Addressing the inaugural session of the Productivity Summit 2006 on 'Unleashing the Power of Productivity in Metalworking' recently, Srinivasan said lean management would provide more value to the customer with less resources and by eliminating waste.
Sharing the experiences of practising lean management at Sundaram Clayton and TVS Motor Company, he said that Sundaram Clayton became the lowest cost producer of air compressors (for HCVs) in the world through lean management.
The company improved employee productivity by 100 per cent, inventory turns by 75 per cent and space productivity by 40 per cent, he added.
He also stressed that the immediate need was a manufacturing revolution in India, which was currently represented by the auto industry.
The auto industry was only 10 per cent of the manufacturing industry in the country and the manufacturing revolution should spread to a lot more industries like textiles, machinery, durables, electronics and textiles.
At present, only about 150 companies in the country are practicing lean management. He said that lean management had to be introduced into the system from the top through a systematic process and driven into the bottom.
It was time to leverage upon technology and processes, human competence and innovativeness. India needs to focus on taking steep jumps in cost, speed, productivity and quality. Speed is the only way to move up the ladder and improve competency.
There was a need to run faster to catch up with China and productivity was one aspect that would help in achieving it, he said.
"It is better to build on our strengths than copy China and other countries. India needs to focus on high process capability and operate on Six sigma levels. We need to develop global skills to earn the world-class leadership position," he added.
Stating that China was the real global powerhouse and was way ahead of India in the manufacturing sector, he said that the hurdles for India were the lack of scale, lack of infrastructure and low investment in education and training.
The solution would be to invest in change, low cost innovation and grasp the challenges, he added.
The three-day summit, organised by the Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers' Association, addressed and demonstrated a wide array of productivity-related issues through live case studies and keynotes by experts in the field.
The case studies were evaluated by a panel and would be considered for the IMTMA 0 - Siemens Productivity Championship Awards. About 500 delegates from 100 companies across the country attended the summit, which concluded on April 22.
