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Special Focus Leap Report Application & Process Specific Technology

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ime to Take

he Plunge

Taking a leap is all about having a vision, believing in yourself and finally daring to explore an unknown territory to reach your goal. But all this takes a little hand-holding as well.

UNIDO ICAMT, IMTMA and MMT did just that and became the torchbearers of the industry to help it take its LEAP (Lead, Educate, Apply, Prosper). Debarati Basu Das takes you through the mega event that inspired many to dare and take their first step towards success.

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rom fun and frolic to learning and enlightenment, L.E.A.P was the perfect cocktail for the industry to relax, think and rejuvenate itself to move ahead with a new source of energy and dreams. The event, held at Park-Hyatt, Goa, enthralled the industry with action-packed sessions featuring real-life stories of struggle and success; the mantra for growth and inspiration talks that infused the “I Dare, Hence I Can” attitude in the participants.

Lead, Educate, Apply, Prosper (LEAP), held between April 12 and 14 and organised

by United Nations Industrial Development 2

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Organization – International Centre for Advancement in Manufacturing Technology (UNIDO ICAMT), Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association (IMTMA) and MMT (Modern Machine Tools), became the beacon of inspiration for many. Participants from all corners of the country and abroad including Ludhiana, Rajkot, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Saudi Arabia became one single entity to be enlightened.

Shailesh Sheth, Corporate Strategy Advisor, & Senior National Consultant, UNIDO, expressed, “This gathering was unique. It was a constellation of several

Leap Report Application & Process Specific Technology

institutions (IMTMA, UNIDO ICAMT, Network 18) coming together for the common interest of the value of the machine tool sector. This shows what the power of partnership can do and achieve.

As we go forward, the world is going to become so complex that doing business is no longer going to be a simple job. No one individual or company will have all the competencies required to handle the emerging scenario. In such an event, it is only partnership that will bail us out.

This event was a humble beginning in that direction.”

Talking about the little details that we miss out in our fast paced life, M S Dhakad, Programme Director, UNIDO ICAMT, said, “It is a fact that the greatest wealth of the industry lies is in its collective experience. Industrial units face similar challenges in their growth journey. There is rarely a challenge faced by industry that hasn’t been solved by someone else before. However, more often than not, we get so involved in our day-to-day running of the business that we forget to ask, question, deliberate

or even share our challenges with each other. Progress without an understanding of our own strengths and weaknesses is unattainable and sometimes it takes someone with a greater understanding and richer experience (the collective) to really identify these for us. To build this very understanding, LEAP brought together the unique experiences of individuals and organisations that have risen from the ranks to become well-structured successful enterprises.”

A journey is always accompanied by roadblocks, potholes and distractions.

Deepak Ballani, National Programme Officer, UNIDO ICAMT, spoke about this reality of life by saying, “LEAP has brought together different flavours of entrepreneurship, inspirational stories of leaders, educational sessions and networking—all spiced up in the fun and charm of Goa. It brought the vision and strategy of those entrepreneurs who were once upon a time small, but built their success stories through risks, falls and strategies, which took them to the top position.”

The event was segregated into four parts:

Inspiration: Speakers like Rashmi Bansal and Dr Radhakrishnan Pillai set the tone of the event with inspirational stories of people who made it big and converted adversities into opportunities.

Journey: The real-life heroes of the machine tool industry like Shrinivas Shirgurkar, Milind Kelkar and PG Jadega narrated their own journey, which started with empty pockets in garages, which were their first shop floor, and a mind full of dreams and determination.

Strategy: Apart from dream and determination, a

business also needs a firm strategy, a business module and a goal. Eminent people from the industry spoke about the importance of skill development, marketing practices, nurturing a corporate culture and a way to plan growth.

Vision: Finally, IMTMA and UNIDO, who have been the backbone of strength to the industry, narrated their vision for the industry and the support that the association will provide in the years to come.

The event did not end but began a new journey for 160 participants who went back energised with a new goal, new set of focused strategies and mentors whom they will look up to for inspirations every time they take their next LEAP!!

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leap INSPIRATION

empowering

th ughts It takes just a small spark to ignite a forest fire. At L.E.A.P, we had not one, but two such sparks who ignited the fire that makes one think big, dream bigger and bring together the entities that give wings to growth—well-known authors and motivational speakers Rashmi Bansal and Dr Radhakrishnan Pillai.

Rashmi Bansal Writer, Entrepreneur & Motivational Speaker

The confluence, which had over a hundred odd people who called themselves businessmen with small machine tool units in some far-flung regions of Ludhiana, Rajkot and Hyderabad, woke up to the realisation that they all had a leader in themselves—a leader who can convert a small machine tool setup into an inspirational success story for many; a leader who has the ability to grow and make others grow; a leader who can touch the sky and still remain firmly grounded to reality.

These two speakers brought to life simple stories that beautifully conveyed the truth of life. A dosa maker who took inspiration from McDonald’s and became an entrepreneur of a chain of restaurants—a ‘regular guy’ who brought in innovation in a simple business plan and converted his weakness (lack of finance) into his strength (support of people around).

While we try to adopt foreign business models, Rashmi Bansal and Dr Radhakrishnan Pillai brought alive the long forgotten book on Arthashastra by Chanakya, which is by far the oldest and most apt book on business management.

The speakers, through their tales of motivation, spoke about the most important pearl of wisdom—Think Big, Dream Big, Believe in Yourself and Take the LEAP!!!

- Debarati Basu Das

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Dr Radhakrishnan Pillai Writer, Entrepreneur & Motivational Speaker

Inspiration Rashmi Bansal

Do You Have a

Dream?

Thousands of years back, Vishnu Sharma wrote the Panchatantra to teach the values of life through stories of crocodiles, monkeys and foxes. I do something similar. I write books on ordinary people who have done extraordinary things.

Over the last five years, I have met hundreds of entrepreneurs and heard their amazing journey of how they struggled, failed, got up again and succeeded.

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very one of us has the ability to grow and succeed.

In any industry or profession, the amount of imagination that you have in you to create reality out of imagination is what it takes to make it happen. Each one of us need to ask our own self

Rashmi Bansal is a writer, entrepreneur and one of the most sought-after motivational speakers. She is an IIM–A graduate and the author of five bestselling books—Stay Hungry Stay Foolish, Connect the Dots, I Have a Dream, Poor Little Rich Slum and Follow Every Rainbow. Appreciated for her lucid and inimitable writing style, her books talk about entrepreneurship skills at various levels. Collectively, her books have sold over half a million copies and have been translated in numerous languages.

these questions: Are you happy where you are, doing things that you are doing? Do you want to go to the next level? Do you have the desire to get the unattainable and imagine things that no one else can imagine? The following people raised such questions and moulded luck their way:

Dare to Dream

Prem Ganapathy was an ordinary man. Neither did he have an MBA from Harvard/Stanford (he was a Standard X pass out) nor was he a Marwadi or a Baniya with a background that could make him successful in business. He was just an ordinary guy from Tamil Nadu who came to Mumbai like million others in search of a better future. Somebody promised him a job and he caught a train to Mumbai. But he was left alone at Bandra station. To survive he went to an Udupi restaurant looking for work and was asked to wash dishes.

Most people in this situation will feel that this is all that they are destined to do. But Ganapathy was different. He requested his boss to allow him to serve tea to the customers and also went to offices to serve tea. He observed the preferences of each of his customers and gave them tea exactly the way they wanted. Later, he set up his tea shop and did that for a few years. But he wanted to do something more and decided to set up a dosa stall. He set up a small stall in New Bombay, which gained popularity because Prem Ganapathy did not do things the ordinary way. There are thousands of dosa stalls, but what made Ganapathy’s stall unique and successful was his focus on hygiene. From a dishwasher to a dosa maker, he carved his success story, albeit he was not content. At the same time, McDonald’s opened up near his stall. Ganapathy used to go there frequently to observe the way the business was being handled there. This man, without any formal business training, realised one important thing—“Mr Mc Donald has thousands of restaurants all over the world and yet he is not standing there making burgers himself!” He realised that he needs to create his own brand and open many restaurants by standardising his dosa making process. With this inspiration, he started his brand - Dosa Plaza – by following Mc Donald’s business principles. Today, he has 40 restaurants all over India along with franchises in countries such as Dubai and Australia. A man who could have been happy as a tea boy chose to go to the next level. This man was hungry for success.

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Inspiration Rashmi Bansal

Rashmi Bansal

Old Wine, New Thought Narendra Murkumbi was my junior at IIM-Ahmedabad. A guy always in chappals and shorts, we never thought he will do something extraordinary or great. Murkumbi did not take the placements after completing his studies at IIM. He decided to become an entrepreneur, which was unusual because students from IIM want to get a good job with a huge pay package and make quick bucks. Instead, Murkumbi started an organic fertilizer business and he did well. He reached a turnover of `5 crore in five years. But one day he told himself that this is not big enough and he wanted to do something on a much bigger scale. So, he shut down his factory and decided to enter a completely new industry—the sugar industry. Sugar is neither a new product nor does it promise a lucrative business opportunity. But he did something that was different from other sugar producers.

To begin with, he did not have a lot of money to set up a sugar factory, so he decided to do something unusual. He bought a government-owned unit, which was not functioning

well, and did something that no one had done before.

Sometimes people with extensive experience tend to see things from only one perspective. He didn’t have any experience in this field; he was simply experimenting. Murkumbi took an old industry and looked at it in a new way. Sugar production has a byproduct called ethanol, which is generally not made use of. Murkumbi decided to use this ethanol to generate his own electricity to run the entire plant. Thus, he got rid of the electricity bill altogether. He then made all the farmers his shareholders. This way, famers invested money, ensuring that they give their produce to him and no one else. And this strategy worked because doing a business does not mean doing it for your own profit; it is also about sharing your success with the society and community. This helps us grow more and people believe in you and help you move forward. Also, while money is a concern for many businesses, sometimes not having the financial strength is a good thing as it instigates you to be innovative and different.

Be a Leader who Inspires

Sanjeev Bikhchandani, CEO, naukri.com, never knew that he will become one of the most successful Internet entrepreneurs. He left his job to become an entrepreneur and did odd jobs like consultancy. In 1989, he observed that in a magazine, a person first checks the last pages that contain the appointment ads. This led him to think of creating a directory with only appointment ads, but he didn’t know how to do it. Five years later, he got to know more about the Internet at an expo and it clicked instantly—a job directory on the Internet. Because he was the first mover in that field, he was able to get people’s attention. Later, the market crashed but naukri.com remained afloat. This was because Sanjeev was a careful businessman who kept his own reserve. He got a person called Hitesh Oberoi to join the company. An MBA in sales & marketing, Hitesh got involved in Sanjeev’s vision of naukri.com. He created a sales force that went door to door to get company ads and book the ads from naukri.com. Hitesh was Sanjeev’s backbone. Do you have a Hitesh Oberoi with you? Can you create such people in your team who can dream your dream, make it their own and be the backbone of your business?

Many say that machine tools is not a cool business, but you need immense love for your business to make it happening.

Somewhere, you just have to light that spark and set it on fire. If you really love machine tools, there is no way anyone can stop you from doing something extraordinary. You have to do things differently and use your imagination. We have our limitations, but when you have less, you have the opportunity to do more.

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Inspiration Dr Radhakrishnan Pillai

From Good to

Great Leadership The concept of ‘Indianness’ is coming back to India … the self-respect and selfconfidence that we had lost over the years is returning. However, one of the persistent problems in the SME sector is that the next generation is not keen on joining because of the lack of ‘cool’ and ‘wow’ factors in these segments.

However, a lot of such issues can be resolved if we start taking pride in your business by taking cues from our own historical past of business management.

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ll of us are leaders here. But there is always a scope to progress from being good leaders to great leaders and become an icon for others to follow. All that we need is strategy. There is so much that we can learn from our ancient past. The only way to understand management better is to go back to the management history of India. Indian history has the greatest strategist Chanakya who strategised great governance. But somehow, our generation does not really know his thoughts or the ways to decode the Arthashashtra, which can be used in the modern way.

Understanding Stages of Life

Dr Radhakrishnan Pillai - Author, Teacher, Management Trainer

He is the author of the bestseller ‘Corporate Chanakya – Successful Management, the Chanakya Way’. Educated in the field of management and consultancy, he also holds an MA degree in Sanskrit and a doctorate degree in Arthashastra. He started a company Atma Darshan, which spreads the knowledge of Chanakya across the globe. He is also the Director of Chanakya Institute of Public Leadership, University of Mumbai, and has also received the Sardar Patel International Award.

All of us need to understand that we are not just managers or owners of our business—we also have to be mentors. In India, we follow the tradition of four stages of life. We begin with Bhramacharya, the student life, followed by Grihastha when we earn money and provide for our children. The next stage is the Vanaprastha when we retire from life and immediately enter Sannyasa.

Vanaprastha is about giving back to the society by mentoring and handholding the next generation. Your life’s wisdom needs to be passed on to the progeny and make them ready to take forward the task from where you have left. The problem today is that we are not mentoring people enough. We are instead bossing people.

Chakanya hand-held his student Chandragupta Maurya, so that the latter could govern his kingdom well. Chanakya, in this process, documented the strategies, systems and processes so that it can be used years later.

If we are not sure about our next generation joining our business, we can take a cue from the Germans. German companies, which are family managed, have a legacy of more than 600 years continuously managing their ownership and dividing their assets for generations together with a foresight.

This is what Arthashashtra talks about.

Today’s business is not about being national—it is about bing international. It is all about India vs the World. There are many things to learn from your competitors—not as enemies but as teachers. Management is not about ‘managing men’, but about ‘managing the minds of men’.

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Inspiration Rashmi Bansal

Modern Athashashtra

Chanakya’s Arthashashtra talks about good management, strategising and leadership. All we have to do is look at it from a modern perspective and apply the strategies in a modern set-up. Chanakya wanted all leaders to develop the first and most essential skill called Aanveekshikee, which is the science of thinking strategically.

The most important resource that a human being has is the mind. However, this is also the most underutilised resource. Chanakya developed a systematic way of thinking.

One can handle finance and accounts but how you handle your own mind is what matters. Thinking low is the biggest crime in the world and Indians have to start thinking big.

The world today is looking at India as leaders but Indians are yet to believe in their own mettle. We have to change this attitude as it is curbing our growth.

Look Back and Learn

Our own history has references of great innovations. Today, we study global innovations and imitate them. However, if we can look into our own history, which has a rich resource of invention and innovation of thousands of years, we will realise that we can be way forward. Today, we talk about Boeing and Airbus, but our own Vimanshashtra, which was conceived over 3000 years ago, has references of an entire city’s population being transferred from one place to another—documented with empirical data. Much has been already done in terms of technological development in the past that while reading the history, I sometimes wonder as to who is more modern—We in the 21st century or They who lived thousands of years ago?

It is not about being successful. It is all about being significant. Give a different dimension to your business. It will bring about a new dimension to the industry and to the country as well.

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Dr Radhakrishnan Pillai

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utras of Business Management from Chanakya’s Arthashashtra 1. Consult and Then Start n “All undertakings should be preceded by consultation. Holding a consultation with only one, he may not be able to reach a decision in difficult matters. With more councilors, it is difficult to reach decisions and maintain secrecy.” (1.15.2,35,40) n “Therefore sit and counsel with those who are matured in intellect.” ( 1.15.20-21) n Dr Radhakrishnan Pillai (RP): Leaders have to understand that opinion makers are many but advisors are few. Learn to identify the set of advisors.

2. Listen to Everyone’s Opinions n “He should despise none, (but) should listen to the opinion of everyone. A wise man should make use of the sensible words of even a child.” (1.15.22) n RP: Every word of advice from top management to shop floor personnel is important. You should simply be able to identify the right ones.

3. Energy n “If the king is energetic, his subjects will be equally energetic.

If he is slack (and lazy in performing his duties) the subjects will also be lazy, thereby eating into his wealth. Besides, a lazy king will easily fall into the hands of the enemies. Hence, the king should himself always be energetic.” (1.19.1-5) n RP: We need leaders who are energetic and pass on the same level of energy to their team. Leaders are the ones who create more leaders and pass on the legacy.

4. Attitude of a Leader n “In the happiness of the subjects lies the benefit of the king and in what is beneficial to the subjects is his own benefit.

What is dear to himself is not beneficial to the king, but what is dear to the subjects is beneficial to him.” (1.19.34) n RP: Spend time with your customers and understand their needs.

leap Journey Application & Process Specific Technology

Yes, I Can! Every big success story begins with a question—‘Can I?’ This is followed by a long journey full of ordeal, failures and roadblocks. But the stories that create history are the ones full of dreams, determination and belief. These stories end with an answer—‘I Can!!’ At L.E.A.P, we brought the heroes of some of these success stories who started small, but created history in the world of machine tool industry.

As Shailesh Sheth describes, “The pleasures and pangs of growing is a very special feeling. If there is a sense of achievement along with earning of freedom, there is also an anxiety to perform and more responsibilities to attend to along with ever increasing expectations. The more you grow, the more is expected and the less is perceived to be attained.

The world loves success stories, but very few know the slog, the sweat and the setbacks that form the foundation of these awe-inspiring and envious shinning realities around us.”

The pages to follow have the stories of such personalities of the industry who have become the torch bearers of hope for many young entrepreneurs who lose hope when they stumble upon the roadblocks of life and are left disheartened by the endless struggle that refuses to bear any fruits.

These torch bearers will share their stories when once upon a time they were small and all they had to invest was a pocket full of dreams. They will share their stories full of doubts & determination, anxieties & courage, disappointments & confidence. These are stories that we will go back to, time and again, whenever we face adversities and remind ourselves—‘Yes, I Can!’

Srinivas Shirgurkar MD, Ace Designers Ltd

PG Jadeja CMD, Jyoti CNC Automation Ltd

- Debarati Basu Das

Milind Kelkar MD, Grindmaster Machines

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Journey Jyoti CNC Automation Ltd

Passion, Perseverance & Pride

- PG Jadeja, CMD, Jyoti CNC Automation Ltd

Everyone in my family is highly educated except me. I somehow came into business not by choice, but by circumstances. It was my father’s faith who allowed me to leave school that changed my life forever.

The Choice I quit studies in 1985 when I was in the 12th standard. I was a chess player and an opportunity to play at a national level, but my final exams clashed with the dates of the chess competition. Surprisingly, without any argument, my father allowed me to opt for the tournament. That year was the best time of my life. I was later selected to go abroad for further coaching, for which I needed `25,000. My father gave me `10,000 in the first week, followed by `5,000 the week later. Another `5,000 came to me the week after. This annoyed me and I asked my father why he was giving money in installments instead of giving me the full amount in a single go. Till that time, I had never thought about where money came from. My father replied saying that the first `10,000 was a loan from his PF. The two sets of `5,000 were loan from a credit society and a community bank. And for the remaining money, he had asked for loans from all his friends and assured me that before I leave, I will have the full amount in my hand. This was the turning point of my life.

I left the game and started focusing on doing something in life.

The Turning Point Our school had a subject on workshop technology where I had learnt about lathe machines. I approached my friend’s father and got my first machine of `10,000 on a barter system—I was to repay his dues by working for him.

That is how I started my career. I started a small job shop in 1989 with the help of Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Yojna. I had to do something with my life and I became an engineer in a job shop. In three years, I repaid the loan and started making gear boxes. In every market, there are a few people running a monopoly and we have no option but to silently adhere to their wrongdoings. At that time, in Rajkot, there was a monopoly run by a few people making critical components. My boss one day asked me to check upon one such person who had taken advance but hadn’t supplied the components yet. I went there and got to know that the person was trying to cheat us. I thrashed him and came back to office. But to my surprise, instead of awarding, he rebuked me because I had spoilt relations with the only person in Rajkot who could make those components. I thought about the matter and decided to make those components myself.

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Application & Process Jyoti CNC Specific Automation Technology Ltd

Stages of Learning

I used to make headstock assembly, nortun gearboxes and gear heads and tried to supply them to all the machine tool builders in Rajkot. I tried for six months but no one bought it from me. Then I decided to design my own lathe. I am not an engineer neither do I have any degree from any engineer shop. Even amidst all adversities, we were very technosavvy. Till 1991, I had a cycle for commutation. But then, instead of buying a scooter, I bought a computer worth `1.6 lakh because such designs could be made with AutoCAD. That was my beginning—my first phase of learning about manufacturing practices.

When I made the first machine, Parmar Mechanic Works bought nine machines from me but asked me to make some changes installing high speed spindle, etc. I didn’t know how to do it but with guidance, I began building a special purpose machine.

Exploring Opportunities

I wanted to venture outside Rajkot. I toured Bangalore, Coimbatore and Chennai for business. In that trip, I went to one such dealer in Chennai who had invited me with an enquiry. He made wait for three hours and when I asked him why I was made to wait without any reason, the person said, “When I go to Rajkot, thousands of machine tool manufacturers like you hover around me for business. Tell me your contact details and I will decide what to do.” I left that place saying that I didn’t want to do business with people like him. That day I made it a point that we will not deal with dealers but will market the products ourselves.

We met customers and tried to understand their need for SPMs. The second turnover of my life came in 1998 when IMTMA organised a technical awareness seminar in Rajkot called ‘First time CNC’. At the end of the day, I invited the Kirloskars who were presenting at the event and signed an order for control system with them. I also told them that I wanted to visit their factory and see how they function. After seeing them, my confidence level rose that even we could do something similar.

Sailing through Adversities

We were not taken seriously and were branded as novices from Rajkot. We wanted to change this attitude among people and decided to participate in IMTEX in 2001. Our strategic decision was to create a buzz so that people would start taking us seriously. At that time, our turnover was `1.7 crore and for IMTEX, we spent `2.5 crore. We had built a liner motor machine for the first time. It was similar to something that I had seen during a trip to EMO, Paris, sponsored by Seimens. There, I saw DMG’s linear motor machine and I thought that we can make it too. At IMEX that year, we got the award for the best innovation. We did create a buzz and since were no longer known as Rajkot novices.

Later, through UNIDO, I got an opportunity to participate in EMO. This was a big challenge. UNIDO had acquired 200 sqmt for all Indian machine tool manufacturers and it planned to support us for 15 sqmt while the rest had to be paid by the exhibitor. At that time, we had just become a Private Limited Company and we fell in the SSI category. I wanted a bigger space so I applied in two different names. I got 30 sqmt although I wanted 100 sqmt. If we created a buzz at IMTEX, EMO had to be bigger. But to my luck, no one applied in the SSI zone and I got the entire 100 sqmt to myself. We have participated in 2003, 2005 and 2007. We never got a single order but we constantly kept participating there to make our presence felt.

Choosing a Direction

At the same time, I also participated in IMTMA’s Vision Programme in Aurangabad. This gave me a direction. All this while, we were going with the flow but did not have a vision. Since that workshop, I became serious about having a purpose in business. I came back and made a group of 10 people who constantly delved upon questions—Why are we here? What is our purpose? What is our goal? At that time, UNIDO had sent Shailesh Sheth to our company for guidance. He helped us with a strategy. And we formed a vision statement in 2004 when we had a turnover of `7 crore. Our vision was that by 2010–11, we wanted to be the leading tool company in India in terms of technology, quality and cost. Ace Designers was the benchmark for us and we wanted to become a `1000-crore company. We are where we are today through various adversities, risks and challenges and learnings. Our next vision is to be among the top 10 companies globally.

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Journey Grindmaster Machines

- Milind Kelkar, MD, Grindmaster Machines Our journey was not devoid of roadblocks and challenges. But we had a vision in our minds that we followed.

Today, we have the world’s widest range of metal finishing, grinding and polishing solutions. Unlike the overall machine tool industry, which imports 65% of the country’s demand, in our sphere of business, we do not allow more than 5–10% imports. Our idea is - ‘Made in India, Made by Indians, Made for Indians’. And we have been fairly successful in this although we had our share of ups and downs.

In the Beginning

Me and my wife, Mohini Kelkar, are production engineers from VJTI. It was the liking for machine tools that brought us together in college. When we finished college, I joined Tata Motors and she joined another company and was into designing automax.

But there was always an urge to start something on my own. Once I had attended an interview with Bajaj Auto wherein they had called young engineers who wanted to start an ancillary unit for Bajaj. There I got a hint of what was in store for ancillaries and realised that I would never want to become an ancillary.

Then came an opportunity from a close friend who manufactured Nirlep nonstick cookware. They were facing technological and trade union issues in Aurangabad. In his company, typically, a worker would produce 50 frying pans by 10:30 am and sit idle thereafter saying that his quota of work for the day was over. My friend asked for my help and we brought out our drawing boards and designed a machine that had a mechanism to rotate a part and then mechanically follow the profile of a frying pan and set it up against the buff. We designed this machine and made a prototype in eight days. Thus was born the semi automatic buffing machine for Nirlep. From 50 pieces in half a day, this machine had the production capacity of 480 pieces per worker within seven working hours.

All this was done was to make the union agree that they will tend the machine for seven hours and produce whatever the machine produces. Productivity jumped and this became an incentive for us to look at polishing as a business.

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Grindmaster Machines

Opening up to Opportunities

Even with scarce resources, we knew that we have to look around and know what is happening in the world instead of being shackled by what is happening in India. We went to the Hannover fair and for a young engineer with just four years of experience, it was an eye opener. Our aim was to build indigenous polishing machines and bring them to India in the next five years. In 1993, we tied up with a company in Singapore that sold one of our very simple machines. In 1996, we decided that we should now look beyond and try our hand at the final finishing of precision parts used in the automobile and motor industry. We studied the latest trends in the world and produced our first micro finishing attachment, which could produce a finish of 0.008 microns—at par with Germans.

At IMTEX 2001, we brought this attachment for display and were awarded one of the best designs of the year award. It was a big leap. Many such incidents followed and we reached American, European, Chinese and various other markets by battling adversities and building opportunities.

Proving Step by Step

We started from a rented garage with savings of just `27,000 from our job. Till 1987, we were involved in odd jobs. We once made a seed filter for a very famous seed company. This company showed us a one-page leaflet of a foreign machine that filtered cotton seeds with holes from seeds without holes. This required huge design talent. We made a prototype from that one-page leaflet and in 1988, we commissioned three machines. In that phase, although we did a lot of things, a question struck us— What are we all about? We then decided to focus and concentrate on one single subject of polishing and its offshoots—buffing, deburring and microfinishing.

We started from scratch and our first fully automatic machine was designed for Hawkins. This company follows the principals of ethics and quality. Working with them helped us enhance our machine building skills. Initially, we followed engineering textbooks to design machines but soon realised that the product designs had to be different.

In 1991 came another opportunity from a bicycle company that manufactured huge quantity of bicycles and cycle rims. They had imported a machine from Italy that made one rim every six seconds. But given the import prices, they could not afford to buy another one. So, they were looking for a company to build it. When they approached us, all we had to offer them was our enthusiasm because even our building was not big enough to accommodate the machine that they wanted. We started our first expansion and built a larger building in 1992. But even before this building was completed, we completed this machine with a temporary roof over our head. This experience gave us immense confidence that we can produce large and complex machines.

Giving Back

Throughout our journey, there were some fundamentals that we had to take care of. We started small. Mrs Kelkar used to be on the drawing board while I ferried around to get parts.

We had just one helper to assemble the machine.

But when we started growing, we had to build our policy. Our basic policy was ‘to take everyone and grow together with the company’.

On a rainy day of July 1987, when we were just 11 people, one of my senior workmen came and told me that workers were having a meeting at Siddharth Garden—a place where union members met and enticed new employees to join their union. I am not against the concept of trade union but I realised that in the interest of the company and the workers, if we cared enough for them and have empathy for them, they would not need an external leader. I called them to my office and told them that they will not find a better leader than me. My people believed in me and still do. In 30 years of operation, we have had no labour union or labour issues. But for that, we did another thing behind the back of those 11 people.

I and Mrs Kelkar called and told some of the family members of the workers that we will provide them an annual supply of food grains as per their requirements. We told the taken aback ladies that their husbands are likely to get a union leader whose passion was to go on strikes. Since I didn’t want their families to suffer, I told them that I will look after the fundamental needs of the families. This turned the table and I gained their trust and faith. We still follow this system. The only difference is that today, all the food grains are sent in truck loads instead of giving it to 11 people. This and several such initiatives ensured that we never had any labour problems. Today 90% of my workmen, who have put in at least five years in our company, live in their own houses constructed by them. It is important to share our success and take everyone along with us in the path of growth.

Compiled by Debarati Basu Das

May 2013 March- Leap 2013Report - MMT

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Journey Ace Designers Ltd

Building Business on the Bricks of Strategy,

Ethics & Value

We called ourselves the ‘Three Aces’ who began our dream journey from a garage. The journey wasn’t easy, but we believed in our designing capabilities and promised ourselves to do business with complete ethics and morals. This is how, today, we have a turnover of `1,200 crore in an endeavour that began with zero investment.

- Shrinivas Shirgurkar, MD, Ace Designers Ltd

The Dream AV Sathe, B Machado and I worked together in Central Machine Tool Institute (CMTI), which is now known as Central Manufacturing Technology Institute. As engineers at CMTI, we got a huge opportunity in fundamental machine tool designing. As a government institution, we had a lot of time and opportunity to study, learn and innovate. Between the three of us, we must have built about 60 different machines for defence, ISRO, etc. But back in 1975, there were some labour problems and the three of us decided to start our own company called Ace Designs Ltd. We started this company in 1979 with zero personal investment and operated from a garage. A company called Parmar Mechanic Works from Surendranagar, Gujarat, gave us `15,000 to start off with. We did not have money, but we had knowledge & competence, could design any machine tool and easily duplicate imported machines.

Roadblocks

We started a design consulting company offering design service to the machine tool industry and in the first two years, we made over 24 different designs for various companies. But not a single machine hit the market. This was the most frustrating phase of our journey.

However, we realised that merely designing on paper does not make a successful product. A holistic effort is required to make a product successful in the market. Hence, we gradually started manufacturing special purpose machine tools required by the Engine Valve industry.

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Ace Designers Ltd

The First Leap

The copy turning machine itself had a wide application and we made bearing ring turnings for auto loading systems. From 1986, we also started exporting bearing ring turning machines worldwide and came to be known as turning machine manufacturers. We took some of these machines to IMTEX, which helped us gain further popularity in the market. In 1987, we won the national award for being the best small-scale company in India.

Shop Floor Practices

Constructing a Vision

I got the chance to read a book on strategy and when we realised that we needed a clear strategy and a vision for the company to be competitive in the market. The three of us sat together to question our vision and we decided that we want to become large-scale producers of machine tools. At that time, HMT used to make 120 different types of machines. But that was not what we wanted to do.

Instead, we wanted to make one kind of machine but take it to global standards. And thus began our real journey. We designed, produced, invested and built our marketing strategy around this vision of being large-scale manufacturers. We gradually realised that there was an equal amount of opportunities in the field of machining centres and set up a separate company. While Ace Designers focused on turning centres, the new company—AMS—focused on machining centres.

Strategising Success

Once into business, the next challenge was to create a demand. We applied the basic economics principle that every product is price arrested.

Strategic pricing can create volume demand. So, we strategically priced our products and brought down the price from `15 lakh to `13.5 lakh.

While the initial demand was 50–60 machines a year, within a year after our strategic pricing, our demand rose to 800 machines. Our learning here was that strategies and actions need to align with objectives.

Creating an Ecosystem

Once the volumes went up, we realised that we had to build an eco system and hence we launched Pragati Automation, which made turrets and ATC. Auto CNC was developed for component manufacturing which used our machines to produce parts for us and also for others. Ace Multi Axes focused on heavy component manufacturing. Sphoorti Machine Tools took up manufacturing of turret discs and tooling. To add value to customers by manufacturing intelligent software for the industry, we came up with Pioneer Computing Technology. At that point of time, getting gears was a big challenge. So, we set up Pragati Transmission—an ultra modern manufacturing unit for gears. For this, we outsourced our marketing to our own group who focused on our own products and we came up with Micromatic Machine Tools. With this, we had our complete ecosystem built.

Running a company or business needs certain principles. During our journey, we created our own Bible of Business Principles. n Ethics and Values: Right from Day 1, we promised ourselves to run our business ethically and we were passionate about ethics and values. Over the years, we have met the moral standards and acknowledge our responsibility towards all our stakeholders—customers, suppliers, employees, society, community and environment. n Do not Create Unaccounted Money: We do not evade taxes, we have no over or under invoicing, we have never paid money to get an order and never indulged in illegal dealings.

Our principle was ‘to not lose a good night’s sleep for any of our actions’. n The benefits that we derived from this were huge. n As we created an ecosystem, we developed absolute trust among share holders/partners and customers n Credibility and clarity with customers n Growth through profits, investment Today, we have over 2,500 people in our organisation. With transparent HR principles, our employees trust us and we share a portion of the profits with all our employees. With the profits made, the bonus last year was 75% of the salary. We are generally responsive to people’s requirements and the result of all this is that we have had no union so far in any of our group companies.

Business Excellence

We have a business excellence model in place and we are perhaps the only machine tool company practicing this model and are recognised by the CII. The model is a holistic guide to run a business. It talks in detail about leadership, strategy, people management, partnership & resources and process improvement to fully satisfy and generate value for customers. We are also making future investments. An ultramodern foundry with an investment of `110 crore will be operational in May this year.

We have also invested around `250 crore for expansion. We are building capacity to make 10,000 machines in two stages and are working on a detailed plan to realise the group’s vision to be among the Global Top 10. As we grow, the challenges increase. But we have to scale up our competencies in all aspects of business; only then will we be able to tap the opportunities.

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Leap Strategy

Making the

right move

There is a latent hero inside each one of us, but success stories are all about unleashing the leader within. It is not enough to be successful; it is critical to create value for others as well. For this, we need a plan, a strategy to define our goals and missions and give us a direction to follow.

Indradev Babu

MD, Uday Computer Aided Manufacturing Ltd (UCAM)

Year after year, various companies have struggled and failed because of the lack of direction and proper foundation. A company’s aim to make profit cannot be ensured by mindless manufacturing.

Any organising needs a structure to grow on. These structures can be defined as the four pillars of an organisation and they can be classified as Skill Development, Marketing, Corporate Culture and Growth Plan.

Here is the strategy to play from all four fronts.

- Debarati Basu Das

Executive Director & CEO, Electronica Machine Tools Ltd

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CEO, Micromatic Machine Tools P Ltd

An organisation needs people with skills; it needs to develop a culture that will sustain and nurture the talents. A company needs a concrete plan to chalk out the vision and mission. And last but not the least, it needs marketing skills to take the company to the world.

At L.E.A.P, these four pillars were discussed in detail to bring in a sense of direction for many SMEs and MSMEs to follow.

Deepak Shrivastava

TK Ramesh

Ranjan Choudhury Principal - Programme Development, National Skill Development Corporation

Strategy Skill Development

Addressing National Talent Crunch

An element which is often NOT taken seriously is human talent. We invest in infrastructure to get the best of capital equipment and technology. However, investing in human resource is something that needs to be looked at closely with immense planning. Human resource is an aspect of the industry that is not available on demand all the time.

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ne needs to understand the ecosystem of vocational training in India. As with any issue, there is a supply side and a demand side to this problem. There will be over 10 lakh young people joining the job market every month for the next two decades. According to a recent World Bank Report, of the 550 million people under the age of 25 years, only 11% are enrolled in tertiary institutions as compared to the world average of 23%.

Most of the people who will enter the job market will come without the requisite skills and mindset for productive employment.

We come to think of skill development and vocational training as an economic necessity but it is also a social imperative.

The Issue

The problem that the industry is facing in terms of talent is on the account of very high attrition rates in schools. Only about 10% of the children who enter school actually complete higher secondary.

Moreover, less than 5% of them go through some form of vocational training.

According to NASSCOM, based on their technical skills, English fluency, teamwork and presentation skills, only one in four engineering graduates in India is employable. And of the 4-lakh-odd engineering graduates who graduate each year, only about 20% of them are good enough for India Inc. However, the good part is that much of the opportunity available today is skill based. If knowledge or academics is an issue, skill can be acquired in a short time frame.

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The Initiative

Till about 1991, when India got liberalised, the supply and demand sides of talent were more or less equally balanced. But when we changed gears, the need for human resources multiplied dramatically, and there was a major talent crunch. The government had to address the issue and the National Skills Policy, 2009, was put in place wherein a consorted design and framework of a road map addressed the issue of talent as soon as possible.

The entire issue rested on two pillars— the government and the industry. Vocational training till then has always been led by the government. But for the first time, it was felt that private players also have to be involved in creating talent because they were going to be the prime consumers of this skilled manpower. Hence, government initiatives were scaled up and made more apt to meet industry requirements.Thus, NSDC began as a public-private partnership, created by the Ministry of Finance, where 51% stake was held by private partners and only 49%

A Strategised Effort

Till recently, there has been a Chinese wall between training establishments and employers with neither side talking to each other. Trainers complain that employers do not explain the kind of competence and skill set required. On the other hand, employers feel that what comes out of the educational training institutes does not match the skill set they require.

To address the issue, we came up with Sector Skill Councils. These are industry-led bodies whose own mandate is to identify the skill sets of each job role that is required in their own sector and establish standards for each of them. They have to make sure that the curriculum content is developed in such a way that the youth gets trained for specific job roles and has the competencies needed by companies.

As a positive move, a Sector Skill Council for capital goods has been formed. Here, the prime mover has been the department of heavy industry. We have commissioned a skill gap study for the different job profiles of capital goods.

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Skill Development stake was with the Government of India.

The initial funding of `1000 crore was received from the Government of India and was parked with NSDF for the use of NSDC. Currently, the total funding is `2000 crore. Our target is skilling/upskilling 150 million people by 2022 by fostering private sector initiatives. NSDC’s focus was to move from a knowledge-based system to a competency-based paradigm. Our mandate and responsibility were in two parts: Quantity aspect: To create a skilled workforce of 150 million people by 2022 Build an ecosystem: Creating capacity in isolation is a recipe for disaster Till now, we have about 80 entrepreneurs who decided to work with us to create capacity. We need to understand that the youth is spread all over the country and so is the need for talent. We are consciously seeking to set up capacity in order to train in every region and we will be there in every district in the next 2–3 years.

Ranjan Choudhury, Principal Programme Development, National Skill Development Corporation

He is an MBA from Delhi University. He is an entrepreneur and prior to NSDC, he was associated with the Godfrey Phillips Group heading their vocational programme initiative. He has extensive experience in vocational training.

In his current role, his focus is to foster NSDC partnerships and set up large-scale sustainable training projects with private sectors.

Challenges in the Skill Space

We can classify the challenges in three parts: Quantity

g g g

Large numbers to be targeted Dispersed locations Small batch sizes Non-permanent roles Advocacy for aspiration quotient

g g

Taking one teacher to many Getting industry acceptance of assessment Relevant industry recognised curriculum Recognition of prior learning

g g

Quality g g

Cost

Lowering cost Maximising delivery of one’s capacity Here, the value proposition at both ends needs to be looked at. Students have to be justified for taking up vocational training. Vocational training is not aspirational. Given a choice, every child would want to opt for an academic course with a formal degree rather that vocational. In the entire skill development programme, the effort has to be geared to match the needs of the industry. It is pointless to give an excellent person who does not match up to the industry’s skill set required.

Since this is about a paradigm shift and a quantum leap, our job is not just to be a funding agency. One has to think innovatively to get to the next level of skill development. g g

Strategy Marketing

Marketing is a concept that is different for different people in different industries. In fact, the definition varies in the same industry as well. Marketing of a consumer product is very different from an industrial product. In the machine tool industry, let’s see what meaning does marketing hold...

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their goals. In marketing, we need to make the customer’s dream, our dream, and help them realise their goals. If we look from this perspective, we will be able to understand the meaning of marketing. This will help us set a direction for ourselves and we will be in tune with our customers and travel with them to collectively achieve their goal, which now, is our goal as well.

arketing for some simply means brochures or having a wider presence. For a few others, it may mean presence in exhibitions. But this is not all. For the machine tool sector, marketing is all about closely looking at customers and assuring them that our products are going to help them meet

Why is Marketing Imperative?

The current situation is that we are moving from little choice to no choice to abundance of choice. Today, we have more machines trying to chase customers. Hence, we are moving from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market.

We are in a market-oriented manufacturing set-up and in such situations, only market-driven companies are the order of the day. Manufacturers today have to make products relevant for the industry. Only then can manufacturing companies survive.

Today, the world is a global village. Every company is trying to be an international player. Today, anything that happens anywhere in the world not only affects our business but also affects the business of the people who are our customers. One has to keep eyes and ears open to the global market. The fundamental requirement now is to be close to the market.

Machine Tool Marketing Misnomers g g g g

The best product always wins Technology alone attracts customers Selling a product instead of solving a problem Confusing marketing with selling

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Marketing

Are you Selling or Marketing?

We still wrongly believe that a good product with a new technology can sell like hot cakes in the market. The best product always does not win and technology alone cannot attract customers. We need to bring about a mental shift in our marketing strategies.

From a machine tool perspective, there are several things that boost marketing and one of them is to think differently.

If we need to do better in the market, we need to look at things from an outward viewpoint.

Mostly, we confuse ourselves with the terms ‘marketing’ and ‘selling’.

They are usually used interchangeably like changing designations from Sales Executive to Marketing Executive. But the roles are different. Marketing is an artistic science with a theoretical base and needs to be looked at holistically

to incorporate it into our day-to-day product development and company working requirements. The machine tool industry does not have impulsive buying. While marketing, you need to interview customers and understand their needs before presenting your product.

For instance, your customer might just want a drilling machine, but his/her need would be to achieve a particular drilling specification.

Always ask yourself how you would add value to your customer’s goal. In capital equipment, any buying decision depends on two things—Reduce cost, Increase revenue. Customers do not readily see value in specification, features or performance; they are more interested in knowing whether your machine will help them reduce cost and increase revenue.

Market Value, not Cost

If your customers need to relate to your products, you need to show them how doing business with you will add value to their products, their business and their goals.

Typically, there are four main streams of value: Revenue: Tell them that your machine increases revenue by: g Reducing turnaround time g Reducing unit output cost g Increasing efficiency in output Asset: Assure that your machine will come with: g Just-in-time delivery g Space reduction equipment g Inventory management Process: Show that doing business with you means: g Simpler process g Easy-to-do business g Lesser paper work Service: There is no product that can survive without a service environment. It could be in terms of: g Technical support g Training g Validation certification g Warranty g 24/7 service g Supplier coordination At Ace Micromatic, while selling a machine, we provide a service guarantee within two hours of customers’ call. We have had 24,000 calls a year with on-time service delivery. These are the things that need to be adhered to in external marketing.

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TK Ramesh, CEO, Micromatic Machine Tools P Ltd

He has over 30 years of experience in marketing & management of capital equipment marketing in domestic & international markets. He was a member of Bangalore Management Association & an executive committee member of IMTMA. He was also the panel chairman of Information & Market Assistance Center of Peenya Infrastructure Corridor Up-gradation Program

Look Within

There is another aspect of marketing called internal marketing, which is equally important. It is one thing to promise, but something else to deliver. This is a kind of marketing practice that we need to execute inside our organisation. It is customer-centric and needs to place customers at the centre of your business.

When organisations promise something to customers, customers have some expectations in their minds. The delivery mechanisms of these expectations do not happen between organisation and customer but it happens from people to people. This is why it is important to place customers at the centre of your business and ensure that your people have the right talents aligned with the vision of the company. This methodology of proper communication, listening to customers and their needs will lead you to convert the vision into actual reality. It is a process of transferring a vision from one set of people to another. When you are marketing your products, have the right people with the right vision and communication skills to ensure the best customer experience. Find the right people, train them, empower them and reward them for their efforts.

Alignment of a vision based on theory, communication methodology and clubbing it with a higher purpose (not just to make profit) is the kind of marketing that we need to execute inside the company.

This way, our marketing strategy will look genuine to our customers. This genuineness creates a connect between the organsiation and customer for a lifetime.

Strategy Corporate Corporate Culture Culture

Corporate culture is the belief and behaviour of how a company’s employees and management interact and handle the business environment outside.

It is imperative for every employee because it is the only way to learn the ethics to implement new ideas with all the innovations essential to impact a company’s success.

An Ultimate Corporate Asset

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ulture, which is created through careful design and implementation right at the start, exists in every organisation.

It is also formed through the natural development of a company’s growth. Organisations with strong, adaptive culture enjoy labour cost advantage, great customer loyalty and cordial relationship amongst employees.

Research indicates that a company outperforms its counterpart when its culture fits its business environment and adapts itself to changes. A strong corporate culture, which is compatible with the environment, will give better results compared to a weaker corporate culture. But a strong corporate culture that is not in tune with the environment will hinder the company more than a weak corporate culture ever could. Companies that have experienced only short-term success in a way have not had time to introduce changes in their corporate culture. With time, the same culture that once suited the environment and facilitated growth can become a hindrance.

The Role

Our corporate culture plays a big role in determining how successful you will be in the business in future. Introspect the work culture of the organisation and if you are not happy with your current culture, there are things you should start doing right now. It is very important because employees at all levels in an organisation notice and validate the elements of culture. They even observe and judge every management decision to hire, reward, promote and fire colleagues. Their reactions often come through in comments, the underlying theme of which is the strength and appropriateness of the organisation’s culture. This strength goes stronger and forms a strong foundation of belief for future actions and implementation of critical decisions made by the management.

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Formulating Corporate Culture

A strong organisational culture is always supported by strong ethics imbibed by people in the organisation.

Culture is something in which you invest for and values are anything you are worth of. An organisation’s values are not formed through simple talks but through actions and team learning. They are much more than slogans and empty promises. Practicing and observing ethical behaviour is given huge importance within the organisation. Some organisations even choose to part ways with those who do not work according to the values and behaviour that other employees embrace. Companies with a strong culture, very clearly and prominently, display their ethical values, right at the entrance and all across. Now, let us have a look at a typical owner-driven enterprise where the owner always feels that whatever decision he takes is always with good intention and in the interest of the organisation. According to him, his decisions are always good. However, his decisions are mostly based on feedback channels through his employees. This feedback is most of the time manipulated to please the owner.

A few observations concerning the weaknesses in typical owner-driven enterprises are: Decision-making: Decisions are mostly based on emotions and intentions and not on data and facts based.

Scarcity of new ideas: Innovation and improvement ideas just do not flow across the organisation.

Informal environment: Emotional bonds between the owner and employees are, at times, a hindrance to growth.

Professional approach: Absence of a professional approach leads to weak business processes.

Missing long-term planning: This is normally nonexistent; everybody is occupied with fulfilling short-term goals.

Weak adoption of outside business environment changes: There exists a fire fighting approach, weak organisational culture and indiscipline in working environment.

Inadequate management reviews: Defining of performance parameters is insufficient. So, corrective actions thereof are also less effective.

Insufficient customer focus: The Internet is shifting power to customer and making him powerful, well informed and impatient than ever before. Weak customer handling and time delays in handling customer complaints creates customer dissatisfaction.

Absence of effective problem-solving tools and a more personality-driven approach than a processdriven approach results in unacceptable delays and inadequate solutions.

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Deepak Shrivastava Executive Director & CEO, Electronica Machine Tools Ltd

He has over three decades of experience and is the recipient of CIO 2007 award by International Data Group. He is an Executive Committee Member and also the Chairman, Western Region, IMTMA. He is a panel member of C-MAT—core advisory group for R&D in machine tool sector; GoI and a member of Development Council for Machine Tool, Ministry of Heavy Industry, GoI. Begin a Corporate Revolution

n n n

Challenge the status quo Lead as if you have no power Develop the ability to deselect less important ones Identify the intangibles that enhance your competitive edge Look for symbols, rituals or other tools you could us to bring out the required values and practices n Tell true organisational stories that demonstrate attainable objectives in the past n n

Incorporate a Change

A strong corporate culture has always driven a business model. A business model should always be backed up by a good corporate culture with very clearly defined vision and mission for the next three to five years at least.

Vision is always backed up by values, ethics, expectations, goals and work environment. It has to be deployed to each and every layer of the organisation by systematically following the policy deployment approach. Vision should set strategic goals, tactical objectives and action plans for the employees to follow. Culture can be finely trimmed, manipulated and altered depending upon the leadership and members existing in the organisation along with total compatibility with business environment. It is a leadership quality that is critical in maintaining organisational purpose, values and vision.

A leader can be the owner or a professional from outside, but he/she must set the examples by living the elements of culture, values, behaviour and actions.

A good business model should be inclusive. All elements and agencies that run businesses should be connected with powerful business processes and should be backed up by popular and powerful process tools like effective ERP for material accounting and good performance monitoring system for employees. Material accounting and people monitoring are the most important building blocks of a good corporate culture. It is necessary that these processes be properly understood and gradually implemented.

Strategy Growth Planning

Every organisation grows. But how well are they growing is the real question. Today, the Indian industry is held together by SMEs and MSMEs. The growth of SMEs in India has been unique. It is said that SME segment will be India’s growth engine. We just need the right plan for growing...

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ne needs to constantly think whether one is just planning or planning for growth? There needs to be a clear strategy for growth. We need to set a target, work back, work out all threats and look for opportunities.

However, in most cases, this strategy is missing. Many companies simply wait for problems to occur so that they can face them, learn and then grow. This process does not lead to optimisation of growth prospects.

Even during downturn, many machine tool companies are planning

Fate of Indian SMEs

Most Indian SME grew without any form of detailed planning or any clearly laid down business plan. On the other hand, few Indian SMEs have a formal strategic planning process, while some just lay the Vision and Mission statements. However, a detailed plan is what accelerates growth in the right direction.

A company derives its strategic plan from its Vision and Mission. Every company who has made it big has had, at some point of time, spelt out a strategy. Once you have your strategy in place, your determination to achieve your goal comes out clearly. Strategy is very critical for the growth of any company, but it is even more important for SMEs. Many companies grow, but good growth is sustained growth.

their growth. Over the last financial year, majority of the companies have had some percentage of downturn and this financial year also seems uncertain. But several companies have already laid down their strategies to grow even in such a situation.

Even in Italy, wherein several companies were hit by the major downturn, many others survived. This has been possible only because these companies saw beyond the downturn and had a proper strategy in place not just to avoid the economic unrest but also to find means to grow.

The Process

Once you have determined where you are and where you want to be, there are different approaches of how you want to fill in the gaps: n Intensification: Improve your productivity and efficiency for growth n Reallocation: Relocate your resources such as machines or human resources n Extension: Extend your range of products and volumes n Diversification: Bring new verticals of products In any growth plan, there are two types of interlinked activities—primary and support. The primary activities are marketing and sales, operations, material management, logistics and services. But these are managed by support activities such as building infrastructure, human resources, management and technology development. You have to plan your support activities and they are not readily available.

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Growth Planning

Step by Step Approach

Growth can occur even during bad economic conditions. You first have to lay out your vision and mission statement very carefully and then come up with subsequent strategic options and narrow down your strategic plans. Implementation of a documented plan makes it easy to monitor it as well. All this, if constantly followed, leads to growth.

A Business Plan needs to be comprehensive and should be able to: n Answer – “Where are we going?” n Document future on paper n Clarify opportunities and threats n Provide a framework for decision-making n Help to make proper decisions But above all, a business plan must be able to get your teams at all levels to think about the future of the business and shape their current decisions accordingly.

The compilation of a growth plan needs a CEO or a leader who is bold & steadfast, has risk-taking aptitude, is able to overcome obstacles, is hard working, is creative and

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constantly innovating. The leader needs to play with the market, human resources, finance and have technology-based knowledge about the process. Above all, a CEO needs to support and mentor his team.

UCAM, as a company, was born in 1986 as a CNC job shop with me as the only employee. I had a burning desire to start something on my own. I have met several adversities and downfalls to reach this position. We then chose to diversify and started manufacturing CNC Rotary Indexing Tables. We struggled to survive and it was only after the year 2000 that we started to grow. With a proper plan in place and a vision to chase, our fate changed and we started to make real profit and grow.

We need to simply understand that unless we grow, we will wither away. There are obstacles in any kind of business but a clear focus and vision will certainly lead to growth.

Today, our country depends on SMEs for its growth and we need to support the industry.

So, let’s have a plan and let’s grow!!

Indradev Babu MD, Uday Computer Aided Manufacturing Ltd (UCAM)

He obtained his Mechanical Engineering Degree from Mysore University.

He has a rich experience of 36 years in his field and aims to make UCAM one of the Top 5 companies of the world in its segment.

He is an Executive Committee Member of IMTMA and has been the president of Bangalore Machine Tool Manufacturers Network.

leap Vision

Seeing Vs. Envisioning An organisation without a set goal is like a boat without a compass.

Having a defined vision is the first right step that you take towards your dream. Most companies start their journey without any clarity on what they want to do and achieve. Their only short-term mission is to make enough profit to sail comfortably through the next financial year. But in such a journey, many entrepreneurs find themselves clueless and miss-directed in their path and they finally encounter failure.

MS Dhakad

Programme Director, UNIDO ICAMT

Various industry associations such as IMTMA and UNIDO have, over the years, worked towards bringing various organisations together in the same boat, so that the industry can sail collectively with one mission, towards one goal. While the Indian industry today is striving to stand on its own feet, the associations have been creating a vision for the industry to become a global name.

At L.E.A.P, IMTMA and UNIDO found a platform to bring the industry closer and share their vision so that they all can walk towards the same dream together. They spoke about the road travelled so far and the journey that lies ahead. They shared their expert foresight on the challenges that might come and the way these adversities should be tackled. They spoke about the loopholes in the industry, which hinder growth, and the steps that need to be taken to fill these gaps. They shared the dreams that they have and the path that needs to be taken to reach the goals. They promised a shelter that the associations will offer the industry in difficult times.

Deepak Ballani

National Programme Officer, UNIDO ICAMT

Vikram Sirur

President, Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association (IMTMA) & Executive Chairman, Miven Machine Tools Ltd

PJ Mohanram Senior Adviser - Technology, IMTMA

In the end, in unison, they all dreamt one Dream—To be the No. 1 machine tool industry in the world!

- Debarati Basu Das

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Vision India 2020

While the industry is moving ahead globally, people in the Indian machine tool industry are still looking backwards. We need to change our approach and look ahead at the prospects that the future holds.

Here is a look at the opportunities that lie ahead for this industry.

W

e, at Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association (IMTMA), have collectively documented our Vision for the Indian machine tool industry. By the year 2020, our vision is to be among the Top 5 machine tool building nations leveraging world-class R&D, infrastructure, systems and people delivering innovative solutions and services to create value for customers.

Today, we rank 12th among the nations producing machines of reasonable quality and are the 7th largest nation in terms of consumption. This means that our users are far ahead of us. We consume a lot more than we produce—we hold only a 35% market share, while two-third is imported. If we want to be among the Top 5 machine building nations by 2020, not only do we have to cover the existing gap but we also have to anticipate what others will do.

For all this, we have to look forward.

The Vision

In the process of making our vision statement, we conducted an in-depth study of the growth of the machine tool industry in India. Today, we produce over 14,201 metal cutting machines in terms of volume. On the other hand, some of the large companies in China produce more than 100,000 machines each. Hence, they are about 15 times our size. They are not just No. 1 consumers but are also No. 1 producers of machine tools in the world today.

On a global volume of about US$85 billion, the Indian space is less than US$1 billion. We do not hold even 1% of the global market, which means that there is around 99% of the world market to tap.

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India 2020

What we can be A Decade Later

To get a glimpse of what we can be in the next 10 years, we have made a few assumptions. The market has been growing at 15% and if we assume that we will have a 15% growth in the future, this is how we will be placed: If our consumption today is `11,175 crore, by 2016–17, we expect to reach `21,666 crore. Hence, by 2020, we will have a consumption of `36,000 crore.

If we want to hold a 30% market share, then it is imperative that we grow at a

minimum rate of 15%. However, we need a bigger ambition. Hence, we assume that we can achieve the growth of 25% (this is not an unattainable target. The industry during 2007–08, 2009–10 and 2010–11 grew at 30%.

However, in realistic terms, we are targeting 25% on a year-on-year basis).

This way, our production can be around `10,000–12,000 crore by the year 2016–17 and can expect to hit a production of `23,000 crore by 2020.

Projection by Numbers

In the production of metal cutting machines, we are going to make approximately 14,201 machines in 2012–13 following the growth pattern. We will double it by 2016–17 to 23,668 and eventually expect to make 40,000 machines by 2020.

Today, in the organised sector, we make 1,882 machines.

We plan to make more than 5,388 forming machines by 2020. This only shows the magnitude of work that all of us have to put in the industry to reach this target.

For this to happen, we need to look at capacity expansion and incorporate new technology. Indian industry and its machines cater to the mid-range. We are still not in the heavy duty, high-precision range or in the multi-tasking machine range. This is the main cause of our dependence on imports.

We have to advance our technology and for this, we have to move from basic products to CNCs. Many companies still produce conventional machines. Although there is a huge market for these machines as well but eventually, to keep pace with the global demands, most companies will think of migrating to CNC. Today, these high-end machines are also being made affordable; hence, price will not be a criterion to stop companies from investing in CNCs. With the downturn, most companies have seen a slide of 30% in the market. But there are also companies who have grown.

This means that with the right strategy, there is a possibility of growth in the most adverse situations.

Does the slide in the auto industry necessarily mean that the machine tool industry will meet the same fate? India is a country with a population of 1.2 billion. There is a constant need for consumer durables, vehicles, medical equipment and a host of other necessities. Farm mechanisation is the future and this gives scope to the machine tool industry. Even if we start making 10% of what we import, the machine tool industry can stop importing. This is only a glimpse of the scope of growth for the industry to produce more.

The machine tool industry holds the key to the country’s ambitious GDP growth of 25%.

This means that we are looking at substantial expansion of the industry in terms of value and volume to keep pace with the industry. Hence, if we do not grow at 25%, we are going to slide down in business. If we achieve this target, we will have a 55% market share by 2016– 17 and a 64% market share by 2020. To achieve this, there are three essentials: • Increase production • Raise market share • Explore export opportunities

PJ Mohanram, Senior Adviser - Technology, IMTMA

He obtained his ME degree in machine design from IISc and subsequently joined the design department of Hindustan Machine Tools Ltd. He was associated with the development of India’s first CNC machine tools, horizontal machining centre, robotics and flexible manufacturing system. At IMTMA, he prepared the Vision Document & Perspective Plan 2010–2020 and the Technology Roadmap for the machine tool industry.

Cluster Initiative

There is a need to work together. We have to attack QCD—Quality, Cost and Delivery. A few things that need to be done in cluster initiatives are: n Consolidate your product technology by reducing weak points in product quality issues n Establish products to match with industry leaders.

First achieve the national benchmark and then move ahead to achieve global standards n Bring price competitive products: look at design, processes and inputs n Expand the volume by judicious new investment n Focus and strengthen your hold in the mid-value segment by building credibility and meeting delivery expectations n Meet the technology gap—Identify existing and potential needs of the user sector and develop machines accordingly If we take a systematic and collective initiative, there is no way that our target to meet Vision 2020 can be hindered.

Let us go forward with our outlook towards the future.

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Vision Cluster Development

Carving Success

through

Cluster initiatives When you don’t come across any problem, you can be sure that you are travelling on the wrong path” - Swami Vivekananda

Several success stories from entrepreneurs over the decades have repeatedly proved that the fire in the belly to defy the impossible is all that it takes to attain success. IMTMA, with UNIDO as its facilitator, is continuously trying to create a platform of many such success stories in the Indian industry in future. IMTMA has been at the core of the cluster initiative and has promoted several cluster development programmes in the country through which the machine tool fraternity has also benefitted.

T

he brains behind the successful initiative are the CEOs and Senior Executives of the member companies of IMTMA, who meet once every two years in a programme known as the ‘Vision Program’.

It was during the Vision Program in the year 2000 at Udaipur that the idea of cluster formation for the development of the machine tool Industry was born, and the first machine tool cluster was formed in Bangalore in the year 2002 with support from UNIDO. Since then, several machine tool clusters were formed such as in Ludhiana and Rajkot, again through the assistance of UNIDO ICAMT, in order to push forth this initiative further. At the Madurai 2005 Vision Program, we drew up a Vision Statement, which though ambitious, was still achievable. But owing to the several ups and downs in the economy, and consequentially in the machine tool industry, the achievement fell short of expectations.

Hence, at the last Kolkata Vision 2013 Program held in November, it was decided to revisit the earlier Vision Statement and to redraft the same as it is seen on the screen.

‘Vision 2020’

We will be in the Top 5 Machine Tool Building Nations by 2020 Leveraging World-class R&D, Infrastructure, Systems and People Delivering Innovative Solutions and Services to Create ‘Value for Customers.

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Cluster Development

The Approach

The road map, as set out, is a step by step approach, which involves Cluster Development Officers (CDOs) who are totally dedicated to this purpose, undertake the hardcore task of working with the Clusters at every level and are full-time IMTMA appointees. Many of my colleagues from Bangalore will remember the tremendous work done by Jeetendra Kalra from UNIDO who undertook the stupendous task of developing the Bangalore Machine Tool Cluster in the 1990s and early part of the last decade. We wish to employ such dedicated CDOs who will act as Local Resource People. The CDO will have support from the domain expert, who will guide the programmes with assistance from the Gurus. This domain expert will provide his/her inputs to the cluster members from time to time with the assistance of the CDOs. On the top of this, the IMTMA will appoint a mentor group consisting of experts who have achieved levels 4 & 5 and can share their expertise with the clusters. Lastly, the Executive Committee will be monitoring the programme and its progress. While this programme is drawn up by a group of experts, we would want the industry to come up with suggestions on this road map to success.

The Vision

We are all aware of a few facts—India produces only about 35–40% of its domestic needs of machine tools. We are also aware that in the area of small, compact and basic CNCs, we have a much larger share than the imports despite onslaughts from Taiwan, Korea, Japan and recently, China. Our machines meet the basic requirements of the user industry at affordable costs with effective and efficient aftersales-service facility, especially by major players.

But is this going to help us achieve our Vision of being a 70% provider to machine tools in the domestic market? Or are we going to stick only to small and basic machines, thus allowing outsiders to supply higher-end machines where technology and consequently reliability plays an important role? These questions were predominant in the minds of the visionaries who met in Kolkata. This made us decide to again take up the cluster movement in a more structured manner to provide a thrust to Indian machine tool manufacturers to grade themselves in the higher planes. We wish to dovetail our effort with LEAP’s concept of ‘Lead, Educate, Apply and Prosper’, thereby achieving the Vision 2020 defined in Kolkata.

The Vision Statement that evolved was drawn up after an intense 3-day debate and deliberations, and it takes a holistic look at what the Indian machine tool industry can achieve by 2020. As a follow-up to this statement, a small group of IMTMA EC Office Bearers and our Gurus—Shailesh Sheth and R Srinivasan (both past Presidents)—have taken a look at the various action plans that emerged at the Vision Programs. The group identified the action areas that could be planned for the industry, both within and by the industry. For instance, creating awareness about the industry market potential by 2020 and converting the existing chaotic working conditions in the SME sector. The idea was for the industry to grow in a structured manner wherein individual visions of machine tool manufacturers are aligned with the IMTMA Vision 2020. One such initiative, which is being launched shortly, is the initiative through the Cluster Stream. This approach has five levels of learning in different programmes. Included among the five levels of learning are Awareness Programme, the Foundation Programme and Basics of Competitiveness. These three levels mark the road map for competitiveness through the Cluster Programme. Level 4 concerns Attaining Manufacturing Excellence and level 5 includes Attaining the Ultimate Business Excellence. We are aware of the German and Japanese Business Excellence Models. The Vision of IMTMA is that by 2020, a majority of our members will have their own Business Excellence Models firmly in place so that our dream of being a ‘Leading Player in the World’ is achieved.

Vikram Sirur President of Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association (IMTMA) & Executive Chairman of Miven Machine Tools Ltd

He completed his BE (Chemical) from Regional Engineering College, Durgapur, and joined his family business with a rich tradition of over 120 years in the industry. He has been associated with several industry bodies like CII- Hubli Chapter; Indian Institute of Material Management, Local Chapter; National Council of Applied Economic Research, New Delhi; North Karnataka Management Association, etc.

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Vision UNIDO ICAMT Road Map

Ensuring Growth

Sustainability

UNIDO’s vision is to leave behind a strong, well-structured and enabling environment that can sustain its efforts and continue to benefit the industry. UNIDO ICAMT’s vision is to determine the sustainability of these benefits to the industry and its replicability within the industry.

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ver the years, UNIDO ICAMT has been making a conscious effort to ensure the sustainability of its actions towards technology upgradation, productivity enhancement, nurturing of skills and capacity development, both at the national

policy level as well as at the national, regional and local industry levels. At the national level, UNIDO ICAMT seeks to strengthen capacities for the creation and continuous improvement of a business environment through a combination of advisory and capacity building services. UNIDO also supports the creation and strengthening

of the institutional infrastructure required for the formulation and implementation of industrial policies and strategies. Working with policymakers to identify constraints in the market environment and finding ways to address them, UNIDO strives to enhance productivity and competitiveness from a market development perspective.

Creating Sustainability

At the industry level, sustainability is ensured by: … Enhancing functional and technical capacities of industry associations and industry clusters … By training partner institutions personnel on the entire process of the diagnostic study to the implementation, ICAMT ensures that its activities are sustainable. … It assists industry associations to further develop partnerships with government institutions, other industry associations across the world and expert bodies … It builds the capacity of the association to upgrade its research development and testing facilities … Representatives of industry associations are kept on board for technology missions and study tours … Through its network building activities, formations of clusters and consortiums, ICAMT also aims to increase the capacity of SMEs to collectively react to crisis and turning points in business

ICAMT – Way Forward Deepak Ballani, National Programme Officer, UNIDO ICAMT

He is an engineer by qualification. Before joining UNIDO in 1999, he has worked with Tata Consultancy Services on many prestigious projects related to the manufacturing industry.

During his tenure in UNIDO, Ballani has been responsible for developing and implementing ambitious initiatives for the development of the manufacturing sector.

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Needless to say, ICAMT’s vision is to target the manufacturing industry at large. We are already developing projects for the Bicycle, Stone and Food Processing industries. ICAMT will make available its tools and methodologies along with the learnings from these three projects. In the age of globalisation, gaining access to export markets is particularly important for SMEs. Keeping in mind the mandate of UNIDO towards trade capacity building, ICAMT will continue its efforts towards fostering international cooperation and giving the industry the exposure and expertise for technology transfer. Lastly, ICAMT’s vision is also to ensure that its activities are environmentally sustainable. Industry being one of the main contributors of greenhouse gases, it is our endeavour to ensure that we encourage green manufacturing technologies.

Vision UNIDO ICAMT Interventions

taking the

Big LEAP

What UNIDO ICAMT envisioned as a collective experience for the industry has been made possible through LEAP. The journey of UNIDO ICAMT so far has included contributing to the manufacturing industry and positively impacting & inspiring the activities of all companies, big and small. Here is an overview of the progress.

U

nlike large companies, most SMEs require continuous guidance and handholding.

They cannot individually access the technologies for availing the benefits of technological developments in order to remain competitive. Small enterprises operate on rather low volumes and therefore require technology-led interventions to assist their development and growth. ICAMT is currently implementing three projects in the manufacturing sector—Machine Tool, Plastics and Foundry. Most initiatives within the Machine Tool as well as the Plastic projects are at advanced stages of implementation, while the Foundry project has started to gather momentum. UNIDO ICAMT has conducted a diagnostic study of all companies

and has brought to light deficiencies and identified gaps in technology, skills, processes in a coherent manner. This is the first time that SMEs have received a systemic study for their companies and must have realised how lack of expert guidance, obsolete inefficient machines and technically unskilled workforce was giving them less productivity, high-cost products and inferior quality. UNIDO ICAMT is focused on providing structured exposure, training, expertise and tailor-made solutions to SMEs, leading to appropriate investments for production, including enhancement of firm level productivity, diffusion of new and relevant technologies, skill development programmes, etc. The continuity of implementation of all on-going & planned activities is in line with the demand and needs of the industry.

Ladder of Success

One of UNIDO’s greatest impacts has been in fostering international cooperation, exposure to international best practices through technology mission and group participations. Foreign factory owners are not allowed to enter their premises, but such visits have been possible under the United Nations banner. Several B2B meetings organised in the US, South Korea and Turkey have led to the facilitation of technology transfer and joint ventures between cluster companies and foreign partners. International expertise from institutes such as Steinbeis Centre for Technology Transfer, Senior Expertan Services (SES) and PUM has been roped in for independent technical assistance, capacity enhancement, marketing and development of new technologies. Some of the areas included are assembly skills, multiple maintenance technical training for electrical and mechanical maintenance, basics of programmable logic controllers in machine tools and similar interventions in plastics in areas of multilayer flexible packaging, materials compounds in engineering plastics, etc. Plant capacity utilisation increased from 43% to 80% in a unit due to international expertise provided

by UNIDO ICAMT in making the necessary modification in the equipment used to manufacture HDPE and PP sheets.

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UNIDO ICAMT Interventions

Unending Support

UNIDO has made the implementation aggressive and easily accessible by placing competent experts, consistently available to the industry. This has resulted in 14 new products manufactured under the project. These are 3-Axis CNC Stitching Machine, Micro Alignment Assembly Press, Centreless Tube Polishing Machine, High Speed Press Stamping line, Two Point 600 Ton Forging Press, Plate Straightening Machine, Hydraulic Iron Worker, Hot Forging Presses at 500 tons, Programmable Automatic Gantry Pourer, Automatic Fettling Line, Vision Inspection Line, ROTOMILL, Electrical Upsetting Machine and Hot Forging Press. The development of key performance indicators for facilitating the objective monitoring of the benefits received under the programme deserves appreciation as this is the best method of logically tracking the progress periodically.

UNIDO ICAMT has drawn attention to measuring the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) at the shop floor for its units in the plastic industry. Such an intervention that formalises the measure of capacity utilisation in a unit has been instrumental in raising productivity and improving energy efficiency in the units.

Twenty-one units in Bhubaneswar, Delhi NCR, Ahmedabad and Mumbai have been trained and now provide quarterly OEE data. Energy audits have been completed for 18 units in the Chennai cluster. Suggested measures under this programme are likely to reduce the energy consumption by 15–20%. Similar audits are ongoing in Mumbai and planned for Bhubaneswar, Delhi and Ahmedabad. UNIDO ICAMT is instrumental in setting up testing facilities for biodegradable plastics at CIPET. A series of awareness programmes are also planned pan India to increase awareness within the manufacturers and users at large.

UNIDO ICAMT Success Stories

= FOUR M Technologies (p) Ltd, Hyderabad

– Exceptional turnover growth through new products—Micro Aligning Press, CNC Hydro Slotting Machine and Hydraulic Work Benches for metro rails = Involute Automation (p) Ltd, Hyderabad – Facilitated establishment of Involute-Steinbeis Institute of Manufacturing Technology and developed Automatic Gantry Pourer and Automatic fettling machines = Vijay Machine Tools (p) Ltd, Hyderabad – Development of an in-house design department, development of 3-axes Stitching Machine (import substitution) and Electronic Mechanical Mast = Sadhu Engineering Works Pvt Ltd, Ludhiana – Exceptional turnover growth through upgradation and development of Hot Forging Press. = ETA Technology (p) Ltd, Bangalore – Expansion of operations with the potential to reach US$18 million in the turnover and development of Electrical Upsetting Machine and Friction Welding Press. = Abhijat Equipments (p) Ltd, Pune – Turnover & exports have doubled in last three years through better marketing practices implemented = Ultra Precision Spindles (p) Ltd, Pune – Facilitated Joint Venture with SETCO, USA and greater market penetration = Institute of Applied Research, Pune – Implementation of superior aesthetic principles on existing machines and High Energy Ball Mill under development

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MS Dhakad, Programme Director, UNIDO ICAMT

He is an IFS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre and has served as the Director, DIPP, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, from 2006 to 2009 where he was in charge of the administration/establishment of Intellectual Property affairs in the country. He also looked after the affairs of National Productivity Council, Quality Council of India and handles all policy and functional programmes of UNIDO in India.

Igniting a Dream Every company has to begin as a small entity. But that does not mean that you have to remain small. One has to continuously evolve from the SME sector and enter the territory of bigger companies and become an MNC or OEM. The SME sector is an overcrowded arena, while the territory of big companies is relatively empty as the number of bigger companies required in India is unlimited. It is only when you leave this SME segment to graduate ahead that you will make space for budding entrepreneurs who want to enter the market and avail the opportunities that you once had. It is time to pass on the opportunities to young entrepreneurs while you move on to take upon bigger roles and responsibilities of the industry. Take the LEAP!!