The Hindu Business Line : Logic & design

When you see Ramesh Manickam, it’s easy to spot that his transition from employee to entrepreneur has left him un-singed. The burdens of receivables, client demands and employee retention sit lightly on his shoulders. His creative depths alone have found voice, unchained from the rigidity that comes with running an organisation.

Manickam, CEO and Design Director at his brainchild, Centroid Creative Hubb, finished his master’s in Industrial Design from IIT-Delhi in 1998, worked in design at Royal Enfield for seven years before launching out with a couple of partners. Scorched by the undulating business environment, his partners exited in a few months. Manickam then began his solo-act, orchestrating a team of professionals, now numbering 25, offering design services. He says making his passion as his profession made this possible for him.

For the two-year-old company, the break came from a tractor maker. It designed the front-end, dashboard with instrument-cluster, top hood and side panels for the Italian manufacturer Same Deutz-Fahr India Ltd.

Hand holding

Where exactly does Centroid add value? Says Manickam, “Unlike other design houses, we stay with the customer till the product is launched.” After all, if the designer gets out of the picture as soon as the design is delivered, the manufacturing folks cannot always strictly keep to it. They would want a few changes, and without the original designer’s inputs, the design is finally compromised.

Practicable design is another cornerstone of Manickam and his team’s philosophy. He says, “We also have to involve ourselves in engineering the product. We decide on the material that is to be used so that our design can be applied without hindrance. Predominantly, we use sheet metal for products. Knowledge of plastics is also key.”

Stepping beyond

Over time, Centroid has stepped beyond true-blue ‘manufacturing’ boundaries. Its designs for two products stand out. The first is a low-cost ATM that it designed for a company under the TeNet Group that works under the aegis of Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala of IIT-Madras. With Centroid’s help in designing and engineering the ATM from scratch, the client has been able to price the product at Rs 1.25 lakh, compared to the Rs 8-lakh price tag of a typical ATM.

Manickam says, “The design is ours. We chipped in with the engineering. Our client’s focus on engineering was to do it from ground up. It did not tinker with the existing model of ATMs available worldwide.”

The other unique product Centroid designed is a stethoscope that used relevant material to reduce the noise generated when the doctor’s hand shakes as he listens to the patient’s heartbeat.

Manickam says, “Some innovative thinking went here. First, we tried springs inside the stethoscope. While that lessened the external vibration, the springs themselves generated some noise. We neutralised that by using rubber to contain the activity in the spring.”

Designing combs

His clientele has grown through word of mouth. Also important is the visibility that Manickam has got through awards. “We were the Indian finalist for the International Young Design Entrepreneur of the Year - 2006. TAN Carpenter Holding in China noticed us and asked us to design combs that targeted high net-worth women,” he says. Centroid offered four different designs including a combination of wood and metal besides using different kinds and shades of wood.

Since inception, Centroid has been transforming itself from a boutique services company to offering a wider range of solutions by getting involved with clients from the concept stage itself, he says.

Way forward

Towards this, the company plans to double its headcount of engineers to 50 and create a marketing team for business development.

It also plans to add to its infrastructure facilities including setting up design studios and mock-up facilities, which are currently being outsourced. Manickam says, “For example, if a client wants to functionally test the product we have designed, we outsource that or sometimes use the client’s facilities.”

It may also look at options for funding from venture capitalists to augment its expansion plans, he adds, though nothing has been firmed up yet.

Though his plate is full it doesn’t keep him from carrying around a special notebook, jotting down ideas that come in waves. He shows us designs for a unique toothbrush. What better holder for a toothbrush than one’s own finger? If and when Manickam’s design is launched, you could well slip your finger into a holder, which has bristles and reach the most difficult corners inside the mouth.

Well, who said creativity and management expertise can’t go hand-in-hand?

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