The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has taken initiatives to help Indian industries meet the challenges related to global competition. This is being done by organising training programmes, seminars, exhibitions and study missions for companies with the best practices that sustain and enhance their businesses. In this regard, CII (Southern Region) has realised the need to promote a culture of innovation and imbibe best manufacturing practices to achieve world class standards.
The Sub-Committee on Manufacturing Competitiveness of CII (SR) organised a Manufacturing Benchmarking Mission to Industries of Excellence in Germany during August 18-22.
Its objectives were:
* Provide opportunities for visiting the production facilities and interacting with some of the leading manufacturers who have adopted best manufacturing practices.
* Get an insight into the organisation and initiatives covering work culture, change management, productivity improvements and employee involvement.
* Understand the deployment of innovation policies within the organisation to achieve excellence.
* Enable Indian companies to learn the best manufacturing practices.
* Enable Indian companies to learn and benchmark with the employee training modules and HRM practices adopted in Germany.
A total of 20 members from all over India representing a wide spectrum of industries led by Mr. V. Narasimhan, Chairman – Manufacturing Competitiveness Sub Committee – CII (SR), and Executive Director, Brakes India Ltd., as mission leader, embarked on the mission. Mr. P. Sridharan, Director, CII (SR), accompanied the mission. Mr. Lars Eulitz, Sales Director, TÜV NORD Bildung GmbH, facilitated the company visits.
The companies visited by the delegation are the ThyssenKrupp Group, Siemens AG Energy Sector, Innovation City, Eickhoff Maschinenfabrik, Lemken The Agrovision Company, KWE Getriebe, Pilkington Deutschland AG, BYK – Chemie, and Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences.
The mission gave an opportunity for the delegation to observe first hand the distinguishing success factors which provide the German industry the cutting-edge in the global market. It gave a good insight into the HRM practices, culture of continual improvement and best practices in Safety, Occupational Health and Environmental Management.
Mr. Raveesh Kumar, Consul General of India in Germany, and Ms. Pooja M. Tillu, Consul (Economic, Press, Information and Culture), met the delegation to exchange ideas and discussed the feedback and follow-up of the visit.