COMPETITION MAKES COMPANIES CLEVER

Yamaguchi: The ideas man

Guess where Sueo Yamaguchi was on his 56th birthday? 

No, not at home in Japan, but on a podium at the India Habitat Centre, Delhi, vetting not one or two, but 46 presentations from his TPM cluster companies. But then you wouldn't expect anything else from a man who is teaching India Inc. quality. BT's R. Sridharan buttonholed Yamaguchi recently at CII's first Kaizen conference. Excerpts:

You've been advising some Indian companies on TPM since 1998. How do you view their progress?

There's a drastic change. Earlier nobody used to talk about cost reductions. Now, that's a widespread concern, because the market condition has drastically changed. Competition is making companies clever.

What's been the hardest part about changing the attitude of companies?

The CEO, and the top management. The union is not a problem. If the ceo is not serious (about change), how do you get the others to change?

Original product development is still an issue with Indian companies.

That's because they wait for their joint venture partners to give them the knowhow. But that can change. Look at TVS Motor. Earlier its motorcycles were from Suzuki. Now, Victor is TVS' own idea. Similarly, Sundaram Brake Linings exports to many countries but has no foreign collaboration. So, if Indian companies want to do own R&D they must sever their JV partnerships.