SURGE
Employee Newsletter
ISSUE 1 FEBRUARY 13
Gavin Nicol visits Weir BDK Stresses improvements in key areas BUSINESS PRIORITIES Sales Operational Planning
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Improvement Supplier Performance Improvement
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE Weir Leadership team outlines key priorities for 2013 -2 New range of safety valves from Weir BDK -3
Gavin Nicol, Director, Operations Support and Development, Weir Group PLC, visited the Weir BDK facility on 30 January, 2013. Gavin started his day by visiting the facilities and later had detailed discussions on every aspect of the business, including operational improvement, supply chain management, quality, product development, marketing, HR, and finance. Post his visit and discussions, Gavin appreciated the effort being put in by various teams to improve the business. He also emphasised, among many
things, on the key focus areas for Weir BDK. Sales operations planning Gavin highlighted the need for improvement in sales and operations planning in order to avoid customer order backlog. He encouraged the teams to look into this critical planning function and resolve the outstanding issues on priority. Quality improvement He stressed on the need to provide world-class quality products by improving the quality culture and implementing rigorous quality control
management at every level. The priority is to adhere and properly implement standard operating procedures, appropriate documentation, inspection tools, etc. for every process level. Supplier performance improvement Gavin also emphasised on the need to improve our supplier performance as it has a direct bearing on Weir BDK’s performance. The identified focus areas include quality of products delivered and timely delivery in order to meet Weir BDK’s internal targets.
BPFA representatives visit WBDK -3 Weir BDK volunteers commemorate World AIDS Day -3 Significant progress on ‘EHS’ -4 ITSM launched at Weir BDK -4 Tele-presence room inaugurated -4
Republic Day celebrations at Weir BDK Weir BDK celebrated the Republic Day by hoisting the national flag and honoring Major (Retd.) Mohandas P Khajjidoni (Dharwad). Being a holiday, the event was attended by a small group of employees. Republic Day celebrations at the lawns of Weir BDK
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Weir leadership outlines priority for 2013 As the year started, the Weir leadership team outlined the priorities for 2013 for Weir BDK.
Naveen Ganzu addressing the townhall
WBDK employees at townhall
Randeep Mahajan handing over awards
Naveen Ganzu, in his e-mail message to all employees across Weir India – themed ’Urgency to Shift the Orbit’–emphasised on the need to implement the strategy as economic conditions continued to be challenging. He highlighted the need to be execution focused, adapt and drive new business models, develop a sense of urgency in execution of plans, and get closer to customers, and demand results. Randeep Mahajan, in his message highlighted that the change initiatives at Weir BDK were critical for the competitive future of the organisation, and that in 2013, the focus was clearly on adapting and using the ERP system, operational excellence, quality, building a safety culture, on-time delivery, and honoring our commitment made to any stakeholder. At the townhall meeting held on 4 January, 2013 at the central lawns, Naveen, Randeep, and Vikas reemphasised the need for strategy execution.
Vikas Goel addressing the townhall
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Naveen shared that even though the worldwide economic environment has been challenging,
Randeep re-emphasised that it was critical that all ERP users make sure that they use the system with right inputs the Weir Group has delivered good results. At all the units of Weir India, the focus was on executing the strategy to grow our business in India. He shared the various initiatives that are underway at each of the business units across Weir India. For Weir BDK, he clearly outlined that the focus on improving quality practices was paramount. In addition, he stressed on the need to adapt to an ERP system to build competitiveness. Randeep re-emphasised that it was critical that all ERP users make sure that they use the system with right inputs. Highlighting the focus on quality, Randeep clarified that quality initiatives are top priority and every employee within the organisation must support the same. Quality focus requires people at all levels to adhere to standard operating
procedures. He elaborated that the journey of change at WBDK depends on the active participation of all employees. He added that 2013 is a critical year to implement change and that Weir BDK is competitively positioned for growth. In his message, Vikas said that while the financial growth of WBDK has dipped (this was expected in light of various change initiatives and the prevailing economic conditions.) However, the critical task at hand was to ensure smooth and speedy implementation of change initiatives in order to regain growth momentum at a higher rate. The clear focus was on quality and customer-centricity and that all employees needed to contribute towards this.
New range of safety valves from Weir BDK WEIR BDK is geared to receive an order for Socket Weld (SW) connections. The legacy product was limited to screwed and flanged end connections. However, today there is a domestic demand for Socket Weld today. WEIR BDK SRV Engineering Team, led
by Narayan Katyare and Ravi Kumar, successfully designed and validated – in consultation with DCO based in Weir Power & Industrial, France – the socket weld end connection for thermal expansion safety valves. This is an addition to the current portfolio of products. V. Ramachandra has bagged a big order for
113 safety valves, worth Rs 3 million for a 1X50 MW Solar Thermal Power Plant in Pokharan, Rajasthan.
Narayan and Ravi
Weir BDK Socket Welded Safety Valve
Bombay Pipes & Fittings Merchants’ Association visit Weir BDK Over 40 representatives from The Bombay Pipes & Fittings Merchants’ Association visited the Weir BDK facility in early January. The visit was organised to showcase the facility and operations at Weir BDK.
The representatives spent a full day at the facility, understanding Weir’s business in India and Weir BDK in detail. They also went on a short plant visit to see the manufacturing operations.
The team was clearly impressed by what they saw and thanked the Weir Management for organising the visit.
BPFMA members felicitate Weir BDK leadership
Weir BDK volunteers commemorate World AIDS Day Continuing the spirit of community participation, 95 Weir BDK employees commemorated World AIDS Day (1 December). The participants enthusiastically donated blood at the WBDK Blood Donation Camp, held in collaboration with Rotary Blood Bank, Hubli, and Indian Red Cross. Responding to the issue of HIV & AIDS in
Karnataka, one of the six high prevalence states in India, Weir BDK went a step further and also contributed significantly to the interiors of the waiting area for the HIV patients at the Government District Hospital. Patients from all over the district come to this hospital every month to collect their free medication. In November-December
2012, volunteers from WBDK also conducted AIDS awareness sessions for the youth studying at the Industrial Training Institute, Hubli. The awareness camp was held at the corporate office. Weir BDK employees have always lead from the front to lend a hand for a social cause. The World AIDS Day also witnessed the same enthusiasm.
HIV/AIDS awareness camp
Blood donation camp
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Significant progress on ‘EHS’
License storage facility
Weir BDK, in 2012, took significant steps to improve the overall EHS performance. Pratap Chowgule and Altaf Hirehal took the lead to implement these steps. A two-bed wellequipped occupational health centre facility, with one full-time doctor, two medical assistants,
Scrap storage area
Occupational health center facility
and an ambulance to cater to any emergency is now operational within Weir BDK. A license storage facility of 10KL capacity has been developed for highly flammable chemicals and gases (paints, thinners, and other rubber chemicals). This helps to prevent storage of bulk quantities on shop floors, thereby reducing probability of fire. In addition, renovation of all electrical utilities, including up-gradation of power distribution panels, DG sets, chimney
modification, etc. was undertaken to meet the latest requirements of safety & environment. This has also reduced power transmission losses by 5%. A common effluent treatment plant of 5KL capacity per day has been set up for treatment of all effluents generated inside Weir BDK. The treated water is used for gardening. The scrap storage area has been renovated, inline with best practices of waste management.
ITSM launched at Weir BDK
Launch function of ITSM
ITSM, the one-stop solution of IT users was launched at Weir BDK on 7 February, 2013. The service makes it very convenient for IT users to log in any issue relating to IT, such as printer not working, Lotus Notes problems, etc. or for new hardware and software installations. To use this service, users have to log onto the site (http://itsm) and enter their complaints. The IT service team will track it to closure. Ideas for change
Tele-presence room inaugurated
Telepresence room launched by Naveen Ganzu and Randeep Mahajan
The Tele-presence room, a facility that helps conduct virtual meetings through video conferencing with people across the world, was inaugurated at the corporate office. A first of its kind for Weir India, the facility will enable regular global meetings and greatly strengthen efficient business operations.
If you want to share your story in this newsletter, please contact Chaitanya Prakash (chaitanya.prakash@weirgroup.com) or Hariprasada A ( hariprasada.a@weirgroup.com)
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Do you want to share your ideas for change with the leadership team? Please write to: chaitanya.prakash@ weirgroup.com or drop your suggestion in the Employee Voice Box at the Weir BDK premises. We look forward to hearing from you.