to some of the best schools, colleges, hospitals, universities, banks, insurance companies, and learned societies outside the Western world. A large part of this infrastructure was

Dr. Roy attributes the credit for industrialisation to the ‘free trade’ encouraged by the Raj, which provided Indian players easy access to global markets for finance, machinery and skills.

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PERSPECTIVE

created by Indian capitalists in collaboration with skilled immigrants from Europe, who were factory engineers, doctors, scientists, university teachers, lawyers, military personnel, executives, managers and partners of the firms owned by the foreigners. On account of having to pay for these services, India was believed to be in a state of ‘deficit’.

Dadabhai Naoroji had termed this deficit of capabilities as ‘the drain of wealth’ in his famous treatise “Poverty and Un-British Rule in India”.

On closer inspection, this drain of wealth was nothing but the payment for skills and knowledge that had to be imported and which, in turn, contributed to national income, public good and political stability of the country, clarified Dr. Roy. The real issue that became the rallying point against British rule, according to Dr. Roy, was not this drain but the inability of the Raj to address the critical issues of rural poverty and deep crisis in the country’s agriculture sector.

But if this was so, then it becomes difficult to understand why the Raj became unpopular even in the port cities, where industry flourished. Among many reasons, Dr. Roy cites the Great Depression of 1929 as one of the causes. This depression ended the globalisation process and Indian businesses lost interest in the world economy. Decline in world trade adversely affected the economies of the port cities, which led to unpopularity of the Raj in these cities. Some business houses even started to finance the independence movement with the hope that their future would be better secured in a protected economy of independent India than in an open economy promoted by the

Raj. Additionally, non-negotiable military and monetary policies of the Raj were considered as ‘oppressive’ by the business class and educated Indians. The British authorities sensed and acknowledged these sentiments and made some reforms but unfortunately they were a bit too late. In the meanwhile, the demand for parliamentary democracy in India strengthened, which eventually led to the end of the British Raj in 1947.

The new state that came into power framed a new development policy that de facto reversed the imperial economic system.

It did so by retreating from an open economy and moving towards a protected economy. The protection came in the form of non-tariff barriers, discouragement of commodity exports, public control of markets and assets, restrictions on skills and machinery import, significant reduction in the volume of trade and foreign investment, and the like. However, in spite of the deviation from ‘openness’, the new government delivered higher GDP growth, resulting in the expansion of the economy. Dr. Roy, however, points out that this higher economic growth was largely financed by the tax payers’ money as opposed to commercial profits, as was the case during the Raj. Obviously, not a sustainable growth strategy for the country in the long run.

This flawed growth strategy led to decades of underperformance of the Indian economy and ultimately it came to a cruel crunch in the 1990s, paving the way for liberalisation. Thus, in spite of the success that was achieved on the agriculture front, India had no choice whatsoever but to return to an open economy, one of the key pillars of the imperial economic system.

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VOL 14-15 DEC 2016

Free India thus came a full circle. While summing up the most important and enduring economic legacies of colonial rule, Dr. Roy elaborated upon three key legacies. First, Independent India inherited a large army that the British built and maintained. It was, no doubt, a fiscal burden but at the same time, without it, it would have been difficult to achieve political unification of India that the armed forces helped bring about. Given the small size of the Indian economy, huge spending on military did take away from what the Raj could have spent to address the key challenges of agriculture and development. Second, the Empire created an open economy, open to trade, capital flows, and settlement. This openness led to the emergence of a robust industrial capitalism centred in the port cities. And third, the economic growth in the port cities helped the growth of a sophisticated education system and cosmopolitanism, vital for economic growth.

The post-colonial economy had a large government which disrupted the existing cosmopolitan capitalist order.

Obviously, these were regressive steps. It would have been a counterfactual scenario if cosmopolitan capitalism was retained with the emergence of a larger state. However, this option was unthinkable in 1947 where both the

socialists and the pro-capitalist politicians in the Congress were against the inflow of foreign capital. The most notable achievement of the post-colonial state was agricultural transformation, which would have been inconceivable without the greater intervention of the state and huge subsidisation of agriculture from the tax payer’s money.

Towards the end, Dr. Roy engaged the audience in a stimulating commentary on the relationship between economic nationalism and economic history. He stated that the desire for political freedom and economic history are independent of each other. But in the case of India, these two became interdependent, suggesting (wrongly) that free enterprise was against India’s interests. This line of thinking worked well for the nationalist struggle but it made conducting debates on economic history a difficult enterprise, as the proposition that the Raj was good for India was simply not palatable to the economic nationalists, which included many prominent businessmen. These businessmen, in Dr. Roy’s view, had failed to understand that the statement above was not meant to support the Raj but was meant to bring into focus the virtues of openness. Dr. Roy pointed out that by mixing politics with history, we were creating a ‘narrative trap’ for economic historians. The message of economic nationalism that is likely to emerge may endanger the future of a country that is trying to re-embrace openness and cosmopolitanism to secure a prominent place for itself in the world economy.

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How much screen time is good for children?

Cultivating a richer world view English Language Faculty, Udayachal High School - Ms. Mahalaxmy, Ms. Gurdeep, Ms. Sonia, Ms. Chethna, Ms. Asha, Ms. Anu, Ms. Padma and Ms. Bethsheba

Screen time is the new menace amidst us, waiting to gnaw into the soft, impressionable minds of children. On average, by the age of 10, children have 3 or 4 screens vying for their attention, leaving very little time and mental energy for developmental engagements such as reading, playing outdoors, relating to family members, exploring their neighbourhood, and the like.

Phew!! For children, there is no addiction like screen addiction. Screen time is the new menace amidst us, waiting to gnaw into the soft, impressionable minds of children. On average, by the age of 10, children have 3 or 4 screens vying for their attention, leaving very little time and mental energy for developmental engagements such as reading, playing outdoors, relating to family members, exploring their neighbourhood, and the like.

The notion of screen time as a one-dimensional activity is changing. Computers, tablets, and smartphones are devices that can be used for many purposes. Designating their use simply as ‘screen time’ can result in missing some beneficial uses.

None of these uses are desirable or undesirable per se, but it all depends on the choices of the content to be consumed made personally or with the help of parents, teachers, and peers.

The negative effects of excessive screen time are not readily visible but are believed to be the ‘silent killers’. Excessive screen consumption adversely affects growing children by making them aggressive, lethargic and incapable of cultivating healthy social relations.

Often it results in falling grades. Easy access to information leads to the belief that information equals thinking and analysis, leading to a decline of original thinking and efforts to learn by doing. The American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) studies have shown a link between heavy screen consumption and issues such as obesity, lack of sleep, academic challenges, aggression, and other behavioural difficulties. Additionally,

screen addiction is a substantial health hazard.

All the same, keeping pace with changing times one cannot ignore the multiple benefits of being a sensible user of screens. Benefits??

One hears you question… which screens were Einstein, Galileo, or Kalam exposed to that made them outstanding scientists? Well true, but times have changed. Use of technology by children in a well-supervised manner improves not only their test scores but also their ability to learn.

Keeping these realities in mind, a blanket ban or even a rationing of screen time for children, or even a one-size-fits-all logic is not only incorrect, but regressive.

How much time a child should spend with a screen is a question being asked not just by worried parents but also by psychologists, health organisations, and even governments.

Many parents panic when they see the symptoms of screen addiction, such as displays of anger when asked to move away from the screen, restlessness, an unwillingness to participate in group activities or playing outdoors, sulking and the like, in their child. Parents as a result either remove the devices used as a form of a punishment or force the children to shun screen time altogether. Both these approaches invite trouble for parents, as we are living in an era where parents enforcing norms of behaviour on their children is simply not acceptable to rebellious youngsters. Consequently, these children begin to view their parents as ill-wishers and begin to harbour emotions of anger, frustration and irritability. The younger generation today wants

to be involved and heard, especially as regards the decisions that concern them. They want the decisions to be explained and debated upon, not forced down their throats.

AAP, one of the only established organisations to make recommendations on screen time, offers guidelines that put limits on screen consumption. Their recent recommendations emphasise that not all screen time is equal and many different kinds of activities occur on screens. Watching TV is not the same as video-chatting with Grandma. Screen time should be flexible based on situational factors like age, time, purpose and relevance of the content.

We should ensure that children consume screen time that is good for them. The reality is that most families will go through periods of heavy and light screen use but, so long as there’s a balance, children should be just fine. A rigid time-table is best avoided.

It has been found that it is not the quantity of the screen time but the quality of the content that makes a positive difference. Therefore, adopting an adage, ‘healthy screen time, anytime’, will prove to be beneficial to children within mutually agreed-upon limits.

VOL 14-15 DEC 2016

The Common Sense census recently identified four main categories of screen times consumed

by Tweens (children between 8-14) and Teens (between 14-18). These are : Passive: watching TV, reading on screen, and listening to music Interactive: playing a variety of games both new, traditional and browsing of the Internet Communication: chatting and using social media Creative: using devices to create / make digital art, music or a written piece

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Did you know?

It is reported in Steve Jobs’ biography that he prohibited the use of Apple devices by his children. Instead, at the dinner table where the family ate together, almost as a rule, he chose to discuss books, history and a variety of other things to cultivate a broader and richer worldview in the minds of his children.

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THE GREATER GOOD

The Kaizens we hold dear Living the Gandhian way every day Padmavati G. Kadam, Udayachal High School

Change is a spring flower Refreshing and welcoming He who is a connoisseur of change, Is bound to be endowed with success.

When first introduced, the idea of Kaizen set us thinking about what changes we have brought in at Udayachal High School (UHS). As we delved deeper we realised we have a mix of Kaizens at our school.

Though teachers at Udayachal are ever-ready to take challenges head on, dealing with impressionable young minds is a Himalayan task.

In recent years we have introduced a number of good changes in school, which have seen success and, which we have been able to sustain.

The two most talked about amongst them are the study camps and the school band. We got the opportunity to highlight these two initiatives (primarily the brainchild of our Principal Mrs. Rekha Pandey) in the form of a skit at the Kaizen Fest 2015. The skit titled I AM CHANGE, I AM GANDHI, woven around the idea of Gandhism as a way of life at UHS, was hugely lauded and appreciated.

The study camps at UHS are very close to our hearts because they are an enlightening expe-

rience on learning. These camps are meant for the weaker students with learning disabilities in Std 10, identified at an early stage, and trained rigorously after school hours and during holidays. Complementing our study camps are the regular remedial classes that we conduct for weak students from Std 5 to 9. These classes help to draw these students into the mainstream and instil in them the confidence to face the world.

The other Kaizen, the school band, an innovative idea from our Principal, brings the naughty ones in school to invest their live-wire energy into music making, rather than in destructive activities. Punishing or reprimanding students is an easy way out, but being truly Gandhian in our ways we chose the road less travelled.

Our band UDAY is an innovation in discipline management.

At Udayachal the staff and students connect through rhyming emotions. The Physical Education (PE) department strengthened this

emotional connect further by introducing Jhanj into PE classes – a Kaizen. Though we have the revered lezim as part of the curriculum, Jhanj is a happy addition.

In the serene precincts of our school, simplicity is the only ornament we wear both in our words and deeds. We need to give our students a winning edge. Though our teaching - learning experiences were sincere they were not technology-driven. It was then that we welcomed technology into our classrooms through the Interactive Boards.

These Kaizen have lent wings to our ambitions and we are steadily flying towards newer horizons of success. Our endeavours, small or big, have always received a ‘go ahead’ from Smitaben, Pherozaben and the ever-so-encouraging management. Together, we envision changes and try ardently to be the change we want to see. That is how we live Gandhi every day. In the true sense, we walk the talk.