Learning from the Maruti Suzuki experience
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. is one such Indian manufacturer that has transformed itself over the past three decades to fulfil the changing needs of the customer. From four products in 1990 to a strong portfolio of 16 brands today, the company enjoys a market share of more than 45 percent in the Indian market. In the annual survey conducted by a renowned market research firm, consumers have rated Maruti Suzuki No. 1 in customer satisfaction consecutively for the last 17 years. Notwithstanding its scale and reach, no other OEM in the world has been able to achieve this feat.
Build a Strong Corporate culture and processes: Incorporated in 1982 with the mission of modernising the Indian automotive industry, Maruti, from day one, implemented Japanese manufacturing practices and quality culture. The key ingredients of this culture are Kaizen, Pokayoke, Suzuki Production System and involvement of shopfloor associates through suggestions scheme and quality circles. This strong quality culture, which starts at the highest level of management and percolates down to shopfloor associates, helped Maruti maintain its leadership in the Indian market despite the presence of 18 global automobile giants in the country. The current mantra of top management is ‘Zero Defect' and all processes and systems are being aligned towards achieving this goal.
A Product Development program focusing on Indian customer needs: One of the key aspects of Maruti Suzuki's successful journey is its ability to produce small cars of high technology at affordable prices for Indian customers. The market, environment and road conditions pose a set of quality challenges that require design and quality solutions that are very specific to the Indian market. Understanding the needs of Indian customers and the usage conditions requires the highest level of commitment from management and the entire organisation. Maruti Suzuki product development is focused on aspirational design, affordable technology and providing an exciting experience to delight the customers. Maruti has set in place processes to capture these requirements accurately and supports Suzuki research and development in Japan in developing products that meet these unique Indian requirements. Maruti Suzuki has also set up a dedicated R&D center in India to help augment Suzuki's global R&D.
Strong Supplier Development Program: With about 70 percent of value add being bought out from suppliers, a close collaboration is required between the OEM and its supplier base. Besides providing support to suppliers for technology collaboration with global players, one of the key quality initiatives of Maruti Suzuki to develop the supplier quality and manufacturing capabilities is a program called Vendor Upgradation. This program involves developing guidance manuals, handholding the suppliers to improve their shopfloor quality control systems and practices including maintenance of dies, moulds and equipment. The company has set up the Maruti Center for Excellence for conducting training programs on quality and excellence for supplier employees and to support them in developing their tier-2 and tier-3 vendors.
Service delivery Excellence: The key strength of Maruti Suzuki in the Indian market is the reach of its service network to the remotest areas for service delivery. More than 3,000 service outlets covering 1,500 cities ensures that customers have an on-demand post sales experience. To ensure uniformity of service, service quality standards have evolved to ensure all aspects of service delivery. Regional training centers ensure theoretical and practical training. Using the latest available technologies for distance learning also helps in providing virtual training to the technicians at their respective service centers. To address the non-availability of skilled manpower, Maruti Suzuki has adopted the government run Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) across our vast nation to provide assistance in developing them into modern training institutes. Maruti provides them with the latest equipment and teaching techniques to upgrade the level of their teaching staff.
Delighting the Customer Experience: Maruti has been continuously innovating product and service offerings in line with the changing customer aspirations of the digital era. Its newest Sales Channel NEXA (New Exclusive Automotive Experience) gives each customer his/her own relationship manager. The relationship manager ensures that the customer has a delightful pre and post sales experience. The relationship manager is a single point contact for the customer during the entire lifespan of the product. The new channel uses extensive digital infrastructure to enhance customer experience. An IT enabled customer interface, dealer management system and ERP ensures smooth integration of customer information across the value chain for fast and seamless response.
All these initiatives and many more are an integral part of the transformation journey of Maruti Suzuki to its Mission 2.0— to produce 2 million cars annually by 2020. Top management's focus on being attentive to the aspirational needs of the customer is transforming the whole organisation.
To sum up, the Maruti Suzuki experience demonstrates that in countries like India, organisations not only need to set-up within themselves a quality culture and systems and processes but also need to take ownership of developing the entire supply chain and service delivery channels to ensure enterprise-wide quality excellence.
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