Speaking on the group's perspective, he mentioned, "As far as we are concerned, we are definitely in a better position because of our long standing JV partnerships. Majority of our partners consider their JV with us as part of their own set-up and happily pass on the technologies seamlessly."
"We have also set-up Design Engineering Services Centres that work for our JVs in India as well as for JV partners abroad. JV partners outsource lot of work to the Design Engineering Services Centres as it is much cheaper for them to get it done from India. Outsourced work includes, desiging services, prototype manufacturing, etc. In this way, we are working on the model that creates win-win situation for both the partners," Chopra added.
Skill Development
In the midst of catching up with the high-end technologies and norms, the other area that has to be upgraded is skills of labour. According to Chopra, the whole industry is facing this issue and each company has its own way to deal with it. "For us, we have an in-house corporate university named as Anand U. This institute is focused on four major areas of people development - Operational Excellence, Talent Development, Technical Interventions and the Development of the large force of Operating Engineers across the group."
The institute is instrumental in advanced training programs such as six sigma.
Speaking further he stated, "The Group has pioneered a number of human resource practices including ‘Operating Engineers' model for its shopfloors. Anand Group lays great emphasis on the development of its employees through training." The group hires diploma engineers from various polytechnic institutes to work on the shopfloor. The company policies further allow them to climb the ladder to a managerial positions or even higher levels.
Looking ahead
Over the last six decades, Anand Group has formed alliances with leading global automotive companies from USA, Europe, Japan and
Korea. With the wide range of solutions, it has established multiple joint ventures and technical collaborations. It offers products and solutions in steering, suspension & braking parts, engine parts, emission control systems, safety products, thermal management, filtration, engineered fluids, drivetrain, etc. "Today, the group has 19 companies spread across 62 locations. With this, the Group recorded a sales turnover of Rs.84 billion in 2016 and is further targeting to achieve Rs. 150 billion by 2020."
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