Back-to-basics at Sona Koyo

List of reports on qua
27 November 2004

Sona Koyo has been using TQM to increase productivity through employee participation while eliminating wastage and rework, reports V Jagannathan. In an interview, The Deming journey, Dr Surinder Kapur, chairman, explains how

Chennai: The chairman of Sona Koyo Steering Systems Limited, the passenger car and utility vehicle steering systems and columns manufacturer, Dr Surinder Kapur was worried as he pored over the production data.

For it was only in November 2003 that Sona Koyo had won the prestigious Deming medal awarded by the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE), widely considered the Nobel equivalent for manufacturing.

What bothered him was a minuscule increase in plant level rejects. Dr Kapur didn't want the smooth workflow to be disturbed since Sona Koyo is targeting export revenues of Rs1 billion, up from Rs6 crore today, through global automobile manufacturers who are looking at India as their base for sourcing components.

Dr Kapur, a PhD in fluid dynamics, embarked on corrective action — a back-to-basics programme was initiated at the Rs286-crore-turnover Sona Koyo.

Today, top officials like chief operating officer K M Deshmukh, spend one day in the shop floor observing the work process and coming out with at least 20 new ideas to ease the work flow.