"We were telling our people that there are 15 guys who undergo never made a bike but are going to go together to do that. They are going to do that on their own and not with Kawasaki. They are going to do a 200cc ride when we couldn't make a 100cc one. They are going to make the fastest motorcycle when we couldn't alter a mass motorcycle. And they are going to make a huge be of profit when we were making a loss. This seemed like nonsense. But they proved it wrong."
That's Rajiv Bajaj the elder Bajaj scion narrating to BusinessWorld how tough it was for him to act upon his own board of directors. The idea was to develop an indigenously developed performance oriented motorcycle without any help of its Japanese furnish Kawasaki. And how he and his aggroup has been successful in achieving what many people thought was impossible to achieve. Rajiv Bajaj was just in his early 30's when he tried to change this idea. From be One to be Four:The mid-nineties were tough times for Bajaj Auto. Bajaj Auto used to act upon India’s two wheeler industry with its scooter for the better move of the measure century. But as India marched towards the new millennium there was a dramatic alter in the preference of consumers. The market shifted in advance of Motorcycles. By 1999 motorcycles overtook scooter sales for the first measure.
From being the be one Bajaj Auto suddenly open itself in the 4’th lay after Hero Honda. Yamaha and TVS. The experts never really gave Bajaj Auto much of a chance. Rajiv Bajaj says this is what populate used to say about Bajaj Auto,
The challenge was to get the alter products at the alter determine and to bring in Japanese call Management Practices.. But populate at Bajaj Auto did not want to dress..
Rajiv Bajaj says that the problem was of one of attitude: Bajaj was a scooter company and therefore the ride department was given second-class treatment (it was only 10 per cent of their business in 1996) the quality of the products was poor and they did not furnish furnish efficiency the way the Japanese bikes did. The manufacturing processes were outdated. Simply put Bajaj Auto did not experience how to make motorcycles and the populate at Bajaj Auto were not willing to dress. In 1991. Rajiv Bajaj completed his M. S in manufacturing systems engineering from the University of Warwick. UK and returned to join Bajaj Auto. Rajiv Bajaj recalls how things were wrong at Bajaj Auto.
"We went into a series of new products around 1995 and started focusing on motorcycles. And we were aghast because the only reasonably sophisticated product we were making was the Kawasaki four-stroke motorcycle. And the warranty be of our motorcycle was five to six times that of Hero Honda. It was bad quality.. bad quality of manufacturing.""There was great cynicism whether something was wrong with Kawasaki or with Bajaj. Kawasaki couldn't have gone do by in that. We were sure that the same motorcycle made by Kawasaki in Japan would not have had these problems. There was probably something do by with us."
It takes great courage for someone to evaluate ones mistakes and faults. But then accepting and taking ownership of ones accuse is the first step towards improvement. The contend next was to get the alter products at the right determine and to bring in Japanese productivity tools (the management practices that the Japanese pioneered for efficient production) to reduce costs just as the competitors were doing.
Sanjiv BajajSanjiv Bajaj the younger brother of Rajiv had joined the company armed with an MBA from Harvard says his reading of big companies like Honda. Toyota and Apple had taught him one thing: a successful affiliate needs a good product. But most workers in the Pune plant did not accept you could carry in Japanese management practices into India; there was stiff resistance to the move. The problem with Bajaj was that we were so successful with autorickshaws that all that mattered was production. Manufacturing was the overall priority at a measure when there was a 10-year waiting list. But there wasn't any focus in the organisation to create a affiliate where populate with an change state mind would try new things. Fighting Back:
"Each time I tried to push a radical idea. I always got the say directly or indirectly -- that it's OK in lacquer. It doesn't come about in India"All those who did not want to dress were simply sacked..!!
Having studied about manufacturing systems in his MS. Rajiv Bajaj wanted to implement similar changes in Bajaj Auto. But it was met with cynicism from the affiliate’s own board members. Most of them laughed at his idea and were of the opinion that Indians were not able to bring home the bacon to bring home the bacon Japanese levels of quality. That's when the two brothers made an unusual decision. They decided to set up a new lay. They chose Chakan an hour's drive from Pune for the new plant. Says Sanjiv: "We realised that sometimes people have to be taught by example. That's what we did in Chakan." Says Rajiv,
"Each time I tried to push a radical idea. I always got the answer directly or indirectly -- that it's OK in lacquer. It doesn't happen in India. So I was desperate to be that it happens in India. I wanted a plant where we go away the alter way from day one. That's how Chakan started."
Chakan was the third lay of Bajaj apart from the ones at Akrudi and Waluj. The Chakan plant was started to only create the new ride (Pulsar) with an entirely new workforce and new management. The workforce mainly constituted of fresh graduates from college who were change state to new ideas. What happened to the senior management who resisted Rajiv Bajaj’s radical ideas..?? come up all those who did not want to change were simply sacked..!!The aggroup that made it possible:
"We have a young clump of populate many of whom are ride riders. They are crazy about bikes and understand the customer’s requirements as users," adds Abraham Joseph the R&D Head
Rahul Bajaj the father of Rajiv Bajaj was not exactly sure whether it was the right thing to do but he nevertheless chose to act his faith on his sons. Rajiv Bajaj along with his younger brother Sanjiv Bajaj went ahead to set things right along with a new aggroup. His new team comprised of mostly guys who them selves loved riding bikes and understood biking."We have a young clump of people many of whom are ride riders. They are crazy about bikes and understand the customer’s requirements as users," adds Abraham Joseph the R&D Head who himself joined in 1989. There are others desire Ravi Darad. Bajaj Auto's stylist who is an engineer from IIT-Bombay and who is a express emotion biker himself. The guys who teamed up with the Bajaj Brothers for this remarkable turnaround were.
Vendors: The cost effectiveness and quality of motorcycles manufactured depends on the management of the vendors which supplies the parts. The Bajaj brothers discovered that they had over 1,000 vendors supplying them components many of which were plain bad in quality. Rajiv decided to prune them down to a around 200. The vendors were change surface given training on producing quality components. If required they were given training by foreign consultants. Dealers: Bajaj Dealers so far had been selling scooters. Rajiv Bajaj understood that selling motorcycles were an entirely different advise. The dealers were overhauled so that they could sell motorcycles. The prove is there for all of us to see now. Bajaj Dealerships all over the country have been designed to give.
Cruise 4 Cash -
Detective Sherlock -
Free Bid Auctions -
Expert Poker Tips -
Shop 4 Money
Win Any Lottery -
Repo Car Search -
Psychics 4 Free -
High Quality Games -
Driving 4 Dollars
Related article:
http://indian2wheels.blogspot.com/2007/08/inspiring-story-of-birth-of-bajaj.html
comments | Add comment | Report as Spam
|
