Select companies compete with smart case studies on five chosen topics at the Manufacturing Today Reinventing the Future Summit, Indore, presented by Aditya Birla Group
BY KAVITA JOSHI
India has always been a manufacturing hub as far back as I can remember. I think what we need to know is whether we are destined to be economic power in the future. And this can only happen when the industry is led mainly by manufacturing, said Ratan Shah, group talent mentor, Aditya Birla Group while giving his keynote speech at the Manufacturing Today Reinventing the Future Summit, Indore.
The summit at Indore, supported by IIT Indore as Official technology Institute, Federation of MP Chambers of Commerce & industry Bhopal and market research partner, BDB India was attended by competing teams from various companies. Hosted by Manufacturing Today along with its presenting partner Aditya Birla Group the summit was organised to bring out the best among participating companies with themes such as Quality, Cost Optimisation, Technology, Safety, People Initiatives, and Sustainability.
S Saikumar, deputy MD, ITP Publishing India, explained the rules of the game to the audience and introduced the jury members comprising Dr Raju Mistry, group head, talent staffing, Aditya Birla Management Corporation Ltd; DK Shukla, unit head and president, chemical division, Grasim Industries; Suresh Sundaram, sr VP, technical, staple fibre division, Grasim Industries; Ashok Khuntwal, unit head for Ultratech Cement, Vikramnagar, and Manish Kulkarni, director, strategic initiatives, BDB India Pvt Ltd.
Explaining how Indian companies need to get ahead of themselves, Shah said that Indian industrialists need to understand that any activity they undertake must be on a large scale. “Though we reiterate about our competitive manpower cost, but speaking of scale entails bringing in technology. We have some of the best minds in the world. But, unfortunately, Indian companies are not spending enough on R&D. In fact, multinationals come to India and set up R&D centres, but Indian companies fail to take a cue from that. We are not willing to wait for years for the R&D to show profit. The Aditya Birla Group he recognised these challenges and developed on certain focus areas. One of our first vision statements is to stand in the top three worldwide as far as the industry or a particular product is concerned,” Shah added.
The interesting speech was followed by the competition wherein companies showcased some of their best examples they have undertaken in the topic they chose. For Quality, which was the first topic, companies such as JBM Auto, Kirloskar Brothers, MAN Trucks, SRF and VE Commercial Vehicles, presented case studies on how they have taken measures to rectify problems be in terms of defective raw materials, or incorrect fixture designs, adapting correct working patterns and new standard operating procedures, among other things.
A special presentation was delivered by the students of IIT Indore on High quality finishing of gears. It was a piece of innovation undertaken by them on how high performance gears can withstand load and transmit motion to the vehicle while keeping noise generation low. They explained the technology that would enable drivers to transmit maximum road capacity and minimise the running noise.
In the presentation on Technology, companies like Kirloskar Brothers, VE Commercial Vehicles (bus plant) and VE Commercial Vehicles (VEPT plant) explained the benefits of enhancing manufacturing excellence by deploying technology and setting targets to meet the desired results. Sometimes, changes happen when a valuable employee leaves the company and this brings about a change in mindset of the people. Most times, it is necessary that in order to deploy technology efficiently, personnel enhance communication, people empowerment and people engagement.
Some important lessons gleaned from the various presentations were the way companies managed capacity planning, encouraged built-in quality and brought in zero defects through adopting robust processes thus ensuring zero breakdowns at the factory level. It is important that manufacturing companies adopt global benchmarking processes and then design various other strategies around them. Importantly, an organisation must be committed to adopting technology, quality, sustainability, cost optimisation and have the ability to motivate its people. Considering that environment is everyone’s prime concern, it is not hard to find manufacturing companies looking keenly at various aspects of sustainable factors. So saving water, electricity, fuel and lean manufacturing are a strong focus. In the presentations, some companies offered solutions on how they developed lean principles with regard to procurement and supply chain.
A second case study presented by IIT Indore stressed on development of micro plasma transferred arc process for ALM (additive layer manufacturing). Manufacturers are under tremendous pressure as a result of globalisation that is challenging them to deliver good quality products with maximum number of features and one that is low cost. Moreover, they need to achieve this by reducing the manufacturing time and design time. This is where 3D models come handy. While technology and quality play an important role, a third factor is safety. Hence, acquiring certifications such as OHSAS 18001, ISO 14001 and TS 16949 that are related to safety and training take due importance. There’s a strong commitment through continuous improvement which is an annual objective and polciies are set accordingly. Companies like Cummins Turbo, MAN Trucks, Kirloskar Brothers, VE Commercial Vehicles, John Deere, and SRF ensure that everything they deal with includes the health and safety of all involved. Most of this comes through regular training and awareness of both employees and contractors.
The numerous presentations left the jury highly impressed. One could see that making a decision would be a tough call. However, the decisions were finally taken and the awards ceremony at the end left everyone happy. The Aditya Birla Group and Saikumar thanked the audience for their participation and encouraged them to continue their path that would make them beacons of examples for others to follow.