The Hindu Business Line : `Mindset change key for manufacturing excellence'

WHAT does it take to achieve excellence in manufacturing? It is all about bringing about change in the mindset of the stakeholders and making them feel part of the organisation, according to speakers at a workshop organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Mr Ashok Devineni, Managing Director of Nava Bharat Ferro Alloys Ltd, said the change of mindset of the company helped it turn around from a loss-making one in the early 1990s to a profitable one in 2004. During the period, the turnover went up from Rs 101.35 crore to Rs 498 crore.

Mr Ashok was addressing the `Through My Eyes' session of the MAN'EXE-04 workshop, the first in the `Leadership series on manufacturing excellence.'

Relating his company's experience, Mr Ashok says the company found it difficult to cope with the irregular, unreliable and costly power supply in the last decade. "Our market share had gone down," he points out. "Our focus at that time was setting up a power plant, restructuring manpower, investments in facilities for world-class operations," he added.

When the company wanted to set up a power plant for captive use, financial institutions scoffed at the idea. "Should the dog wag the tail or the other way round," was the question.

The company, however, could convince them. "Once the 50-MW plant is ready, it has changed the whole atmosphere. That was the real turnaround," Mr Ashok said. "It (running a power plant) is like riding a tiger. You utilise the full capacity or it will consume you," he added. This has forced the company to give a thrust on exports. "What is needed is systemic mindset change. We have implemented the Japanese management concept of 5S. It may look that companies can do without it. But it did wonders for us," he sums up.

Mr V. Narsimhan, Executive Director of Brakes India Ltd, said that the company revamped its total outlook in just five years. "We were largely looking internal and home country oriented in 1998. We changed it all during the last few years. We have started looking outwards and working on integration of all aspects by involving stakeholders. We are also thinking on cross-cultural lines," he said.

"We have built up a House of Excellence with features such as Business Planning and Human Resources forming the main pillars," Mr Narsimhan said. Under the rehashed management strategy, Brakes India began to reward risk taking, which resulted in learning from mistakes.