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Lean and Six Sigma in India BPO

Posted on January 7, 2006  Comments (0)

Via Panta Rei, Business Process Outsourcing, Meet Value Engineering, Measure for Measure

Dedicated Six Sigma, Lean and Reengineering teams continuously spot and improve processes for Genpact as well as its customers. Supported by 500-plus Six Sigma Black Belts and Master Black Belts, 150 Lean Coaches, these teams have implemented 400-plus breakthrough improvements, 3,000-plus Kaizen improvements that enhanced productivity by 6-8 per cent year-on-year. Genpact shares these benefits with customers,” says Bhasin.

For one of its customers consolidating operations from multiple centres to one, offshoring the processes and Six Sigma initiatives delivered a productivity benefit of $300 million, he says.

According to S. Nagarajan, Founder and Chief Operating Officer of 24/7Customer, value engineering is a means of value creation more than cost reduction.

Another interesting quote:

Continued cost inflation, higher wages and a talent crunch threaten India’s global sourcing competitiveness. This will allow lower-cost countries to grab market share from India.

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America’s Manufacturing Future

Posted on December 27, 2005  Comments (0)

A Wake-up Call From Asia by Patricia Panchak:

China and India very aggressively are pursuing advanced manufacturing. Increasingly, China’s exports to the U.S. are composed of advanced-technology products.
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J.P. Morgan said it would add 4,500 employees in India by the year 2007, mainly by setting up operations in Bangalore to support its growing structured finance and derivatives businesses globally. Such jobs are not the simple, low-value call-center work that up to now we’ve associated with this developing economy. And J.P. Morgan isn’t alone; UBS and Goldman Sachs earlier made similar announcements.

From my previous post, Relative Engineering Economic Positions:

The hope some retained that the United States would retain the highest end work and others would work on the less complex work is not what the future holds. The future will prove to be an international marketplace where the United States is a significant but not dominant player. That future can still be bright but it requires a different vision than one in which American dominance is taken as a given.

The challenges to USA manufacturing will continue. The best hope, as I see it, for retaining manufacturing leadership in the USA is through increasing the adoption of management improvement methods including lean manufacturing.
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Engineering Education: China, India and the USA

Posted on December 13, 2005  Comments (0)

I just added a post, USA Under-counting Engineering Graduates, to our Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog on a new report from Duke concerning data on engineering degrees from China, India and the USA: Framing the Engineering Outsourcing Debate. I think it is a great report. If you have any interest in this topic I strongly recommend it.

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Hopeful About India’s Manufacturing Sector

Posted on December 11, 2005  Comments (1)

Why Am I Hopeful About India’s Manufacturing Sector by Indra:

As World Economic Forum Founder and Chairman Professor Klaus Schwab said in recently held India Economic Summit, 2005, “It is indeed important for India to excel globally not only in the services sector but also in the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing in India has become much more sophisticated with the introduction of high technology in many of its production processes. A key priority for India is to provide jobs for its large population and in this regard, the resurgence of Indian manufacturing would generate millions of jobs throughout the country.”

Since India’s manufacturing economy is so small now they would actually see increases in manufacturing jobs. China has lost many more manufacturing jobs than the USA (15 million to 2 million from 1995 to 2002) as previously China’s factories were staffed with millions of workers with no actual work to do.
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Toyota Chairman Comments on India and Thailand

Posted on November 28, 2005  Comments (2)

Toyota Chief Comments on India, Thai Cos.

The chairman of Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday that auto companies in India and Thailand may soon overtake those in Japan because of their increasing focus on quality.

While this might be a bit of an exaggeration part of what keeps Toyota improving is that they do not rest on their past success. They are continually looking to improve.

He said no Japanese firm has won the Deming prize in recent years as they are not showing interest in winning this coveted prize, whereas Indian companies such as motorcycle and scooter maker, TVS Motor Co. and Rane TRW Steering Systems Ltd. have won the Deming prize.

More news on Okuda Hiroshi’s visit to India, Japan sees India shining

Toyota Motor Corporation chairman Okuda Hiroshi, who heads Japanese trade body Nippon Keidanren, will lead a high-powered mission to India from November 27-30.

The delegation is likely to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, finance minister P Chidambaram and commerce minister Kamal Nath.

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Performance Transformation

Posted on November 21, 2005  Comments (0)

Six steps to success – How to drive performance transformation by Gautam Kumra (India):

Other companies encourage “lean” thinking, which began as an automotive-inspired and assembly-oriented methodology but which today is as established in many financial processes, service industries and parts of the public sector. “Lean” projects depend not just on rolling out new techniques but on changing basic ways of working.

Go Lean to Remain Competitive

Posted on October 26, 2005  Comments (0)

Go Lean to Remain Competitive:

Captains of industry should adopt Lean Production Systems, an idea {conceived} by Toyota for its car-making, to transform their plants to efficient ones, for survival in the globalisation era

Sundaram Clayton Limited Brakes Division President C N Prasa.

In 1998 the SCL Brakes Division won the Deming Prize and in 2002 they won the Japan Quality Medal.

Sundaram-Clayton Limited, Mission:

We are committed to being a profitable and socially responsible leading manufacturer of environmentally friendly auto components and sub-systems for customers in markets and to provide fulfillment and prosperity for customers, employees and suppliers.

India has been represented very well among Deming Prize winners the last few years including 3 of 4 winners this year.

I think it will be interesting to see if this is a sign of a broader adoption of such management principles in India. If so, I think that would compliment the software industry in promoting continued economic development in India quite well. And, if so, in 10 years I think we will be hearing much more about manufacturing in India than we do today.

More articles on Management Improvement in India (including several on Sundaram Clayton Limited).

2005 Deming Prize

Posted on October 20, 2005  Comments (3)

2005 the Deming Prize Winners Announced:

The Deming Application Prize (alphabetical order)

Hosei Brake Industry Co., Limited(Japan) – web site
Krishna Maruti Limited, Seat Division(India)
Rane Engine Valves Limited(India) – web site
Rane TRW Steering Systems Limited, Steering Gear Division(India) – web site

Once again India has dominated the prize. From our 2004 Deming Prize post: “In recent years, Thailand and India have been the home to nearly all awardees: 6 of 7 in 2003, 2 of 2 in 2002 and 3 of 4 in 2001. Prior to this new trend, nearly all awardees were based in Japan,”

Also announced:
The Deming Prize for Individuals Mr. Hajime Sasaki, Chairman of the Board, NEC Corporation (Japan) – bio

The Japan Quality Medal
Thai Acrylic Fibre Co., Limited (Thailand) – web site (2001 Deming Prize)

Lean Manufacturing Webinar

Posted on October 15, 2005  Comments (0)

Plant Design for Lean Manufacturing – view webinar archive

This webinar archive is a series of slides with an audio track (my guess is the slides should be flipped as you listen though this didn’t happen for me). Use of webinars to present management improvement content over the web is fairly limited at this time. And archived webinars that are available on the public web (not hidden behind locked doors (login required) – whether they are free or require a fee).

I think there is much to improve in how we take advantage of this technology. Over time this method of presenting information could prove very valuable. It is good to see people trying to figure out how we can use this technology to deliver information more effectively.

It is good that they make an archive of the webinar available online (it would be better if it were not hidden behind a login system – even a free as this one is) but still I am glad to link to them which provides them potential customers.

The business model used by those providing the content will determine if they should charge for the content, or give it away. I strongly believe that in almost all cases it is best to make significant content available for free on the public web (not behind login systems).
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Indian Firms Learning From Toyota

Posted on August 15, 2005  Comments (2)

Topic: Management Improvement

Taking A Page From Toyota’s Playbook, Business Week:

The goal for Wipro is to become the Toyota of business services. Toyota preaches continuous improvement, respect for employees, learning, and embracing change. “It’s the soft stuff that makes a big impact on the hard numbers,” says Kurien, a cheerful 45-year-old. There is plenty of hard-edged analysis, as well. To embrace Toyota’s methods, Kurien last year assigned teams to examine business processes, break them into discrete components, and come up with streamlined services to sell to clients.
…
Wipro also adopted Toyota’s kaizen system of soliciting employee suggestions for incremental improvements, and made The Toyota Way required reading.

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2004 Deming Prize Awardees

Posted on October 17, 2004  Comments (2)

2004 Deming Prize announcement – JUSE (Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers)

This year again provided impressive showings by India and Thailand: of the 6 awards 3 went to Indian Companies and 3 went to companies in Thailand. And this is not a fluke, a unit of the TVS group (India) has been awarded in each of the last four years, see, “Deming medal for Lucas TVS and SRF.”

2004 The Deming Prize for Individuals
– Mr. Akira Takahashi, Senior Adviser to the Board, Denso Corporation (Japan)

2004 The Deming Application Prize (alphabetical order)
– CCC Polyolefins Company Limited (Thailand)
– Indo Gulf Fertilisers Limited (India)
– Lucas-TVS Limited (India)
– Siam Mitsui PTA Company Limited (Thailand)
– SRF Limited, Industrial Synthetics Business (India) SRF press release – pdf format
– Thai Ceramic Company Limited (Thailand)

In recent years, Thailand and India have been the home to nearly all awardees: 6 of 7 in 2003, 2 of 2 in 2002 and 3 of 4 in 2001. Prior to this new trend, nearly all awardees were based in Japan, the exceptions being:
– Sundaram-Clayton Limited Brakes Division (India) 1998
– AT & T Power Systems (U.S.A.) 1993
– Philips Taiwan, Ltd. (Taiwan) 1991
– Florida Power and Light (USA) 1989

Find online Deming resources: Curious Cat Deming Connections
Full List of Deming Prize Winners

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