Rich harvest

Venkatachari Jagannathan
23 December 2003

Chennai: The mood is jubilant at Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M). The reasons are twofold. The first and the foremost is the company's tractor unit winning the prestigious Deming Award from the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE).

The second reason is the award of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) Excellence Award-First Category from the Japanese Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM) for the company's automotive division.

The fourth-largest tractor company in the world, M&M has four tractor plants in India (Mumbai, Nagpur, Rudrapur in Uttranchal and Jaipur). It has been maintaining its market leadership for the past two decades.

"Over 400 officers are engaged in research and development (R&D) and new product development," says P R Telang, general manager TQM (total quality management).

The tractor business was first established as a separate joint venture company under the name International Tractor Company of India (ITCIL) in 1963. It was a joint venture of M&M, the UK division of International Harvester Company of the US and Voltas. In 1978, this company merged with M&M and became its tractor division.

"In 1997 it was decided to become the world's largest tractor manufacturer by 2007," he says. After an in-house discussion chaired by the company president K J Davasia, the decision towards Deming was taken at M&M. From there on it has been a long and arduous plough for the company. However, the company has been richly harvesting since then. Telang talks about the tractor division's Deming journey. Excerpts: