Manjeet Sachdeva

The 2 ways suggested by Michael Porter for creating Competitive advantage are being cost effective and second creating a Niche, differentiation. Example for cost advantage can succeed when an organization wants to penetrate at a great speed goes for mass production like FORD always produced Black color cars in beginning. Organizations shifting production bases closer to raw material sources or lower labour cost like garment industries in Bangladesh. Sometimes a skewed focus only on cost backfires when Quality is compromised specifically when affordable and more reliable products at a bit higher cost are available like the case of TATA Nano car failure as its too much focus on cost positioned it at the bottom and a promising product got killed. 2nd is Differentiation with Quality and related aspects like serviceability, customer focus and reliability. Examples are many where organizations have created a niche and customer is ready to pay extra for these features. These products are invested heavily in for research and development, branding and Quality. Examples Rolex watches to say that they not only tell time but to say tell time of the owner to others will not be an over statement. Many products carry a renowned name which have become synonym for Quality like Ferrari, BMW, Porsche automobiles. These products create in downstream suppliers who also produce niche products and its whole ecosystem where others don't easily dare enter. The products continue to get premium for the niche.

This synchronizes with the proverb "empty vessels make the most noise" While other might say there is a raw talent which needs to be groomed. Out of the most who show such traits few actually have the talent and skills. So it falls on the shoulder of leader to pick the right talent. These traits unless corrected and or directed properly in very beginning become a part of personality and are harmful for the growth of organization at later stage. Secondly there is a challenge for leader to deal with the mad rush as seen in followers to grow vertically not horizontally. This rush keeps their technical foundation weak and leads to a hollow growth. I personally believe to throw raw talent to the sea of challenges and let them perform ensuring no failure makes them loose confidence. The genuine one will realize soon and starts a journey on right path. The path where both knowledge and confidence are high.

Six sigma will get the process capabilities defined, UCL and LCL set for the process. However Lean will focus on how to move smartly with less baggage in these lanes. For me anything outside the limits of process is rejection And anything other than he desired value is a waste. Only the combination of 6Sigma and Lean will make the band small thereby improving process capability and reducing the wastages

Time series analysis is very important as it forecasts based on past facts and performance. It is a whole science, which has proven without any doubt to be very precise. It discounts the regular spikes, shocks and all relevant factors under which a process performs. Many companies rely heavily on this type of analysis to effectively predict their products future. However what Times series analysis lacks is the ability to discount the "game changer events" and "art combination". Example for game changer event is entry of Pitanjali in FMCG and Ayurveda definately would have given nightmares to the giants in these fields and changed the axis of the Time Series analysis for them. Example of Art combination with Science. This is very important as Time series is a pure Science and its combination with Art would make a deadly combination to look beyond the curve at the Event Horizon. For me in my heart I believe that the famous poem/ quote "There is a tide in the affairs of men" very purely and very holy signifies the combination of art and science. History is filled with examples of successes and failures of such cases. Nokia failing in Android, Apple succeeding in maintaining niche in own OS and many more.

The brilliant example is government changing the automobiles norms from BS4 to BS6 from April 2020. All automobiles manufacturers will have to redraw recertify and revalidate their stable and capable process meeting the current norms of BS4. 2nd example Government setting new requirements for pre-paid smart energy metering and more than 300 million energy meters to be changed all over India in a period of 5 years or so. Almost all energy meter manufacturers redrawing revalidating and getting their products approved for safety norms for pre-paid and remote cut off features. Again the stable and capable product not having prepaid and remote cut off feature will be rendered useless.

If lean is applied in absolute terms with no additional features or Bells and whistles the this will lead to a stagnation situation, with little or no scope for improvements in products or value addition. These small additional features tease the boundaries of lean and play an important role in newer developments The brilliant examples of bells and whistles in the past 15 years had been a camera in a mobile phone, pedometer in a wristwatch. These features create their own space and market and can become a niche. I strongly advocate that such bells and whistles must be encouraged and given due respect for innovation and science.

BHAG for me is always staying ahead of the curve. Competition will be there always the best situation is keeping a mile distance under same operating circumstances and setting new benchmarks. Example If a safety standard is applicable at present to a product and keeping one product at a higher level safety standard is a BHAG. Keeping goal to achieve productivity as 100% is ok as following standard operating conditions. But keeping is as say 110% will be a BHAG. Now from where this extra 10% will come is challenging and sets the ball rolling in direction beyond set parameters or SOPs and venture into area of Lean. Cut down losses Simplify processes Sustain the learning Benchmark new horizons Set new role models All come into picture And believe the taste of success of achieving beyond 100% is altogether different.

Special processes are those where the output can not be judged or inspected immediately after its completion. The critical parameters control allows the process to run as desired. However the performance over a period of time or validation of few samples shows that the process was capable of giving the desired result example electroplating, welding etc. Special requirement are those which are expected out of product to exhibit well beyond its stated application Example a 200 amps relay normally operates at 50 to 60 amps current however in case of any short circuit or such emergency it must safely disconnect load up to 3000 amperes. The process control on making relay and design will ensure such a requirement well beyond the stated requirement.

Comparison is in fact between the man skills and the desired skill set required for a task or responsibility. Here an apple and orange can both qualify A professional gathers a set of skills by virtue of knowledge experience training and grooming environment. There can be no similar oranges or apples. All this boil down to comparing the skill set verses the qualifying criteria for a task and thus leading to comparison of an apple and an orange. The key lies in well defined skill set requirement for a task or job and then evaluating the available resources against these skill sets.

The idea of KAIZEN was to involve as many participants as possible. The priority was set with line of increasing difficulty and increasing skill/ knowledge required to provide a KAIZEN. However this was for reference only and brilliant ideas can come from least expected source. The word Zen in KAIZEN has a significance of “Holiness” in Japanese culture and KAINZEN reflects efforts to achieve that Holiness in small dedicated steps therefore the priority of targets does not matter in this path.