When he took that big decision in 1989, Baba Kalyani's confidence stemmed from the fact that he was looking beyond the Indian market. "People thought I was nuts. Articles were written about this so-called white elephant... In the late 1980s, before liberalisation, I realised we needed to do something different and bring in technology to drive our business forward. It required huge investment, but it was that one decision that took our company from being a non-entity to where we are today," he explains.
His father - who retired in 1994 and died in 2013 - could always look back with pride. He knew that his son had not just changed Bharat Forge but had also transformed Indian manufacturing.
Of course, the gamble had paid off handsomely. But for Baba Kalyani, it was just the beginning. He was now geared up to challenge the biggest and the best in the world of manufacturing.
And it was only natural that he set his eyes on the North American shores. In 1992, he bagged his first order worth US$ 5 million from ArvinMeritor. Bharat Forge sealed the deal with the guarantee of competitive pricing and high quality.
With the automotive industry going through a bad patch both in India and the US in the mid-1990s, the time was ripe for Bharat Forge to venture into other productive world markets. Europe was beckoning; however it was not going to be easy and Kalyani knew it.
But he was ready with a plan - dual shoring. A key reason why this concept of dual shoring worked for him is his very own integration technique - something rooted in his home country's culture.
Rather than focusing on integration of business processes in two different continents and time zones, Kalyani used the masterstroke of having a people-focused approach. His logic has been simple - the business side would naturally fall into place if he gets the people side of the operations right. And it works.
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The legacy |
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