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What do Harita Seating Systems, JIT Auto Components and Paragon Autotech Products have in common, other than the fact that all three make automotive parts? Well, all three have posted impressive improvements in efficiency and productivity in recent years, and all as a result of their participation in the Visionary Leaders for Manufacturing (VLFM) programme, which focuses on addressing the supply chain, and most importantly, how to manage information flows smoothly.
The programme was devised by the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council in collaboration with the ministry of human resource development, the IITs, IIMs and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to develop leaders in manufacturing under the Indo-Japan Cooperation Agreement 2006, signed between the then prime ministers of India and Japan in December 2006. It consists of four courses, for senior managers, CEOs and mid-level managers.
Harita Seating Systems, a TVS Group company that makes automobile seats, saw improvements of 50 per cent in productivity, 25 per cent in assembly line efficiency and almost 100 per cent in customer satisfaction between 2011-12 and 2013-14. It attributes this to its tier-II and tier-III suppliers, which have gone through the VLFM programme.
JIT Auto Components, a tier-II component supplier, enrolled in the programme two years ago and has seen productivity go up by some 400 per cent, while the cycle time to produce a component has fallen from four minutes to one minute.
Paragon Autotech Products, which makes gaskets, seals and mounts, and enrolled for the VSME or Visionary SME programme (which is a part of the VLFM programme) in 2011, has seen productivity increase from 26 pieces an hour to 92 pieces, the rejection level drop from 22 per cent to 1.89 per cent, and material yields (the ratio of raw material used to sales) improve from 115 per cent to 52 per cent.
Rahul Jain, managing director of Paragon Autotech, said his father had wanted to close the company by March 2012, because it was awash in red ink. But things turned around after Sona Koyo, to whom Paragon is a supplier, nominated Jain's company for the VSME programme (which was part of the VLFM programme) in May 2011.
The VLFM programme, which began in 2007, aims to create a critical mass of 1,000 'visionary leaders'. The year-long course is targeted at original equipment manufacturers and tier-I and tier-II or large, medium and small companies, said Sarita Nagpal, principal adviser at CII.
"Looking at the response, we will see a 10-fold growth in the number of companies taking up the programme," said Nagpal, adding that in the next two years the target of 1,000 companies will be achieved.
The total number of people who have graduated through the programme or are currently enrolled in it is 1,127, including senior managers (390), middle-level managers (225) and CEOs (76).
While the central focus is on production, the programme also addresses the impact of changes in technology, global markets and regulation on the supply chain. The other major focus is on R&D, product design, after sales service and manufacturing process change.
The programme is currently focused on manufacturing - especially in the auto sector - and next in line are engineering companies, said Nagpal.
