Projects

Increasingly more corporate activities are embracing projects’ systematics whose growing complexities are being adeptly handled by a plethora of project management tools, and ever more AI algorithms. The companies’ project portfolios are becoming growingly complex and the gestation periods of individual projects-in-pipeline becoming progressively shorter. Their ever-demanding deliverables compounding beyond the conventional QCD parameters, necessitate sophisticated addressal of safety and environmental concerns, further aggravated by risk management and severe legal issues in international deployments. Making provisions for contingencies or anticipative interface debottlenecking, is an expert task compelling us to take a holistic approach. A potential chaos in situ can hardly be managed by improvisations. Prioritising and sequencing the projects in the pipeline in view of their value proposition has become a critical task.

With my rich professional experience in leading significant parts of large international projects, I smoothly attune my role to your strategic goals. My well-rounded flexibility and rich empathic skills enable me to quickly mould myself into your proprietary project management “methodology” and company culture. My knowledge of technologies and organisations widely across industries benefits all of us.

My experience with managing international teams started quite early in my career with installation and commissioning of large Plant Engineering and Construction’ components, e.g. in Coal and Minerals Mining, Oil Exploration and Exploitation, Integrated Iron and Steel Plants, Thermal Power Generation (EPC – Engineering, Procurement and Construction), Chemicals and Process Industries, Refineries, Fertilisers, and later changed to Automotive Components and Commercial Vehicles.

In the Automotive and Auto Components Industries, besides the notable Continuous Improvement Projects (CIP) having gained abundance in the nineties, numerous other shopfloor realignment (Kaizen) projects were accomplished. They addressed primarily the Customer Satisfaction – namely the necessity for product innovation and diversification, managing demand fluctuations and securing enhanced QCD parameters. “Lean” paradigms helped to drastically reduce all kinds of waste. What inevitably followed were stark cost reductions by optimising and standardising (modularising) products and processes, dramatic reduction in delivery times and greatly reduced inventories. These techniques, and e.g. TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) led to increased visibility and transparency, thereby also flattening the organisational hierarchies.

With such innovative, “change” methodologies it had become usual to achieve 30% increase in operational productivity. Streamlining of synchronised processes and refining their (departmental) interfaces triggered detailed process mappings leading to total ERP integration and paving the way for business digitisation and digitalisation..

With internationalisation, the Q-parameters (TQM) became harmonised as the manufacturing footprint gained forté worldwide, thereby necessitating large greenfield and brownfield expansions (projects). Relocation of production lines from Triad regions to low-wage countries like China and India brought about subsequent localisation. Not unusually the optimisation results in new countries outdid benchmarks of the former with the motto “we can do better” or “we can squeeze out more”. The examples of such minor triumphs are numerous.

The ensuing globalisation and the transformation in vertical integration (MoB decisions) also paved the way for consolidation. Each of the individual activities concerning Mergers & Acquisitions, spin offs, carve outs, etc. were framed into specific projects. Pre-M&A activities like the market and technology appraisals, evaluation of production facilities, etc. were performed with great due diligence. With the same diligence post M&A integrations were carried out, as were supplier qualifications maturing into sophisticated Supply Chain Management.

In the meantime, each manufacturer in the automotive industry uses company specific project management tools. Even the highly standardised ones like Product Creation Process, have been adapted by the organisations to incorporate proprietary structures and familiar systematics of the past. Performance indicators are suited to one’s own needs, as are the defining and positioning of milestones, quality gates etc. Communication (Reporting) culture is yet another key to success which is company-specific. Alongside the benchmarking of products worldwide, I also gauged components of varying PEP systematics.

In vehicle mobility the projects at horizon mainly belong to decarbonization (carbon neutrality), generation of synthetic fuels using green electricity e.g. ethanol blend fuels, biodiesel, etc. besides CNG (compressed natural gas) and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). “Digitisation and digitalisation” are underway with unprecedented focus, speed and efficiency. Numerous projects in battery technology, fuel cell systems for heavy-duty commercial vehicle applications, e.g. battery-electric and fuel cell-electric vehicles are ongoing. Further research in advanced driver assistance systems, autonomous technologies as well as vehicles connectivity and analysis of bigdata is being carried out with tremendous optimism. Projects for production using many high-end technologies like robotics and materials engineering are around the corner.

Please also refer to my Hitherto Functions and the Industrial Sectors I have been a part of. Detailed CV and Credentials shall be availed upon request.