Gaps still haunt

Wheels India, promoted by the TVS Group was started in the early 1960's to manufacture automobile wheels is today a leading manufacturer of steel wheels for passenger cars, utility vehicles, trucks, buses, agricultural tractors and construction equipment in India.

With plants in Padi, Pune, Rampur, Bawal, Sriperumbudur and Pantnagar, and an annual capacity of 10 million wheels, the company caters to both the domestic market requirement and exports to North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and South Africa. Here's a quick peek on how the IT axle keeps it spinning successfully.

What concerns keep you worried as a CIO?

My first challenge is implementing a standard ERP across the organization. I am busy in creating the infrastructure across five locations and ensuring a smooth, trouble-free rollout. Second, I am challenged with managing security and then business continuity is my third important concern.

Are you satisfied with the IT investments done so far?

Over the last five years the company has put in place email solutions, workflow solutions for tool design and design software. While no metrics have been calculated, there are definite results achieved on design time and output.

How much does this translate to in numbers?

We invested about Rs 7.5 crore in SAP ERP. From last year to this year therefore, we have grown seven fold. Our normal growth rate is 10 to 15 per cent per year.

Is using IT in a manufacturing organization loaded with unique challenges?

There's no special difference between a manufacturing and other form of company that way. Resistance to change is there.

How much of that resistance have you encountered in your CIO stint?

We are a 50-year-old company. So some mental resistance was bound to be there but over the last 10 to 12 years we have worked at it. Still there is a lack of complete acceptance. We need to cross many bridges that way. MRP or Manufacturing Resource Planning is first a process that requires a lot of data discipline, strict discipline and analysis. Entering data in real time is very important for this real-time process.

Where exactly does the reason of this resistance lie?

Fear is the cause. The fear that the system will expose their weaknesses was a major issue with people.

So how did you tackle the human aspect of technology change?

We did a lot of counseling and over a period of time the scenario changed. The fear of management existed at the back of an employee's mind but we communicated that mistakes would not be punished, only corrected.

Any problems or complaints on the vendor side?

There's always a gap between what they promise and what they deliver. That's a major issue that irritates us. The ground reality is seldom touched at the time of a sale. There are a lot of claims made at that stage but 20 to 30 per cent of that are either hypes or with caveats and fine prints. We need more transparency and realistic projections, especially with regards to software.

What new would Wheels India be looking forward to in terms of IT? How much is the chunk of software in your overall IT pie?

We would now stabilize the investments already made. Things like virtual collaboration would be interesting so that co-ordination between various users beyond the email is possible. Software makes 50 per cent of our overall IT, 30 per cent goes into hardware while the balance is for networking.

(pratimah@cybermedia.co.in)