vlfm newsletter “dreams to reality”

Insid

e Book Review : Observation Skills

In Conversation with Tata Motors

Our Guru’s Message

And more …

Leaderspeak

Happy Society: Village Buddha

Awards & Accolades: Godrej Gets the G-Mark

Success Story: The Success of Creintors

Transforming Indian Manufacturing

DREAMS TO REALITYVolume 1, Issue 1, June 2016

Over the last nine years, in some sense VLFM has grown like the Banyan tree, the National

Tree of India. The aerial proproots of this tree help it to grow and expand across hectares

of land. It takes decades for these prop roots to turn into trunks capable of supporting

many more branches. The VLFM companies and graduates symbolize the aerialprop

roots of the Banyan tree, forever progressing. As some of them develop into trunks, they

are also growing new roots and becoming a source of sustenance for those below.

A Banyan tree symbolizes a noble mind and India has many people with a noble mind.

VLFM therefore hopes to continue to progress like the Banyan tree.

Symbolic of the Trimurti, its three main parts symbolize the creator, the protector and the

destroyer; the bark is symbolic of Lord Vishnu, the roots of Lord Brahma the creator, and

the branches are symbolic of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva is visualized as sitting under the

Banyan tree, the botanical embodiment of the universal soul, facing death and change. In

similar vein VLFM Community pursues destruction of the old to transform and change; to

dream and create while protecting the unchanging principles.

Copyright © 2016 Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), in part or full in any manner whatsoever, or translated into any language, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. CII has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information and material presented in this document. Nonetheless, all information, estimates and opinions contained in this publication are subject to change without notice, and do not constitute professional advice in any manner. Neither CII nor any of its office bearers or analysts or employees accept or assume any responsibility or liability in respect of the information provided herein. However, any discrepancy, error, etc. found in this publication may please be brought to the notice of CII for appropriate correction.

Published by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)The Mantosh Sondhi Centre; 23, Institutional Area, Lodi Road, New Delhi 110003, IndiaTel: +91-11-24629994-7, Fax: +91-11-24626149Email: [email protected]; Web: www.cii.in

Cover Concept

Leaderspeak

A sustained drive by the Government to give impetus to

manufacturing under the ‘Make in India’ programme

couldn’t be better timed. India has the potential to become

the largest manufacturing hub in the world, and it is

possible to make manufacturing a quarter of our GDP,

from the current 15%.

Of course, manufacturing for the future will be vastly

different from how we have made goods in the past.

Technology disruptions will change how we manage

processes, deploy skills and create efficiencies.

Those in manufacturing will have to be nimble not just to

changing consumer preferences but also to the

introduction of robotics and artificial intelligence and how

deftly we re-skill our workforce. We will also need to address

the emerging market at the bottom of the pyramid.

For us to grow as a nation, it is imperative that we take

everyone along on our growth path. Through the Village

Buddha Programme, we are engaging leaders in manufacturing

with village communities to bring about systematic societal

changes. CII's VLFM/CSM Programme has created more

than 1800 leaders, with 200 success stories.

With managers from over 1000 companies having

undergone the CII's VLFM/CSM Programme, we are

confident that our plan will achieve the kind of

breakthroughs and innovations necessary for tomorrow’s

India and for the kind of inclusive growth we all strive for.

I encourage the CII membership to join hands with us in

our endeavour.

CII’s VLFM Initiative is a national project launched in

2007. VLFM supports the Government of India’s

mission of creating and building best-in-class

manufacturing infrastructure and intellectual assets.

Over the last 9 years, India built a strong foundation of

Visionary Leaders for Manufacturing (VLFM) under the

guidance of Indian industry leaders and Padma Shri

Prof Shoji Shiba, the world renowned expert in

Breakthrough Management. We thank Prof Shiba for

starting this movement in the country and for guiding

our manufacturing sector. The unstinted support of the

Government of India and the Japan International

Cooperation Agency (JICA) as well as the Academia

have made this programme a unique initiative.

CII is committed to scale up the VLFM initiative (now

called Champions for Societal Manufacturing CSM), to

create a pool of leaders who can manage global

companies in the face of a fast changing environment.

In the years ahead, the initiative will encompass a

larger number of SMEs into the VSME project to reach

the figure of 1000 Visionary SMEs and many more

Village Buddhas will be created to accelerate social

transformation and spur growth across India.

I would urge many more members to participate in this

programme and in the process not only build their own

companies but also contribute to nation building and

societal progress.

Venu SrinivasanChairmanCII-VLFM Initiative

Chandrajit BanerjeeDirector GeneralCII

Dreams to Reality | 3

Village Buddha Progamme, in its new avatar, took

forward the idea of promoting entrepreneurship in rural

areas as a strategic development intervention that

could accelerate the process of holistic rural

development. TVS Institute of Quality and Leadership

(TVS-IQL) at Bengaluru once again witnessed this

historical journey.

The just concluded 5 days Module (March 9 to 13) on

Holistic Emerging Market Development saw 25

participants, including one international participant

from 11 companies come out with Breakthrough

business ideas. Aimed at enhancing the incomes of the

rural communities these were titled Science on Wheels

for Farm Buddha, Something Fishy, 10X Mushroom by

Cooperatives, My Home My Skill, Eggs of Prosperity,

Sparkling Cold Bath. A deep understanding of the

Villages achieved by ‘Jumping into the Fishbowl’

bundled with application of observation skills and the

Five Step Discovery Process gave the participants a

scientific and systematic way to discover, within a very

short duration, breakthrough ideas to meet the future

challenges of the villages.

Rural Entrepreneurship Getsa New Ally - ‘VILLAGE BUDDHA’-Module on ‘Holistic Emerging Market Development’aligns corporates efforts towards income generation-

Like the previous four modules, this Module also lived

up to the expectations of Village Buddha’s basic

philosophy of building a strong relationship between

Business and Society, to create Win-Win for both.

Launched in 2014 with support from JICA, Village

Buddha is building a new mindset to support societal

development in a holistic and sustainable way. In a

short duration of two years, the Village Buddha

Community has expanded to 116 Industry change

makers from 25 companies.

Participants from companies which included Anand

Group, Bosch, Cummins, Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co,

Maruti Suzuki India, Lady Bamford Charitable Trust

(JCB India Ltd), Tata Chemicals, TVS Motor and TVS

SST received certificates from Mr Venu Srinivasan,

Chairman VLFM Initiative & Past President, CII. While

congratulating the participants during the certificate

ceremony, he said, “The rate of change of Indian

villages is much more than the rate of change of Indian

cities. Village Buddha is helping corporates to deeply

understand these changing villages.”

4 | Dreams to Reality

Happy Society

Mr Venu Srinivasan, Chairman VLFM Initiative & Past President (CII) with participants of Village Buddha Module B on “Holistic Emerging Market Development” at TVS Institute for Quality and Leadership (TVS_IQL), Bengaluru on 13 March, 2016.

The Journey of Holistic Emerging Market Development


Participants "Jumped in to the Village Fishbowl", made obervations and applied the Five Step Discovery Process to arrive at Breakthrough

Business Ideas within a short duration of 5 days

Guru Mantra


India NeedsIndian Way ofManagementand a YouthMindset-Shoji Shiba, Chief AdvisorCSM Project

The 1st CSM Summit organised by the CII VLFM

Initiative parallel to the Make in India Week in

Mumbai, provided thought leadership in building

India’s capabilities to become a manufacturing hub.

What emerged out of the Summit is the need to

develop an Indian Way of Management for India to

become a global manufacturing hub. For achieving

this objective, the six pillars that need to be worked

upon include developing human skills, changing

mindsets, becoming frugal and innovative,

encouraging industry-academia partnership,

folding the society into the growth process and

building brand India.

With the Prime Minister inviting over 2300 global

companies to invest in India, the age of CSM is here.

India can become the largest manufacturing hub in the world with the dream of 25% of the

GDP coming from manufacturing becoming a reality. The Make in India (MII) initiative,

launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is providing the necessary framework

for this. To achieve this dream much work needs to be done by the industry as well.

stProf Shoji Shiba, Chief Advisor CSM Project, speaking at the 1 CSM Summit held in Mumbai parallel to the Make in India Week

From L to R: Venu Srinivasan, Chairman, CII VLFM Initiative and Past President CII, S N Tripathi, Additional Secretary & Development Commissioner, Ministry of MSME and Amitabh Kant, then Secretary DIPP releasing the JICA CSM Retrospect


For harnessing this opportunity, we need

technology and money for sure but these are not

enough for success. India has the 3D advantage of

Democracy, Demand and Demography. India’s

Prime Minister has added the 4th D of Deregulation

and yet another D of Determination can be added to

these. Once India is deregulated many

opportunities will open up. It is the visionary leaders

who will be able to grasp these opportunities and

enable the country to harness the demographic

dividend.

CII’s VLFM/CSM Programme is creating visionary

leaders with a Youth Mindset and developing the

Indian Way of Management. India does not need

the US or Japanese way of management, but needs

to diffuse its own breakthroughs through its

crusaders.

The CSM Programme is pursuing these three

directions that are necessary to accelerate the

future by connecting with Make in India.

CII’s Champions for Societal Manufacturing (CSM)

programme (erstwhile VLFM Programme), a

national project launched in 2007, is one such step

of the industry. Recognised as being intrinsic and

vital to the Make in India (MII) initiative, this

programme is being coordinated by the

Members of the VLFM Community at the 1st CSM Summit held in Mumbai during the Make in India Week

From L to R: Sanjay Kirloskar, Chairman, CII Western Region, Dr Sarita Nagpal, Advisor, CII VLFM Initiative, Prof Shoji Shiba, Chief Advisor CSM Project, Venu Srinivasan, Chairman, CII VLFM Initiative, S N Tripathi, Additional Secretary & Development Commissioner, Ministry of MSME, Amitabh Kant, then Secretary, DIPP, Yoshiaki Ito, Consul General of Japan in Mumbai, Govt of Japan, Dr Pawan Goenka, Executive Director & Group President (Auto & Farm Sector), Mahindra & Mahindra, Takema Sakamoto, Chief Representative, JICA India, Ramesh Abhishek, In-coming Secretary, DIPP at the 1st CSM Summit held in Mumbai during the Make in India Week

Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP)

since 2014. It supports the Government of India’s

mission of creating and building best-in-class

manufacturing infrastructure and intellectual

assets. For the last nine years, the CSM/VLFM

Programme of CII has been working in the three

directions outlined above. I encourage the Indian

manufacturing sector to work towards developing

the Indian Way of Management and strive to

achieve breakthroughs that will take them ahead in

the future.

Success Story


A Journey of Breakthroughand TransformationVLFM triggers transformation, company achieves new milestones

When Neelesh joined the VSME Programme in

2014, he did not know he was taking his first steps

towards not only transforming his company

Creintors Teknosol Pvt Ltd but also transforming

himself as a person. It was, ofcourse a chance

conversation with his business partner, at a time

when they were focusing on strengthening the

manufacturing culture, that opened the doors of the

"Visionary Small and Medium Enterprise" (VSME)

programme for him. Much later, in 2015, Neelesh

was intrigued by the unique VLFM Programme and

he explored more with the VSME mentors, Mr C S

Patel and Mr Saideep Rathnam. Neelesh says “The

course content and structure convinced me that this

was a Once a Life time Opportunity and THE course

which would help me build the skills to lead my

organization to the next leap of growth.” So

convinced was he that he decided to take a bank

loan to pay the programme fees of Rs 10 lacs for two

participants.

While the VLMi programme was the stepping stone

to VLFM for Creintors, it also helped to setup

efficient plant operations based on the pull concept.

Developed keeping in mind the three key concepts

of Flow, Quality and Variety the company is now

confident of setting up facilities of any magnitude

necessary to meet the market demand.

Neelesh Chogule receiving the National Award for "Product Innovation in Electronics and Security Category from Kalraj Mishra, Union Cabinet Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises”.

This is the story of Neelesh Bhimrao Chougule, a first generation entrepreneur from Belgaum, who underwent complete personal transformation, leading the company to achieve breakthrough results and international accolades.


The one year VLFM journey, preceded by the VSME

journey, slowly but surely started transforming

Neelesh. The inspiring speeches of CEOs, the

mentors, the Self Initiated Research in Japan, skills

of observation, listening to others, note taking,

interviewing and making presentation have all had a

deep rooted impact on him.

“I have always understood, appreciated and applied

a systems based approach. This has been so in my

entrepreneurial journey as well as in expansion

and diversification of the business. With VLFM

I understood the missing element in me i.e. the Big-

’M’ thinking”, emphasizes Neelesh. He also tuned

his management style for strengthening the

organisation and nurturing leadership at all levels.

With personal and organisational transformation,

also came breakthrough products and national

recognition. Creintors won the National Award for

“Product Innovation in Electronics and Hardware

Security”, in the Small Scale Industries Category.

The award winning product “Insert Dispenser” is an

ideal example of a product based on the latent

needs of the customer converted into a model and

then a prototype.

VLFM learnings were the key to this innovation

award. The working prototype made before learning

from VLFM, was far from satisfactory. “I always felt

the lack of clarity and future strategy leading to a low

self confidence. I was never able to spell it out

though, because I did not know how to” is how

Neelesh puts it.

The product resulting from the application of VLFM

learnings is a customer delight. The Big ‘M’

approach helped the company understand the

integrated product needs, based on which R&D was

initiated finally giving 3 families of the product. The

product which is “CE” marked and under “UL”

certification is in readiness for a US launch in

September 2016 at the “IMTS” Exhibition.

This is the outcome of applying the VLFM learnings;

it is THE way for Neelesh and his colleagues to

move ahead and take their companies to newer

breakthroughs.

“The course content and structure

convinced me that this was a Once

a Life time Opportunity and THE

course which would help me build

the skills to lead my organization to

the next leap of growth.”

Neelesh Bhimrao Chougule

The Winning Team The Winning Products

Awards & Accolades


Designing breakthrough products, that meet the

latent needs of the customers, require jumping into

the fishbowl, swimming with the fish and making

observations. Listening to the Voice of the

Customer gives deep understanding of the

customers’ lifestyle, their behavior, social dynamics

amongst others. The insights achieved during the

process when analysed using the Five Step

Discovery Process bring out new insights. Over the

last nine years 1800 senior managers from India’s

manufacturing companies have learnt these skills

through CII’s VLFM initiative, and many have

received global recognition and accolades.

The most recent breakthrough product to receive

global recognition is the Godrej Edge Digi

refrigerator, which received the prestigious G-Mark

Award from Japan. India’s first hybrid Auto Defrost

Refrigerator had been developed, and it remains

unchallenged in the Indian market even by the

middle of 2016. The target Indian Customers for this

product often consider a Refrigerator as a status

symbol and keep it in their drawing rooms. The

Edge Digi was thus given a fascia design, a

departure from the industry norm at that time.

Learning and Practice area Continuous Process; Lead to Breakthrough Results

The Award Winning Edge Digi Refrigerator with Fascia Design


The G Mark award places importance upon

selecting products that contribute to and make a

positive impact on society and industry. The

screening is done taking into account aspects of

humanity, honesty, innovation, aesthetics and

ethics. And the Godrej Edge Digi Refrigerator came

out on top on all these aspects.

The development of Edge Digi enabled Godrej to

move from the Mass Market to the Premium Market

in Single Door Refrigerators. In 2014, the mass

market was a Red Ocean characterized by fierce

competition.

The Edge Digi Team at Godrej was being led by

Suhas Kulkarni and Bhasker P S, both VLFM

Graduates who have also been faculty on the VLFM

programme. In this eight-year journey of learning,

practicing and training, the VLFM tools became

second nature to both of them. They achieved a

breakthrough unlocking of mindset which enabled

them to take a larger perspective of the business

and develop a product that ultimately won

international recognition.

Suhas Kulkarni says that the opportunity to learn as

a VLFM faculty was a unique learning experience.

Teaching is the best way to learn; each opportunity

to go back to VLFM as faculty led to clearer

and deeper understanding of the concepts.

Prof Shiba emphasizes that from acquiring

knowledge to becoming a master is a continuous

process of practice. It is practice that creates

understanding leading to skill and then mastery.

The team got the motivation to challenge this award

from a very simple but thought provoking question

raised to them by Mr Jamshyd Godrej, Chairman,

Godrej & Boyce – “What Next”, he asked them when

they had presented to him the concept after winning

the India Design Mark. This completely changed the

mindset of the team and they now follow the “What

Next” philosophy and practice VLFM Tools to scale

newer heights.

Jumping into the Fishbowl gave an opportunity to the G-Mark team to observe how customers use the Refrigerator

The Edge Digi Team in Japan at the G-Mark Award Ceremony

The Edge Digi Team with Mr Jamshyd Godrej Chairman, Godrej & Boyce at a function in Mumbai

For details please contact:

Mr Nitin Sharma, Counsellor, CII, Plot No. 249-F, Sector 18, Udyog Vihar Phase IV, Gurgaon, Haryana 122015

Phone: 0124 401 4084 Email: [email protected]

"Many leaders have emerged from CII's VLFM Programme and many companies have achieved success as well as several awards and recognition."

"Many leaders have emerged from CII's VLFM Programme and many companies have achieved success as well as several awards and recognition."

Amitabh Kant, Former Secretary, DIPP

"Through VLFM Programme, thereis a transformation of mindsetamongst manufacturing leaders"

J N Godrej, Past Chairman,CII-VLFM Initiative

“VLFM has set an unique exampleof successful Collaboration Modelamongst Industry – Academia – Government"

S Gopalakrishnan, Past President, CII


How was the VSME programme suitable for your

organization?

What changes did you observe in your Organization

after the VSME programme?

Tata Motors has grown manifolds in the past couple of

decades. While we have established production

processes, what we needed was to standardise the

basic processes across all plants. This would help to

smoothly cater to the market from various

manufacturing locations across India. We were able to

achieve just that with the VSME tools for production

planning, scheduling, requesting materials from

external suppliers, and assignment of manpower

based on activities, etc. It is a completely integrated

approach impacting all areas of manufacturing.

Supplier RelationshipTransformation Brings10X ResultsTata Motors to Once AgainContribute to Indian Manufacturing

The most important change that VSME brings about is

mindset change for example do and demonstrate, and

encouraging people to report problems. A key change

that is visible in the production processes is workload

planning, making pattern and daily scheduling. The

line keepers now PULL materials for assembly and

suppliers receive “Delivery Request” every day based

on actual consumption.

The primary issue that the management faced was

“Market fluctuations not to be passed to customers /

suppliers” – this required creating “Flow” in operations.

What was critical to the management, and how did

VSME help you to address these?

Prof Shoji Shiba, Chief Adviser CSM Project and Mr Takeyuki Furuhashi, JICA Expert for VSME with managers from the Tata Motors Plant

Mr P K Chobe, Sr Vice President, Tata Motors talks about their VSME Journey and how it is

transforming their plants as well as their relationship with the Suppliers

In Conversation


Annual flagship event of the VLFM / CSM Communityon August 1, 2016, Mumbai

Announcing the8th Learning Convention

The Learning Convention will be an opportunity to

get exposure to unique success stories and listen

to industry leaders.

Ÿ Learning Sessions, including Success Story

presentations

Ÿ Graduation Ceremony (VLFM and VSME

Participants)

Ÿ Recognition of Support Faculty (VLFM and

VSME courses)

Featuring

This Annual Learning Convention of the

VLFM/CSM programme is a much awaited forum

for the graduates of different batches. They

enthusiastically congregate in Mumbai on this

day, strengthening the VLFM Community,

exchanging experiences and learning from each

other. We invite the VLFM Community Members as well

as Industry Leaders to come and experience

the unique energy of India’s Manufacturing

Community

For details please contact

Shailesh Tiwari, CII, Plot No. 249-F, Udyog Vihar Phase IV, Gurgaon, Haryana 122015

Phone: 0124 401 4084 | Email [email protected]

Sector 18,


In addition we also had certain typical situations on

hand for e.g. while there were materials in the stores,

yet the right ones were not available; there was a

struggle to sell some models of vehicles and yet it was

challenge to reach the other models to the market.

When we studied the material procurement process,

we found that there were no standard formulae to procure

materials in the right quantities and at the right time.

Apart from these challenges we had several

requirements while driving the changes that I have just

mentioned– We needed a solution that could be

replicated across all our plants; we needed a

programme with well-defined milestones to ensure that

radical changes in established practices are

implemented and we needed an organization that

would help us in the transformation process. We

needed a master coach, a guide, a mentor who could

take the team along the way of transformation.

In VSME we found the answers to all our challenges.

VSME is all about creating flow of operations between

OE and suppliers. We found in Mr Furuhashi the coach

and guide that we were looking for. VSME was thus the

perfect solution to meet the management challenges.

We have named our project Supplier Relationship

Transformation (SRT), which is entirely based on VSME.

The time for the material request has been fixed,

numbers are indicated in complete unit size thus

eliminating partial bin deliveries. The time of dispatch is

now predetermined and so is the unloading of vehicles.

What are the changes in the way your suppliers work

after VSME & how has it solved supplier related

problems?

Being relieved of surprise requests from Tata Motors,

the Suppliers now maintain a finished goods stores

which is not linked to the production at our end. All

suppliers under the programme have thus been able to

achieve 100% delivery performance and quality issues

have also reduced. With the new procurement system

under SRT flow concepts, we generally don’t have to

make compromises.

We have set ourselves objectives related to both our

organisation as well as those related to Indian

manufacturing. In the first phase, we have created a

“Centre of Excellence” to diffuse SRT to all our plants,

and internal and external suppliers to our vehicle

assembly lines. With a view to contributing to Indian

manufacturing we will create templates explaining the

transformation process, develop the software

programmes on open platforms and share our success

stories. Whenever any organisation decides to

implement VSME (or SRT), they can refer to these

assets which are contemporarily developed and

established in Indian environment.

VSME is very different from other improvement

projects. In VSME, a flow is created starting from

customer demand. Various tier levels are identified

and processes of all tiers are synchronised to each

What do you aim to achieve with VSME in the next 2-3

years?

Now that the project is one year old in the five of your

plants, what in your view are the unique or salient

features of the VSME, as different from other

improvement projects?

Prof Shoji Shiba with Mr P K Chobe at the Tata Motors Training Centre in Pune. In the background are the Tata Motors SRT Faculty getting ready for the Module


Why do you think VSME is appropriate to Indian

Manufacturing and how do you think this should reach

out to more and more organizations?

What are the three most impressive changes in your

plant, beyond operational results?

What are the most impressive changes you have seen

amongst your suppliers (Internal and external) during

the course of the year?

Indian industry is made up of entrepreneurs and is thus

characterised by little standardization of business

practices and low levels of efficiency. Success

depends on the wisdom and intelligence of the

entrepreneur. VSME enables organisations to create

the basic structure of manufacturing business. It

creates a common language, processes and tools,

that can mesh between organisations. Hence it is most

appropriate to Indian Manufacturing.

• The assembly lines started pulling aggregates and

parts required to assemble the vehicles as per their

sequence.

• We understood the science behind the VSME tools

and hence harnessed improvement potentials of

magnitude 10X

• Daily schedules to internal and external suppliers

are based on actual consumption

• Trust in customer schedules and maintaining

100% delivery performance

• Trust in TML Initiatives given that they are based

on the “Do & Demonstrate principle”

other. There are several challenges in the process -

creating a store for finished goods, generating an

Assembly Sequence List, making common trolleys to

name a few. In the earlier context such improvements

would fall under different functions and thus the

improvements were not aligned to a common

objective. Often improvements in one area could

become an impediment to another. SRT drives the

improvements as an integrated project across a line or

a plant which are always aligned to a common goal.

Apart from being based on the Flow Concept the three

key aspects of VSME, which make it different are as follows:

• SRT integrates common sense into scientific tools.

It identifies tier structure - that explains who is the

supplier and who is the customer. It also spells out

what a request is and the delivery between the two.

Meeting deliveries is the first step towards a good

relationship between a supplier and a customer.

• Forming a community lies at the centre of the

VSME concept. A member of VSME or SRT is a

collaborator beyond organizations. Members of

community help and work with each other without

fear of confidentiality or exploitation. All are equal

and all believe in learning together. This increases

the available resources manifolds.

• SRT is about using a common language. It uses

some very specific words or terms. A word has only

one meaning and one interpretation which is

known and used by all members of the community.

This greatly reduces misinterpretations in

communication.

How will you describe or explain VSME or SRT to a

manufacturing head?

Mr Furuhashi Takeyuki, JICA Expert for VSME along with the Senior Management Team of Tata Motors at their Plant in Pune


Hon’ble President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee recently resonated the belief of the

former President of India, Late Dr Abdul Kalam, when he said

. Ten years ago, it was Dr Kalam

who requested Prof Shiba to help Indian manufacturing and also bring together the

industry and academia. This has thus been an unchanging principle of the CSM/VLFM

initiative which the project has successfully achieved over the last nine years.

"The Make in India

initiative, aimed at making our country a manufacturing hub, depends to a large extent

on the deepening of the academia-industry alliance”

Industry – AcademiaPartnering for India’s Growth

Participants of the VLM PGPEX Programme during the Japan Visit Module of their course. Seated in the front row Centre (L to R) Prof Shoji Shiba, Chief Advisor CSM Project, H.E. Mr. Sujan R. Chinoy, Ambassador of India to Japan and Mr Furuhashi Takeyuki, JICA CSM Expert with members of the Japanese industry and academia


The PGPEX-VLM Programme, being implemented

under the CSM Project is a unique programme that

fulfils the industry’s growing demand for techno-

managerial leaders who will shape the neo-industrial

revolution. The course is being conducted jointly by 3

premier institutes of India viz. IIM Calcutta, IIT Kanpur

and IIT Madras with support from Confederation of

Indian Industry (CII), Department of Industrial and

Promotion (DIPP) and Japan International

Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The one-year full time residential programme has a

built-in manufacturing focus that enables participants

to appreciate an industry’s metamorphosis in the

highly competitive times. CII, as a key partner and

implementer of other programmes under CSM Project,

has worked shoulder to shoulder with the academia to

help Indian manufacturing forge ahead. CII often

supports PGPEX-VLM Programme with industry

speakers and faculty during the 15 days Boot Camp

conducted by Prof Shoij Shiba, Chief Advisor, CSM

Project and other joint learning initiatives.

The 10th Batch of PGPEX-VLM for 2016-17 was

inaugurated on April 4 2016. CII organised interactions

with two CEO’s under IIMC’s guest lecture series. Dr A

K Chattopadhyay, Ex Managing Director, TRL Krosaki

Refractories Ltd and Mr T K Mukherjee, Managing

Director, Pheonix Conveyor Belt India Pvt Ltd who

inspired the participants and helped hone their

leadership skills. These interactions, as the many

others organised in the past, will guide the middle

management level executives to develop into the much

needed skilled executives of India’s manufacturing

Sector.

Two Senior Managers who are also Faculty on CII’s

Senior Managers’ Course, Mr Suhas Kulkarni from

Godrej & Boyce Co. Ltd. and Mr Sachin Tyagi from

Cummins India Ltd. shared their success stories with

the current batch of PGPEX-VLM and also supported

course implementation by Prof Shoji Shiba.

Prof Shoji Shiba lighting the Inaugural Lamp of Batch X of the VLM-PGPEX Programme. Also seen in the picture are Mr Saibal Chattopadhyay, Director, IIM Calcutta and Mr Mitsuo Kawaguchi, Consul General of Japan in Kolkatta

Prof Shoji Shiba with H.E. Mr. Sujan R. Chinoy Ambassador of India to Japan during the SIR Presentation of VLM_PGPEX Students in Japan in February 2016


Book Review

Learning ThroughObservations

Written By:Mr G SunderramanExecutive Vice President, Corporate Development,Godrej & Boyce Mfg Co Ltd

Under Mentorship of:Prof Shoji ShibaChief Advisor, Champions for Societal Manufacturing

Copyright © 2015 Godrej & Boyce Mfg Co Ltd, JICA and CII

“Learning Through Observations” is a masterpiece by

Mr G Sunderraman. It strikes a unique chord with the

reader by dealing with a yet unexplored subject in a

very interesting and simple manner. Through this

creation, the Author has shared, for the benefit of a

larger community, his learnings of almost a decade

resulting from the practice of Prof Shoji Shiba's

methods.

While this journey of learning, for Mr Sunderaman,

began about a decade back, soon after he met Prof

Shiba in 2004, the real trigger to initiate this publication

came with his short visits to the Villages in Karnataka,

Maharashtra and Tamilnadu. These he undertook in

connection with CII’s new Village Buddha programme

during November 2013 to February 2015.

This book has done absolute justice to establishing

“Observations Skill” as a critical leadership skill in

today’s environment undergoing continuous 10X

change. The Author’s own notes say “Observations

begin as basic skills, develop as a comprehensive

practice and turn into a discipline over time to

transform leaders.”

The uniqueness of this book lies in the real life

examples from Rural India being blended with an

insightful commentary which reflects the author’s deep

wisdom. Further, the Core Principles and Methods are

explained followed by demonstration of the practice as

a specific bundle of skills in real life explorations in the

villages. His tips for observation trips will also come in

very handy for the readers. This book is a real treat to

the readers who wish to practice the learnings as they

read and absorb.

I am sure many leaders will benefit by practicing these

observation skills after going through this practical

guide from the personal account of the Author.

Happy Reading, Happy Learning!

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the development of India, partnering industry, Government, and civil society, through advisory and consultative processes.

CII is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led and industry-managed organization, playing a proactive role in India's development process. Founded in 1895, India's premier business association has over 8000 members, from the private as well as public sectors, including SMEs and MNCs, and an indirect membership of over 200,000 enterprises from around 240 national and regional sectoral industry bodies.

CII charts change by working closely with Government on policy issues, interfacing with thought leaders, and enhancing efficiency, competitiveness and business opportunities for industry through a range of specialized services and strategic global linkages. It also provides a platform for consensus-building and networking on key issues.

Extending its agenda beyond business, CII assists industry to identify and execute corporate citizenship programmes. Partnerships with civil society organizations carry forward corporate initiatives for integrated and inclusive development across diverse domains including affirmative action, healthcare, education, livelihood, diversity management, skill development, empowerment of women, and water, to name a few.

The CII theme for 2016-17, Building National Competitiveness, emphasizes Industry’s role in p a r t n e r i n g G o v e r n m e n t t o a c c e l e r a t e competitiveness across sectors, with sustained global competitiveness as the goal. The focus is on six key enablers: Human Development; Corporate Integrity and Good Citizenship; Ease of Doing Business; Innovation and Technical Capability; Sustainability; and Integration with the World.

With 66 offices, including 9 Centres of Excellence, in India, and 9 overseas offices in Australia, Bahrain, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Singapore, UK, and USA, as well as institutional partnerships with 320 counterpart organizations in 106 countries, CII serves as a reference point for Indian industry and the international business community

Confederation of Indian IndustryThe Mantosh Sondhi Centre

23, Institutional Area, Lodi Road, New Delhi – 110 003 (India)T: 91 11 45771000 / 24629994-7 • F: 91 11 24626149

E: [email protected] • W: www.cii.in

The CII-VLFM Initiative

CII’s Visionary Leaders for Manufacturing Initiative (VLFM), now titled ‘Champions for Societal Manufacturing’ is a flagship programme under the Indo-Japan Joint Technical Cooperation agreement.The programme has its genesis in the request that Dr. Abdul Kalam, then President of India made to Prof Shoji Shiba, world renowned expert in Breakthrough Management to initiate a process to lead India’s manufacturing sector into growth.

This path breaking initiative, is being implemented by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in partnership with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Government of Japan and Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy (DIPP), Government of India. The other partners in the programme include Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.

The objective of CII’s Visionary Leaders for Manufacturing (VLFM) Initiative is to develop a pool of leaders who would steer the dynamic growth of the Indian manufacturing sector in the coming years. To date close to 1900 managers from India’s manufacturing sector have undergone the various programmes under VLFM umbrella namely,

• Senior Manager’s Course

• PGPEX-VLM - Middle Level Manager’s Course

• Visionary CEO Course

• 1000 Visionary SME Programme and VLMi - Visionary Laghu Udyog Mitra Mandal India

• Village Buddha Programme

For suggestions please contact Shailesh Tiwari, Counselor, VLFM at [email protected]

Membership Helpline: 00-91-124-4592966 / 00-91-99104 46244

CII Helpline Toll free No: 1800-103-1244

vlfm newsletter “dreams to reality”

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