IT is not a 'Siberian Crane'

If you think that finding IT hoisted top in an industry that is all about overhead cranes, Gantry, rope hoists and Concrete is as rare and hard bird to find, here's an interview with Tushar Mehendale from Electromech, who for about nine years now has been spearheading IT at the largest manufacturer of industrial cranes in India. He gives a glimpse of the flight that IT has taken at his company from primitive lands to sophisticated skies. Read on.

What shape have your IT strategy and investments taken through the last nine years? Being a crane manufacturer, where and how have you used IT in your company? Do you see any flat or negative direction as an impact of the current scenario?

Nine years back, there was no such thing as IT strategy, we were just a small player. But we have grown exponentially from Rs 3 crore to Rs 150 crore company. As the company went on growing and competing in new areas and big projects, we started spotting need for IT. Even before that, we had fully computerized designs, own designing software, IT infrastructure etc.

But, IT has progressed a lot through the last few years from 2D modelling to 3D Modelling. We had our own software doing primitive work on CAD. Recently we invested in SAP for integrating different departments and processes. It gives a one-window view for various transaction levels and enhanced control on processes as well as on decision-making. Lots of improvements, checks and balances have now come into place.

How easy has it been to transition from an in-house system to a proprietary one?

Ours was not the typical legacy system in that sense. It was limited to design areas and still runs side by side. Before SAP, we had Tally and that transition to SAP was not that big a deal either. Because everything was from a blank page and much easier. I guess implementing smartly and taking care of user side makes a lot of difference.

You also had PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) on your plans?

Yes, we are planning that for future. Will do that soon. Currently for designing needs we have Solidworks and some sort of integration with SAP. We still have to have mature users to reach to PLM level and will do that soon.

Is it easy to sync-in a new investment on ERP to these erstwhile and other components?

Yes, there are a lot of issues. It may seem easier in theory and in the ideal world but practically there are a lot of hassles relating to how one system integrates with another. At times you have to use humans as an interface or have a fully integrated system. It depends on the stage of a company, maturity of users and a smooth integration that works. It's a slow graduation process.

Talking of electronic design systems and modern design tools, do you think construction industry still has a lot to catch up in comparison to the progress made by manufacturing applying these tools?

There's a definite need to have a proper engineering platform in place. That's more of a necessity rather than a luxury to effectively compete, and have better, faster, differentiating products. CAD systems have become an imperative in that sense.

What are your expectations from vendors as a CIO from engineering segment?

Typically large organizations with 150 members average team have been receiving more attention. Slowly people are realizing the value of other small sized segment. But needs of our size of industry are not well addressed by product vendors. Hope that's taken care in future. SAP for instance works on big scales, but implementing agencies should have a view of requirements of a small or mid company.

That maturity and segmentation of approach has still to come. 'One shoe fits all' approach can't work. SAP still has a German base in standards, language etc. When Asia is being on top of everyone's radar, the sensitivity towards end-user has to come both in vendors and implementation partners.

What worries you today?

We have suddenly moved from a scenario of no integrated system to one system that covers all areas. The transition to a fully computerized atmosphere, and to make people realize the intricacies, the outcomes if they don't follow it properly is a challenge.

That's a great point. What's your experience and lesson on managing the 'user' part of IT?

I guess education and right implementation matters a lot. It's like a change process. You have to identify all categories of users. Some would embrace the project immediately. Some would oppose it. Some would be fence sitters. Convincing and managing all types is critical. IT implementation is very much a management problem too and top management's commitment is important.