Design to Delight - Jan 2008 - Feb 2008

Between Us

Re-orienting the Design Way The combination of steep inflation and fast changing consumer tastes can be very unsettling for the businesses in the context of economic slowdown to protect profitability. Cost cutting measures are fine, but to improve margins and for creating strong differentiators, something more is called for. Better design is one such initiative which can help us a great deal for both winning the share of minds of the customer and their wallets as well.

Editorial Board Anil G Verma G Sunderraman Harpreet Kaur Nalini Kala Megha Moorthy Co-ordinators Ratul Mazumdar (East) FK Khapoliwalla (West) Sushil Thariani (North) Vinod Kumar (South) Distributors Nariman Bacha SR Marolia Consulting Editor Indrapal Singh Design Yogesh Jahagirdar Yogakshar Design Studio

The theme Design to Delight has been chosen to put a spotlight on the issues related to design and at the same time enhance ‘design consciousness’ amongst our readers. The role of design spans beyond aesthetics of products, and brighter colours - it extends to making life easier, better, brighter building on deep insights.

Design is something we do to initiate change in anything that is manmade – products, spaces, systems, education, laws, healthcare, public policies et al.

Design is a pre cursor to change. And change we must if we want to emerge in a better shape whilst facing the tougher market conditions ahead. Design is a powerful lever and one must work hard to leverage it fully.

We have an interesting feature on the general aspects of design by Jasish Kambli.

Burzin Wadia tells us about the role of design in the Appliances business.

BK Rajkumar and his team spoke to us about the design process at Locks division.

And for our homemakers, interior designer Sonal Mamoowala tells us how an input of design effort can drastically alter home life at a small extra cost. To illustrate the power of design, we have featured five works of IDEO of USA, the world-renowned design services firm.

Our archivist Vrunda Pathare recounts the story of the Corporate Design Center - a pioneering initiative which contributed to business growth in a very significant way.

Besides these is our Homebase section, which brings to you the highlights of the happenings in the organisation. Lots of things to learn and know from here.

The poem, Picking More Daisies inspires us with the thought that it is possible to re-design our lives for greater meaning and joy. As usual an appeal for contributions and good quality photographs. Feedback is welcome as always.

Enjoy reading and best wishes to everyone for the new financial year ahead.

Printed by Genius Printers Pvt. Ltd.

Edited and Published by Indrapal Singh on behalf of Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd. Mumbai - 400 079 For private circulation only.

Indrapal Singh

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Cover Story

Of yellow STD booths and

coloured stapler pins…

Jashish Kambli

Fifteen years ago, as a student in Ahmedabad, I spent a reasonably large part of my academic life waiting in line at the little yellow booth outside the main gate of NID, hoping to get those precious few minutes on that amazing communication device... the STD booth. Yesterday, a teenager sitting next to me was checking her face book messages on her phone, and was undoubtedly in regular, sometimes hourly, contact with her friends scattered across the world.

Go back another ten years, and if you travelled by air you were super cool.

Now my carpenter flies to Delhi every week to supervise his jobs. So, airports have to deal with more traffic, which means the seating (some of which I’m sure is made here in Godrej), needs to be that much more robust. And of course, it has to look and feel great with all the international travellers flying domestic routes today.

What this confirms is that the world around us is changing and that as we

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evolve, the objects we use need to adapt to fit our lifestyles. Note the key word here - “change”!!! Our lives today are subject to change like never before and undoubtedly, there is a demand on objects that form part of our daily interactions to keep pace.

Comfort in an office chair for example, takes a whole new meaning when you consider today’s BPOs (where ten hour shifts in front of a console are the norm). Housewives swear by their microwave ovens and mobile phones double up as personal secretaries.

What’s more - until a few years ago, design was designer... clothes, cars and the likes. But today design is slowly becoming associated with everyday life. From bathrooms to brooms, we suddenly feel the need for everything to function better, look smarter and cost right.

Interestingly, if you reflect on history, it’s quite clear to see that design responds to change. Take for example, the industrial revolution in the early 20th century which saw a spurt of new

Cover Story

development of advanced machines, it was observed that the best aircraft flown by the best-trained pilots - still crashed. And in 1943, when a U.S. Army lieutenant, showed that this socalled “pilot error” could be greatly reduced by replacing confusing designs by logical and differentiable controls – this where the science of ergonomics lay root.

But design can also lead to change. Case in point, the Sony walkman: a result of design innovation that has lead a revolution and with it - a complete new way to look at exercise.

So, where there’s change, there’s design and today when change is the norm, design is a necessity. If you can spot change, you will find opportunity for design. A new machine or process, different materials, different users/ customers, a new region of sale - all throw up exciting design opportunities that unfortunately, rarely get addressed.

But sometimes, design does fail. One reason that can be attributed to this failure is that design is yet seen as the Designer’s business.

Frankly, this couldn’t be

further from the truth. Design is everybody’s business. Not that I’m saying you need to quickly pick up a pencil and start sketching. But there is a designer in all of us and every time you change the font size on your PPT, shift your furniture around at home or work, or choose your shirt to match your trousers, it’s this latent design sense that’s kicking in. The more sensitive you are to your surroundings, the more opportunities you will find to challenge yourself and improve things.

Whether it’s on the shop floor tightening nuts and bolts and working machinery, or getting up close with customers and convincing them about your product, there are hundreds of little things that can prop up your company image and contribute to the satisfaction and delight to the thousands of Godrej users.

Just last week, my friend and I were browsing through Crossword. Suddenly he picked up something and said, “Look at this, aren’t they cool...” Coloured stapler pins if you must. I was amazed, so simple and yet no one had done it till now. What a great idea! We bought two packs and left feeling very satisfied.

Now, that may not have been e v e r y o n e ’s reaction but I’m sure there are plenty more like us who smiled when they first saw them. To me this is what design is... being delightful by being thoughtful. …the revolution has begun.

But if we as Indians need to stand

up and be counted as a country that produces world class products, there is another and more significant role that needs to be addressed - that of the critical consumer. As long as users and customers do not recognize and relate to good design and quality, we will continue to churn out substandard products and services.

But when we reject design that doesn’t conform to our quality standards, objects we feel are not thoughtfully designed, we raise the bar and create an atmosphere that demands better and better output. And when this becomes routine, good design will stop being sporadic, and become the norm rather than the exception.

After all who needs coloured stapler pins!

“

There is a designer in all of us and every time you change the font size on your PPT, shift your furniture around at home or work, or choose your shirt to match your trousers, it’s this latent design sense that’s kicking in.

“

products; or the introduction of plastics that reshaped our world in the 50s. And the place of ergonomics in our life which first found mention during World War II; when despite the

(Jashish Kambli is a practicing industrial designer and is one of the founding partners of Futuring Design Pvt. Ltd.)

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Making Life Easier Do you think design is getting adequate importance in the Indian scheme of things? Are the Indian consumers ready to accept welldesigned products at this point?

To a very large extent, yes. Earlier, many people did not understand what design was. Even people in the industry thought that design means styling.

Styling is just one part of design. You start with work shape etc, but after that the substantive part of design follows, which is the engineering part of design.

Deciding how you are going to make it, how it will function, whether the

for performance and there was no importance given to styling.

But now it’s no longer that way. We must keep in mind that styling can be the starting point for design but it can't be the end. Too stylish a product does not necessarily mean that the design is good. An overly stylish product could have serious limitations in terms of performance. Design, in an industry like ours i.e. the Appliances industry, is a harmonious mix of both. One is the starting point, the other is the ending point and both have to merge to get some sense out of it.

As a person who has been in design for such a long time what do you think is the starting point of design? How do you begin?

Burzin Wadia

It is a very important question.

Everybody has been saying that one must look at what the market and ascertain the wants and utility of

Not necessarily. All that better design means it that it has most appropriately suited for use and it most optimally satisfy the consumer's needs. If better technology is imperative to do that, then certainly. But it is not necessarily so.

In terms of design how can do you think can we stack up against huge international players, as in the case of our appliance business?

One thing is for sure as far stacking up is concerned, if we compare ourselves in sheer size, then we practically won't stack up anywhere because they large departments, large capabilities and a lot of manpower. That is in no way indicative of the nature of their capacity.

Again, from the effectiveness point of view - to see that the need is satisfied, to ensure that the looks and the selling is right and the product is in general right, size is not a critical thing.

Engineering better design Burzin Wadia shares his perceptions, his concerns and what he thinks could be an impediment in the design movement. internal parts are well fitted or not, assembly, disassembly, material - all that is a part of design.

How important a part of design is styling?

It's subjective really. If you are designing a locomotive, you need not pay too much attention to style. What would be important is design for performance, design for economy, and the like. This is the case with almost all engineering design. In the case of appliances, earlier they were designed

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products. But for years together, when we said we were looking at the market, we were actually looking towards marketing. Marketing is only a subset of the market. So, there was a big gap between what our marketing used to think and what the actual market wanted. This gap can be huge.

Recently, we have stated the practice of trying to understand the market by interacting with consumers. So that I think should be the starting point.

Does better design necessarily imply better or more technology?

What are your dilemmas as a design person?

One important dilemma, which a designer always faces, is up front on decision-making. Design is very subjective. What you like, he may not like and what the two of you like, I may not like. So each time, we need to take a call and say “We should do this, because it has a higher chance of succeeding�. And more often than not, there is no scientific basis to it. It is a gut feeling. But finally, what you chose could bomb. It may just not work! And

Making Life Easier

the reason for that may or may not be performance issues, there could be fairly frivolous reasons.

period of time. But that's really the appropriate way to start.

Another vital thing is that I think at least 50-60 percent of the people Do you have an object of desire in in design terms of design? need to have b e e n There are two things of daily use the grounded on bent access or flexible access the shopfloor. toothbrush. I don't know how effective That way they it is but it is convenient. Another thing would have is the Gillette shaving razor. I like it for handled the the same reason of convenience in product and design. w o u l d therefore What should Godrej do to become understand the processes and products. stronger in design?

So you can be certain their design won't be outrageous to manufacture.

We have a fair amount of knowledge base and capability on engineering Is there any one thing Human designs and products. We are rather Resources can do to attract more weak is the aesthetics and styling people in the design function? design part. So it is best to outsource that part. The young workforce of today I think we need to get in people and would be right for the job as they are clearly tell them that finally they will more enthusiastic, they are more be in design, but that we want to chart experimentative‌I am not saying that a proper career path for them. The path it can't be developed in-house over a of entry should be in manufacturing or

quality, then they should be moved to various functions (even the markets) and finally after a period of four, five or maybe even seven years, we should bring them into design.

If we directly hire them from college and bring them into the design function - yes, they bring with them their knowledge of CAD-CAM and all of that, but the output will need a lot of re-work and attention due to lack of experience.

What do you think could be the other roadblocks in carrying the design movement forward?

Today, our designs are largely reactive, not proactive as in we have nothing in inventories, so we have no ammunition ready as we go forward to battle it out. That is really something we need to develop.

Indrapal Singh Megha Moorthy

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Designing Spaces

Ever wondered how your colleague got that dream house! Here are some guidelines to help you sail through. Sonal Mamoowala, a practicing interior decorator shares the options available today and a few invaluable tips.

As a professional, the designer's job is to put a client's idea into reality. Buying a new house is a dream come true for most people. How does this house become a home? Today, apartments in new buildings have limited area as compared to spacious bungalows and havelis. This limited area has to accommodate a lot of furniture. Besides almost every member in the family has specific needs/ requirements and ideas to go about it. People with an eye for aesthetics and some knowledge can manage to decorate their homes w i t h o u t professional help.

But today, people have realised the need of design for optimum use of limited space.

Basically, budget (or costing) and time are the most important factors in the design and decoration process. These are deciding factors for the quantity and quality of work.

Besides a detailed list of requirements by (all) family members, ensures an ideal design.

The ABC of interior design

Initially, an architect/interior designer prepares preliminary lay out plans by allocating areas as per requirements.

Once accepted, conceptual design schemes are prepared and thereafter 6

detailed drawings are worked out.

Though each room has its own individual design, the whole apartment has to be treated as one unit with some continuity and integration of space.

At this stage, with layout plans finalised, a client may opt to go in for readymade furniture if time is a criteria.

But else the budget needs to be worked out before all else.

Once a broad basis, a ball park figure per square feet is applicable to residences and offices. This leads to allocation of funds per room basis, which decides detailing like materials, finishes, fabric, paint, polish etc.

Starting from the entrance lobby we work out details of kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms, living- dinning spaces, family rooms etc. Each area design is user specific. Clients today, are aware of the new products in this industrythanks to the exhibitions, magazines, internet and media - all bombard you with info! Fully equipped, the client specifies exactly what is in mind and on paper (through brochures) and the design process starts. A couple of field trips to showrooms, public spaces, help decision making.

At the very beginning we decide on style as in period, contemporary, modern, fusion, ethnic whatever! This is followed by colours, texture, ambience etc.

Kitchens are looking better and better with each passing day. Storage areas have become easily accessible by drawers in place of unreachable

Designing Spaces highlighting, picture lights (as name suggests) up lighters for ambience - the choices are endless!

In case of the entrance lobby (if space permits), it is very important to keep away the view of main living room cut door. A seating arrangement helps take care of people like office staff and other service oriented people like dhobi, watchmen, courier boys etc.

shelves, trolleys have replaced inaccessible corners - appliances like HOBS have replaced Gas burners, chimneys reduce smoke, granite surfaces are virtually maintenance free for life.

Bathrooms, today, have almost begun to resemble Cleopatra's private chambers, with the sheer variety of tiles and fittings available. But very often bathrooms prove to be the biggest problem area, as clients tend to get confused with all the options available.

The price of each element (tiles, shower panel, fittings, basin) could be the deciding factor in bath design.

Careful coordination is essential. A little professional help can go a long way in defining the ambience of your bathroom.

Bedrooms are personal spaces and so it's important to pay special attention to their requirement. Understanding the client's lifestyle can help and design for specific usage. Fold away Ironing boards, hidden closets, drawers below bed add to storage space! Usage of mirrors helps increase space, at least virtually. We also have a variety of beds to choose from - single bed, double bed, pullout bed, sofa cum bed one can choose depending on the space available.

Living Dining Spaces are the public areas in one home and therefore given more importance as a visitor's impression is based on the living space.

Size of family and room determines the sizes of sofa and dining table - but design depends on costing. Light fittings add to a great extent. Mood lightning by use of dinners, general concealed lighting, spot lights for

Lastly, accessories can make or mar a well designed house. Items like photo frames, plants, paintings, objects-d-art (curios), ornamental mirrors, strategically placed can enhance the ambience of a place. Well coordinated self furnishings like drapes/curtains, upholstery bedspreads, rugs/carpets, cushions when used creatively can do wonders for your house.

Overall the important thing is to have a home that reflects your sensibilities, caters to your requirements and makes you feel relaxed after all it's the only space we can really call our own.

A note of advice: Before decorating your house or re-designing your house, a basic consultation from a professional can save time and effort and get better results than self help.

(Sonal Hussein is a practicing interior decorator)

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Reflect, Restore, Reimagine

Bringing design to the center Archivist Vrunda Pathare delves deeper to find some interesting details on the erstwhile Design Centre at Godrej

Dr. P A Joshi discussing the design of AB typewriter with his team

In a website for industrial design, an article discussing the definition of Industrial design has two rather interesting anecdotes: An executive at a large retail channel, after sitting through a 30-minute presentation, summed it up bluntly: "Well, this is all very impressive, and the products you've shown here are great. But why is it that all the design projects I've done in the last 10 years have failed?"

The second being a charismatic young entrepreneur on design awards: "Awards are the kiss of death. If you win a design award, the product is no good, its dead, it's never taking off."

The author of the piece went on to write, “The quickest way to end a design debate with a good designer is with the question: "...but would you buy it?" Deceptively simple, but straight through the heart, it's amazing how

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quickly designers who fought hard for a far-reaching concept will reevaluate their position when faced with their own pocketbook. Is it too far to push this to a rule that "if you won't buy it to do the work it's meant to do for the price it's meant to carry, it is not 'Industrial' enough?�

Form, function, desirability, manufacturability, affordability - all these are the ingredients of successful design. And design engineers, who conceptualize ideas, create and execute the design solutions towards problems of engineering, marketing, brand development and sales are among main pillars of any manufacturing unit.

A manufacturing organisation like Godrej had the vision and foresight to understand this criticality of design and Mr. Naoroji (Naval) Godrej conceived

Reflect, Restore, Reimagine

Design team at work

the idea of starting a centralised designing activity catering to all manufacturing plants and their products at the start of 1970s. A few design engineers were brought together for spearheading this design activity at Godrej. As a result, a design centre was created in mid-1970s.

Godrej Archives brings you the story of this Design Centre through the reminiscences of those who were part of this centralised design activity.

In the year 1971, the design centre was formed after transferring product design engineers, technicians and draftsmen from various plants like locks, typewriter, furniture, security equipments, and refrigerator. However, machine tools, forklift and tool room were not made a part of this centralised design activity. “The reason being, the focus of the design centre was mass application items,” informs Dr. PA Joshi, under whom the Design team was put together.

SA Kolhatkar, SS Kulkarni and Mr. Kshirsagar from the Typewriter Plant joined the team. Ashank Desai, now the CMD of Mastech, was also a part of this design team and looked after refrigerator design. Uday Nanivadekar was in-charge of Locks. Sarang Sulakhe, Dilip Kelkar also joined the Design Centre.

An advertisement calling for design engineers was carried out in newspapers. GR Kulkarni who had

completed his MTech in Machine Design from IIT Mumbai, applied in response to this ad. Subsequently he also became part of the design team in the year 1972.

There were about 12-13 design engineers and about 10-12 draftsmen.

Among draftsmen who joined were: Mr. Tandel, Mr. Gavankar, Mr. Paranjpe, Mr. Ramesh Satam, Mr. Bapat, Mr. Maruti Desai, Mr. Tikam and Mr. Patil. Mr. Tilani was working as stenographer for the design centre.

The design centre was located at Plant 11 which at that time was only a 'ground + one' structure. The first floor was the office and workshop facility was established at the ground floor for making prototypes designed at the centre. Mr. Gawade was looking after the workshop. Raghunath Patil, Mafatlal Panchal, Mr. Shinde and Chimanlal Panchal were working at the workshop. The library containing technical books and periodicals was also maintained at the Design centre.

George Eipe used to look after the library.

“The main function”, as Dr. PA Joshi puts it, “was to undertake the work of new product design, improve existing products, study customer product complaints and take remedial measures.”

The scope of the activity was however limited to making of prototypes, said Mr. Kolhatkar. The decision of whether to go ahead and manufacture the product lay with the top management, who would base it on feasibility.

Among the various products developed at this Design Centre important products were: The carbon film ribbon for the typewriter, Tubular latches, Fire Resisting Filing Cabinets (FRFC), industrial heavy duty racking and several others.

GK Kulkarni particularly remembers two products that they developed: Fire resisting filing cabinets, the product which was commercialised later and is still in production even today. One of the other designs they developed was for Locks. A problem was being faced with the bending of the lock shackle (the U bend rod) – it was 9

Reflect, Restore, Reimagine

Design Group, From L to R: Mr. Gawankar, Mr. Satam, Mr. Gawade, Dr. P A Joshi, Mr. Kolhatkar, Mr. Tolani and Mr. Samudra

a bent. So he said that nothing wrong should happen even if the user puts his hand inside the drawer and presses it down. He asked us to improve on this.

So immediately the next day we modified the design by adding a stiffening bracket to the front portion of the drawer. Then he again came and checked the strength by clinging to the fully loaded, extended drawer. This time nothing happened. The drawer was working perfectly fine. So he was happy and gave his go ahead.

He also recollects that NPG took very special interest in the design centre almost everyday or every alternate day he used to visit and give suggestions on improvements to be made. One incident which Mr. Kulkarni vividly remembers was when Mr. NP Godrej came to see the telescopic slides for fire resisting cabinets that the Design Centre had developed. These slides were to carry 30 kg load when they are fully extended meaning when the entire drawer is opened. One day Mr. N P Godrej came to the shop area when the endurance test for these slides was being carried out. To check the strength of the slides, he extended the drawer fully and suddenly clung on to the drawer front when the drawer was fully loaded. With that much of a load the front portion of the drawer got

The design centre also made 20 prototypes of the lateral filing cabinets.

Interesting feature of this cabinet was the Scissor's type arrangement provided at the back of the drawer to ensure fully parallel movement of a wide drawer. This product was never commercialised. But these prototypes found their way to the offices of few in Godrej, recollects Mr. Kulkarni.

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Dr. Joshi recalls the development of tube bending machines for Malaysia.

“We made two such machines which were sent to Malaysia. They wanted tube bending machines which could be hand operated. Automatic machines are available for bending tubes and they were being used in furniture plant.

However NPG said that we need some machines which can be manually

operated. Malaysia was a very poor country in those days (and could not afford the automatic machines). So we made some machines (which then) were shifted there.”

The other significant contribution made by the Design Centre, as pointed out

by Dr. Joshi, was that for the first time the polyurethane foams were used for the heat insulation. The man behind this was Mr. Ashank Desai. He and Mr. Shahpurkar had started an initial work on foaming fixtures at the Design Centre, recalled Mr. Kolhatkar.

“

NPG took very special interest in the design centre almost everyday or every alternate day he used to visit and give suggestions

“

specifically an alignment problem. The problems to be addressed by the Design Centre were: non-uniformity in bend angle and skewness in slot relative to the bend. The solution proposed by the design center to bend the lock shackles is put in use even today. “Of course now with the proper controls but the basic principle, the basic way in which the lock shackle is formed is still the same as was developed at that time by the design centre.”

Dr. Joshi takes pride in the fact that the initial work on fractionating trays for the IPCL also began at the Design

Reflect, Restore, Reimagine Centre …the work that in fact laid the foundation of the Precision Equipment Division. The design centre developed and made prototypes of chemical equipments like fractionating trays, bubble caps…as per the design specifications from Engineers India Limited, New Delhi, who were the engineering consultants to IPCL. The samples were shown to Mr. NP Godrej.

He liked them very much and immediately decided to accept the order and start manufacturing them.

Special plant for manufacturing chemical equipments was set up.

The appreciation of all these efforts of the Design Centre came from the Government of India that acknowledged “Our design Centre as a recognised research and development centre. Our company was represented in various committees of ISI Indian Standard Institution of Government of India and standards for various products were discussed, formulated and updated,” recalled Dr. Joshi.

Design Centre groomed many fresh design engineers by allowing them to use their skills to the fullest and allowing them the freedom to experiment and to design. For them, the design centre provided the necessary training ground where they learned, molded and improved their

skills. The capabilities generated here benefited the company in the long term as these design engineers continued making significant contributions to the manufacturing plants they were sent to. Few like Mr. G R Kulkarni are still contributing their expertise.

When the request came from the Change magazine to trace the history of Design Centre, we were a bit baffled as we had no paper records telling the story of this centralised design activity. On the suggestion of Mr. I P Singh, we decided to meet those who were associated with the activity in 1970s like Dr. P A Joshi, Mr. S A Kolhatkar, Mr. G R Kulkarni. Interactions with them proved very fruitful based on which we could write a piece on the Design Centre. We are indebted to them for their time and information.

Our special thanks to Mr. GR Kulkarni who also allowed us to take copies of the records carefully treasured by him, documenting the contribution of the design team.

If you have any information or records pertaining to history of Godrej please contact us at: archives@godrej.com. You can also call us at: 6796 4124/2014

In spite of the success that Design Centre achieved in a short span of its life, a decision was taken to close down the Design centre around 1975-76. In retrospect while citing reasons for its closure, Dr. Joshi thinks the lack of coordination between manufacturing plants and the design centre was most probably the reason for the winding of the centralised design activity. “Design activity has to go with the production.

It should be housed physically (at the plant) because lot of interactions (are required),” observed Dr. Joshi.

Mr. GR Kulkarni says, “If there had been much more involvement from manufacturing plants and if few people from the manufacturing plants itself could have been drawn to do these activities it would have benefited.”

Consequently, the Design Centre had to be soon dissolved…

Though a short lived activity, the

Save our history before it’s gone !!!

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The Lamp is one-piece product that expresses the unique properties of Ultrason allow the bulb to be screwed directly into the plastic so there is no need for a separate socket.

It appears suspended, entirely visible, in its crystalline Ultrason shell.

The Lamp thus reduced to its most minimal form: a cord; a bulb; a socket.

This new approach is direct result of the Ultrason. The Lamp can stand on a table, or be hung from the ceiling as a pendant. It is as visually compelling when it is on as when it is off.

icons of

modern

design

The Kettle provides a magical experience that will awaken senses that are not usually part of making a cup of tea: You can clearly see water boiling in a plastic vessel.

You can safely touch the container while the water boils.

The Kettle excites the senses and challenges us to react differently to heat. Because the Kettle is inspired by the traditional carafe, it can be placed directly on the table once the water has been heated.

Unlike the traditional kettle, however, massive and opaque, Ultrason allows it to have a light and transparent look. A metal plate integrated into the bottom of the carafe heats the water by induction so that the product is sealed and easy to clean.

The insulating properties of Ultrason, combined with a double wall and an ergonomic shape, allow for a firm grip or a gentle caress.

The Kettle has no handle because it doesn’t need one!

The scream of an alarm clock. The shock of a bare foot on cold floor. We can’t do away with mornings, but can we at least soften the painful transition from the serenity of sleep to the stress of getting ready for work?

The Toaster seeks to do just that. Soft-edged and lightweight, you can see it down wherever you are. Thanks to its open and transparent shell, you can see and smell your toast, and thus let your senses do the work of a mechanical timer.

Speed it up; slow down; interrupt it to answer the phone.

The chef controls the appliance, not the way around.

To complete the morning ritual, the Toaster opens like your morning newspaper to offer you its modest gifts: warm, golden, and slightly crunchy: a piece of toast.

What could be more commonplace than the wise coat hanger? What could be more familiar than the T-shirt? Only a radical new technology could inspire us to rethink such ordinary things.

The new Hanger concept brings together these two iconic forms to hang, dry, and warm shirts.

It dries by heat and irons by tension, eliminating two entire stages of the laundry tedium. And it does so with a wink and smile.

The traditional hair dryer is one of those utilitarian objects that long ago lost our interest.

But in neglect lies opportunity!

The Travel Hair Dryer makes use of the properties of Ultrason to rethink the appliance from the ground up. The insulating character of the material allows us to do away with the handle, which makes it smaller, lighter, and more compact than other travailing hair dryers.

The emphasis on portability is likewise reflected in the way the cable can be wrapped around the body and >> plugged<< into the exhaust grid at the top. The Travel hair Dryer benefits from the properties of Ultrason in other respects as well. The entire product can be produced in a one-step moulding process so that no part lines are visible, and the hot air vents are moulded directly into the housing. Inspired by Ultrson, it is a study in simplicity.

The Hanger is witty, but rests upon new and innovative technology. The induction bar acts to heat up a thin filament which runs along its exterior edge, and we can exploit the heat resistence, structural properties, and metal-bonding capabilities of Ultason to take the T-shirt and the coat hanger to places theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never been before.

Courtesy: Ideo (Ideo is a world renowned design firm)

Designing Our Way Competition in the market for locks is intense. Over the years imports from China and products from un-organised sector have captured the bulk of the market at the lower end. In other segments, established local players are becoming stronger day by day, also every player in the market is importing locks and accessories for meeting the requirements of boom in the construction industry. It's in the context of this competitive scenario, CHANGE spoke to the Divisional Head, BK Rajkumar, Design Head TS Murali and Marketing Head, KN Modi of the Locks division to get a better understanding of how the design process works.

Unlocking opportunities Ch: Can you tell us how design helps you compete more effectively in the competitive scenario?

BKR: I think in the segment of institution sales, design plays an important role. In this segment there is a substantial demand for so-called as per order (APO) items. As we have a strong design team we are able to offer innovative solutions for these requirements and overcome competition. It is here that we get a better mileage from the good designs that we have.

KNM: I believe design does help us compete better against competition.

Let me give you an example: we came out with a tribolt version of locks in our range of ultra locking systems. No one has introduced such a lock in India; it was indeed an innovative solution where we have combined our ultra lock with kadi. Also the aesthetics were made attractive with satin nickel finish – first of its kind in India.

Thus, an innovative product combined 14 14

with superior aesthetics as well as different finishes and a large number of variants helped us create a new product category, which posed a serious challenge to the competition, besides meeting the needs of a segment of the market.

TSM: As locks are highly commodised category, no sooner we come out with new designs, they get quickly copied and get introduced in the market place at lower prices nullifying our advantage. In order to retain an edge we now adopted the mode of taking protection under the prevailing laws.Also we have learnt to avoid the “me too” trap and we offer something

new over and above w h a t meets the requirements of the customers. We now use design to bring about a degree of freshness to our product portfolio. We design features, which excite the customers as to their newness…

This is what we do to sustain ourselves in the market in the short run.

However, for the long-term advantage we increasingly use newer technologies for a competitive edge.

The application of this new technology is not visible to the customers but is experienced by them in terms of

TS Murali, Design Head, BK Rajkumar, Business Head and KN Modi, Marketing Head Locks Division

Designing Our Way enhanced security and other benefits.

This is how we deploy design to keep competition away.

good looks. It should not be easy to copy and should give us advantage in short as well as long run.

BKR: Let me make two brief comments.

First, design does help us in moving away from products manufactured in bulk to specialised products meant for the specific segments of the market. It is here that better designs give us an edge. Secondly adoption of Design For Manufacture approach helps us contain costs and improve productivity.

Thus I would say that design orientation does help us in becoming competitive in mass as well as specialised market segments.

Ch: Do you have a dominant philosophy of design, say, like design for cost (DFC) or design for assembly (DFA)?

Ch: How would you define good design?

TSM: The philosophy that we adopt varies from product line to product line, say for low priced padlocks we try and follow the DFC philosophy and for complex and high â&#x20AC;&#x201C;end product lines we may adopt a different philosophy. No matter whichever approach we use the product must meet the functional requirements. All products should look contemporary and attractive.

BKR: Good design is something, which meets the unique needs of the customer. If design is good than you can expect high quality to be built in at the design stage itself. The product as such should be free

But sometime when I design a particular product I don't keep in view the reality; I try and think out of the box. That is very essential for breakthrough products.

from defects. If the design is not good we land up with problems with manufacturing and in the field that is at the customers end. I personally believe that good design is very important for our business.

KNM: According to me good design is which meets the requirements of the customer and is aesthetically appealing. A well designed product should stand out amongst competition.

Of course it should be without defects and should be cost competitive.

TSM: As I mentioned earlier good design should have good features and

Ch: Can you give an example of a product, which is a result of out of the box thinking?

TSM: According to our design team we believe that our magnum lock is a good example of out of the box thinking. In those case we could not think of what e wanted in the first go: but as we kept at it and continued refining the designs we could come much closer to what we have imagined in the first place.

Sometimes we land up having a gap between what we are imaging and what design we could come up with and sometimes our enthusiasm leads

us to add features which may not be required by the customers. Hence, I would say that for coming out with the truly new product we have to strike a balance between the outcome of our out of the box thinking and what is possible to produce at a cost expectable to our marketing team and the market place.

Ch: Over the years do you see a shift in our dominant design approach say of DFM or DFC to Design to delight or similar higher-level approach?

TSM: I think we are evolving towards higher level of approaches from the basic ones. Magnum range and the Milocks is the example. In Milocks range we have a product for each of the selected applications. This range of locks is very modern looking and looks rather cool. When we were conceptualising these range of locks, I don't think we have kept in mind how exactly we are going to make them or produce them at lower cost.

I understand that we must design to delight but the question is what is it that delights the customers? In the past customers like rugged locks, but today customers are looking for attractive shape, colour: the vibrancy of colours used and similar attributes. Customers are saying that they need locks, which will last them upto 5 years, there after they are simply not bothered. As you can appreciate the requirements are changed a lot over the years. Looks are very important today. So I think the focus are shifted to finding out what will excite the customer.

15 15

Designing Our Way Ch: How do you capture consumer insights? What is your process of giving inputs to the design team? (Addressed to Karthik Modi)

scope of work for design for the planned ranged of introduction is more or less frozen in the ABP, changes if any are made if they become absolutely essential.

Ch: Is there any departmental mission for the design? If yes what is it?

KNM: As such there are no structured processes for marketing to give inputs to the design team. My colleagues in marketing meet a large of number customers at various forays and it is from there they pick up the specific ideas for consideration. For institutional customers we have a format using which we try and structure the requirements to be given to the design team. Thereafter periodically, we have discussions with the design team for developing a solution. The initial solution is mulled over by us shown to the customer, feedback obtained which is given to the design team. After many iterations an expectable, solution may emerge.

After the customers accept the solution it is given to the creative head for improving the aesthetics and giving the product a final shape.

BKR: Apart from what Modi said, when our teams meet to develop annual business plan, then also we have discussion on new products that are required to meet our business needs.

Approved requirements are given to the design team for development. This is a continuous process where by whenever ideas are received they are passed on to the design and Marketing team for evaluation. However the 16

TSM: Yes, our mission is to create a robust bank of designs - robust here is akin to a good bank account from which you can withdraw as much as you want whenever you need.

Likewise, we are developing multigeneration designs, for meeting our future needs. Only some of these are incorporated into our current ABP, while others are kept for future use.

Also, work pertaining to Intellectual property rights (IPR) is carried out before the designs are realised for commercialisation.

Ch: What is the size of the design bank today?

TSM: We may at least have 40 â&#x20AC;&#x201C;50 designs as of now, but as I said earlier building this design bank is an ongoing effort.

Ch: What difficulties do you face once it is decided to operationalise the design?

BKR: We have a new product introduction process at our end. I must say that we have a long way in deploying this process. Earlier it used to be dominate by design but today it is highly cross functional and not dominated by any particular team.

The team under goes many iterations before every one agrees what is to be done, the of course a question arises how do we scaled up the volumes? To the shop floor I have mandated that new products should be given a priority. But in practice it does not happen because of strong demand for regular items. We do sort out this priority issue by consulting each other.

Ch: Have you used design as a tool for creating something new and beneficial to the business?

BKR: Yes we have use design as a concept to improve our manufacturing process, marketing communications, offices etc. We have also used the concept of design to create unique promotional materials, as well as to improve our packaging. We also use design for creating point of sale material and customer help literature which can be called 'loctionary', inspired by the dictionary.

KNM: We also use design concepts for having normal formats for our sales force and dealer conference, in fact we have design our supply chain in a unique way. A study of our supply chain based on replenishment model was highly appreciated at IIM Ahemebad.

Ch: What would you like to do to promote design consciousness in your business?

BKR: Generally I insist on discussion and documentation on what has happened before, during and after implementation. Examining these three stages gives us many insights to do better.

KNM: I encourage people to come forward and share. Also I encourage people to undergo a lot of training.

BKR: Since you have raised the issue of enhancing the design cocinousness at our division, we will certainly discuss it among our selves and will develop an approach for it. We will certainly do something about it.

Indrapal Singh Megha Moorthy

What was your early career like? How did it really shape up?

My career started with Godrej and today after almost 25 years; here I am sitting in front of you.

From 1983 to 2007 - How has the journey in Godrej been?

I joined in 1983 as a GET. At that time, BS Rao used to be the branch manager and there was a vacancy for an industrial products engineer in sales.

So they came to our campus and I was the only one to get selected from my batch. I was thrilled to the bits and rest is history. Next year I will complete 25 years with the organisation and many

country with my kids and my wife. By the time they would settle in one place, the next transfer would come. My wife sacrificed her career to support the family during these transfers. My kids, though small at that time took up the challenges sportingly. They have been great in supporting me wherever I went.

Before I became the Divisional Head, my posting was in Calcutta and I got a call from Mr. Kalwachia and he asked me to come to Mumbai the next day.

I was rather surprised at the sudden short notice call and was wondering what had gone wrong suddenly. I tried to quickly assess everything that had happened at the Kolkata (then Calcutta) branch for the last couple of days. But I could not think of anything that had gone really wrong. Once I reached, he told me that they wanted to appoint me as Divisional Head for the Tooling Division. I was surprised to say the least because it was a new field altogether.

I have been all along been in sales and marketing functions. But then I guess it was destiny…

So if you were to look back and analyse how it I has been so far, how would you really rate yourself?

D K Sharma on the shopfloor

18

of my friends ask me, “DK what is wrong with you?” I say, “Nothing is wrong. The joy of having worked in the same organisation for 25 years and being a part of building it and seeing it grow is tremendous. You probably don’t know the joy of sticking to one organisation and being a part of building it.”

I will not be content with my performance to be honest. When I took charge, there was a big challenge of turning the division around which we did as a team. The key rule business is to value growth and be consistent in your performance. We were a bit inconsistent with our performance.

World over in the tooling business, you will see spikes. So the biggest challenge is to see how to make it even.

When you were appointed Divisional Head what was your first reaction?

And what are the challenges of moving from being a captive tool room to commercial one?

I thought, am I really capable of leading the division? Honestly, I was not prepared to believe. To give you a little background and I had five transfers in four years and I moved all over the

The biggest challenge was the mindset of the people. They were not attuned to working for external customers. And what spoiled us was the fact that we were praised for whatever performance

Know Your Divisional Head

Even now we have internal customers.

The internal part fluctuates from 515%. And my customer’s team acknowledges that there is a sea change in our performance on all the three parameters which I talked about.

We are not only competitive, we have improved our performance on the delivery front as well as quality.

You also shifted from component tooling to panel tooling. Can you tell us something about that?

It is an opportunity. The auto industry is a prime driver for tooling and with all the auto majors setting up shop in the country, we realised that there is an opportunity of working with these

giants. We started working with Honda to begin with. Having seen the capability of our people as well as the infrastructure available with us, they asked us to go ahead and agreed to give us a chance. We were quite encouraged and that’s when we made the flow of the Honda City car.

Then there was no looking back. We saw a big market coming our way and it worked well for us.

What are the manufacturing evolutions that the division has undergone in the past couple of years?

The evolution is in the technology, the use of latest software and the latest machinery. If we were to go down to our shopfloor, you will see a mix of old and new machines. We were using old technology machines. When we got exposed to the outside world, we had thrown open the challenge of how to complete the tool in the limited time and maintain the required quality standards. There has been a paradigm shift in terms of the technologies being used. We have moved with time, so to give you an example, the technology used in America, Germany and Japan, we used to same technology which was not the case in the past. We have bought new technology machines, high speed machines, the sizes that we handle are totally different. The softwares which are available for CAD and CAM operations, have been revamped. So the end result is that if I go and transact business in any developed country, there is a tool available for me to communicate well with them and satisfy them all the time.

“

Having seen the capability of our people as well as the infrastructure available with us, Honda asked us to go ahead and agreed to give us a chance...then there was no looking back.

“

we put up – irrespective of whether it was good or bad. In any function, there are 3 criteria - quality, cost and delivery. On the quality front, we got accolades from all our cousins - the divisions. Again the feedback we had got in terms of cost was that we were the best. The third was the costing part -since we were only catering to our divisions, it was just a transfer of money from one pocket to the other. So even that was thought to be unproblematic.

Once we decided to become a commercial tool room, we introspected and realised that we were wanting on all the three. And that was only because we were not exposed to the external customer. Once we moved towards being a commercial tool room, most of us realised that we needed to change a lot. When I joined, I didn’t know the ‘T’ of tooling. But my challenge was even greater – it was to change the mindset of people to perform better in customer orientation.

And I think my team responded very positively. We turned around and we took a little time, but one thing was very sure, we sent a very clear signal to one and all. Even if there is a slightest disagreement we thrash it out amongst ourselves. Some of us even parted ways. But I am happy for the division, for my team.

Delivery seemed to be a problem area in your business. Is it still a problem area and how will you be working towards resolving that issue?

That’s a very good question.

Incidentally, world over, in the Tooling business, you will not find a tool room pursuing more than one technology.

19

Know Your Divisional Head This means a particular tool room will only specialise in injection moulding or die casting or making plastic moulds. But by virtue of our past, we used to do all and that’s why the complexity used to creep in. So that expands the sheer range that we operated in – we make from small tools to a very, very large tools. So delivery has been a big challenge.

“

We need to grow at a faster pace, not only in terms of size, but I would like to be known as a tooler that keeps up their promises.

Now, over the years the delivery has not only improved, I can proudly say that in the last six months, we have delivered all tools on time. If we consistently deliver on time, the customer will save so much money. So we have an opportunity of earning more. I see no reason why the customers should not give us premium.

So at the end of the day, it’s all about learning to keep your promises. We know tooling, we know how to make tools, we know how to produce good quality, we are now learning to keep our promises.

You mentioned 3 kinds of tooling, can you show us the business, composition of business revenue in terms of each of these.

After assessing profitability, we have decided that we need to reduce injection moulding and grow more in the die casting business. We want it to be around 50 percent. This will be followed by around 40 percent with sheet metal. And the remaining 10 percent will be special purpose machines. We have a small group with us who are experts in making special purpose machines. And that group serves our internal customers largely.

“

Your division has won several awards in the last couple of years. Can you tell us a little bit about them?

Well, Honda repeatedly gave us the award for the best tooling supplier in the country and Bentler of Germany declared us as the best tool maker in India. Valeo of France, even though they have not rated us have complimented us that we are the the 20

best tool maker in the country. This is not enough. I think this is just the beginning. We need to have more and more awards for more value to customers.

I was in Canada sometime back and I was meeting another tool maker over there. During my interaction, I came to know that they recently got an order from Honda for making one component. The way they talked about it and publicized it, I left thinking to myself that we already have Honda who has been given us awards for the last 3 years. I think we should celebrate – being able to work for the world’s best engine maker is a huge thing for the morale of the entire team. And ff Honda says we are the best toolmaker in the country, we need to just quietly acknowledge it and say ok we are on the right track.

Where do you see the division in the next three to five years?

Today we are the largest tool room in the country, five years hence also I would like to be. I can tell you that people around us are also growing, but we need to take a faster pace to be ahead of them. So not only in terms of size, I want to be the best for keeping up promises. Our business will flow automatically and we will make our mark when we achieve this and I am certain we are going to. We will not only make a mark in the domestic arena, but will be recognised on the world map for keeping our promises.

You attended the University Michigan programme sometime back, what were your key learnings from that programme?

The key learnings from this programme had been that we need not bask in our past glory. The biggest learning for me was to re-look at the strategy in the way we manage our business. We generally tend to believe past successes as our benchmarks. I realised that we need to introspect and see and create new benchmarks for us which will take us

to the global arena - thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really been the biggest learning.

Another thing I learnt was that communication of the strategies is extremely important- even to each and every workman.

Another part of my learning was the concept of co-creation. How do you incorporate the feedback of the customer and involve the customer in developing your products? That is particularly applicable for us since we are in a product centric business. It is high time we become customer centric. In other words I am asked to make a tool as per the requirements of the customer. I can very well make that and take my money and be happy. This will not make me global. This will not make me expand at the rate we wish to. The only way to do that is to involve the customer in all the transactions, take his feedback seriously so that he comes to you automatically It may sound difficult to us here but co-creation means working along with the customer not only regarding the development of the products but the existing products also. And I think it could work wonders for us.

How important do you think knowledge management is?

Talking about the same programme, I learned the success stories of leaders like Apple, who make use of technology to enhance their business and deliver value to the customer. I think I see a great merit in use of IT for knowledge management. I think we need to make use of all the tools to retain our knowledge base and deskill the job. My agenda number 1 is to implement use of IT tools for knowledge management. Currently, my IT budget is around 1 percent.

Companies that have been successful in doing this keep aside at least 2 percent.

What kind of a leader do your colleagues sort of perceive you to be?

I really push my team very hard. So,

though they see me as a hard task master, at the end of the day we enjoy our association.

What kind of a person is Mr. D. K. Sharma?

Very sensitive, emotional and always very conscious of my reputation and how to maintain it. I am also a very impatient person. However, I value ethics and integrity the most.

Personally, what are your aspirations?

D K Sharma with his family

To inspire others along with myself to spread happiness in life - not only for yourself, but for families and people around. Not business, not money, not tools â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but spreading unadulterated happiness.

What are the personal milestones you want to achieve?

Way back in March 1995, I had a near fatal accident. This is my bonus life and want to live it to the fullest. Well given the opportunity I would certainly like to be in Switzerland with a glass of beer on the top of the mountain. (Laughs) When you have spent a good 30-40 years of your life working hard, one must ensure that the remaining few years are spent in peace.

Indrapal Singh Megha Moorthy 21

Appliance Division

Home Base

The Launch of the ‘Smiles’

We, at Godrej Appliances, started this New Year with a bang!! After all, this is no ordinary year for us- it is our 50th Anniversary, our Golden Jubilee Year! This called for a celebration- and not just the regular celebration but a grand affair that would lend a sparkle to the year ahead. So we brought out the drum rolls and lit up the fireworks!! We called this celebration- Jubilee of Smiles.

For 50 years, we have been giving our partners reasons to smile. And through Jubilee of Smiles, we just want to say‘We Plan to Continue!’ For the coming 50 years too, we are confident that we will be able to make all our stakeholders smile. As a step towards this, we gave our partners the first smile for the year- by launching an entire range of 5 Star rated Refrigerators and innovative Air Conditioners!

got the distinctive 5 Star Energy Rating connoting its energy efficiency. The Edge range also addresses the space needs of a refrigerator customer by giving the largest vegetable tray – 20 Litres big and an extra dry store to stock dry vegetables like onions and potatoes. In short, Godrej Edge attends to all the needs of a consumer: cooling, efficiency and space.

Edge also meets the aesthetic needs of the consumers by offering him a host of colors to choose from. Along with the extensive Edge range, we also added new members to the Eon family of Frost Free refrigerators in 230 Litres, 435 Litres and 485 Litres.

This vast new range of refrigerators was launched under the

Unveiling the new Godrej Edge range of refrigerators and Navigator air conditioners

brand name - Godrej Edge. Godrej Edge boasts of features never seen before in the Direct Cool Refrigerator space.

Convection Control Technology and a unique Step Designed Freezer- Freeze Express ensure Fastest Ice Making and Fastest Recoup, and also provide for a special chilling zone Chill Express. These features and technology make it the coolest refrigerator in its class. But this distinction is not got at the cost of electricity consumption. The entire range has 22

To add a double punch to the Golden Jubilee year, we also unveiled our innovative array of Air conditioners- Navigator ACs with i-Flow Technology. The i-FLOW Technology eliminates the chance of cool air getting sucked back into the grill by clever positioning of air suction openings, thus maneuvering air smartly. This makes the air conditioner work at a higher efficiency and provides accelerated cooling.

The curvy design prevents dust accumulation on the grill, thus obviating frequent cleaning and maintenance. Also hinges have been provided to the grill for easy removal of the filter. This unique design is aesthetically superior and the only one of its kind today.

This fully-loaded basket of products was launched for the trade partners across the cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad

Home Base and Kolkata through Jan and Feb. Stardust was added to these launches and celebrations, by the presence of dignitaries like Mr. PD. Lam and Mr. Navroze Godrej. This splendid event was kick started by our CMD, Mr. JN Godrej who, through a video recording, reminisced about the eventful journey of the Appliance Division through these 50 years. He went on to appreciate the role played by the trade partners and the consumers in helping us achieve this success.

Laser show- cutting edge and totally futuristic – a special act brought here all the way from Paris to enthrall our dealer friends.

While we paid homage to the past and gave a glimpse of the future, we also saluted the present- i.e. the 50th Year of Appliances, by unveiling the ‘Smiles’ that we have planned for the year. We have a host of initiatives stacked up for all our partners which will be unveiled as the year unfolds.

Some of these initiatives were unveiled at the launch, like the Club Smiles for all our loyal and dedicated consumers.

It will be a privilege club for consumers who believe in us and have confidence in our products. Club Smiles will

PD Lam and Navroze Godrej address Team Appliances

Mr. P.D. Lam, Executive Director and President, Godrej & Boyce showed us the softer side of the Godrej Group - the environmental initiatives undertaken, philanthropic causes supported, in other words- the human face of the company.

To build the bridge from the past into the future, Mr. Navroze Godrej threw some light on the future direction the Appliance division planned to take. He appreciated the research and designing that goes behind each of our products.

This journey from the past to the present, the journey through 50 years of partnering India was brought to life by an enthralling dance performance by Toby and his troupe. The ‘tech’ and ‘fast paced’ future of the Appliance division was beautifully portrayed by the Laserman and his outstanding

bestow loads of benefits, gifts and smiles on these esteemed members.

When we say we want to make ‘our partners’ smile, we consider our trade partners and dealers to be near the top of that list. To encourage and appreciate their support, we launched the exclusive Godrej Star 50 Club. The membership to this elite club is exclusive- only the best dealers with exceptional performance will be eligible for it. We also launched ‘Star Circle’- a quarterly journal through which we can communicate directly and regularly with our trade partners.

To explain these ‘Smiles’ initiatives and to detail them out, we launched the website- www.jubileeofsmiles.com.

All these launches left our dealers and trade partners thrilled and excited- what with the huge and innovative range of Refrigerators and Air Conditioners; beautiful performances

by Toby’s troupe; the amazing Laser show; Jubilee of Smiles; Godrej Club Smiles and last but not the least, Godrej Star 50! In other words, these evenings brought the first smiles of the Golden Jubilee Year for our dealer friends!!

Team Appliances

Toby and his troupe entertain the audience

23

Home Base

‘Our after service providers are a sporting lot’ We conducted a very successful Annual sports event on January 26, 2008 for our Authorised Service Provider (ASP) teams. A cricket match event was held at the Godrej Hillside grounds.

All our ASP teams including the ASP owners, ASP supervisors, ASP back office staff, and our technicians participated in a big way and the total turnout was 218.

full support to the teams. The occasion was also graced by our CEO, George Menezes and our All India Service Head, Ravi Bhat. Other senior members form the service team in the Head office and the Regional office KP Acharya, SS Batni and Vikram Singh also made it to the event.

The winners of the Service Business Awards for the scheme “Sabse Bada Khiladi” were given away at the hands of GeorgeMenezes, who also proposed Elaborate arrangements were made that in the coming year he would like to with the help of our construction see many more winners on the Service The Winning Team department, housing department and Delivery and Customer satisfaction front garden department to get the Hillside ground ready well which would be the true victory in every sense. before the event.

The prize distribution ceremony for the Cricket tournament The initial eight matches were played on the basis of was held in the evening after the finals. The winners were elimination rounds of three overs each. These eight teams felicitated by Ravi Bhat, SS Batni, Vikram Singh and SM then further went through the quarter final rounds. Four Shelke. teams further qualified for the semifinals. The ST Services team (Last year’s winner) and the United Services Team from The teams expressed their happiness and sincere thanks to A/c Service met in the finals, which was keenly contested. Godrej Appliance division for having given them this At the end we had a new winner in United Services team. wonderful opportunity to come together.

Locks Division

Our Branch Service Manager SM Shelke also made it a point to be with the group right form the start and provide

Kamal S Bhagwanani Training and Development

Celebrating National Energy Conservation week Conservation and efficient use of energy has, for a long time, been a priority in Locks Division, hence the division took the opportunity to observe National Energy Conservation week from December 14 to 20 December, 2007. The purpose behind this was to make all our employees aware in order to do their best to conserve and preserve energy and in turn to spread this message to their families and friends.

The respective department engineers gave an Energy Conservation pledge to all the operators during the Green Corner Meetings on December, 14. BK Rajkumar inaugurated the Energy Conservation Poster Exhibition. Also, the Energy Management Policy was released during this 24

DD Narwekar explaining the projects carried out by Locks Division to Mr. JN Godrej, Navroze Godrej and PD Lam.

Home Base week. The main attraction of this week was the visit of Mr. JN Godrej, Navroze Godrej and PD Lam to this exhibition.

Through this initiative, we explained the need and ways of energy conservation to all the Operators by means of banners, posters and video clips brought from Maharashtra Energy Development Agency (MEDA). Also, during the week we introduced an Energy Conservation Suggestion Scheme, Poster competition & â&#x20AC;&#x153;Spot the Energy Lossâ&#x20AC;? contest. The top three suggestions are in their implementation phase.

Mr. B K Rajkumar releases the ENERGY MANAGEMENT POLICY. Also seen in photograph are DD Narwekar, KN Modi and TS Murali

Sanjay R Gawane Locks Division

Meeting global suppliers Coinciding with its 111 year of Existence in India, Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd., Locks Division held a Global Supplier Meet on February 16, 2008 at ITC Grand Central, Mumbai.

17 Overseas suppliers from countries such as China, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Bangladesh and 72 Domestic suppliers participated in the meet.

Thai Trade Consul Ms. Jiraporn Tulyanond with Mr P. D. Lam & Mr. B. K. Rajkumar

A section of the participants

Godrej Locks Division shared its plan of reaching sale value of US$ 100 million by 2010-11 and how the supplier community and the company can work together to achieve this. The result of the recent supplier relationship survey conducted annually was also shared with the gathering.

Some of the foreign delegates with the hosts

Godrej Locks Sourcing Team that made the event possible

25

Home Base

Cricket carnival at Locks division enabled the matches to run down the wire and made the tournament all the more exciting.

Winning Captain receiving trophy from Division Head and Secretary, GBSS

Locks Division organised an Intra-divisional Cricket Tournament from 18th February to 22nd February 2008. To bolster the “Team Spirit”, eight teams were formed mixing Management and workmen across all functions. Further blending the teams by the individuals’ Cricketing Skills

The Winning Team - ‘Tribolt’

Celebrating AIDS Day Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise.

December 1, World AIDS day is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection.

Today this disease has become a big worry for the world.

Around 33.2 Million people are living with AIDS.

and helping agencies were displayed in our plant canteen for the information of all our employees.

The Red Ribbon depicting the global symbol for HIV were distributed to every employee & it is heartening to note that each one wore it throughout the day.

The department engineers had taken all their Operators to this exhibition during the green corner timing, breaks & after working hours explaining them the causes, myths, preventing measures & effects of AIDS. Around 400 employees visited this exhibition.

Sachin R Jaybhaye Locks Division

Locks Division took the initiative to create awareness on AIDS among their employees through a poster exhibition.

This enabled the employees to become aware of the causes, myths, preventive measures & effect of AIDS & in turn spread this message to their families, relatives, & friends.

We obtained the Posters/Red Ribbons/Calendars/Training Kit etc. from our Dispensary & “Mumbai Districts AIDS Control Society” (MDACS). Posters like what is HIV/AIDS, it’s causes, how to prevent the disease, associated myths 26

Godrej sponsors Biospectrum awards Biotechnology is rightly termed as ‘Sunrise Industry’ in India.

This is emphasised time and again by the large focus on R&D in this sector, investments by the Indian as well as the foreign players, increase in the number of educational institutes giving various courses in this sector and also large number of players both Indian and foreign making their mark.

by Shoaib Khan. Help was extended by the A&SP team. The Bangalore branch team enthusiastically supported the event.

Our COO, Mr. Anil S. Mathur presented the award for Best Company of the year in the Bio-industrial segment to G. Ramakrishna of Novozyne. During the course of the event Godrej distributed marketing collaterals which included our product catalogue, presentation CD and a complimentary pen-drive.

The event drew an excellent response, with attendance from Cyrus Poonawala, Chief, Serum Institute; Kiran Majumdar Shaw, C&MD, Biocon. The panel discussion saw a healthy discussion about “The Newly Launched Anil S Mathur presenting the award to the winner of the Biotechnology policy “ within Bio-industrial segment the experts from the industry.

In order to recognise the profound work carried on in this sector, Biospectrum organised the Biospectrum Awards for the industry stalwarts. It was intended to bring together industry experts, who would share their knowledge and experience in this sector and to acknowledge their work. The event was held on December 21, 2007 at the Leela Palace, Bangalore. Godrej Laboratory Furniture solutions was one of the sponsors of the event. This helped us register ourselves with the industry bigwigs and in turn get insights from them pertaining to the current happenings in the sectors and the changing requirements of laboratory business. The Lab team under the able guidance of Rajnish Thanekar managed the entire show. The co-ordination for the show was ably done

This event has been an important one in spearheading the Godrej Laboratory Brand amongst the people within the industry. We received a good response from the event.

Poojaa Gokarna Lab Marketing

Cricket with a twist at Interio The excitement of 20:20 Cricket World Cup prompted us at Interio to add more thrill to the Interio C r i c k e t Championships this year and hence we organised an 8 over a-side cricket tournament.

members. The tournament witnessed a lot of team bonding between management staff and our colleagues in the shopfloor.

Anil S Mathur tries his hand at cricket

We had, in all, 18 teams participating in the tournament held from January 14 to 28, 2008 on the Godrej Hillside Colony grounds during the evening hours. A large turnout, fun, excitement and team building were the hallmarks of the championship. Members of the senior management made it a point to be present every evening and it also gave them an opportunity for informal interactions with team

Plant 4 ‘A’ & Plant 1 were the finalists this year too but Plant 4 ‘A’ team became the proud owners of the much coveted Interio Championship cup! Anil Mathur, The Interio team our COO and B Joshi, President, GBSS, presided over the closing.

Doreen Rosario & Ravish Saily

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Interio Division

Home Base

Home Base

Having a ball of a time The Eastern Naval Command at Vishakhapatnam headed

by Vice Admiral Raman P Suthan, AVSM, VSM, Flag Officer, Commanding-in-Chief celebrated the Navy Day in the month of December 2007 with a series of events including the grand finale – the Navy Ball.

The Top Ten Finalists of The Navy Queen Contest

Reciprocating the long standing association it has shared with the Navy, the ball this year was sponsored by Godrej.

BP Chinoy Interio Head Vizag Branch

Precision Engineering Systems

BP Chinoy, Branch Manager Godrej - Vizag - one of the judges for the Navy Queen Contest

PES wins 2nd prize at Best Kaizen competition PES team won the second prize in the ‘Best Kaizen’ competition conducted by CII at Nashik on 14th February 2008. This is a matter of pride that PES won the competition for the second consecutive year. Last year PES team won the 1st prize.

It was very keenly contested competition, where 81 Kaizens were presented from reputed companies like Hindustan Aeronautics, Bajaj Auto, Jindal, Johnson & Johnson, Bosch, Pfizer, Ashok Leyland, Kirloskar etc.

A team of 12 members on behalf of PES Division presented 4 Kaizens in the areas of manufacturing and QA. Operators who had brought about the improvements presented each of the Kaizens to the Jury members and other participants.

The evaluation was based on use of different statistical tools to analyse problem and to identify the root cause. It also included horizontal deployment of Kaizen idea to solve similar problems and steps taken for holding gains obtained.

While judges and other participants appreciated all the 4 kaizens, 1 team was selected for the final round where 9 of 28

the 81 teams contested for the top awards. This selected PES team after making presentation in the final round was placed second in the competition PES started Kaizen activity in 2003 – 2004 to develop improvement culture in the Division by involving employees across all the functions, at all levels. Starting with just 25 kaizens in the 1st year, participation has grown steadily to 147 kaizens in the 2nd year, 215 kaizens in the 3rd year and 425 in the 4th year.

We have trained all our employees on developing kaizen ideas. After identifying the problem in their own work area, a team is formed for developing and implementing ideas and monitoring the results. After achieving the results, these ideas are put on the Kaizen idea sheets which are then evaluated in three levels on pre-decided criterion of results, efforts taken, originality of idea, root cause identification etc. All Kaizen ideas are appreciated, depending on the level of kaizen by way of certificate to every Kaizen team member and a token gift coupon from consumer society.

Departmental Head and senior members of management award certificates to workmen on the shop-floor. We have

Home Base also digitized this entire process for assessing and responding to the Kaizen entries speedily as well as to archive the hundreds of kaizens we keep on receiving.

This kaizen activity has provided a platform to nurture creativity amongst the employees and to instill in them confidence of being able to solve challenges facing them at the work place.

These prizes on two consecutive years have shown that we are on right track. While this recognition motivates us to constantly improve by challenging everything we do, participating in competition also give our teams a glimpse of large scale engagement in improvement activities across the industry.

The PES Team, which participated in CII Best Kaizen Competition Kaizens presented by each of the teams with names of the team members.

Kaizen: To Achieve Axis Straightness of 100 microns / 5 M length of Hollow Shell of KBL Shaft (Award Winning Kaizen).

Team Members: 1.

Mr. Sharad Amber 4.Mr. Vijay Salunkhe 2.

Mr. Mahendra Indulkar 5.Mr. Dashrath Warng 3.

Mr. Sanjay Joshi 6.Mr. Vishal Jadhav Kaizen: Development of self-centering fixture for straightness measurement of hollow shell using laser equipment.

The PES Team, which participated in CII Best Kaizen Competition

Team Members: 1. Mr. Sanjay Tapase 2. Mr. Praveen More

3. Mr. Manish Panchal 4. Mr. Vijay Chaudhary

Kaizen: Development of conventional method for inspection of end cap to replace CMM Inspection.

Team Members: 1. Mr. Pundalik Malvankar 3. Mr. Mandar Sakhardande 2. Mr. Vipul Panchal Kaizen: Elimination of set up time loss for inspection of Fuel Tube.

Team Members: 1. Mr. Vijay Sawant 3. Mr. Nitin Waghmare 2. Mr. R.P. Hardikar 4. Mr. Pradeep Gaikwad

D.D. Chogle

Godrej Infotech

Godrej Infotech going green We all have started feeling the effects of global warming.

Studies predict that there would be rise in temperature by 1.4 - 5.4 degree Celsius. This rise in temperature may cause floods leading to building damages and several other health hazards. We, at Godrej Infotech thought it worthwhile to create awareness amongst our employees. As the rest of the city tuned in to Batti Bandh- Mumbai Unplugged we too joined in celebrating GITL Green Day on December 21.

Everyone was welcomed with a smile and a green ribbon was tied on their wrist at the reception.

The dress code for the day was obviously green.

Posters and banners were displayed to educating employees about the cause. We made a small beginning and hope to contribute a lot more in the time to come.

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Other Factory Locations

Home Base

An auspicious beginning for the new warehouse at Shirwal Vaastu pooja in it’s traditional way was solemnised at the new Finished Goods Warehouse at Shirwal on February8, 2008.

The new warehouse has an area of approximately 55,000 sq. ft and would be utilised for additional storage of Refrigerators and Washing Machines that are manufactured at our Shirwal Plant.

The long felt need for additional space was accomplished in a record time of four months due to the personal involvement and continuous supervision of our Site Engineer, Amar Patil.

Udayachal School

The excavation work started in November 2007 for site development whereas the actual construction started in December 2007. The infrastructure has been developed by

laying new roads and racking system will be provided to accommodate about 12 to 15 thousand Appliances.

We thank Pankaj Abhyankar and Dhiren Vora for making it convenient to come all the way from Mumbai and encouraging all of us.

We also thank KK Saraf for his c o n t i n u e d support, guidance and morale boosting without which the project would not have seen the light of the day in such a short span of time.

Madhusudan B Nair and Rajesh More L&D, Shirwal

Special Moments with Amol Gupte Udayachal School was delighted to welcome Amol Gupte – Creative Director of Taare Zameen Par on January 22, 2008. He interacted with students of Std III in two different groups.

With the first group he narrated a story and later children were asked to paint scenes from that story. The children listened spellbound and then because of the vivid images he had left them with, they could recall and paint even tiny details from the story.

With the other batch, through an informal interaction with the children he literally plucked words out of the air and strung them with the help of the children into lines with rhyme and rhythm to make a song. Again, with the children’s inputs, he set a tune to this song. The entire group then sang it with gusto. His use of some nonsense sound and gibberish in both the story as well as the song enthralled his young audience.

A man of diverse interests and very versatile in painting, singing and playing the keyboard as well, he would be every Principal’s “dream come true” to have in his/her team of teachers.

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It was heartening to see the wonderful rapport he built with children in the time that he spent with them. They could not have enough of “Amol Frog” and every minute he was giving and receiving love from each one of them.

This wonderful opportunity was given to us by Mrs. Asha Matale and we are grateful for this memorable day!

Binaifer Chhoga Principal

Home Base Hillside Club

An update from the Hillside Club The club has just completed its fourth year of operations.

We have had a number of camps for swimming, table tennis, tennis, yoga, football, badminton, salsa and also personality development camps for children. The camps helped beginners learn the basics, as also existing players learn the finer points.

We had competitions in swimming and badminton, and also conducted various tournaments like football and cricket which were keenly contested with great enthusiasm. The New Year’s Eve party was a major event conducted by the club, which got a very positive response.

Institute run by Mr. Mathure for tribals. A cash donation was also made for the cause.

To increase the activities of Inner club of ladies and to create interest among them, the club had organised it’s first cookery competition for ladies on Saturday, March 15, 2008 at 3 pm.. The judges for this competition were Susan Eipe and Hemali Kothari. The concept was to make the tasty, healthy and nutritious food items out of chana dal. There was an enormous response from the Inner club of ladies. The marks were given on the basis of its taste, originality, nutritive value (health consciousness) and presentation.

Such activities and events definitely helps to keep the club active and enthusiastic.

Sushmita D Kadam Godrej Hillside Club

Godrej lifespace store crossword Designed by : Ulhas Tare, Store Chief, Godrej Lifespace Store, Dombivli ACROSS : 1. A very popular brand of Godrej lock (6) 4. Roman five and Roman four takes up an article for a trendy executive desk (4) 8. Doorway or optic for the colourful range of bedsheets, pillow covers, handtowelss etc.

(7) 9. Look for a sofa set in Centurion Cupboard (3) 13. Loco rams into Greek letter five for a popular range of Refrigerator (9) 14. Roman fifty takes comfort in an electrically charged particle for a fabulous sofa (4) 15. Search for a dining table in Fleurdelis.

(5) 16. Case Solves to form an attractive single bed (4) 17. Rose transforms into Greek God of love could be a single or double metal bed (4)

DOWN : 2. An astrological sign could also be a premium range of sofa set. (5) 3. I’m take a state for a do it yourself study table (5) 5. A Dining chair found in Muni Vyas (3) 6. Earth rotates around this imaginary straight line could be another name for the range of direct cool Refrigerators. (4) 7. One disintegrates for the new era Refrigerator awarded best design prize (3) 10. Premier Automobiles Ltd. consumes nothing forms an elegant single bed (4) 11. Hundred offer together a cash, jewellery, ornament box (5) 12. Taxi drives into Medical Representative to cast a heavy safe (6)

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Retailing Division

The club had formed the Inner club of ladies in the month of January 2007. The idea behind forming the Inner club of ladies was to create a platform for the ladies where they could exhibit their talent, skills and also share their ideas.

In the span of last one year, the active group of Inner club ladies were involved in various activities like festival celebration, joint outings, get togethers etc. They were also involved in social activities. Recently, they visited Abhas

The winners of this competition were:1st Prize - Meenu Sharma for Chana Dal Cubes in Palak gravy 2nd Prize - Suniti Vaidya for Chana Dal Appam 3rd Prize - Hema Rao for Hayagreeva Maddi

Award

Home Base

Godrej wins Energy Conservation Award

Mangroves

Godrej has been awarded the National Energy Conservation Award from the Ministry of Power, New Delhi for its efforts in Energy Conservation in the General Category for the year 2007.

An update from the Mangroves World Wetland Day Celebrations: This year on February 2 as a part of Wetland Day Celebration, a Mangrove Nature trail followed by a filmshow on Wetlands in India were organised for a Nature club of School -formed by BNHS. In

the afternoon we participated in the conference on Conservation and Management of Wetlands with special focus on Thane Creek, which was organised by Enviro-Vigil (an NGO), Thane Municipal Corporation and Indian Association of Aquatic Biologist and a presentation on Godrej Mangrove Centre and its activities was made by Dr. Mahajan.

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On Sunday, February 3, a Mangrove nature trail was organised for BNHS members, Godrej employees and colony residents. A film on Wetlands in India was screened after the Nature trail.

Mangrove Section

Home Base Congratulations

Dr. Maya Mahajan was awarded with Woman of Substance 2007-2008 award by the Young Environmentalists Programme at the Environmental Arts Awards function presented by the Hiranandani Group, for her contribution to Environment protection through education, public awareness, research and conservation of Mangroves.

The function was held on the 8th of March 2008 i.e. on International Women’s Day at the Gopal Sharma International school, Powai Vihar.

Congratulations!!

Sharad Kale (Art Teacher) of Udayachal Primary School has won the second prize in a Drawing Competition for School Teachers organised by Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya ,Mumbai on October 2, 2007.

Congratulations!

Mr. Kaustubh Shukla has been nominated to the Board of Trustees of the Indian Nuclear Society for a term of two years.

Congratulations!

Mr. Jitendrakumar D Panchal of MHE division has been awarded the second position in ‘Fitter’s” trade category in the 20th CII Workskills competition held at Bangalore conducted in February 2008 at National level.

Before this, he had won the western region competition and secured First position.

He has been awarded with a trophy/shield, certificates (of participation and as a winner of the second position) and a cheque of Rs. 1500/- in his name.

He has been very actively participating in such events and is very innovative by nature, he has fabricated many fixtures in his department to facilitate the day to day fabrication activities.

He is an active and enlightened Plant safety committee member. His skills have brought pride to MHE division.

Congratulations!

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Our Achievers

Home Base Name: Stuti Neel Raizada Student of: St. Helena High School, Pune Father’s Name: Neel Kamal Raizada Achievements: She had appeared for the “ Initial Electronic Keyboard “ examination held

by Trinity College, London. She passed the examination securing distinction and also topped the list of candidates appearing in this category.

Congratulations!

Name: Anik Anil Joshi Father’s Name: Anil. R. Joshi, Commercial and Finance Division, Ahmedabad Achievements: He has emerged successfully with an overall distinction of 89% and with specific distinction of 95% in Science; Mathematics at Gujarat higher Secondary Education Board, held in March 2007.At present joined NIRMA – Institute of Technology, in the field of Electronics and Communication.

Congratulations!

Name: Chetan Eknath Mhashilkar Student of: Vikas High School, Standard VI Achievements: Secured a distinction in his Standard VI Scholarship Examination.

Congratulations!

Name: Taronish Khushru Dandiwalla Daughter of: Khushru Dandiwalla, MHE Division Achievement: Was awarded the Best girl of Senior KG for the year 2007-08 by St. Francis High School, Vasai (West).

Congratulations!

Name: Vaibhav S Parjane Father’s Name: Sopan K Parjane, PED Achievements: Cleared C.A (Final) Nov 2007 and qualified for ICWA in June 2007.

Congratulations!

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Home Base YMCA Brainwaves Inter School Competition 2008.

Udayachal High School participated in different categories in the above competition.

We are proud to announce that Udayachal High School won the 2008 Inter School Overall Rotating Team Championship Trophy along with Individual Trophies in each category the students participated in. The winners have been awarded a cash prize along with a certificate. 1st prize: Rs. 500 2nd prize: Rs. 300 & Third prize: Rs. 200 1.

2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Workshop (Seniors) –Std IX

Ruchi Dandekar Snehal Mahimkar Pranita Sadavarte Jatin Panchal Hindi Elocution (Senior) Tejal Kamble Shail Maru Srishti Jain Marathi Elocution (Senior) Vignesh Bhandarkar Marathi Elocution (Junior) Anushka Iyer Marathi Short Story Writing (Seniors) Shivangi Bagi Pranita Sadavarte Marathi Short Story Writing (Juniors) Charuta Kulkarni Nikhil Naik Hindi Short Story Writing (Seniors) Snehal Mahimkar Hindi Short Story Writing (Juniors) Pooja Lad Aishwarya Iyer English Short Story Writing (Juniors) Adyasha Rath Isha Keskar Essay Writing a)English (Senior) Ashwini Ranade (Junior) Tanvi Deokule b)Hindi (Senior) Krishnakant Saboo Nikita Panchal Srishti Jain Hindi (Junior) Chirag Gupta Prajakta Pingale c)Marathi (Senior) Tejal Kamble Siddhi Malgaonkar Marathi (Junior) Vrinda Ambike

2nd Position

1st Prize 2nd Prize 3rd Prize 2nd Prize 3rd Prize 1st Prize 2nd Prize 1st Prize 2nd Prize 3rd Prize 1st Prize 2nd Prize 1st Prize 2nd Prize 1st Prize 1st Prize 1st Prize 2nd Prize 3rd Prize 1st Prize 2nd Prize 1st Prize 2nd Prize 2nd Prize

4th Inter School Singing Competition Udayachal School participated in the elimination rounds and successfully made it to the finals which were held on 2nd Dec 2007 at Dhirubhai Ambani International School.

14 schools and 168 soloists participated.

The prize winners were: Indian Solo Singing Trophy for the Outstanding Soloist Indian Classical (Under 12yrs) – Indian Classical Solo Sining (Under 16yrs) Indian Popular Solo Singing (Under 16yrs) –

Aishwarya Nair(VIII C) Isha Keskar (V D) Aishwarya Nair (VIII C) Saloni Sharma (VIII A) Aishwarya Nair (VIII C)

–3rd Prize – 1st Prize – 2nd Prize – 1st Prize

Indian Group Singing Section - Indian Classical & Indian Popular Category.

Most Outstanding School in the Indian Section : Udayachal High School

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Home Base Name: Karishma Prashant Chawan Student: Udayachal Primary School Fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Name: Prashant Chawan Sr. Officer, Pl-15, PED â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Steel Supply Center Achievements: Awarded State level Scholarship for the year 2005-06, under the sports Talent Scholarship Scheme School Student by the Sports Authority of India. (For Teakwando)

Drawing by: Shubham Ashok Tajve Standard VII Son of: AN Tajve, Security Department.

Nature in all its splendour outside Centre 15.

Pics by Arnold Martin.

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