Leaders who have redefined brand India | By Indira Rao & Garima P |
Cautious optimism is the overriding sentiment across the board. With slow economic growth, unstable political scenario and impending general elections, the industry is in an indecisive frame of mind. However, recent surveys conducted, point to India remaining one of the top global destinations for foreign investment, despite the headwinds. The main drivers are its solid domestic market, an educated workforce and competitive labour.
It is said that India’s dynamic standing in the global marketplace is set to strengthen further in the years to come and that India will continue to enjoy solid growth and develop particular strengths in manufacturing and infrastructure. Putting India on the global map are manufacturers who strive hard to create a special place for the Indian way of manufacturing. Recognising such players who have made a mark for themselves and managed to put the country on the global map, we bring to you the Power of 40.
The list comprises people who have been redefining the face of the Indian manufacturing sector. While the expanse of the sector is huge, the ‘list’ mentions a few without ranking or awarding anyone in particular, following an alphabetical order. The list has also been divided into the following four categories.
Leaders: The MDs and CEOs listed here have turned the fortunes around for their respective companies in turn propelling the Indian manufacturing industry. Being at the helm of affairs, these leaders bring with them their valuable experience that helps their organisations weather tough challenges.
CAD/CAM enablers: Design is an important element in any manufacturing facility. The list features prominent CAD/CAM/CAE enablers that have taken their respective businesses to greater heights.
Plant heads: No manufacturing story can be complete without mentioning the people who drive the business – the plant heads. Aptly, these plants and hence their leaders, who script the success stories, find their place in the list.
Chief Information Officers: CIOs are those on whose shoulders lay the biggest challenge of running businesses. Their KRA involves helping the company grow in a secure and safe environment. They form an important part of the industry’s growth story and hence find mention in the list.
Bajaj has readied at least half a dozen launches this year to counter the fall and raise the excitement of the brand.
Rajiv Bajaj
Managing Director
Bajaj Auto Ltd
His current priority is the application of the scientific principles of Homoeopathy to the task of building a brand centred around the strategy at Bajaj Auto. With the objective of achieving his vision of being one of the world’s leading motorcycle manufacturers. Rajiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Auto Ltd. has readied at least half a dozen launches this year to counter the fall and raise the excitement of the brand. And rightly so because for Bajaj it’s the brand that matters. From commuter bikes to premium sport-oriented ones, launches would include a 125-cc model under the ‘Discover’ brand that is to be launched in March, to complement the Discover 100M to be launched during the festive season this year.
A ramp-up in demand for the recently introduced Discover 100M is also expected in the next couple of months. More, a refreshed model of the Pulsar 180 and the Pulsar 375 will be launched. Also, under the KTM brand, an RC200 and RC390 will be introduced later this year. All this, the company hopes, will lift the overall sales back to 200,000 units a month, regaining the lost share. The launches are expected to push the share back to 25-26%. Bajaj has built his own brand ‘Pulsar’ and is not willing to step out of the motorcycle world.
Berns has successfully led Bosch Group’s foray into other segments like drives and controls, power tools, security systems, capital goods and packaging technology.
Steffen Berns
MD, Bosch Ltd &
President, Bosch Group India
Steffen Berns joined the Bosch Group in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1990 and has a broad spectrum of technical and managerial experience combined with international exposure. He worked with the Bosch Group in India from 1996 to 1999 and was responsible for OE Sales and R&D. He later joined as the managing director of Robert Bosch Engineering Business Solutions.
Traditionally associated with the automotive sector, the Bosch Group has also forayed successfully in other segments like drives and controls, power tools, security systems, capital goods and packaging technology. Berns wants to focus on these segments while consolidating Bosch’s position in the auto industry. With growing competition, Berns does not want to rest on past laurels and allow complacency to creep in.
Prior to his new role, Berns headed the electronics business of the diesel division and since 2006 has been a member of the Board of Bosch Gasoline Systems Division at its headquarters in Stuttgart. A doctorate in engineering from the University of Aachen, Berns is a big fan of both Western and Indian classical music. In fact, he still finds some time to play the trumpet and the piano. Travelling is a passion for him, along with swimming, sailing and skiing.
Bhuwalka has helped propel AMW to become India’s third largest manufacturer of heavy commercial vehicles.
Anirudh Bhuwalka
Director & CEO
Asia MotorWorks (AMW)
Anirudh Bhuwalka is the founder, managing director and chief executive officer of Asia MotorWorks (AMW). And it was his vision of driving the traditional trucking industry with a sharp focus on innovative engineering and efficient transport solutions that fuelled the creation and growth of AMW. The company is India’s third largest manufacturer of heavy commercial vehicles and has achieved a unique position in India’s transportation sector. Rolling out its trucks in 2008, AMW has increased its presence in a competitive market place through its products and wide service network and is an intrinsic part of India’s largest infrastructure and construction projects including the Golden Quadrilateral.
The 2518 TP not only commands premium pricing, but also has significant market shares. Offering trucks ranging from 16 to 49 tonnes, the company has pioneered several segments in the Indian CV market. The AMW 49 tonne model created the segment and was India’s largest tractor trailer at launch. In addition, it also created the construction and mining segments in the Indian CV market with its range of tippers.
Under Firodia, the company has gone ahead with investments for setting up a new robotic paint and press shops and engine plant at its existing facility.
Prasan Firodia
Managing Director
Force Motors
It was mid-2009 when Prasan Firodia, managing director, Force Motors took over the reins of Force Motors Ltd from his father, Abhay Firodia. The company, started by his grandfather in the early 1950s, was then still reeling from the effects of the previous year’s global economic crisis. It’s a sense of déjà vu that Firodia is undergoing at the moment. The auto segment is again reeling under the effect of the slowing economy and the company has deferred plans for a new multi-purpose vehicle, which was to be built under licence technology from German automaker Daimler AG. The MPV was due for launch early this year.
Pune-based Force Motors, which makes passenger and commercial vehicles, buses and tractors, has also decided to put on hold a new range of small commercial vehicles (SCVs) it was to introduce in the Indian market. Even the launch of the nine-seater MPV has been deferred to 2015.
While the company has gone ahead with investments for setting up a new robotic paint shop, press shop and engine plant at its existing facility the plan to set up an altogether new plant has been postponed. Since its foray into the passenger vehicle space in October 2011, around 3,000 units of the Force One have been sold.
Forbes helped the company tremendously by adding value to existing products and also keeping the cost factor at competitive levels.
Naushad Forbes
Director
Forbes Marshall
The potential for exports and international trade should be an area of focus in order to stand out in this highly competitive world. In the long term, however, manufacturing companies should focus on product innovation. “Coming up with new things that people want to buy is the only way to kindle demand in a market that is not growing,” says Naushad Forbes, director, Forbes Marshall. The company had thrived in the licence raj era – having worked as local manufacturers for foreign companies, mostly Americans or Europeans. The focus on innovation by Forbes helped the company tremendously along with adding value to existing products and also keeping the cost factor on competitive levels. A lecturer and consulting professor at Stanford University, Forbes even developed courses in technology, policy and management of technology in newly industrialized countries. An alumnus of Stanford himself, he earned his doctorate on ‘the process of technical entrepreneurship in India’, before taking his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees – also from Stanford. Currently, he is also chairman, CII Innovation Council; this is his third straight tenure at the position. He expects exports to look up in 2014 and hopefully see investment in manufacturing capacity meeting export demand. “Some domestic revival should also follow. The segments that will hold their own and do well are those that have some speciality and compete on technology. Companies can look at the slow down as an opportunity to improve and strengthen the business, financial, people and customer related processes of the company,” he adds. As the director of Forbes Marshall, he is the CEO of the steam engineering companies within the group. The new Chakan campus, with mega-project status, on 50 acres of land was recently set up.
Godrej believes that in India agribusiness will expand rapidly.
NB Godrej
MAnaging Director
Godrej Industries Ltd
A learned man in mathematics, geography and science, Nadir Godrej, MD of Godrej Industries is well-versed in poetry and holds a Master of Science degree in chemical engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School after a stint at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Before joining MIT, Godrej had studied for a year at IIT Bombay where he successfully led a research on how to get fatty alcohol out of palm oil at Godrej. He has been a Director of several Godrej companies since 1977 and has developed the animal feed, agricultural inputs and chemicals businesses of Godrej Industries and other associate companies. Extremely active in research, Godrej believes that in India agribusiness will expand rapidly.
Today (apart from being the MD of Godrej Industries) he is the president of Alliance Francaise in Mumbai and the French government has also honoured him twice with the prestigious: “The National Order of the Legion of Honour”.
Commenting on the current economic climate he ascertains, “A revival of infrastructure investment will help manufacturing. Global recovery will help exporters. A further fall in global commodity prices will help all manufacturers.” Godrej also hopes that the elections will throw up a stable, honest and a business supporting government that will make the economic environment more conducive for growth.
Ito’s vision entails making Panasonic, an Indian company in India and thus create innovative products for the Indian consumers.
Daizo Ito
President
Panasonic India
Responsible for driving profitable business growth for Panasonic in India, Daizo Ito spear heads the entire operations and management for the brand in the country. He leads the implementation of corporate strategy related to the company’s personnel, suppliers, potential and actual customers, and investors underscoring the significance of India on Panasonic’s global roadmap. Corporate governance and social innovation initiatives for Panasonic’s sister concerns and domain companies in India, also fall under Ito’s purview. He was recently felicitated with the Super Boss Award in consumer durables industry and The Boss of the Year Leadership Award hosted by the Stars of the Industry Group & CMO Asia.
Having started with Panasonic India as the chief executive officer in April 2008, he was appointed the president of Panasonic India, starting April 2010. Prior to joining Panasonic India, he served as the CEO of Panasonic Thailand, which comprised 23 (BU) Panasonic group companies spanning across manufacturing, sales and research functions. His success mantra is based on three core pillars: Empowerment, particularly in promoting local talent to leadership positions within Panasonic India; localisation, the creation of products within India that meet the specific needs of the customers; and rich communication, embracing a spirit of transparency and openness about not just their sustainability work, but about the role that Panasonic plays throughout Indian society. His vision entails making Panasonic, an Indian company in India and thus under his aegis create meaningful and innovative products for the Indian consumers keeping in mind their needs. A visionary with exemplary leadership style, his endeavors have made Panasonic a household name in India.
Kalyani believes in constant innovation by investing in expanding markets to fuel growth.
Baba Kalyani
CMD
Bharat Forge LTD
Baba Kalyani, chairman and managing director, Bharat Forge Ltd (BFL) saw opportunities beyond the Indian soil much before anyone else, making BFL taste global success and experience phenomenal growth. He made the US$1.3 million company (started by his father – which Kalyani joined in 1972) into a mammoth US$2.5 billion conglomerate called the Kalyani Group. BFL, the Pune based Indian multinational is a technology-driven global leader in metal forming having presence across 10 manufacturing locations and is the largest manufacturer and exporter of automotive components from India.
Achieving such a status is no small feat and can be attributed to Kalyani’s principle of believing in constant innovation by investing in expanding markets to fuel growth. Having recently exited the Chinese joint venture, BFL, would have its ` 500 crore debt reduced from its consolidated balance sheet and would receive `175 crore cash. Since, the venture became economically unviable, Bharat Forge’s indirect subsidiary in Hong Kong sold its 51.85% stake in this JV to its partner, China FAW Corporation, ending the eight-year old partnership. Kalyani believes in constant innovation by investing in expanding markets to fuel growth.
He is the founder chairman of Pratham Pune Education Foundation, an NGO that is engaged in providing primary education to children belonging to under privileged sections of the local community. This alumni of BITS Pilani and MIT, US is also empowering rural youth by providing free technical and vocational training at a government Industrial Training Institute on a public-private partnership basis.
Kanamaya is aiming to attain double digit growth for the company and has his plans well on track.
Hironori Kanayama
President & CEO
Honda Cars India Ltd
Running high on the success of its compact sedan Amaze in 2013, Honda Cars India is aiming to take its mid-size sedan Honda City back to its past glory with a new diesel engine in the coming year. While other auto majors are looking to curtail their growth plans, the Japanese car maker has taken measures to ensure a reduced waiting period and deliver cars quickly to its customers. Having worked with Honda ventures in different markets like China, Taiwan and Japan, Kanayama has hands-on experience in the automobile industry.
Before coming to India, he headed Honda Taiwan Motor Company, another tough market. He has also gathered considerable experience in China before starting his career at Honda Motor Company Ltd, Tokyo, Japan in 1976. Kanamaya is aiming to attain double digit growth for the company and has his plans well on track. With an aim to expand dealership to tier II and tier III towns, Kanamaya has set the ball rolling for the company to cover up the ` 600 crore losses of FY12. His experience of more than three decades in the company and in difficult markets makes him a seasoned professional in tiding through rough waters successfully. A people’s man, Kanayama stuck to his goal of regaining market share by launching new products. A slew of new launches in the coming year will only strengthen Honda’s position in the market and their global growth plans of successfully capturing the Indian market.
Kodumudi, who took over as the president & MD last year, has plans to develop budget cars.
Mahesh Kodumudi
President & MD Volkswagen India
Pvt Ltd, Head, Volkswagen Group
Sales India Pvt Ltd
Volkswagen is readying its own sub-four-metre SUV contender for India in the form of the Taigun, its answer to Ford Ecosport to be showcased at the Auto Expo. The German car maker that made its high profile India debut four years ago has been trying to get back its India focus and has been looking to develop budget cars that will compete with Maruti Suzuki India Ltd’s Alto and Swift models. Mahesh Kodumudi, who recently took additional responsibility as the head of Volkswagen Group Sales India Pvt Ltd, completed his engineering and management degrees in India and the US. He further specialised in operations management by pursuing an Executive Operations Management Programme in France. Following a successful career in the automotive industry in the US, Kodumudi joined the Volkswagen Group in India in 2008 and was appointed as the executive director — corporate purchasing. He was appointed as the president and managing director of Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd in March 2013.
In his current capacity, he is responsible for Volkswagen Pune Plant. Brands offered by Volkswagen India include Polo, Vento, Jetta, Passat, Beetle, Touareg and Phaeton The brand that had invested Euro 600 million in the initial phase is in a consolidation mode right now.
Under Lal’s leadership, Eicher’s motorcycle sales have been growing at more than 50% year over year.
Siddhartha Lal
MD & CEO
Eicher Motors Ltd
Siddhartha Lal is the managing director & chief executive of Eicher Motors Ltd, the flagship company of the Eicher Group in India, a manufacturer of buses, trucks and tractors that owns Royal Enfield. Having been credited with turning Royal Enfield around, Eicher sold nearly 1.75 lakh motorcycles in 2013, a 55 per cent jump over 2012 sales of 1.13 lakh units. During the period, the overall two-wheeler industry saw just four% year-on-year growth in sales. Eicher’s motorcycle sales have been growing at more than 50% year-over-year for the last three years. His love for the Bullet goes way back to his university days, well before Eicher, under his father’s management, bought Royal Enfield in 1993.
An Economics graduate from St. Stephens College in Delhi and an alumnus of The Doon School, Lal holds a Master’s degree in Automotive Engineering from University of Leeds and is a Cranfield University qualified mechanical engineer. He was nominated as a part of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Agenda Council on Personal Transportation Systems owing to his passionate involvement in the subject of transportation and the role it has to play in sustainability, especially in urban settings. Lal is also a part of the newly formed Next Generation Leaders Board at Indian School of Business. He also holds Chairmanship of VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV), a 50:50 joint venture between Volvo group and Eicher Motors Ltd. And of Eicher-Polaris Pvt Ltd (EPPL), a 50:50 strategic joint venture between Eicher Motors Ltd and US based Polaris Industries Inc. that will design, develop, manufacture and sell a full new range of personal vehicles.
Mathur’s experience of more than a quarter of a century at various levels gives him the edge to tide over the rough times.
Sunil Mathur
MD & ceo
Siemens Ltd
He is the first Indian to take over the regional top job in the German engineering major company Siemens. With an experience of over 26 years in Siemens, holding several senior management positions in Germany and the UK in the energy and industry sectors, Sunil Mathur has a tough job at hand. With the company shutting down its wind turbine plant in Vadodra and selling its postal and parcel and airport logistics technology business to a group company, the organisation has been trying to steer forth at a time when the industry is facing a lot of challenges. But his experience of more than a quarter of a century in the organisation at various levels gives him the edge to tide over these rough times.
Parent company Siemens holds 75% in Siemens India that comprises of 13 companies, providing direct employment to over 19,000 people. Siemens’ association with India goes back to 1867 when the first direct telegraph line between India and London was set up. It was incorporated in India in 1922. The Indian entity is the fourth largest contributor to the group’s revenues. Currently, the group has 21 manufacturing plants.
Under the leadership of Munjal, Hero MotoCorp has fast augmented its global presence.
Pawan Munjal
MD & CEO
Hero MotoCorp Ltd
With a market share of well over 50% in the domestic motorcycle market, Hero MotoCorp Ltd sold over six million two-wheelers in the financial year 2012-13. “Innovation, technology, youth & speed – are the key buzzwords at New Hero,” says Pawan Munjal, managing director and chief executive officer, Hero MotoCorp Ltd, the man behind the success of the brand. A powerful orator known for his inimitable style, Munjal is a sought-after personality at high-profile global platforms such as the World Economic Forum, (WEF) at Davos, where he has been a key speaker for past several years. He has also been a leading personality at various industry forums in India.
Under the leadership of Munjal, Hero MotoCorp has fast augmented its global presence. As of today, Hero products sell in Peru, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Columbia, Kenya, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, and Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh. The company has already started despatching vehicles to other new markets such as Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Egypt and Ecuador. There are also plans to set-up local assemblies in Tanzania and Uganda. The company is set to showcase its future road map at the upcoming Auto Expo with over a dozen models, including concepts and hybrids. Currently, preparations are on to set up a manufacturing unit in Colombia to cater to the Latin American markets.
Naik’s broad global perspective has seen the company expanding its horizons beyond domestic frontiers, positioning itself to become a true international player.
AM Naik
Group Executive Chairman
Larsen & Toubro
He calls himself a restless man who cannot sit idle for more than five minutes. And running a company like L&T gives AM Naik, group executive chairman just that-no time for idleness. Joining the company as a junior engineer in 1965, Naik rapidly rose to positions of increasing responsibility as he moved from general manager to managing director and CEO, culminating in his appointment as chairman on December 29, 2003. Naik has successfully led the company through some of its most challenging times and enabled it to emerge stronger. His broad global perspective has seen the company expanding its horizons beyond domestic frontiers, positioning itself to become a true international player. Naik spearheaded the move to de-merge L&T’s cement business to unlock value for shareholders.
Soon after he instituted stock options for the staff, Naik convinced them to each give ` 20 (and later ` 40) towards forming a corpus for the L&T Public Charitable Trust (PCT), one of the two bodies that manage the company’s CSR activities. He persuaded the board to match the employees’ contribution, leaving the PCT with a ` 225 crore purse. He played an active part in conceptualizing the proposal of an ‘Employees’ foundation/ trust’ to strengthen the employees’ sense of belonging and to enable L&T retain its identity and unique character. Apart from the company spending on philanthropy, Naik is himself known to spend on education, medicine and skills training as part of his personal philanthropy initiatives.
Narendran believes that with infrastructure growth and clearance on delayed projects, steel manufacturers are likely to see a robust 2014.
TV Narendran
Managing Director
Tata Steel India & South East Asia
TV Narendran, MD, Tata Steel India and South East Asia, an IIMCalcutta alumnus and a Chevening Scholar, believes that with infrastructure growth and clearance on delayed projects, steel manufacturers are likely to see a robust 2014. “Growing need for higher quality steel with focus on R&D will open new avenues for steel manufacturers. Manufacturers should also capitalise on the proposed infrastructure development thrust by the Government,” avers Narendran. While there have been many challenges for the company to face as their expansion in capacity coincided with a slowdown in the steel consuming sectors like automotive and construction; yet with their emotional connect with its employees and stakeholders as their biggest strength, Tata Steel managed a considerable growth. “We have opened up new market segments like the SME and further leveraged our existing customer relationships and distribution network and have grown at 10 to 12% over last year, which is much better than the market condition,” says Narendran. Armed with global experience, he was actively involved in the Tata Steel’s first overseas acquisition NatSteel.
The company launched 17 new products in 2013 and in the current year 30 new products are planned to be launched in the European market. “We completed the three million MT expansions in Jamshedpur, taking our capacity to 10 million MT and should commission the first phase of the six million MT steel plant in Kalinganagar in Odisha towards the end of the next financial year,” states Narendran.
Oomen doesn’t believe in basking in previous glory but always strives forward to maintain customer satisfaction.
Dilip Oommen
CEO & MD
Essar Steel India Ltd
He doesn’t believe in basking in previous glory but always strives forward to maintain customer satisfaction. Dilip Oommen, CEO & MD, Essar Steel India Ltd believes that manufacturer’s should look at capitalizing on the export opportunities to make 2014 a robust year. He joined Essar Steel in 2003 as chief operating officer. A metallurgical engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, Oommen has experience of over 29 years in the steel industry. While the year 2013 was a mixed bag for the steel industry, it continues to face challenges in terms of weak domestic demand, availability of raw materials and high finance cost. “The only silver lining was the rupee depreciation that helped the industry to export more thereby bringing about an equilibrium in demand-supply situation in the domestic market,” says Oomen. He stated that the steel industry is keenly watching the outcome of impending national elections in the early part of the year. “This will have a major bearing on the economic policies. However, we are extremely hopeful that after the elections, the economy should start growing once again. This should see the steel demand picking up,” says Oomen.
Under his stewardship, BHEL successfully commissioned India’s first indigenously manufactured subcritical set of 600 MW rating on EPC basis at North Chennai.
B Prasada Rao
CMD
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd
Public sector banks and cash-rich Government-owned companies are making a beeline to pick up a stake in Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL), a public sector undertaking, further helping the Government in its disinvestment programme. The ‘Maharatna’ tag has attracted and prompted many banks and cash-rich companies to show interest in the PSU. And B Prasada Rao, CMD, BHEL, recently given a post-retirement extension of two years to ensure continuity in decision making, believes “manufacturers should focus on capability building at this point of time so that they are better off than their competitors when the new wave of opportunities come”.
Armed with degrees in industrial and mechanical engineering, Rao started his career in BHEL as an industrial engineer in 1978. During a career spanning more than 35 years, Rao has handled a variety of assignments and has diversified experience through working in strategic as well as operational areas in all major segments of BHEL. Rao feels that the industry today is at a crossroads where “on one hand we have acquired tremendous capabilities while on the other hand the business environment is not propitious for harnessing capabilities due to muted growth in domestic economy and contagion effect of subdued global economy”. Despite that, BHEL achieved the highest ever turnover of ` 50,156 crore during 2012-13 registering a growth of one % despite adverse business conditions. BHEL successfully commissioned India’s first indigenously manufactured subcritical set of 600 MW rating on EPC basis at North Chennai.
Singh is happy that consumers are appreciating the great value-formoney proposition being offered in the EcoSport’s compelling smart package.
Joginder Singh
President & MD
ford india
Despite the challenging economic environment in the country, Joginder Singh, president and MD, Ford India is happy that consumers are appreciating the great value-for-money proposition being offered in the EcoSport’s compelling smart package. “With over 60,000 bookings already logged in India, the demand and the interest the product has generated is unprecedented. We are also exporting the EcoSport to new and existing export markets including South Africa, Mexico, Australia, Nicaragua, Honduras, Aruba and Guatemala,” says Singh. He has served in Ford’s operations globally in various general management, finance, treasury, and strategy roles in Europe, United States and Canada, and has been located in India since 2008. Singh commenced his career at Rolls-Royce in England as an engineering trainee after winning a scholarship from the Government of India. Subsequently, he worked at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd in Bangalore, India and at GKN, an automotive supplier, in England.
An MBA from Manchester Business School in England, Singh believes in the long term fundamental growth of the automotive industry in India. “The Asia Pacific region, including India, will play an increasingly important role in driving the global auto industry growth and forms the cornerstone of our global growth strategy.
Srinivasan will spearhead TAFE’s plans to invest around ` 100 crore in farm machinery in the next three years.
Mallika Srinivasan
Chairman & CEO
TAFE
Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd (TAFE), India’s second-largest and the world’s third largest tractor manufacturer has managed to grow more than the industry and even managed to increase its market share. And this business is headed by Mallika Srinivasan, who has been recently conferred with the Padmashri Award for her contribution to the trade and industry. Also referred to as the ‘tractor queen’, she has been responsible for establishing TAFE as a quality mass manufacturer of tractors, a lean and resilient organisation that can effectively weather the cyclicality of the tractor business. With her special emphasis on product and process development, she has ensured significant expansion of the company’s product range. She has developed and leveraged the engineering strengths at TAFE to design, develop and manufacture a range of products for international markets, while simultaneously strengthening the company’s partnership with AGCO for mutual growth, in both the components and complete tractors businesses. She spearheaded the acquisition of Eicher’s tractor and engines business through a wholly owned subsidiary and nurtured its growth in terms of operations and profits. The company plans to launch a new product every quarter, which will be developed in-house. While the company has launched the Rotavator (rotary tiller) for both domestic and international markets last year, it now looks to launch products for planting, seeding, harvester, and for land preparation.
Srinivasan pioneered the concept of Total Quality Management based on the Japanese model, long before most Indian enterprises adopted it.
Venu Srinivasan
Chairman & Managing Director
TVS Motors
An engineer with a Masters’ Degree in Management from Purdue University, USA, Venu Srinivasan, chairman and managing director, TVS Motors pioneered the concept of Total Quality Management based on the Japanese model, long before most Indian enterprises adopted it. TVS Motor is expected to present an array of models in the auto expo, bolstered by its association with German auto major BMW. Recently conferred the Padma Shri, Srinivasan was also given the distinguished civilian honour ‘Order of Diplomatic Service Merit’ (Heung-In Medal) conferred by the President of the Republic of Korea, in recognition of his valuable contribution in promoting Korea-India bilateral relations. He was also conferred with an honorary “doctorate degree in science” by the University of Warwick, UK for excellence in manufacturing and contribution in the field of technology and R&D and Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by IIT Kharagpur, India, for outstanding contribution to the field of quality movement and manufacturing excellence in India.
The grandson of TVS founder TV Sundaram lyengar, Srinivasan took over as the CEO of Sundaram-Clayton in 1979. The same year TVS Motor Company was born and he went on to become its chairman in July 2002. During his early years, Srinivasan chose to understand a vehicle inside out by working as a mechanic in his own garage during vacations. He has held positions as past president, Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) during the year 2009-10; past president, The Automotive Research Association of India and past president, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. He was also the chairman of the National Institute of Fashion Technology.
Talaulicar orchestrated the opening of Cummins’ new plant for manufacturing low horsepower generator sets in the SEZ in Phaltan.
Anant J Ta laulicar
CMD
Cummins India
Anant J Talaulicar, president of the components group, Cummins Inc, also leads the India Area Business Organisation, a responsibility he has been serving since April 2004. In this role, he oversees the overall business strategy and functioning of the Cummins Group in India. He joined Cummins, USA as an intern in 1986 and rose to head its generator and consumer power generation business.
Talaulicar completed his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Mysore University and he completed his MS from University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and MBA from Tulane University, US. Known as a handson networker among his peers, during his tenure in the United States, he garnered a variety of functional and operational experiences having worked in finance, manufacturing, product management, corporate strategy, marketing and general management.
In 2013, he orchestrated the opening of its new plant for manufacturing low horsepower generator sets in the Special Economic Zone at the Cummins megasite in Phaltan near Pune. The new unit enhanced the company’s ability to produce generators for international markets in Asia, China, Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. This was the second power generation plant to open and the 21st plant overall for the Cummins Group in India. Built at an investment of $17.5 million, the new plant added to the capacity to manufacture an additional 23,000 units per year in the initial phase to the company’s existing capacity of 38,000 units in its plant at Pirangut, Pune.
Tyagi has been working on his dream of making HAL one of the top 20 global aerospace and aviation companies in the world within five years.
R K Tyagi
Chairman
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd
An alumnus of IIT-Roorkee in electronics and telecommunication and an MBA, RK Tyagi joined ONGC as a graduate trainee in 1976 and served there until May 2007, further moving on to head Pawan Hans. He was one of the few outsiders to have later joined Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) as the chairman. HAL was also a key contributor in the success of the recent ISRO launch of Geo-stationary Satellite Launch Vehicle, GSLVD5. HAL’s Aerospace Division contributed in a significant way for the launch by supplying 13 types of riveted structural assemblies, seven types of welded propellant tankages, which include the cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen tanks and cryogenic stage structures of GSLV-D5. The company has been associated with India’s space programmes since the establishment of ISRO. It integrated and delivered all the four L40 booster rockets and provided the bare structure of the communication satellite (GSAT-14), an assembly of composite and metallic honeycomb sandwich panels with a composite cylinder.
Apart from being the top management at HAL, Tyagi is on several aviation related forums and committees, including as vice-president, Aeronautical Society of India; member, National Committee on Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council and the steering committee for formulating strategic plans of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Currently, he has been working on his dream of making HAL one of the top 20 global aerospace and aviation companies in the world within five years.
Unnikrishnan established the project management office to spearhead the transformation initiative of the company.
MS Unnikrishnan
Managing Director & CEO
Thermax Group
Thermax, the engineering major for energy and environment sectors, is focusing on export markets in West Asia, Africa, Southeast Asia and Europe to beat drop in sales in the tough Indian market. MS Unnikrishnan, managing director & CEO is looking to rope in more foreign customers to beat the gloomy economic scenario. Unnikrishnan began his career as a graduate trainee with Thermax after completing his mechanical engineering from Regional Engineering College, Nagpur in 1982. He went on to set up marketing operations for the energy division of Thermax in the western region. He took over as the MD on July 1, 2007. Earlier, as executive vice president, he was head of the company’s project business, viz. captive power, boilers & heaters and air pollution control. He subsequently headed the waste management and absorption cooling divisions of the company, turning around both these businesses and making them profitable. After an organisational restructuring in 2000, he was part of the newly formed ‘executive council’. He led the human resource function of Thermax during its critical turnaround period and later established the project management office, to spearhead the transformation initiative of the company. Unnikrishnan sees the results in the coming year to be lower than last year but does foresee growth in topline and bottomline with big orders coming in once the sentiment reversal happens.
Filip believes that manufacturers should capitalise on the weakened rupee and increase their investments in the country.
Filip Vandenberghe
Managing Director
Atlas Copco (India ) Ltd
2013 saw Atlas Copco celebrate its 140th anniversary with the opening of the second compressor manufacturing plant in Chakan, (recently GOLD certified by Indian Green Building Council) the opening of the application centre for Atlas Copco Tools and Assembly systems in Bavdhan, Pune and the center of Excellence for Chicago Pneumatic tools in Hinjewadi, Pune. These were clear indicators that though the climate is not favourable, the company was doing well. Filip Vandenberghe, managing director, Atlas Copco (India) Ltd believes that the slowdown is a good time to prepare for the future. “Manufacturers should capitalize on the weakened rupee and increase their investments in the country not only for the local market but also for export markets,” says Vandenberghe who has a university degree in applied sciences, mechanical engineering and production management from the University of Leuven, Belgium.
He started his career in Picanol, a textile weaving machinery company, in the positions of engineering manager and quality assurance manager. He joined Atlas Copco Airpower in 1987 and held various managerial positions within manufacturing, new process development and product development. He was the president for the Airtec division at Compressor Technique between 2001 and 2009, subsequently moving to India as managing director. Vandenberghe is of the opinion that the outlook for 2014 is unclear as recovery of the Indian economy and GDP growth will be affected by the upcoming elections early this year. “Overall the expectation is to have an identical to a slightly improved business climate in the second half of the year,” he adds.
According to Valluri, the industry today, needs to work with an objective to create markets in India, for India, by India.’
Venkatesh Valluri
Chairman & President
Ingersoll Rand IndiA
An IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus, Venkatesh Valluri, chairman and president, Ingersoll Rand India expects the first six months of 2014 to be subdued. With 2013 being a slow year witnessing very limited growth to no-growth in parts of his business, Valluri feels that the industry lost its competitiveness to other countries as players were not able to upgrade technologies in a number of areas. “Innovation has also suffered as a consequence. The lack of implementation of major infrastructure projects by the government, high inflation rates and high interest costs, rupee devaluation, difficulties in borrowing in the mid-tier market segments have all contributed to lowering the capacity utilisation of the Indian manufacturing sector. This has led to lower employment generation,” he states.
Valluri is also a member of Ingersoll Rand’s global executive leadership team and has worked for various other industries in his career of almost three decades. Prior to joining the company, Valluri worked with Agilent Technologies, as its president and country manager. He has also worked in various functions for General Electric in India as well as overseas. He is actively engaged with many industry platforms contributing as a thought leader and a strategist.
He believes that the industry today needs to work with an objective to create markets in India, for India, by India. “At Ingersoll Rand, close to 40% of our engineers that work specifically to create products and solutions for India are using the technology and innovation convergence approach to achieve the same,” he avers.
Suman Bose
Managing Director
Siemens Industry Software
India Pvt Ltd
As a country managing director and vice president – India for Siemens Industry Software, Suman Bose is responsible for increasing the company’s market share and extending its leading position in India. With him leading the charge as head of India operations to re-assert customer innovation, thought leadership, and business execution, it’s no wonder that Siemens PLM enjoys market pole position in India with its large customer installed base, geographic coverage and partner network. India is one of the most strategic markets for Siemens worldwide, both as a business growth driver and also as one of the largest R&D bases in the world. “I believe that the ultimate test of all product development projects is manufacturing – to specs, as required, as designed, in time and within cost. That’s why CAM is so important for manufacturers today,” states Suman. The company has seen a steady growth in demand for Siemens’ NX CAM solutions in India over the years, with several manufacturers leveraging NX CAM to optimise their manufacturing processes as well as accelerate their response to market opportunities.
Sameer Kondejkar
Head, Geometry Technology
Solutions, Geometric Ltd
With 19 years of experience in engineering space specialising in design and manufacturing areas, Sameer Kondejkar heads Geometry Technology Solutions (GTS) business unit of Geometric, which is the intellectual property based products and technologies wing of Geometric. He has been with the company since 1996. Having completed mechanical engineering from VJTI, Mumbai and MBA (marketing) from IBS, Kondejkar was working in engineering research centre of Tata Motors, Pune prior to Geometric. Presenting his views on the CAM market in India he opines, “CAM market is expected to show sluggish growth in 2014. Although the manufacturing sector did show some signs of recovery over the last three months, the political stalemate and impending elections may dampen this recovery for the first half of the year.”
Subas h Nam biar
Country Manager
PT C
Having taken over newly as the vice president and country manager for India, Subash Nambiar oversees PTC’s overall business in India, and is responsible for strategy and growth, leading key partner relationships and focussed customer approach. India has always been a major focus area for PTC, and with Nambiar at the helm, the company seeks to scale their India business to greater heights. As a veteran in the IT industry, he knows all the fine details of the Indian market and is the best person to expand their operations here. With over 20 years’ experience in the IT industry, Nambiar prior to joining PTC was the senior director – technology sales at Oracle and also held senior positions in IBM and LG Soft. A born leader, he has always scaled up businesses, set up operations and expanded teams wherever he has worked.
Vineet Seth
MD, Delc am India & Middle East
Asean Business Development Director-DPS
He has helped Delcam India, wholly owned Subsidiaries of Delcam Plc, UK grow from a single office in Pune in the year 2000, to 15 other locations across India. Vineet Seth, currently the managing director of Delcam India and Middle East, holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and is a Mechanical Engineer. Expressing his views on the CAD/CAM market in India he avers, “CAD/ CAM has encompassed newer segments and moved into hitherto unchartered territories. I expect this segment to address more complex challenges in the automotive and aerospace segments, as well as offer advanced solutions for energy sector and healthcare. Coming together of CAD/CAM/CAI is already happening and I see an even closer, interactive fit between CAM and inspection.”
Rafiq Somani
Regional Sales Director
ANSYS India
Driving the growth of ANSYS India’s sales development across key verticals such as automotive, industrial, aerospace and defense, consumer, infrastructure is Rafiq Somani, regional sales director, ANSYS India. He holds a Masters in Marketing Management from Bombay University and is passionate about working towards social causes; Somani is currently the Chairman of the ‘Aga Khan Education Service-India’, an AKDN NGO agency. He began his career with Minicomp Computers and has also worked with Tata Consultancy Services and PTC. ANSYS provides software that assists in engineering simulation for product development across various engineering sectors.
Radheshyam Bharadwaj
VP, Production & Site Manager, Seco
Tools India Pvt Ltd
Seco Tools, the fourth largest carbide manufacturer of carbide cutting tools in the world is an environment-friendly group with an ISO 14001 global certificate. With an overall target of reducing the environmental impact from waste, chemical products, energy consumption and transport, the company shows its strong commitment to sustainable development. Enabling the company to meet these requirements is Radheshyam Bharadwaj, vice president – production & site manager, Seco Tools India Pvt Ltd. Bharadwaj has 28 years of extensive experience in the cutting tools industry and holds various management positions in sales and marketing, application and production of inserts, carriers and holding tools. Walking the talk of implementing green manufacturing measures, the company recycles carbide, which is a scarce resource. With production capacity of nearly 50,000 monobloc per year, the Pune facility is undoubtedly India’s first tooling unit that has in-house production of inserts with monobloc holders. “Crystal clear governance, true empowerment, fair diversity and inclusion, focussed goal deployment and motivated Little Improvements from Everyone (LIFE) culture, are the key tools which are increasing our velocity towards meeting our business goals”.
Aseem Joshi
Plant Manager, Hydraulics plant
Eaton
Eaton’s hydraulics business in India is focused primarily on two major market segments, namely mobile and stationary. Their manufacturing facility at Pimpri near Pune is an Eaton center of excellence for gear pumps and has been expanded to manufacturing of steering control units and hitch valves. Elaborating on their manufacturing competitiveness, Aseem Joshi, plant manager – hydraulics plant, Eaton avers, “In 2013, we deployed Eaton’s continuous improvement framework (CIF) to ensure that our processes are stable and are continuously being improved on. Last year saw us demonstrating the benefit of this CIF approach, with a 25% increase in production supported with minimal investment in capacity.” The company has also made targeted investments in specialised equipment like thermal blast deburring for removal of fine burrs in intricate holes. They have also adopted the latest centerless grinding machinery with auto feed and auto gauging facility that effectively segregates nonconforming jobs. “This ensures immediate feedback to the operator and ensures that any process anomalies can be quickly corrected, thus minimising scrap and improving productivity,” states Joshi.
Ramchandra Mahind
Avp & head, Kondhapuri Operations
Kirloskar Brothers Ltd (KBL)
He started his career as a Govt. apprentice trainee in October 1982 at KBL’s Kirloskarwadi Plant and in due course, held the office of head, engineering, pumps division. In the year 2003, he took charge of the valve manufacturing unit of KBL’s, Pune plant and totally turned around this unit by increasing the turnover six times within a span of six years. Projections are also planned to ensure CAGR of minimum 35%. A dynamic professional with over 31 years of rich experience in manufacturing, production, PPC, QA and various departments of the plant, his functional expertise is in handling the manufacturing and production operations with the key focus on bottom line profitability by ensuring optimal utilisation of resources. He holds the distinction of implementing various quality standards like 5S for improving the plant operations along with energy conservation for cost savings, lean manufacturing and its implementation.
Nagesh Nidamaluri
Senior General Manager,
Mahindra Vehicle Manufacturers, Pune
Set up in 2007, Mahindra Vehicle Manufacturers designed and built a Greenfield facility at Chakan, near Pune, Maharashtra. Nagesh Nidamaluri, senior general manager, Mahindra Vehicle Manufacturers, Pune, oversees manufacturing execution systems (MES) digital manufacturing systems for automotive manufacturing, plant floor automation, lean manufacturing systems, and the center of excellence for all general assembly at the plant. His major accomplishments include among many other executing the largest MES in India on Rockwell Platform to support the Mahindra production system and lean manufacturing imperatives; pioneering the implementation of the of high-tech low cost ‘Device Logix’ based ‘electro-pneumatic micro-controllers’ for plant floor automation, cobotics and conventional ‘load assist arms’ in material handling and production aids for assembly line operations.
DK Sharma
Vice president, Tooling Division
Godrej & Boyce Mfg Co Ltd
Dinesh Kumar Sharma or DK as he is better known started his career with Godrej and now heads the company’s tooling division. This year he completes 30 years with the company and says that the experience and joy of having worked in the same organisation for so many years and being a part of building it and seeing it grow is tremendous. He turned the fortunes of the division around after he took charge and moved the captive tool room to a commercial one. Today, the division is the most preferred provider of value added tooling solutions in India and specialises in making press tools, die casting dies and industrial machines. All the three business verticals – combined together – have set out an ambitious plan to grow the topline of Godrej Tooling to `850 crore in the next 10 years. Sharma loves taking up challenges and urges his team to do the same.
Rajeev Mittal
Head IT/IS
Piaggio Vehicles Pvt Ltd
With a specialisation in the large scale implementation of ERP and analytics in the manufacturing sector, Rajeev Mittal is at present head IT/IS at Piaggio Vehicles. With an experience of over 20 years, Mittal is known to be extremely approachable. At Piaggio, he has implemented an integrated dealer management and learning management system to cater to the specific needs of its two wheeler dealers. This system provides dealers with 2D drawings of a cross-section of a vehicle’s spares for technicians and the purchase team at dealer locations. This helps dealers service vehicles or replace parts as well as create a shopping cart while ordering spares from a dealer’s location. Output reports and dashboards resulting from the system help dealers and business managers gain visibility into operations and take informed decisions.
VS Parthasarathy
Chief Financial Officer & Group CIO
Mahindra and Mahindra
VS Parthasarathy not only heads the technology landscape at Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) but also oversees the group’s mergers and acquisitions initiatives. A fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Parthasarathy headed Project Harmony, a group-wide initiative to implement common processes on a single IT platform in order to leverage synergies across the entire Mahindra Group. Parthasarathy, a voracious reader, was the man behind a cloud project to help integrate M&M’s widespread dealer network in sync with the company’s growth strategies. He selected a cloud platform to minimise the Capex costs and leverage the pay-per-use model to connect 174-plus dealers on a single dealer management system (DMS) platform. This helped him establish standard dealer processes across all the dealerships of Mahindra Two Wheelers Ltd (MTWL).
S Ramasamy
Executive Director, Information Systems
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd
He is known to have implemented many effective IT solutions during his 35 year career. S Ramasamy, executive director (information systems), Indian Oil Corporation is an Engineer with an MBA Finance and a Certified SAP Consultant. With an experience crossing three decades, his diverse knowledge includes process control, business operations, MIS and IT. He has executed a SAP rollout at 768 locations of IOCL, SAP implementation at Sri Lanka’s national petroleum companies—CPSTL, CEYPETCO, and LIOC. Ramasamy also excels in strategic IT consulting, process control, and process optimisation among others and also implemented the largest B2B oil exchange portal of India. Ramasamy created a virtual workspace for the sake of both its employees as well as customers and dealers.
ST Sathiavageeswaran
Executive Director (Information Systems)
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd
He has transformed the account paying process from a paper-based system to an image-based system leading to more interactive workflows. The solution integrates heterogeneous technology platforms such as ERP, image process management system, and collaboration tools, for faster payment processing. ST Sathiavageeswaran joined Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) in 1983 as a management trainee in the corporate planning department and is currently the executive director-information systems and is responsible for all IT functions. A mechanical engineer from NIT, Tiruchirapalli, he also holds a post graduate degree in industrial engineering from National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai.
Yogesh Zope
Group CIO
Bharat Forge
Yogesh Zope, Group CIO, Bharat Forge, a computer science graduate from the Pune Institute of Computer Technology and an MS in Engineering Business Management from the University of Warwick has spent 16 years at the company winning many laurels. He has also completed a ‘level one’ of global CIO certification (executive education) program and the CIO certification on business innovation and governance from the Indian School of Business. The company decided to opt for implementing a best-of-breed new security architecture across Kalyani Group giving assurances to all the stakeholders that the Group’s IT set up is well placed to meet all new generation threats.