Quality Fables Competition

Neela, was a freshwater fish, who lived with her family in a small well, near the Titan Jewellery factory in Hosur, an industrial town in Tamil Nadu. She spent her childhood days swimming around in the well with her circle of friends, enjoying the outside view. She would swim near the water surface racing with the darting birds above. She gazed upon the endless trees and loved observing the humans working in the fields and listening to them singing songs and sharing tales with each other, while they grazed their cattle.

The humans would fetch water from the well, to satiate their thirst. Neela felt proud and privileged, that even the powerful humans, who harnessed nature to construct enormous structures and tamed mighty beasts, depended on their humble well for satiating their thirst, whereas she could enjoy it indefinitely. She would realize soon that her world would be turned upside down.

Some years back the water table started falling drastically, and Neela could no longer see the surroundings or hear people talk. Neela missed this a lot and resigned herself to watching the birds in the sky who were her only reminder of the outside world. She wondered what the humans would be up to and whether they could have caused the dropping water levels in the well.

Then surprisingly in the last few months, the water level in the well started increasing, even though there was not much rainfall to cause such a change. It was now possible for Neela to peek at the surroundings and listen to faint human voices. She was impressed with a lot of new buildings, that had come up but saddened with the fact now few farmers were coming to graze their cattle near her well. Nevertheless, Neela was curious to know the reason for rising water levels and she hoped to get some answers soon. She started paying more attention to conversations between humans from then on.

On a calm night, Neela heard Thangadurai, a local resident, talking to Ravi, an employee of the Titan jewellery factory. Ravi was sharing the need for steps by the residents of Hosur to conserve water so as to increase the water table. He then shared the various steps taken by Titan to reduce water consumption and also replace the use of fresh water with wastewater in their operations, which has led to the water table rising in their locality. Ravi explained that only by conserving groundwater and recharging water bodies will they be able to improve the ecological health of Hosur. Neela was amazed to learn about the work being done by Titan to improve the health of local water bodies by reducing groundwater exploitation by themselves and the public.

Ravi particularly quoted one example, of how they as a team, had taken a challenge to reduce water consumption by 50% in their department, which was five times the target, set by their management. Ravi further explained that this team had not only met this ambitious target, through various innovative methods, but went ahead to achieve a final reduction of 86% of their water usage. Neela was thus happy to learn that soon the well would be brimming with clean water and high levels, like she experienced during her childhood.

I am Tara, a happy house sparrow, living with my family in the city of Bangalore. My parents were born here and grew amongst nature and the friendly people of Bangalore. My childhood was spent entwined with humans, like the rock pigeons brooding in high-rises.

When I was young, my friends and I flitted through the backyards of human dwellings, chirping on the branches of trees. We didn’t fear humans and hopped on the ground near the ladies who cleaned rice on pans hoping to grab some falling grains. We would laze around in the cozy nests built by our parents in between the inner and outer layers of the tiled roofs of houses, watching humans go about their daily lives.

Recently, loss of farmlands, lakes and parks in Bangalore owing to urbanization as well as the excess usage of pesticide has caused our food sources like insects to become scarce. The lack of suitable nesting and roosting sites threatened our very survival. We began searching desperately for a sustainable habitat for our species.     

We flew all across Bangalore in search of a new home and came across a patch of land filled with tress, water bodies, shrubs and lawns adjoining the Veerasandra Lake in Electronic city. My family was delighted to find such a place and grew elated on finding few of our relatives and friends already living there happily feeding on fish and insects available in plenty.

We found a building nestled within this greenery where humans worked amidst nature, having open meetings on terraces  shaped like Balinese rice fields, walking on paths adjoining the bio lake, soaking in the scenic beauty of the natural Veerasandra lake merging with the bio lake  and feeding the fishes. We found the humans here radiated energy and enthusiasm and enjoyed working there. We were inspired by their open office design allowing an abundance of natural light and air. There was no air-conditioning puffing out harmful gases but only an array of solar panels, glittering on the roof. This building is a Platinum LEED certified building with a 5 star GRIHA rating, a phenomenal feat even among humans.

Our entire family felt blessed by our ancestors for finding this wonderful place we now call home. Food is abundant here as the rich landscape is entirely manured (organic insects!!) which we share with a vibrant variety of fauna. This campus, I came to understand is the corporate office of Titan Company. By creating this facility, Titan has not only brought happiness to sparrows and humans alike but has also contributed towards protecting the environment by restoring the ecological balance in this part of Bangalore.

I have already invited my extended family members to shift here and also invite all of you all to visit our new home to get inspired to further the cause of our precious environment.

While every business or organization is striving to generate more and more opportunities to grow their Business or create avenues for continuous flow of new business, various new sources were identified and formed by this highly respected Mutual Fund house. To effectively try and win business out of these opportunities, it becomes necessary to not lose connect with them at any level of required interaction. These opportunities called as ‘Data’ or ‘Leads’ need to be engaged effectively and managed well through a closely collaborated process and so was LMS (Lead Management System) formed in FY13-14, to generate business from the data or leads generated through the digital campaigns or marketing activities, managed by the marketing function.

The senior management observed that there was not much business growth through LMS with only 10% increase in gross sales year-on-year, with additional challenges of losing leads when they were assigned to our sales team and distributors for closure due to lack of tracking mechanism. In urge of quick and increased growth from every possible platform to help achieve the organizational goals, the CEO realized the huge potential of LMS in catering to all forms of data or leads generated by the organization and being a business generator it should be driven by sales. So, the current head of sales enablement & emerging markets, Mr Deepak Gupta who earlier co-headed retail sales was selected as the project head by CEO, viewing his vast experience and deeper understanding of the Business, to identify the problems and opportunities to frame a strong process and scale the business possibilities.

A team was then formed by him identifying and recruiting a fresh brain, Mr Niladri Chatterjee (Channel Manager – Client Engagement) as the main driver of this project for new ideas, and involved Mr Rahul Gulekar (Head – Business Excellence) to ensure detailed Quality assessment of the project.

Post team formation, some major actionable involved:

1. Brainstorming sessions with functional stakeholders to identify new, sustainable and cost effective lead sources or engagement activities
2. Set up of e-mail notifications / reminders to sales or distributors through a TAT matrix
3. Designed and published detailed dashboards or MIS reports
4. Published success stories internally and initiated rewards and recognition to motivate the lead generators and business drivers
5. Product trainings and refreshers with soft skill development sessions, were conducted
6. Brought 95% automation in the process by developing LMS module on sales CRM

The business acquired through LMS, doubled up from previous financial year. The number of opportunities or data generated for lead identification also increased 2.33 times, simultaneously improving the conversion rate. Increased our focus on Customer Centricity and convinced ourselves of sustaining the growth.

The morning prayer starts with ‘Asatoma Sadgamaya’ at Global Indian International School (GIIS), Whitefield. This is a daily ritual to calm the mind and breathe in peace as every student starts the day with positive thoughts. Most students follow this, but then Tarun, studying in Grade 7 often comes late, intending to miss the call for mindfulness and is quite happy about it.

One day, the respected Principal of GIIS Whitefield, Mr. Dev Rao makes his popular surprise visits to the classes, and discovers some thought-provoking observations calling for immediate attention. He notices that in many classes, some students are maintaining peace merely during the two minutes of prayer. As the classes start and the day advances, few students including Tarun, show signs of behavioural issues - lack of interest in the class, bullying, feeling lethargic, eating disorders, arguing with classmates for no reason and lack of agility being the most common. The same day Mr. Rao calls for an immediate meeting with all department heads to identify how best they can amend the situation.

arun is an average student managing to score only 46% in academics. He is hyperactive and an annoying attention seeker that makes him a misfit in the class. But his class teacher Ms. Deeksha knows he is capable of better work, if he focuses. He loves physical education classes and football. His teachers are very patient and adjust to his mood swings. His parents, Mr. Anil and Mrs. Padma, cannot stop worrying about him. They say, ‘We belong to the suburbs and want to see our only son score good marks in class.’ Like Tarun, a survey shows signs of behavioral issues in many other students. In another meeting the stakeholders discuss and arrive at a proposed solution. The management approves the initiative stating that the project is well detailed and finalizes at rolling it out as CAP (Child Assessment by Parents) project.

Tarun’s class teacher Ms. Deeksha gives him the CAP form to be filled by his parents. He submits it the very next day. Based on responses provided in the CAP form, Ms. Deeksha now analyses the causes and identifies the patterns. Post analysis, she appreciates Tarun’s good behavior and strikes a friendly conversation with him to choose the right path of counseling and conditioning for him.

These CAP forms are distributed among students and help to diagnose and remediate problems. They enable students to change habits and excel in academics and evolve as better and smarter individuals. This remarkable initiative in GIIS Whitefield under the leadership and continuous guidance of Mr. Dev Rao is helping to strengthen the bond of students with their teachers, parent(s), and fellow students. Students show a positive personality with increase in confidence, better concentration in studies and a pleasant nature.

Tarun receives the ‘Best Student of the Month’ award in his class from Mr. Rao and his parents and teacher are very happy. A total of 10 students are honoured for their achievements based on CAP results. They all recite ‘Asatoma Sadhgamaya’ and this is definitely a proud moment for Mr. Rao and all teachers of GIIS Whitefield.

Ms. Shah, admitted on the 12^th floor (twin sharing room) requested for a glass of hot water to Sister Mithila who was administering medicines to her neighbouring patient. While Sister Mithila was on her way to the Nursing station, she passed by a Pantry staff Deena Maushi, and conveyed the patient’s request.  Deena Maushi was at the end of her 8 hours duty and further relayed this information to her colleague.

In the best case scenario the hot glass of water should have reached Ms. Shah. And it did. However, the ‘hot’ specification was lost in translation and transition. She expressed mild irritation to Sister Mithila saying “In such a reputed hospital, is it that difficult to get a glass of hot water?”

Thereafter Ms. Shah threw a tantrum. A Customer Care Officer Ms. Mayuri was called in to pacify Ms. Shah. What started off with a glass of hot water, got converted to many more complaints like rude behaviour of staff, delay in response of Nurse, taste of food and so on.

Oh well!! What have we gotten ourselves into?? Mayuri initiated the conversation saying “Ma’am, May I Help You!!” Ms. Shah is in no mood to let go and says I want to meet your Senior. Mayuri is exasperated but she says “Ma’am, we are Sorry“(Are we really???).

We can’t be spending rest of our lives apologizing. Come on Fella’s. It’s time to wake up… a roadmap needs to be devised for containing Patient Requests such that they do not pile up, and escalate into Complaints.

Can we empower our Patients to reach us directly (without the middle man) by creating more platforms?? Of Course we can!! Should we have time bound Service levels? High time!!!

A 400 bedded multi-speciality hospital, with 2500+ staff working in 3 shifts, on rotation and various categories. How many such tasks should be fulfilled and on-time, each time?

Although there is a Patient Feedback system in place, an in-depth review will almost always feature such smaller Requests that were incorrectly attended or delayed. Responsiveness in any Service industry is what builds Impressions.

Patients Expectations are on the rise. Requests not attended in a timely manner add up. Lack of a one-point resolution further adds to the patient woes, who have now also found Facebook and Twitter. This affects the Hospitals Brand Image.

Two voices that of the Customer and the Management directed the need for a Systemic Approach of Complaint Management to Enhance Patient Experience.

A multi-functional team, from core patient care areas, and supporting services, were carefully selected. Individuals with not only knowledge and accountability but also influence came together to contribute to this much needed centric goal.

It was the year 2016 and TITAN Jewellery was going through a tough time as gold bullion of 99.99% purity, commonly referred to as 9999 gold, was scarcely available in the Indian market.

The newly procured German equipment was working overtime to meet the ever-growing demand for 9999 gold which serves as the raw material for making gold jewellery in different karatages.

Mr Sanjay Ranawade (Vice President-Jewellery ISCM) had called for a hurried meeting with Mr Rajendran G (General Manager-Studded Jewellery) and Mr Leo Michael Y D (Group Manager) to discuss the developments in the Bullion market and the impact it would have on jewellery production.

Mr Sanjay explained that alternate sources for 9999 bullion came at a premium of Rs 65,000/kg, with a minimum order quantity of 100 kg, and a promised lead time of four weeks. This would greatly affect the cost competitiveness and delivery of Tanishq jewellery.

However, what was not spoken, but nevertheless understood, was that TITAN, being a torchbearer of TATA’s ethical values, could not stoop down to the dubious practices adopted by its industry competitors. This meant that TITAN was to take drastic measures to step up its production of 9999 gold.

Mr Kanthanathan P (Manager-Refining) hastily entered the meeting room and apologized for his lateness. He conveyed grave news. He had been informed in the morning that the purity results indicated that iron was in the 9999 gold produced in the Electrolytic Refining process. That too in the new German equipment.

Iron is deadly in a jewellery alloy. It causes quality defects in castings and machine-made chains such as blistering and porosities. This meant that both the productivity and the quality of the existing process were in question.

While Mr Sanjay brooded seriously over the matter, questioning himself if he should consider outside options for sourcing bullion, Mr Rajendran G, Mr Leo, and Mr Kanthanathan were in deep discussion, determined not to let down their company in its time of need.

Mr Leo raised a basic fundamental question/challenge. “If our Aqua Regia process can deliver 999 purity gold, then why can’t 9999 purity gold”? He announced that, with the In-house expertise of his Refining team he would develop a world-beating process that would deliver on both the productivity and quality fronts.

For three months, the Refining team was completely focused on this challenge. They brought to bear all the quality tools in their arsenal to realize every opportunity for quality improvement. Input quality of chemicals was improved, key process parameters were standardized and innovative ideas were tried and refined repeatedly.

Mr Sanjay & Mr Rajendran, whose trust and support in the team gave rise to the whole initiative were kept abreast of the entire proceedings on 20^th August 2016, they were greeted with the news that this team of highly motivated Titanians had achieved the World’s first Aqua-Regia Process that gives a guaranteed output of 9999 gold.

Mr Bhaskar Bhat, MD of TITAN, during his visit to the Jewellery Division, visited the Refining plant as well. The Refining team showcased their efforts in developing the World Class Refining Process. The MD congratulated the whole team for their innovative approach that created a new benchmark. Titan’s Flag flew to greater heights. He remarked that a deep yearning to achieve the impossible, coupled with determination and trust in one’s own abilities, will guarantee success. This is going to be our first step towards our future approach.

This team which demonstrated all the above went on to successfully bag the “Dream Team” award for excellence in team work for the year 2016 and Rs 1.8 lakh in prize money.

Humans have always been fascinated with flight. Flying machines such as the “Pushpaka Vimana”, dragons, griffons as well as giant eagles and peacocks were the choice vehicles of transport in legends of yore. Even in the Ramayana, Sita was abducted by Raavana using his flying chariot and Hanuman soars through the skies to rescue her.

Thanks to Wright brothers for inventing the airplane and making our dreams a reality. Just like land and sea, warfare took flight soon and the era of aerial dogfights and bombings began. Helicopters were invented soon after and provided unprecedented manoeuvrability and accessibility which helped in war and peace.

In a multipolar world, almost all countries are upgrading their technologies of making planes and choppers. HAL of India has also started making attack helicopters. Its engine runs efficiently due to a critical component called diffuser and HAL badly needed a partner to produce diffusers without defects and approached us. Here’s what happened.

HAL : We have a big problem…!!

Titan : Well, Congratulations..!!

HAL : Whaaatt???

Titan : I mean… for coming to the right people ..... we are here to solve it…

HAL : You don’t understand …we need diffusers to be produced for our customer SAFRAN to these strict specifications  but are unwilling to share us the knowhow.

Titan : Don’t worry we can do without that.

 HAL : Is this possible?

Titan : Have faith in us. Wait and watch…

There were no apparent solutions initially but the team brainstormed and generated ideas based on their experience and knowledge on other methods of part clamping by fixtures for high accuracy. Even once an idea was finalized, there were no suppliers available as it was a new and complex design. Titan identified a capable supplier and gave him the required technical support to get the fixture done. Prototypes were iterated for accuracy correction and balancing and the component was proved successfully after a week of intense testing.

Titan thus became the only supplier in India to produce the diffuser component to perfection and the only supplier globally to produce the component without rejections.

HAL were delighted that they have achieved this with the contribution of Titan and informed SAFRAN that they have successfully produced the diffuser.

SAFRAN: Is that true…How much is the rejection percentage... Even we are facing 20% rejection rate guys..

HAL: Nooo…There is zero rejection.

SAFRAN: That is impossible.... I don’t believe it.

HAL: Our supplier Titan has done it... You will believe once you see it for yourself.

SAFRAN: There must be some foul play here... We will come with you to Titan to find out..

SAFRAN saw the innovative fixture at Titan that was used to manufacture the diffuser. They were overjoyed and believed more than ever in Titan’s capabilities. They started approaching Titan directly with huge orders for their global requirement, a game changer for Titan’s fortunes.

Piramal Enterprises Limited was requested by a Big Pharma Customer with a proposal for manufacturing a Compound (A) in quantities of 5 Kg followed by a 100 Kg. The team submitted the proposal based on previous experience gained during PoC (Proof of Concept) sample preparation. Piramal Ennore site team got the project to manufacture this critical compound. Previously there were about six stages of this product and overall yield was very low (X %).

It was 9’o clock in the morning when the initial discussion was planned. Site Head started briefing about the project and then turned to the team for something more important-

“Is it possible to choose any shorter synthetic route?”

“Is it possible to optimize the manufacturing friendly reagents for all the conversions?”

“Why can’t we improve the overall yield for the existing route?”

“Why can’t we reduce the consumption of high cost contributing reagents?”

Challenged the Site Head.

Team was in dilemma on how could such a feat be accomplished, the day had just begun. While all the members were trying to find the ideas, a strong voice was raised by R&D team who proposed some points for all the questions raised by the Site Head. R&D Head accepted the proposal and started deriving an action plan with team.

Site Management team wanted to explore the plan, it was suggested to work on Process Development to reduce number of stages which can add additional revenue to the site. During this project, it was important to keep in mind that development activity should not impact project deliverables.

From that day onwards, cross functional team worked around the clock for the task. They formed the design for the experiments and executed lot of runs, explored some alternate reagents. Exactly after six weeks, R&D Head received a call,

“Boss! We made it, Please check your inbox quickly” said the R&D Manager with utter joy.

Finally, all the challenging (not easily scalable at commercial scale) reaction conditions were tuned/optimized as per commercial scale requirement and the consumption of high cost contributing reagents was also reduced (optimized) in lab and then successfully executed in plant. Days were moving faster and then arrived the review. Everyone was looking at Data Analyst for yield numbers.

“Fantastic! Our efforts have paid off!” announced the Site Head.

A remarkable improvement of 27% from the baseline was recorded. The new yield was now (X + 27%). This was a very proud & satisfactory moment for the whole team; all these targets were achieved without affecting the quality, safety and deliverables. Leadership was very happy to see that the team thinks beyond the boundaries and Piramal again created a happy & delighted customer.